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A Healthy Entrepreneurial Venture

Maya MchedlishviliBudding entrepreneur Maya Mchedlishvili `18, a regular customer of Day School’s healthy snacks station, saw an opportunity to make a difference and took the initiative to go for it. When a new leader was needed to sell healthy snacks to students during lunch, Maya stepped up and created a team to take over the business. She and Sarah Ballard `18 collaborated and began expanding their business in the second semester by adding variety to their snack menu and testing how different products sold. They always looked for options low in calories, sugar, and sodium, but began including some vegan and gluten free products, as well as seasonal fresh fruits.

Maya says, “[The] most important thing I have learned is that a wide variety of items appeals more to customers. During winter especially, our variety was lacking, and the business was not doing so well. However, when changes were made to offer more [and] different products, sales went up, slowly but surely.”

One might assume giving students healthier options is enough of a contribution, but Maya is taking this opportunity to another level. She has donated the profit earned from their snacks back to Evansville Day School. The plan is for funds to be used as seed money for other students who wish to follow their passions and initiate their own entrepreneurial ideas. Applicants would present ideas to a panel that would include Maya, teachers, and other students, who would then decide which projects to fund.

Maya and Sarah optimize Day School’s Portrait of a Graduate, and they plan to continue their business in the fall. Although no current changes are planned, they will remain adaptable as they continue to observe trends and demand. Evansville Day School, as Evansville’s only independent school, is honored to have the flexibility to support real-world learning experience for the global innovators and leaders of tomorrow.