Most students go to school for seven hours, go to seven classes and work at a desk the whole time. For junior Grace Bales, that is not the case. Bales enrolled in Center for Advanced Professional Studies, CAPS, in the December of her sophomore year. Bales wanted to do more than what school was offering and she wanted to have a hands on experience for a job that she could possibly do in the future. Bales leaves school at 10:07 a.m. and has a start time at CAPS of 12:00 pm.

“I go home, eat lunch, watch The Office, change, because we have to dress business casual and then I head to CAPS,” Bales said.

Bales is enrolled in the Global Business Entrepreneurship strand in CAPS. In this strand, students explore businesses, learn from entrepreneurs and visit local businesses weekly. As a part of the class, students are asked to create what is called a “passion project.” Bales has always been interested in skin care, and for a while wanted to be a dermatologist. As she looked more into it, she realized it was many years of medical school, and found she does not think it would be the right thing for her. Instead, she decided to go more into skin care lines.

“I have always been interested in skin care,” Bales said. “I wanted to be a dermatologist for a long time, because it interests me, but personally I just don’t think I could go through med school. It is just not the path for me, I wanted something more creative and that is where entrepreneurship comes in hand.”

For Bales passion project, she chose to make her own skin care line called “Rose Tide.” She made this product completely on her own with the help of her teacher, Dan Tripp. When she started out, her main goal was to give confidence in others and help others with something she is passionate about. Bales has created her own business cards and made connections with business partners throughout the process of making her skin care line.  

“Grace has become a very confident person,” Tripp said. “The model behind her business is to help others feel more confident about their skin. I hope she becomes very profitable and successful and she is able to grow a business that can change peoples lives.”

Bales will continue to expand her product online. She is working on making a website for the product and currently works off the Instagram, @rosetideco. Her goal is to work on funding for the product, since she works a part time job, and funding can be difficult at times. She plans to continue working and making her product even better.

”I think it is cool that she is going to have a company right out of high school that she can develop and that she is passionate about it,” CAPS student Molly Scott said. “She’s given the skills needed to start her own company so it is up to her to maintain the skills necessary for profit.”