Junior Suli Rivera sits working quietly, guided by her artistic spirit. She carefully plots the design and color scheme of her next pair of earrings. Each pair will be irreplaceable and individual.

Crunch crunch. 

Rivera fishes beads out of a large container and threads them onto headpins. Meticulously creating a one-of-a-kind piece, Suli’s Unique Earrings is finally getting the attention it deserves. 

“They’re abstracted,” Rivera said. “I have a whole bead collection and pair shapes and colors together with various beads. Sometimes I will have three beads making a tower or droplet form.” 

She makes each piece uniquely, they are truly one of a kind. 

Although she is currently taking a break from production to focus on her studies, Rivera is selling and hand packaging her homemade earrings. 

Rivera has made hundreds of earrings in various styles and fashions over the last three years. She is working to grow her skills and develop new fashions every day.

She is the perfect example of a student running a small business.  

Because it’s small though, she doesn’t have an entire publicity team to spread the word about her skills. On the other hand, Rivera does have friends who are spreading the word just the same.

“I had Suli in class freshman year, she always had creative jewelry on and she told me she made them,” teacher Renee Borton said. “They were right up my alley, I probably have five pairs I’ve bought for myself and family.” 

Many other teachers are aware of Rivera’s artistic talents as well.

“I told her she should start charging more, since they cost about $3 at the time I purchased them,” said Borton.

She doesn’t currently have a website, but she does accept orders traditionally through Google forms. Typically ranging from $9.00 to $12.00, Rivera has made her earrings affordable and accessible for the student body while still being aware of what her skills are worth. 

She is creating fashion-forward pieces many students may like. Rivera typically works in an abstract style with a drop or dangle fish hook.

“I actually complimented her one day and she said she had made her own earrings,” teacher Dacia Albaugh said. “That really took me by surprise, for a freshman to come into her own and have already found her passion, and for a freshman to already be at that level and know that they’re into jewelry and want to make it, that was something I was blown away by.” 

Rivera strives to create more jewelry and get her name out there. Hopefully, with the sales of more earrings, she’d be able to open up her business to other crafts in the future. Rivera hopes to be able to create necklaces and resin projects as her business expands.

“I would like to sell to the whole school

,” Rivera said. “I want to be able to have a craft sale here at the school.”