The Most Memorable Booth at the Show
What Middle School Entrepreneurs Taught Me About Showing Up
In the crowded halls of the One of a Kind Show (a large-scale artisan and design market in Toronto), you expect to find beauty. Thoughtful design. Careful craftsmanship. Makers who’ve poured time and meaning into what they offer. But the most unexpected beauty I encountered came from a group of middle school students—bright-eyed and fully present as they sold their handmade goods with confidence and heart.
I had come to the show to learn more about a group of creative entrepreneurs I support—and to better understand what it takes to show up in a space where creativity meets commerce. What stayed with me wasn’t a product or a pitch. It was the way these students embodied what makes any offering compelling: preparation, a sense of greater impact, and genuine joy.
These students were part of a school-based entrepreneurial program, and by mid-morning, many of them had already sold out. But it wasn’t just their success that stood out—it was how naturally and intentionally they carried themselves.
They were prepared. They knew their products, spoke clearly and confidently, and shared the story of what they had made and why. Their messaging wasn’t rehearsed so much as rooted—grounded in experience and effort. You could feel the pride in their process.
They were motivated by something bigger. Each sale contributed to their school’s breakfast program, and that impact gave them purpose. It infused their interactions with meaning and made customers feel like they were part of something beyond a simple exchange.
And they knew how to celebrate. Each sale was met with a burst of joy—shining eyes, small high-fives, visible excitement. It was infectious and over and over, their enthusiasm invited people to stop, to connect, and to say yes.
The students’ palpable presence reminded me that success at any age—or stage—often comes down to a few timeless things: being prepared in a way that builds confidence, connecting your work to something that matters beyond yourself, and remembering to hold space for the excitement and delight that drove you to make it in the first place..
They weren’t just learning how to sell. They were practicing something we often forget in our rush to scale and succeed: how to be present with what we’ve made, how to share it with care, and how to let joy into the process.
These students had clearly been supported by adults and educators who believed in them, but the quiet kind of mastery they brought to the floor that day was fully their own. Watching them, I was reminded that the heart of entrepreneurship is less about the product and more about the way we show up for it.
And whatever our work looks like—whether it’s entrepreneurial, creative, educational, or deeply personal—there’s always an opportunity to show up with intention.