Mara Morales
January 31, 2020 10:56 AM
Just a quick question....(Professor Row) by Mara Morales
Mara had been thinking about the possibilities of this world even before she had found out that she was destined to be part of it, but the trip to Tumbleweed had increased the frequency of those thoughts. For one thing, Jessica affirmed that it was the first time in three years that the students had been allowed to shop there, or even leave campus. For another, she had now gotten two good looks at the sort of businesses they had here, and she was confident that she had something to offer and that there was an opening in the market for that offering.Accordingly, after returning to campus, she had re-read the books she had brought with her on the topic, making notes, and had done some more research in the library before compiling a simple business proposal and making an appointment with the guidance counselor. She was not sure she needed it yet – there was one question she needed to ask before anything else was considered; it was possible she’d entirely wasted her time for now – but she liked to have it anyway.
At the appointed time, she walked into Killian Row’s office with a slightly unnatural-feeling smile, which was coated in a very faux-natural tint. She had also worn her black shoes and best gold earrings, to look vaguely professional. Wearing a little suit or something just would have made adults smile indulgently at her, thinking her playacting, but the existence of a uniform saved her the dilemma on whether or not the advantages would be worth the price there.
“Hi,” she said. “Thank you for meeting me. I just have a question about school policy that I thought you might be the best person to ask about. What are the rules about students having businesses on campus?”
16
Mara Morales
Just a quick question....(Professor Row)
1472
1
5
Killian Row
January 31, 2020 6:58 PM
Top 5 favorite questions ever. by Killian Row
Killian had had an . . . interesting time in Tumbleweed. He knew he should think it had been good, but he really wasn't sure how he felt still. In any case, he did certainly feel relieved to be in his own office again. It felt comfortable and easy here, and things were straightforward. Well . . . as straightforward as being a guidance counselor for children aged eleven to seventeen or so could be. It was all a bit of a mess, really. But these were problems he could work with, and in most cases, problems that he was not alone in working on. Kids who had problems they didn't care about but still needed to be addressed usually were dealt with by professors, Heads of Houses, or more medically trained professionals - either in physical or mental health services.As always, his office was filled up with brochures for various education and trade programs, various school pennants, and forms for them all. Other forms were sorted by assessment type, particularly those that were meant to look like they were not assessments. Referral forms and student files and notes and every other thing was all over the office in the sort of way that anyone would think was a mess except that he knew where everything he needed was. He did his best work late at night and by the time he was done, he wasn't interested in cleaning things up to a polished state. Intuitive, chaotic organization was good enough for Killian.
With the Tumbleweed trip now a few days behind him, his previously clean shaven face had grown out into its more usual scruff, which parted into a polite smile when Mara Morales - first year, Aladren, Quidditch player, child of non-magical parents, raised in the United States - entered his office. His smile grew wider still when he took in her appearance and noted the effort she'd obviously put into it. That was a good sign when older students did it, so he hoped it was a good sign when younger students did as well. Her immediate question caught him off-guard and he was glad he had nodded in acknowledgment of her thanks before hearing it or he would have forgotten his manners altogether. As it was, he raised an eyebrow and laughed softly in warm surprise.
"That depends," he said thoughtfully, gesturing to the seat across from him at his desk. "Please; have a seat. What sort of business endeavors are you thinking to pursue?" He kept his tone as friendly and personable as ever but he also wanted Ms. Morales to know he was taking her seriously. That meant professional. Of course, she was also eleven. "That is, what did you have in mind?"
22
Killian Row
Top 5 favorite questions ever.
1450
0
5
Mara Morales
February 04, 2020 5:53 PM
I'm holding off on rating your responses for now. by Mara Morales
Mara had to hide a smile when Row rephrased his question. Would your average eleven-year-old understand what he had said, she wondered? She had understood just fine, but that was because she had grown up listening to her father grumble about business matters while she and Jessica and Lola played together, or sometimes she and Jessica instead broke off to ask questions or listen, or to answer questions Dad had for them….Since she couldn’t exactly talk about that, though – she had seen her own school forms being filled in, and her mother had pretended she didn’t have a father, just as they always had on forms in her old life in Atlanta – she put it aside in favor of answering the question the guidance counselor had for her.
“More than one thing,” she began. “Short-term – this year – I was thinking there’s a market for something like a makeover service, with the ball and all. I’ve already got ideas about supplies and assistance, but we’ll have to work out the school’s compensation – room rent and compensation for inspections to make sure everything’s safe and stuff. I have a…sort of hypothesis budget, but I wanted to figure out if this is even possible before I went too far with it.
