People of Central: Tatum Byrne

Story by: Madison Lajewski

Photos courtesy of: Tatum Byrne

Central Michigan Athletics, lash extensions and 21 credits. Tatum Byrne is a senior sports management student at CMU. She is taking 21 credits this fall semester, while also working three jobs.

One of Byrne’s jobs is running her own business as a licensed esthetician.

“I’ve always been interested in beauty,” Byrne said. “In high school, I used to do people’s prom makeup and stuff like that. But I never really knew I could get a good living off of it. I started getting my lashes done my sophomore year of college and my lash girl told me that she was going to esthetician school.”

Byrne offers a variety of services through her business that she does through Platinum House Salon in Midland.

“I really like doing brows, like brow waxing and brow tints,” Byrne said. “I really like doing lash lifts and tints because they make a natural difference. I like doing lash extensions too, but they take a long time. Facials are also one of my favorites too.”

Having three jobs, and going to school with a major and three minors is not for everyone. Byrne said it takes a lot of organization and time management to juggle it all.

“I try to take as many asynchronous classes as possible to make it easier on myself and to not miss class, but also still get the credits done that I need to,” Byrne said. “Time management. I basically made an Excel spreadsheet of all of my homework assignments, that really helps to stay on top of everything.”

One of her other jobs is at a dermatology office that she works 40 hours a week at. After graduating from CMU, she hopes to run her esthetician business full-time and eventually find a job in the field of sports.

“I’m trying to quit this dermatology office job (after graduating) and work more esthetician jobs,” Byrne said. “My next goal right after graduating is to work in Midland seven days a week-ish. Then hopefully I want to do something with sports; social media, sports broadcasting. I’d love to work at University of Michigan, but I also kind of want to get out of the state of Michigan because it’s very cold.”

Byrne was born and raised in St. Thomas, which is a part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She moved to Michigan in high school and decided she wanted to go to college here.

“I moved to Michigan for six months my junior year of high school because we had two Category 5 hurricanes and there was no power or electricity,” Byrne said. “So I went to high school at Waterford Kettering for about a semester. I got really close with my aunt and uncle. I wanted to go to college somewhere close to family. So I was applying to all Michigan schools. I toured Eastern, Western, State (Michigan State University) and Michigan (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.) I didn’t even know anything about Central to be quite honest. Then I got an email that said I could apply to Central for free. So I applied and it was actually the first school to accept me. My dad and I evaluated the finances, and CMU ended up giving me the best deal. They don’t have out-of-state tuition, so that’s why I went with CMU.”

Having a busy schedule is not new to Byrne. In St. Thomas, she attended a college-prep high school and participated in extracurricular activities.

“I played a lot of sports in high school,” Byrne said. “I played softball as my main sport. I was a part of the all-star team for the Virgin Islands for a couple years. Then I acted in plays too. I traveled with a theater group. So I was pretty busy in high school.”

Sports have been a major part of Byrne’s life and have continued to be a presence throughout her college career. Her third job is running the social media accounts through CMU Athletics.

“My favorite sport to watch is probably college basketball because it’s fast paced and doesn’t stop every five seconds like football does,” Byrne said. “Definitely college basketball, preferably Michigan (University of Michigan.)”

To learn more about Byrne or to book an appointment with her, visit her Instagram Beauty by Tatum.

Tatum Byrne attends a University of Michigan basketball game in 2019. Photo courtesy of: Tatum Byrne

Tatum Byrne poses on the Kelly Shorts Stadium football field at Central Michigan University. This photo was posted on Sports Girls Club’s Instagram page on Oct. 8, 2022.

Tatum Byrne runs her own esthetician business, that she does at Platinum House Salon in Midland, Michigan. Clients can DM her business Instagram page to set up appointments.