Entrepreneurship is in Season 

Once a year, the typically quiet Classroom & Business Building third floor fills with festive booths and energized shoppers as dozens of students set up their shops at the UH Holiday Market. 

The annual event is held by the No. 1 ranked Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship’s RED Labs program with help from the Founders’ Club. The event gives student vendors the ability to participate in the market without paying a fee. This year, more than 70 booths were at the Holiday Market selling food, clothes, art and more. 

The range of the student vendors’ entrepreneurial experience is one aspect of the market that RED Labs Managing Director Liana Gonzalez-Schulenberg says makes the program unique. 

“There are some students that do markets all the time off campus, and it's cool to have them participate and show their incredible and elaborate setups,” Gonzalez-Schulenberg said. “There are also students who are popping up for the first time, and this is a safe place to fail. They get to pull it together, make some money, and see if they want to continue doing this.” 

The event was management junior Adriana Guerrero’s first time bringing her business to a market. Her company, named It’s a Date, provides luxury picnic setups. The idea came from her love of going on dates with her partner, and in the few months she’s been in business, her most fond event was setting up an engagement. 

“I love going on picnics, and I know it's not something that everyone can do because it's a little more luxurious,” Guerrero said. “I wanted to give guys the opportunity to book with me and have everything set up, so it'd be a surprise when you get there.” 

This year was finance senior Brian Zelaya’s second time participating in the Holiday Market. Over the years, Zelaya’s business, Yosh’s Bins, has been at around 200 markets. The business started during his freshman year of high school when Zelaya wanted to clean out his closet. As he became more passionate about fashion, he began reselling.  

The people at the Holiday Market are what Zelaya said makes it enjoyable for him. 

“It's full of college students, so I get to connect with people around me at UH,” he said. “I commute, so sometimes it's hard to make friends with people here. At the Holiday Market I get to see all these people, so it's fun and interesting.” 

While walking around the market, accounting junior Alexandria Burton said she enjoyed seeing what her peers had to offer and learning more about their businesses.  She said the event was a unique way to get out of the usual routine.  

“It breaks up the day from only having to study or just going out to eat,” Burton said. “It’s an opportunity to really talk with other people. I can't wait to see more stuff like this in the future.”