Student Spotlight: Small Businesses Grow on Campus
Student Spotlight: Small Businesses Grow on Campus
Seniors Takaye Farmer, a chemistry major, and Kaylee Foster, an accounting and finance double major, are using their passions to run their small side hustles as college students.
Students on MC’s campus aren’t waiting until after they earn their degree to start working toward their future and do the things they love. Seniors Takaye Farmer, a chemistry major, and Kaylee Foster, an accounting and finance double major, are using their passions to run their small side hustles as college students. Foster, owner of Psalm 23 Store, began selling mugs, thank you cards, and phone cases from her Etsy shop in January of this year. The brand-new store’s name originates from her grandmother’s favorite portion of the Bible, which she would often repeat to Foster and her sister. Her mugs have already gained some sales and feature sayings such as “Today is a good day,” “Fear no evil,” “Choose joy”, and “Pray without ceasing.”
Foster wants to continue to run her Etsy shop as a side hustle to spread positive messages and the Word of God. “I've always loved to do creative stuff. I don't have a graphic design degree or anything like that, but I always think it’s super fun,” she said. One of her future goals is to learn how to crochet and knit products like potholders and mittens.
Farmer started TK Cosmetics on May 13, 2020, which sells natural skincare, lip balms, lip scrubs, and perfumes for sensitive skin. Her business has allowed her to combine her two loves: chemistry and makeup. Farmer knew she wanted to be a cosmetic chemist and start her own cosmetics line in high school, but it took approximately four years before it became a reality. “I want to have a cosmetic line and a skincare line that works for sensitive skin and works well for people of all skin types that isn't super expensive,” she said.
Farmer uses the products she sells in her everyday beauty routine and even gifts some of what she creates to her friends as samples. She is partial to her lip balm, and the sales on her website suggest that her consumers are too. Her process in creating a product involves calculating the cost of containers, labels, and ingredients, as well as combining the ingredients into one natural product. She typically lets her peers test it out and give their feedback before selling it online.
When it comes to growing her business in the next few years, Farmer hopes to continue selling from her online store and eventually expand into a physical location. “I do hope that it'll be my main source of income one day, but I'm a little scared of all of the paperwork that comes with that,” she joked.
Students can purchase products from TK Cosmetics at tkcosmetics.square.site and from Foster’s Etsy store at Psalm23Store.