“Longer-term – if this works at all, I mean turns a profit, I was thinking about ideas for a recurring school store or something like that,” she continued. “There’s definitely a market for that – I heard from an older student that Tumbleweed was the first time she’d gotten to go shopping in years. I think the rich kids I know might think that was a violation of the Geneva Conventions, and there’s a lot of rich kids in this school. Plus, I know that we’re all supposed to bring enough school supplies to last each half-year, but you know, we’re kids, we’re stupid, right?” she said with a quick grin. “It wastes time having to write home for ink or writing paper or stuff, so having a source on campus would make sense, right?
“That’s further out, though,” she added. “That’s something to work more details for over the summer, if I can run the first plan. And after you tell me if there’s a school rule against asking other students to pay me to do stuff at all,” she added.
16
Mara Morales
I'm holding off on rating your responses for now.
1472
0
5
Killian Row
February 05, 2020 2:20 PM
That's probably for the best. by Killian Row
Killian's countenance shifted some as he realized what this was, because it definitely was not a student asking the guidance counselor for help on a project they'd like to pursue. This was an entrepeneur attending a business meeting with the local permit office. Mock interviews with students were one thing, but this was next level and Killian was absolutely thrilled. He resisted the urge to get up and cheer in favor of taking the entire thing very seriously. This was the sort of thing that students learned from, no matter how it turned out, and there was no mistaking Mara for a student who hadn't thought it through. That meant they could skip the part where he bolstered her self-confidence to some extent, and move right into discussing feasibility.Killian pressed his finger tips together and looked at Mara seriously, though not unkindly, as she explained her proposition in further detail. He offered a smirk when she made a joke and nodded along in understanding throughout. When she was finished, he paused for a moment. "I think the first thing I should disclaim is that I'm not the only authority on this. Off the top of my head, Deputy Headmistress Skies and possibly the Headmaster himself would need to approve this as well. That being said, I think I can help. Offer guidance, you might say," he joked, his eyes shining.
"That aside . . ." Where to begin? Mara had hit all the pieces of a good business proposal: identify short and long term goals, identify the market need, identify a consumer base, acknowledge barriers and limitations with paired ideas for resolving them, and provide assurance that such things as money and safety had already been taken into account. "My initial response is favorable. I think you've presented your points well and I am always one to encourage students in forward-thinking projects. That being said, I have some concerns as well.
First, I want to add that there are plenty of rooms available for student reservations and I don't think you'd need to worry about anything like rent. There would be some limitations on where you could reserve that space - I doubt you'll be setting up a booth in Cascade Hall anytime soon - but that shouldn't be an issue. Safety would be the bigger concern. Are you thinking of magical or non-magical cosmetic options? How well-versed are you in allergen and skincare information?" Another thought came to Killian and he cocked his head, wondering how far he ought to push this. Should he treat her just like an adult? She didn't seem to be cowed by the idea.
"On the school front," he said, beginning his new question slowly and thoughtfully, "there would be questions about the perception of this being a Sonora-based program, which is not within the values of the school. We simply don't try to sell students products for profit. That being said, if we were able to work with you in setting this up in a way that made it clear that this was your project and Sonora sanctioned but not affiliated, I am interested in how your business aligns with Sonora values. Are your products cruelty-free? Vegan? Do you have options? What is your philosophy with regards to body-image and self-care? I think it goes without saying that we would not approve any marketing campaigns targeting student insecurities."
He leaned back some, trying to break the stiffness that builds in rooms where most of the movement is happening internally and very little happens externally except to breathe and exist. He offered a light, professional but sincere smile. "On the whole, I think you have a good start. Do you feel prepared to discuss the matters I've raised at this time, or do you prefer to setup another meeting?"
22
Killian Row
That's probably for the best.
1450
0
5
Mara Morales
February 06, 2020 12:52 PM
Best to get lots of data first. by Mara Morales
Mara kept her face straight and nodded solenmnly when Row said he wasn’t the only authority. She had figured as much. As far as she could tell, the school was…well, her dad would have thrown a fit if any building he expected to make him money had had such criss-crossed roles, it was inefficient, but the institution was so small that she guessed it was inevitable – not enough work to support clearly defined roles.The population was also probably too small to make anything truly big from, but it would do for now. She reckoned that once any profit was converted into USD, it would be enough for her to enjoy herself when she was at home, anyway, and it would prove to her dad that she had ‘it’ – that she was a chip off the old block – whatever. She’d probably never actually get in at Arvale itself, but he owned other, smaller companies, units he’d bought but allowed to retain their individual names and aesthetics. Plus, well, if she did well, even here could probably turn into something that would make enough for her to live as well on as she wanted to at home, anyway, after the currency was converted, she thought. She wasn’t totally sure about these things, but as far as she could tell, it seemed realistic enough to be worth a try.
