When college student Quinterrall Brown started job hunting this past summer, he had no idea he would end up being his own boss. That’s what can happen at the crossroads of necessity and invention. The 19-year-old became a small-scale entrepreneur, and the results are pretty sweet.
Frustration about the seasonal job market turned into inspiration when the Mississippi University for Women culinary arts student from Grace, Mississippi (near Rolling Fork), made a trip to Georgia around July.
“We went to see some family friends, and one of them was making jams and jellies; she taught me how,” said Quinterrall. He started out with pineapple, but it didn’t take long for the university sophomore to catch on. He was soon trying his hand at grape and apple jellies, strawberry and blueberry jams, hot pepper jelly, pear preserves, white grape jelly and chow-chow.
Most of the fresh ingredients were homegrown by his family, or came from neighbors.
“My family’s farmers and neighboring families are farmers and most things were in season,” the jelly-maker said.
Brick-and-mortar business analysts will tell you success can hinge on “location, location, location.” For Brown, the prize spot turned out to be a restaurant/gas station with an accommodating proprietor, about 15 minutes from his home.
“He let me sit out in front of the restaurant and sell; after a while, I started pulling customers for him,” the student explained. “I did really well back home, so I figured I’d see what happened here.”
“Here” is in Columbus, at the Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings.
Gone is much of the family-grown produce he could access back in Issaquena County; he has had to purchase locally more of the fruits and vegetables he uses. And time is a real consideration now that school is underway. At summer’s peak, Quinterrall usually prepared 24 to 25 jars at a time; now he makes up eight or nine whenever he can carve out the free time.
“It’s mostly a matter of chopping, mashing, boiling, putting in jars, boiling again and not burning yourself,” he said.
Good reviews have come in from classmates and instructors who have sampled his jams and preserves. “And I know there are people at home who are waiting for me to bring some back to them,” said Quinterrall, who is pleased with the quality he’s turning out.
In the recent months, he has learned a thing or two about one-man enterprises: All the work falls on one set of shoulders, but the CEO is usually pretty flexible about hours.
“And it’s helped me improve my inventiveness because I have to constantly come up with new flavors and see how people react,” Brown said. When asked if the project has boosted his confidence, he responded: “I was always the confident type. If I wanted to do something, I just went ahead and did it.”
That innate assurance will be an asset when the time comes after college graduation to launch a career.
“I’d like to own a bakery one day; I’d like to do it in Columbus,” said Quinterrall. “But for the time being, it’s class, jam, sleep.”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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