If you think you’re too young to be an entrepreneur, then you should’ve been at Western’s winter market.
Hundreds of students strolled through the Ronald D. Schmeichel Building for Entrepreneurship and Innovation last Tuesday. They stopped at one of the more than 25 vendors selling everything from food products to handmade crafts, jewellery and other services created by Western students and alumni.
The hottest spot at the market was the Chalant Central Cafe, started just this summer by fourth-year psychology student Sidrah Saadeddin. She said the market was one of the best days for their business.
“When I joined, honestly, I felt so welcomed, and I felt like I was inspired by other people too, and it pushed me a lot, honestly, it made me feel like all the hard work was worth it,” said Saadeddin.
Western’s Winter Market at the Schmeichel building, Dec. 2, 2025.
While it originally began as a coffee cart, Chalant has evolved into a station for different drinks, including hot cocoa dream, strawberry state of mind — strawberry matcha — and a shaken espresso creation titled “shaken not stressed.”
John Macdonald, marketing manager at Morissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, said the market came about because of alumni and students’ innovation and desire for entrepreneurship.
Macdonald emphasized that a survey showed that over 40 per cent of new students consider or are looking to build entrepreneurial skills that will dictate their future. He said events like the winter market and programs at Morrisette are a place for Western-run startups and company owners to gain confidence and flex their sales muscles.
“Selling your product is one thing,, but owning your idea that it becomes an extension of you, and having that confidence to speak clearly, to articulate your vision and to convince others that your solution is the right fit for their problem,” said Macdonald.
Fourth-year media and communications studies student Megan Brown is one of the students who’s taken advantage of Morissette initiatives. Thanks to funding from the accelerator program, she ran her accessory business, Nature Gemz, full-time over the summer, even while studying abroad in Denmark.
Brown started her business in grade 10 as a way to raise money for environmental issues.
“Then I sort of fell in love with just running the business. I think I always was a bit entrepreneurial growing up,” said Brown.
She’s dabbled in creating different products, like going viral with her Etsy shop selling over 1,000 resin rings in 2021. After getting burnt out, she shifted her business to making and selling handmade accessories, including makeup bags, tote bags, glass cups and more.
Western’s Winter Market at the Schmeichel building, Dec. 2, 2025.
She thought about making bags before she even learned how to sew, seeing the product as something that would sell, then catching up on her skills to create it.
“Especially if you’re in school, it can be hard to start a business, but I think [Morissette] has a ton of great resources and runs a ton of events where you can,” said Brown.
PhD biochemistry candidate Chloe Jang knows that with long lab days, it can be hard to “get optimal nutrition to be able to perform well.”
“In particular, the hardest thing for us to kind of incorporate to our diet was vegetables, and we were always, honestly like, either skipping it entirely or picking snack options that were just not the best for us, leaving us tired or just feeling hungrier,” said Jang.
Enter Easy Snack, on a mission to make fruits and vegetables accessible and fun to eat through toasted vegetable dips and protein smoothies. While their women-led team was hesitant to start without business backgrounds, they’ve had support from the Morissette entrepreneurship community through the accelerator program and pitch competitions.
“There’s a lot of incredible mentors in the community, and in the food space, particularly, there’s a lot of support in London. So that was a surprise to us, knowing that actually this London is an agri food hub, and there’s a lot of more food up and coming businesses,” said Jang.
Jang recommends aspiring entrepreneurs get realistic about your idea and asking yourself if this addresses a problem people are facing. She also advises aspiring entrepreneurs to start testing it quickly with people in your circle, coining a minimum viable product in the business world — a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can provide feedback.
“People are very supportive and willing to help, but you kind of need to go looking and ask first. But generally people are open minded and open like they have open hearts too. So a lot of people are willing to support others,” said Jang.
Advice from Saadeddin to students who want to start a business is to, like the meaning of Chalant, not overthink it.
“Just do whatever makes you happy. And if you love doing something, other people will love it. If you do it out of your heart, and like, make the coffee out of your heart, people will love it. Be chalant,” said Saadeddin.
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