Elodie Jones, a senior at Edina High School, is quite business-minded for a 17-year-old. Elodie was only a freshman in high school when she started making and selling bracelets—and with great success and creative talents, she has since focused her business endeavors on designing and selling apparel under the name Elodie Bird Co.
“I’ve always had a yearning for starting a business, and I knew it was always something I wanted to do,” Elodie says. “I initially started making beaded bracelets, and when we had a month off during school because of COVID-19, I would just watch TV and make these cute bracelets and send them to everyone I could … I realized this could be a great business opportunity.”
When she changed Elodie Bird Co.’s focus to apparel in 2021, her love of running the business deepened. Elodie is an athlete on the Twin Cities Youth Rowing Club; she began to make custom pieces for her team and found her passion in designing clothes. She now specializes in making and curating apparel for athletic teams, clubs and anyone who requests a custom piece.
These custom pieces are Elodie’s favorite orders to get. They allow for more creative expression, and she says the outcome is always better than what she originally envisioned. “Some of my customers have great ideas, and I love when they add to mine and we can create something amazing [together],” Elodie says.
A couple years in, Elodie Bird Co. is just getting started. “I plan to go to college and major in business, but I am also planning on continuing Elodie Bird Co. while I am studying,” Elodie says.
With these plans, she feels confident about her future—and herself. “Starting this [business] has really taught me how to market myself, talk about myself and overall just really believe in myself,” Elodie says. “I’m so much more confident because of it.”
With confidence comes success, and with success comes the need for money management. Since starting her business, Elodie has learned the importance of reinvesting profits back into her business; she likens it to nourishing a flower, watering it regularly to help it truly bloom.
To fellow young entrepreneurs waiting to start their own business or take a chance on a creative endeavor, Elodie has some simple advice: Take that leap. “It’s been such a great learning curve, and you learn so much about yourself,” Elodie says. “Just do it.”
Elodie Bird Co.
Instagram: @elodiebirdco
