Running her own eyelash extension business was never something sophomore Bradley student Jenny Reyes imagined herself doing.
As a college student, it can be hard to manage time between work, school, clubs and other activities. Once Reyes became interested in eyelash extensions, she realized that starting her own small business would allow her the freedom to create her own schedule and benefit her future career.
With the support of her parents, she took a course on how to apply lash extensions over summer break, and by the time school began, she had been practicing and improving each day.
“The most challenging part was definitely the day I took the course,” she said. “I don’t have much patience, lashing is very tedious and I was kind of at a point where I just wanted to say ‘nevermind I don’t want to do this anymore!’, but I pulled through.”
It’s a good thing she did, because Reyes has only been lashing for less than a year and has already utilized her knowledge from her public relations and advertising courses to help her build clientele on campus.
“I definitely have on my resume how I am managing my lash business and how I incorporate it with my major,” Reyes said. “I apply things that I learn in my classes, specifically like Com 322 with Professor Marsh learning about target audience and advertising strategies in Com 320 with Professor Banning.”
Reyes receives most of her clients through Instagram, @winksbyjenny, where she posts pictures of all her work, pricing, availability and policies. She currently has 567 followers since beginning her account in August.
She now serves as a great example to other young college students who are interested in starting their own business. In fact, she was a featured speaker for the Association of Latino Professionals for America where she spoke about goal setting as an entrepreneur on April 13th.
“One thing to always be aware of is how much time and dedication you need to put in with academics, involvement on campus or typically other jobs on campus,” she said. “You have to make sure you balance that perfectly well for you, and it’s definitely hard also not having as much free time as others. You definitely have to be ready for any obstacles that you face whether it’s your business or personal life.”
Being successful comes with a lot of hard work. While this isn’t something that Reyes sees herself doing for the rest of her life, it is a skill she will always hold on to and has picked up real world experiences along the way.