Students’ Side Hustles

Story and photos by Maddie Lajewski

Money can be very scarce in college. With bills to pay, student loans, the endless amounts of coffee any student needs to survive, they all add up and too many times, students find themselves living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Money is a reason why Central Michigan University senior Idalis Antone started her side hustle business.

“The side hustle that I’ve been doing since I was 14 is my eyebrow business,” Antone said. “I originally started threading my eyebrows on my own when I was 12. It started off fun and I got used to threading on other people. It’s gotten more serious now that I’m in college.”

Mount Pleasant seemed like the perfect place for Antone to carry on her business.

“There’s no threading place in Mount Pleasant and sometimes clients don’t want them waxed or plucked, or they don’t want to do them themselves,” Antone said.

Many people struggle with finding an eyebrow method that works for them, which is why Antone encourages threading based off of her own past experiences.

“I have sensitive skin, so when my friends would go get their eyebrows waxed they would come back and it would be burned or their skin would be ripped off,” Antone said. “I was so scared so I’ve never gotten mine waxed. Right next to the waxing place was the threading place and I wanted to try it.”

A main reason why Antone loves and prefers threading is because of the safety of it, especially for people with sensitive skin.

“It only took 5 minutes,” Antone said. “I started researching why threading is better than waxing. Threading is safer, it’s not pulling the skin like wax would. If someone’s sensitive to it, it doesn’t affect it.”

Now that Antone has had Brows by Idalis for a while, she is beginning to expand her side hustle opportunities.

“I started a YouTube channel,” Antone said. “My first video was the eyebrow threading video. My second video is my journey, my road to success and motivational things to encourage other people that they can do it.”

Sophomore KaMyra Ali started her business to make more money on the side.

“I knew I needed more money up here and I like getting my lash extensions done,” Ali said. “I took a class with somebody back at home in Detroit, Michigan. She just taught me the basics like classic sets, and at first I didn’t really think I could do it because it’s so tedious. You really have to pay attention to every little lash. After practicing, it’s relaxing now.”

Sometimes clients can have negative reactions to the glue, which was a big concern for Ali when first starting Fabulash Blinks.

Some would imagine balancing school work on top of running a small business would be too time consuming, but Ali makes it work.

“It’s not hard being booked and doing homework,” Ali said. “I don’t book clients in the morning time or in between classes, so during the day I can get my work done and at night I do clients.”

For more information on Brows by Idalis, visit the website Brows by Idalis or her YouTube channel, Idalis Antone.

To book an eyelash appointment with Ali, visit Fabulash Blinks.