When life gives you pickles, sell, sell, sell!

This is the motto of senior Emily Thomas, a full-time student and part-time entrepreneur. Having created and maintained the local pickle business Pickl-ees for the past three years, Thomas has now sold over 750 jars, translating into roughly $2,000 in profit. 

While her jars have been sealed off and shipped to residents across Frisco, they all trace back to the Thomas household, as Emily makes them all from scratch. 

“It started during COVID after my mom got back from a trip to go see my aunt,” Thomas said. “My aunt had made pickles and my mom tried them and loved them so we adopted our own recipe and before they were even ready I ordered stickers and started to create logos and advertisements. Now, I continue to operate Pickl-ees and sell spicy and dill refrigerator pickles.”

Once Thomas began to market her product to community members, the sales took off. 

“I started marketing on my neighborhood’s Facebook page and that did really well,” she said. “After I built a client base here I started setting up little stands in my neighborhood and those were super successful as well. Now it is pretty much just word of mouth and social media.”

In the eyes of Pickl-ees buyer, Attendance Clerk Tracey Grenier, owning a business while in high school is an impressive feat. 

“I am so impressed on how she is able to manage being a student and have this business on the side,” Grenier said. “It is so cool, and my husband and I really enjoy buying from her. The first time we bought 3 jars, and the next time I think it was 6 or 7, my husband cannot get enough of them.”

The pickle business is its own part-time job, according to mother Erica Thomas.

“It gets pretty busy sometimes considering the fact that Emily also has another part-time job,” she said. “A typical day for her is usually school from 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., work 5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., then pickles from 10:00 p.m. to whenever they are done. It can get stressful, but she loves staying busy and keeping herself occupied.”

With a full schedule, learning how to manage her time has become a big asset to Thomas. 

“This business has taught me so much, but I think one of the biggest lessons I learned was how important it is to not be lazy,” Thomas said. “While I love this business it is a lot of work and when you have people anticipating and depending on you to provide products you have to follow through and make sure everyone is satisfied. That includes being on time with orders.”

All in all, she continues to persevere due to the self-motivation she has received from each sale. 

“I am really motivated to support myself and I have always been a super driven person so starting a business just seemed like my best option,” Thomas said. “I love working and interacting with customers and trying to build up more and more clients. I think this has been super important to me developing social skills and a work ethic.”