What It's About
Three "partners in slime" create a summer science camp.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Cindy says that one of the hardest parts of building Amazinators was all of the self-promotions she had to do. She said that this was scary and uncomfortable for her, but she found that people were receptive to her boldness, coupled with her humility and honesty.
Fun Fact
The Amazinators reached out to a man running a shark tank program in New Jersey. He was so interested in what they were doing that he drove a few hours to see their camp. Turns out that he is in charge of STEAM initiatives for the entire state. He asked them to present at a state workshop for administrators and board members!
Notes from Chris
Episode 299
Today’s story comes from Cindy O’Kane in Linwood, New Jersey. By day, she’s a public speaking and technology teacher running the TV studio at Belhaven Middle School. She’s also a First Lego League robotics coach, and head of her school’s gifted and talented program. Her side hustle is a summer science camp that she runs with two other teachers making slime, playing with Lego robots, building bridges out of popsicle sticks, launching rockets, and creating videos. The three teachers saw an opportunity to fill a need in the community for kids who aren’t into sports but want to go to summer camp. So two summers ago, they started a two-week STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) camp for the intellectual child—or as they like to refer to themselves, the nerds of the world. They had about 70 kids sign up and brought in $14,000! Sadly, Cindy and her partners in slime were not their own entity, so their school took the profits, and all the got was a small stipend. So they spent the next year becoming an LLC called Amazinators—after speaking with some friends with small businesses, Cindy filled out the online registration and shelled out $200. They charged $225 for a 2-week camp at two different schools for 3rd to 6th graders who met for three hours a day, four days a week, and $125 for a 1-week camp for 7th to 9th graders, where students met from 9 to noon all five days. So far this year they’ve had 166 campers in 5 weeks of summer camps, and brought in about $15,000. $8,000 of that was profit… and this time, they got to keep it!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Amazinators: Blast off to Cindy's website to see what the Amazinators are up to!
- YouTube | DIY How to make your own Fun Putty: Interested in trying your hand at making your own slime? Here's a recipe!
- What is an LLC?: Learn more about the pros and cons of starting your own LLC here!
- Facebook Photo Leads to Today Show Appearance: An elementary school teacher on a mission to introduce a non-toxic product for school rallies and sporting events makes it on the TODAY show.
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