Colee Rogers, 18, is a senior at Ada High School. Rogers is a hardworking student and athlete. She has an affinity for art and design. Her junior year of high school, and part of the summer, she started making beaded necklaces, anklets, and bracelets.

“I always made necklaces and I just gave them out for free.” said Rogers “Then my friends were like ‘you should probably stop doing that, you’re losing a lot of money. You need to charge.’ So I did.”

This comment paved the way to her Instagram page coleescollection (formerly coleebeadz). There were a few kids around the school that would wear her handmade art, but with the creation of her page and her stepping into the light, her business quickly grew. Now, you can’t walk down the hallway without seeing someone wearing one of her beautiful creations. There were various things that a customer could buy: pre-made sets, school/ college sets, and even custom orders. Rogers’s favorite color scheme is neutral colors, her favorite set was a ‘cloudy set’ which was clear and white because it goes with everything. She is always keeping consumers in mind. She adopted PayPal, Venmo, and of course cash as methods of payment. She keeps necklaces and sets at an affordable price for everyone- she even does holds if a person gets paid on a Friday but she finished their set on a Wednesday.  In everything she does, she keeps her customers in mind.

Then, her beading trade blossomed up into another business. This business is stemmed in clothing and fashion. Rogers’s new business focuses on the thrifting of clothes like shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, and more. She goes to thrift stores such as Goodwill, and local thrift stores in Ada. She can “.. spend up to 100 dollars and four hours gathering the right clothes” to ensure she has the right clothing choices for her customers. She has had a rare Patagonia find that was sold for around 46 dollars instead of hundreds. In addition, she has sold Nike, PINK, Columbia, champion and so many more name brands. Rogers then opens her Instagram page and has a starting price of 3-5$ then people bid on the item until the bidding ends at a set time. She also installed a BIN (Buy It Now) system so if you see something you absolutely want with a BIN of 35, you can just go ahead and buy it. She also has shipped all over the country to people who have bought from her.

Rogers started these businesses because she has a love for fashion and creation. The payoff has been huge, she got to buy a MacBook for school and upcoming college classes. She plans to go to school for advertising management due to the fact that she can let her creative spirit fly and sell things. She is going to keep these businesses going as long as she can, including through college.

Hunter Martinez, 19, and lifelong friend of Rogers buys from her as well. “My favorite buy from Colee was my Patagonia pullover and necklace, is no joke, the plain white beads because it goes with everything.”

As a community, we have all supported Rogers in her businesses. Although, her biggest supporter is her mother, Kimber Rogers. “I support Colee in anything she does. Colee has always been goal-driven. She started coleebeadz last year and has done very well. She has paid for her MacBook Air, as well as an Alaskan cruise. Coleebeadz has led to other opportunities such as a new found love for vintage clothing. She loves the search for a good bargain in which she can profit from. I’m extremely proud of her entrepreneurship and know she will have success in anything she pursues.”