Fresno State student Mario Trujillo runs clothing brand Tru Lion Lifestyle. Craig School photo by Jaguar Bennett

The Craig School of Business at Fresno State hosted its first Student-Run Business Expo Wednesday, giving students an opportunity to gain on-the-job experience profits from selling their goods.

Freshmen to seniors were given the opportunity to sell their products to faculty and fellow students.

The event took place on campus at the Peters Business Building next to the CSB Student Store that sells Craig School of Business branded merchandise.

“One of the courses that I teach is our CSB Student Store,” said Craig School Director of Student Experiences Micheala Bojorquez Ford. “It’s a student-managed enterprise and that course started in spring of 2018.”

Bojorquez Ford, who took over the course in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, said that running the store in particular has been a challenge over the past several years.

Items available for sale included rugs, clothing, jewelry, crafts, food and more. Participants included:

Cintia Mondragon, Mondragon Fash, Instagram: @mondragonfash

 

Miah Stringer, MiahsBeads,  Instagram: @miahsbeads

 

Izzy Sinor, Chain Saint, Instragram: @chainsaint

 

Mario Trujillo, Lion Tru Lifestyle, Instagram: @liontrulifestyle

Bojorquez Ford hopes that the Student-Run Business Expo will not only give students real-world experience as well as drive up interest in the CSB Student Store and other student-run activities.

“Running a small business in the middle of a pandemic is like no other experience I’ve ever done,” she said, adding that she hopes to implement more community events or programs — similar to the expo — at least once per semester.

This spring, the Craig School of Business tested its first such event — a student-run T-shirt sale that, according to Bojorquez Ford, did not see the success they had hoped for.

The Student-Run Business Expo helped reverse that fortune. With 11 student-vendors in attendance, shopping turnout was pleasingly high, with many vendors appreciative of the exposure to their businesses.

“It’s great for brand exposure — to gain a feel of if this is a target audience for you,” said student-management intern Krystal Timmons. “Also [to] gain some experience talking to people like talking to customers, promoting yourself as an entrepreneur.”

According to Timmons, following the deadline, more students inquired about participating, driving the hope of an even larger turnout for next year’s event.

Both Timmons and Bojorquez Ford said they hope to repeat the expo next semester, continuing to drive customers to student-run businesses, as well as drawing interest from prospective students.

“Overall, I think all of the students involved in planning the event were pleased with the turnout and are looking forward to continuing the event sometime during the spring semester,” Bojorquez Ford said.