From Passion to Profits: How High School Entrepreneurs Are Turning Hobbies into Thriving Businesses
April 8, 2025
By Dasi Albert ’27
Beyond the Berman classrooms, stretching back to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, ambition and creativity find a home in student-run small businesses. From selling sports cards to making elaborate balloon decor, students are turning their passions into profits, cultivating a culture of entrepreneurship and independence in high school.
Boaz Kugler ’27 originally began collecting sports cards during the pandemic and has since built a successful business, Kugs Collectibles. While he specializes in basketball cards, he deals in all types of sports memorabilia, with prices ranging from $20 to $500, depending on the rarity and demand. To date, Kugler has sold cards and other sports-related items to approximately 600 clients, both virtually and at in-person events.
“What made me want to start a business was using something I love, which is sports cards, and finding a way to make money from it and enjoying it at the same time,” Kugler said. While Kugler may have only started his collection with $100, he has worked his way up to a valued $10,000 collection. With his variety of selling platforms and 2,200 followers on Instagram, Kugler has created a large community of individuals partaking in his passion for sports cards.
Credit: Yael Siesser
Yael Siesser ’26 has taken a more hands-on approach to her business Balloons by Yael, extending it beyond her home and to the events of others. Her business includes a wide range of balloon decor, including arches, columns, centerpieces, and bouquets.
Just like Kugler, Siesser began her business during the COVID-19 pandemic with the help of her mom as a hobby of making balloon arches for the drive-through bar and bat mitzvot. Even as the pandemic came to a close and regular simchas resumed, Siesser’s business continued to thrive. Siesser is said to have contracted and provided balloons for a total of 75 events and is booked an average of all four weeks of the month.
Credit: Yael Siesser
“I most enjoy feeling independent like I can support myself and have my own way of making money,” Siesser said. “I am proud that I can make my own money and be an adult and make decisions for myself, manage myself, etc.”
Unlike other students’ prolonged hobbies, Sammy Franco ’27 began his haircut business Sammy’s Cuts just a year ago in February of 2024.“What made me want to start [Sammy’s Cuts] was that I was giving myself haircuts because I didn’t like having to always get haircuts and spend money so I would give them to myself,” Franco commented.
Franco has an average of 10 clients on weekends and four to six on regular school nights. In total, he dedicates around 15 hours a week to his haircuts. He works from his home in Pikesville, bringing in clients from all over the Berman community ranging from Pikesville to Kemp Mill and Potomac.
Credit: Sammy Franco
When asked what he most enjoys about his business, Franco reflected, “I enjoy especially when someone comes in with long hair, it’s not looking good, and they don’t know how to maintain it, and I help them get it under control.”
While student business owners may not have all started off so successfully, I think they can all agree that, as Franco put it, “In the long term, it was worth it.”