UGA Student Turns Passion Into Small Business

SPLIT-SCRIPT FOR A PACKAGE

Slug: Student Small Business

Air date and time: 3/21, 9 p.m.

Run time: 1:52

VIDEO

AUDIO

B-ROLL COBB LOOKING THROUGH CLOTHES ESTHER’S MERCANTILE WEBSITE COBB WAVING AND SMILING SOT [COBB] SUPER: Madison Cobb, Owner of Esther’s Mercantile  B-ROLL PAN OF COBB’S BEDROOM/WORK AREA PICTURE OF COBB AT PART-TIME JOB PICTURE OF COBB AT PART-TIME JOB SOT [COBB]  B-ROLL COBB FIXING CLOTHES ON A MANNEQUIN PICTURE OF ESTHER’S MERCANTILE INSTAGRAM PAGE PRODUCT PHOTOS PICTURE OF ESTHER’S MERCANTILE DONATION POST ON INSTAGRAM PICTURE OF AN INSTAGRAM POST FROM PROJECT SAFE COBB PACKAGING AN ONLINE ORDER SOT [COBB]

(VO-ALLY) SKIPPING BRUNCH TIME AND SAVING EVERY DIME: HOW ONE COLLEGE STUDENT STITCHED HER DREAM CLOTHING BUSINESS. ESTHER’S MERCANTILE IS A FAITH-BASED BOUTIQUE SET OUT ON A MISSION TO MAKE STYLE EASY AND AFFORDABLE. MADISON COBB, A RECENT U-G-A GRADUATE, HAD ALWAYS DREAMED OF OPENING HER OWN CLOTHING BUSINESS. (SOT:MADISON COBB) “I knew Georgia was where I wanted to go, so I kind of had my eyes dead set. I was like I’m going to go major in fashion merchandising at Georgia, graduate with a degree, and I initially thought that I was going to work corporately for a little while after I graduated, but everything lined up just so perfectly.” COBB BEGAN THE BRANDING PROCESS LAST MARCH AND NOW RUNS THE BUSINESS FULL-TIME FROM HER BEDROOM IN ATHENS. COBB WAS ABLE TO GROW HER BUSINESS QUICKER THAN MOST BY GRADUATING DEBT-FREE AND SAVING MONEY FROM A PART-TIME JOB. (SOT:MADISON COBB) “It’s definitely rewarding to go through periods of time where you’re not really spending money, and you’re just saving everything you make because it’s beneficial in the long run to have that money there, so that you can do something like this one day.” COBB WEARS MANY HATS AS THE OWNER OF ESTHER’S MERCANTILE. INSTEAD OF OUTSOURCING, SHE LIMITS HER EXPENSES BY MANAGING THE FINANCES, MAINTAINING THE COMPANY’S SOCIAL MEDIA AND TAKING PRODUCT PHOTOS. AS SHE FINDS MORE SUCCESS WITH HER BUSINESS, COBB HAS STARTED DONATING A PERCENTAGE OF THE PROCEEDS TO DIFFERENT NON-PROFITS. HER MOST RECENT DONATION WAS TO PROJECT SAFE, A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION IN ATHENS WORKING TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. FACED WITH THE CHALLENGE OF OPENING A SMALL BUSINESS AS A COLLEGE STUDENT, COBB HAS FOUND SUCCESS BY STAYING FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE. (SOT:MADISON COBB) “It’s tough financially sometimes, but I just remind myself that the reward is greater, and if I can keep doing this and keep growing and everything then in a few years, it’ll all be very much worth it, and I’ll be making the same as anybody else in corporate America would be.”