Side Hustling To A Liberal Arts Education
Unique ways Whittier College Students make money
As you walk past her, she smiles and says, “How you doing?” And you both carry on with your day. You think to yourself, “She’s cute, athletic physique — probably on her way to practice.” But little do you know, she’s on her way to drop a few grand on a new wardrobe! She’s got a benefactor, what’s known as a sugar daddy. He gives her money and she gives him time.
“He is like the sugar daddy without the sugar” she says.
Whenever she needs something, he has it covered. Is making money really this easy? Or is it more complicated than it appears?
Everyone’s been told college is the time of your life: cereal for dinner, four hours of sleep a night, a Brita filter as dry as the Sahara desert because there’s no room to fill it in a sink full of dirty dishes, a cardboard cylinder for toilet paper, and homemade concoctions to kill the bugs that were “definitely there before you moved in.” With all these wonderful things that come with a $60,000 Liberal Arts education, we somehow find a way to keep ourselves from jumping off the science building. We make it to weightlifting at 6 a.m. after finishing a 50-turn Mario party, cram three days of school work into one, prank roommates while their at class and make memories you hope your kids never find out about.
Time is often short and money is, too.
Students at Whittier College know they can’t get by on $9 Venmos from friends. So they have found creative ways of side hustling for that extra cash — ranging from having a sugar daddy to selling shoes. Here are some of ways students are making money while also working for that Whittier College degree.
Cutting Hair
My cuts are cheaper than most Whittier barbershops and I offer the convenience of cutting on campus.
Junior, Natnael Yitayew (Nati) has been cutting hair since he was in sixth grade. He says he got started “because my brother didn’t want my dad to cut his hair anymore.”
During his freshman year, Nati started doing cuts for free to promote himself and build his clientele. He now charges $10 for each cut and $20 to travel to his clients’ home or room. Nati says, “My cuts are cheaper than most Whittier barbershops and I offer the convenience of cutting on campus.”
Nati is pursuing a career in Political Science but also plans on opening up a few barbershops in the process. He hopes to teach his future kids how to cut hair as well. If you ever need a cut, head to the first floor of Harris D and follow Nati on Instagram @naticuts.
Selling Shoes
Senior, Jaycob Delbarrio found himself in the business of selling shoes during his freshman year of high school. “I usually spend a full day or two entering raffles just so I can line up and buy a pair of shoes,” says Jaycob. Once he’s gotten in, he gets the goods: Jordan’s, Yeezy’s, or limited releases.
The resell price depends on the demand for that shoe during that time. Jaycob’s margin is anywhere from two to three times the retail price. “I can buy a pair of shoes for $160 and then sell them anywhere from $300-$500 depending on how high the demand is,” he says.
Jaycob usually promotes himself through sneakerhead groups on Facebook or on eBay. Word-of-mouth is another great selling tactic as well as selling them to stores like CoolkicksLA and RoundTwo Hollywood. Jaycob’s goal after college is to open his own physical therapy practice. He says he hopes to incorporate his love for shoes into his practice in someway.
Selling Weaves
Whittier Sophomore Journee has skipped the idea of side hustling and went straight into her own business. Since high school, she would change her hair so frequently (lengths, colors, and braids) that her mom said she should start her own company because she was spending so much money. And that is what lead her to create Jay Galore Hair Extensions, LLC.
Journee sells hair extensions, wigs, and eyelash strips. A good number of her clients come from her home state of Louisiana, though she is working to expand more in store and online. The business has been operating for a full year now and she has five employees. Journee finds herself working on braids and wigs about every two days. She pulls in roughly $1,000 each week in revenue, “but only because I’m a brand new company and I’m just starting,” says Journee. “So right now that’s either going back into my company or into my tuition.”
The business has now been operating for a full year now and she has five employees.
Journee focuses her efforts on promoting her line through social media. “I just post over and over until I get on people’s nerves,” she explains. “I also have friends and family members refer me as well as offer certain merchandise to those with a large audience.”
Journee definitely wants to see her company turn into something huge. “I also have many other business tricks up my sleeve” she says.
Follow Journee @jaygalorehair if you want a new style!
Dog Care
I have also found a way to make some extra money. My friends started asking why they always see pictures of me in beautiful houses in West Hollywood. Well, I tell them, I get paid to watch dogs, do my homework, and pretend I live in a gorgeous house for a few days.
I signed up for Rover, an app that allows you to build your own dog-sitting business. I was fortunate enough to be requested by a family in Hollywood and they recommended me to all their friends. Because the commute is 45 minutes, my rate to stay at their house is $60 a per night. For a week’s stay, I make $420. Staying in someone else’s big house can be a little scary. So, for safety precautions, I sleep with a knife by the bed, make sure all the doors are locked, close the blinds and hope to God if there is an intruder the dogs will protect me! And if I’m watching small dogs… well, I’m on my own! Three other students at Whittier have discovered doggies are a great and easy way to make money.
