Kingsport middle schoolers showcase business skills at expo

KINGSPORT — From cake pops to crochet work, middle school students lined the hallway at MeadowView to pitch their business ideas at the fifth annual Kids Business Expo.Approximately 39 students from Ross N. Robinson and John Sevier middle schools, as well as one homeschooler, participated in this year's event on Friday.Students and their products were judged based on four categories: Best Business Plan, Best Presentation & Creativity, Most Original Business Idea and Highest Business Potential.Prior to the event, students develop a product, build a marketing strategy and sell their product during the event. The expo is usually held in conjunction with the Kingsport Chamber's Friday Business Breakfast so attendees can visit with the students and purchase items from their booths.The following businesses were awarded at the 2025 Kids Business Expo:• Best Business Plan: PJ Photography Company (Parker Haga and Jack Weakley)• Best Presentation & Creativity: Onjileah's Desserts et Charmes (Onjileah Holifield)• Most Original Business Idea: Sweet Freeze: Freeze Dried Candies (Brooklyn and Morgan Pickup)• Highest Business Potential: Handmade Expressions (Adelyn Stancel)About the studentsTeri Cosby and Leanna Sweeney were first-time Kids Business Expo participants with their joint business, Crafting Queen. Teri explained she made bracelets, bookmarks and treat boxes while Leanna made a crochet scarf, jewelry holder and rose for purchase."[There's] a little bit for everyone to make sure nobody was left out," Teri said. "We made bracelets for those who have a lot of friends or have family coming over and wanted to give them a gift."Others returned for another year at the expo. Jack Weakley and Parker Haga of PJ Photography brought their camera and photo backdrop to capture potential clients."While we're here, we take headshot photography, caricatures, fun photos, stuff like that," Jack explained. "Outside of here, we do a lot of events. We've done the [Kingsport] Chamber dinner, stuff like that in the past."Jack said he first became interested in photography about six years ago when he was given a hand-me-down camera. Since then, he has gained invaluable experience from being a part of the expo and creating lasting partnerships."I learned how to run a business better and to think outside of the box," Jack said. "Especially with a camera, we had to think of how we can do something with the business that we already have, that we can put in a room and easy to set up, easy to take down, relatively inexpensive."Onjileah Holified said her bakery and charm business was a way to connect with her family. Through Onjileah's Desserts et Charmes, she said she would sometimes bake with her sister and work with her mom to make the charms."In the future I want to change things up, for seasons or different trends and stuff and put them into desserts and charms and earrings and just like, mix it up," Onjileah said.Elizabeth Lee displayed several pairs of colorfully hand painted sneakers, all of which she purchased or repurchased to sell at the event. She said she started painting shoes about a year ago but has always enjoyed art."I've always loved painting, and I like painting on different surfaces, so I like doing nail art too," Elizabeth said. "I got some pink high tops that I didn't like, and so I was like, 'What should I paint on these? What should I paint on these? I don't like them.' And someone told me daisies, so I did. I covered them in daisies."She said while she's participated in the Kids Business Expo before, this year she learned more about marketing her product."It was definitely different, because I focused more on my products and less on the design," Elizabeth said. "I wanted to make sure that I had different things. Because with shoes, you could only have a few. I had to make a lot of different kinds of designs to appeal to a lot of different kinds of people."The Kids Business Expo is hosted by the Kingsport Chamber Education & Workforce Development and Kingsport Chamber Small Business Programs.For more information about the Kingsport Chamber, visit https://www.kingsportchamber.org/.