Student-Made Troy celebrates one year anniversary

Student-Made Troy, a resource provided by the IDEA Bank that allows student creators experience in running their own business by promoting and selling their products, hit its one-year anniversary on Sept. 20. 

Student-Made is a company that partners with colleges and universities to build entrepreneurial opportunities for students. They’ve partnered with schools across the country, Troy University being one of the few schools whose storefront is located inside a university-owned building. 

Icie Wallace, a senior graphic design major from Sylacauga, Alabama, has been selling her art since she was 13 years old, but for the past year, she said being a student creator for Student-Made Troy has turned her hobby into a true business. 

“When I found out that this was a program that Troy was about to take on, I just thought it was a really great way to experience having my work in a storefront,” Wallace said. “Having it in a permanent position, coming in and working for a few hours a week, and really having the control to be able to place my work within that space has been super helpful.” 

In the year that Student-Made Troy has been in operation, it has provided 43 student creators with a platform to sell their products and has made a total of $14,000 in total profit for those creators.  

“Seeing it come to fruition and having the numbers to back up the success is very validating for me as the program director because it tells me that there’s a need for it and that the students are benefitting from it,” said IDEA Bank Director Lynne George. 

The IDEA Bank’s goal with the Student-Made collaboration is more than just a website or storefront for students to sell their products from – it’s meant to create an opportunity for students to experience what it’s like to run a business. 

“It’s not just a shelf to put your items on,” George said. “We want you to learn what it takes to grow your brand and to sell in a retail store but then also on the management side of it – we have some student managers who do not have products that they’re selling, they’re not creators.  

“That’s extremely important to the IDEA Bank’s mission – just providing a safe, low-risk environment where students can really practice business management and entrepreneurship.” 

Another student creator, Laney Kelley, a senior interdisciplinary studies major from DeFuniak Springs, Florida, said the program also provides her with mental support in growing her business. 

“I feel like it makes me more confident in my actual business,” Kelley said. “Having it in a store front and having all of these people and resources behind me and helping me makes it a lot easier to believe in the success my business has had.” 

Those interested in visiting the Student-Made Store can find it attached to the IDEA Bank on The Square at 63 S. Court Square Unit B.