Staying in someone else’s big house can be a little scary. So for safety precautions, I sleep with a knife by the bed, make sure all the doors are locked, I close the blinds, and hope to God if there is an intruder the dogs will protect me! And if I’m watching small dogs… well, I’m on my own!
Sophomore, Jessica Zona has been using Rover to board dogs for the last few months at her own apartment. Jessica charges $30 a night and makes sure to meet the owners prior to the requested stay. Jessica says, “I keep myself safe by doing meet and greets and by not having the dog dropped off at my front door. I prefer to pick the dog up at the owners place or meet them down the street from my exact location.”
Following in her footsteps, Senior, Kajal Vital has also been using Rover for about a month now and is happy with how it is going. She charges $25 for dog boarding so she can build a rapport and eventually raise her rate. When it comes to the safety aspect Kajal says, “Before I do agree to watch a stranger’s dog, I always do a meet-and-greet with the dog owner and the dog in order to make sure both the owner and I are comfortable with each. So they know they can trust me and I am comfortable with the dog.”
Senior, Jenna Muise has been using Wag, strictly a dog walking service. Jenna charges $10 to $20 for each walk and has about six dogs a week. She mentions how it can be a little intimidating at times when meeting a dog for the first time without the owners there. But growing up with dogs she has learned how to approach them and keep herself protected. As a safety precaution she says, “I try not to accept walks after it gets dark outside because I don’t want to be walking in unfamiliar neighborhoods by myself at night. But so far I haven’t felt like I’ve been in danger on any of my walks.”
Having A Sugar Daddy
Some students have taken a leap of faith by putting their safety on the line to receive the most money possible — a bang for their buck!
While there are safe routes students at Whittier have taken to make their extra money, some students have taken a leap of faith by putting their safety on the line to receive the most money possible — a bang for their buck!
The Internet makes it much easier to find odd markets that’ll satisfy a need. It is more common than one may think to have someone older (not a parent) that will financially support someone younger. They can be referred to as a sugar daddy or a sugar mama. Some may only want friendship in return for compensation, while others expect an intimate relationship. A few students from Whittier were willing to explain just how complicated this type of side hustling can be on the condition of anonymity.
The first source has a little different story than one may expect.
“There are 11 girls in the group and I am the youngest and only single one. There are some girls who have been in the group since they we’re 16 and they are now 40-years-old, married and have kids,” she explains.
She was introduced to this sugar daddy by her sister’s best friend. She says he is like a sugar daddy without the sugar. The active 76 year-old does not want anything in return other than friendship and to make him feel young again. She says, “He is basically a father figure, but in a way that provides for you more than you could ever think.”
The girls workout with him, do spartan races, and climb mountains. “The other day I had work off and I said ‘I miss you I haven’t seen you in a while,’” she explains, “So we went to San Diego for the day with no plans. We ended up going to the San Diego Zoo and then we went to fucking Sea World. And then we finished with shopping and I’m not going to lie, we probably dropped like eight grand that day.”
We ended up going to the San Diego Zoo and then we went to fucking Sea World. And then we finished with shopping and I’m not going to lie, we probably dropped like eight grand that day.
She enjoys holding his hand in public and watching the faces people make, giving them a laugh or a smirk in return. This arrangement has become a huge part of her life. The girls in the group are now her best friends and she brings him to family parties. She says her parents know but do not seem to care — they just expect her to get her money from him now. She has been involved for about two years and does not see an end in the near future.
Another sugar baby on campus met her daddy because he was an old family friend. He is a top executive at Budweiser who started making a great living at a young age. He did not want anything more than pictures and someone to talk to. Even though he had a girlfriend, he was not happy with her and needed someone else to fill that emptiness.
“He bought me equipment for the sport I play, multiple pairs of lulus, and he would give me $600 every other week,” she says, adding that there were no safety concerns in her mind because she knew him for a while.
The only girls that knew about the arrangement were her best friends and they wanted in on it, too. “What made me wanna go that route was because it was the easiest way to make money, talking to a guy for that much, I would do it again any day,” she says, though she adds that she stopped the arrangement when she met someone and is now happy in her current relationship.
What made me wanna go that route was because it was the easiest way to make money, talking to a guy for that much, I would do it again any day.
Another girl used a more traditional route and found someone through a website called Seeking Arrangements. She was the only one involved and he did expect intimacy in return for money, food, and clothes. When meeting someone for the first time online, there is a huge risk and she was wary.
“I was scared he was gonna kill me on our first meet up, so I gave my friends my location and a specific time I would text them,” she said. As far as the riks versus the reward goes, she says she is too busy during the school year to have a job, so she needed to find something at which she could make quick money.
