By Maddison Godi
UNIVERSITY CENTER – Most college students struggle with time management, but for third year Delta College student Alexis Zimmerman, she has found time to start a business with a full-time class load.
Working powerhouse
Throughout her life, Zimmerman has been a powerhouse. Her high school schedule was packed with the equivalent of a full-time job: sports practices, team bonding events, and honors and advanced placement courses. This encouraged her to thrive on a busy schedule.
“I literally went from having everything scheduled for me, to being able to control every aspect of my life,” says Zimmerman.
Entering college, she found more control. She spread out her classes, allowing her to focus on a 12-credit class load instead of 16-credit loads. Zimmerman was also able to join nine student clubs while staying heavily involved in three.
Creating a well-rounded resume was very important to Zimmerman. Her end goal was to transfer into Ferris State University’s pharmacy program. To do this, she needed to look outstanding on paper and in real life.
With her class schedule loosened, Zimmerman decided to pick up an on-campus job. She found a position working for the sustainability office and gained environmental knowledge. Zimmerman has always been an advocate for recycling and not polluting the Earth. This job allowed her to push further into her passion, but she still felt like she could do more.
Learning to fold creations
Despite her classes, job and clubs, Zimmerman still found herself with too much free time. In the winter semester of 2019, her professor Joan Ramm sparked her interest.
“One member of the English staff did a presentation on book folding and she was able to teach me,” says Zimmerman.
Book folding is a craft where one finds a hardcover book and manipulates the pages by folding, cutting and coloring them into a design. It takes up a lot of time, but when finished, an old, dusty book becomes a work of art.
She began filling her free time by doing book folds. In the first few months of practicing, she made them as gifts for friends and her co-workers in the sustainability office.
“I received a lot of great feedback from my co-workers about the book folds,” says Zimmerman. “They even said that I should sell them, and that’s where the whole idea of a business started.”
As they took off, her boss Linda Petee asked about doing book folds as a community event to inspire people to reuse materials instead of considering them garbage. Zimmerman and her co-worker began hosting book folding classes at The City Market in Bay City.
Creating a social buzz
After six months, Zimmerman wanted to turn her hobby into a business.
Zimmerman named her craft brand Alice. Alice was chosen because of her love for “Alice in Wonderland” and Alice is very close to her own name; it was a perfect fit.
“I leave my book folds everywhere: on my desk, [on my] co-workers’ desks, at 99 Trees…” says Zimmerman. “I leave my business cards with them as well, and that’s how the word spreads.”
She told friends and family that she was selling her book folds for $25. Word traveled, and she started receiving orders. Eventually, she put her products into a website and used Twitter as an outlet to share her book folds. Social media is what helped make everything take off.
“It definitely fills most of my free time,” says Zimmerman. “I have to take care of all the finance stuff on my own, plan when I am going to meet people; I have to be very organized and precise.”
Zimmerman is the only one creating and handling the orders, so there is a large dedication of man-hours. Each book takes her a total of one to 1 1/2 hours to complete. Since starting her business, she has made over 175 book folds.
“The max I have ever made in a day is four, and by the end [of the day], my right pinky finger and left index finger are raw,” said Zimmerman.
Since August 2019, Zimmerman has opted to take up more crafts to fill time. She now offers crocheted scrunchies and charms. Check out her website for all her latest crafts.
“I have a lot of free time,” says Zimmerman. “I have so much free time that, even with my business, I am bored.”