“Right,” she said, smiling politely at his joke, as he had done likewise for hers, and settled in to listen to a very long speech.
He had some logical questions, and then there was some market-speak. Mara hated market-speak – it was all such bull droppings, and it was especially ludicrous for him to imply the school’s values included being vegan and cruelty-free; had he ever seen the Potions lab? Or, for that matter, the potions kits they had all had to bring with them? Some sicko had actually taken the time out of his or her day to think up the idea that it was a good idea to pick the teeny-tiny eyes out of freaking beetles, and based on how many of those things there had been in the apothecary her family had visited and how low the prices had been compared to other ingredients, Mara could only assume that the eye-pickers were ten-year-olds in sweatshops who had small hands and even smaller margins between themselves and starvation – but it was a fact of life. Plus, at the very end, he did actually touch on one thing that was worth discussing.
Mara thought that Jessica was beautiful. She thought there were other white girls who were even more beautiful than Jessica. However, she regarded it as a particularly massive heap of bovine excrement to imply that this was the only way to beautiful. Her mother was beautiful, too, even if Mamá didn’t quite seem to believe it, and fretted sometimes about wishing that Mara and Lola had taken more after their blonde-haired, blue-eyed father – even if Mara sometimes had flashes of insecurity where she worried that Mamá preferred Lola to her, because Lola was perhaps a shade fairer-skinned than her, and had slightly more European features. Mara had looked up the definition of beauty in the dictionary once, and it had talked about what was pleasing to the senses. There was nothing about strict adherence to Northern European norms in that. Geometry was a factor, balance between features, but features could be balanced and proportional without being Scandinavian.
She nodded again, in more businesslike fashion, when he concluded. “I can get started,” she said, and began.
“Back to your first point, about how much I know about skincare and allergens,” she said, folding in her fingers and then letting extend outward to help her keep track of where they were. “There, I mostly know enough to know how much I don’t know, and to make everything’s labeled with everything in it, and to make it clear that we’re just suggesting how you might do your eyeshadow to look good, not offering medical advice about your acne or whatever. If I get the green light, I’ll ask for legal advice about more details disclaimers and stuff.” She said this casually, as though asking for legal advice was something she assumed anyone could do at will, never thinking that if he looked closely at her file and understood the conversion rate between USD and galleons, he might find this odd. Her mom’s official salary was certainly respectable, but though the reality was different, officially, Mara didn’t belong to the class of people in the Muggle world who just had casual access to lawyers of any note. Her thoughts were more about how long it would take to settle on her father’s remuneration and then to make enough to pay him back. She knew he wouldn’t actually ask, but if she was going to try this, she might as well do it as though it were real. “If there’s somewhere the school would want to send stuff for quality testing, to cover liability on your end, that can happen,” she added in the same matter-of-fact tone.
She extended a second finger to get into his second point. “I also agree with you about image and insecurities,” she said. “You ought to feel…more like you where you’re done up, not like you’re wearing some mask trying to look like a skinny white girl when you aren’t – or heck, like me if you are a skinny white girl, or a Goth if all you want to do is wear pink – or the other way around, you know what I’m saying?” She flushed, uncomfortable with saying all this out loud to someone who wasn’t part of her family. She and her family argued and discussed things freely, even when they occasionally got so exasperated with each other someone hollered, but he was an outsider, someone she was supposed to watch her tongue around. He was, however, also talking marketing, and expecting responses from her, and this was something she could tell the truth about while she was also playing to the currently fashionable media line. “Sorry,” she said anyway, her nature breaking through her attempt at playing at adult professionalism. “Mamá says I take this stuff all too seriously, but it’s serious stuff, yeah?”
She rolled her shoulders and went back a point to the rest of his stuff. “As for the other stuff – options can happen. I don’t know that putting a lot of focus on veganism is the best use of the marketing part of the budget – not here, where we have potions and everything – but it’s something we can do with the stuff itself if the school would prefer,” she concluded. It would drive up the price of anything red probably, from what she knew, but the Crotali mostly looked like they could cough up. “Did I miss any of your points?” she asked, thinking back through them.
16
Mara Morales
Best to get lots of data first.
1472
0
5