The hair hustle: When locks meet campus commerce

COURTESY BROOKLYN FERGUSON

A client shows off Hopewell High School senior Brooklyn Ferguson’s work as a hairstylist. Ferguson learned the craft from her parents, who owned a salon.

Styling hair is Lex Golden’s side hustle.

Golden, 24, is a full-time student at Johnson C. Smith University. The Charlotte native has been styling since 2019, but started charging in November and already makes a couple hundred dollars a month. It’s also opened the possibility of developing a career.

Golden wants to launch her own brand, called “Pretty Kouture.” Her services include braids, custom wigs and eyelashes.

“Sometimes I am not going to get clients but then usually, out of the blue they just text saying ‘Hey, I want a wig,’ or something and then I believe I’ll be fine,” she said. “At first I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I came to college, but once I started doing people’s hair, that’s when I realized I wanted to do hair.”

Hopewell High School senior Brooklyn Ferguson’s aspirations are far from the beauty industry. The 17-year-old, who specializes in braids, wigs and natural styles, wants to own and renovate real estate.

“My goal in the future is to own different properties around the U.S. and around the world, and just help people renovate different properties for me,” she said.  

COURTESY ALANA WORTH

Alana Worth, 27, is a human resources professional, but as a student at Johnson C. Smith University styled hair as her main source of income.

Ferguson learned styling at 14 years old from her parents, who owned a salon. Needing a way to make extra money while balancing her studies, Ferguson began to charge for her services during her freshman year of high school.

“My mom taught me how to do braids a little bit, but I just started trying more and practiced more to learn my techniques,” she said. “I really started because my mom wouldn’t do my hair anymore and I really needed my hair done. So, I just started practicing on my hair like that, and a lot of people wanted their hair done and I needed money because my parents kept on telling me no.”  

Ferguson plans to enroll at North Carolina Central University in the fall to major in business administration and entrepreneurship. Styling is her main source of income and plans to continue in college.

“I definitely plan to build out a schedule and carve out time so I can study and work on my schoolwork and then set aside time to work on hair and my personal life,” she said, adding the side hustle provides financial stability. “Honestly, the money just kept flowing and I like how consistently I was getting clients. I’m constantly getting booked up for the week or for the month, and that just helps me keep going because I’m still having clients every day.”  
However, women who do these types of side hustles don’t always stop after landing a “big girl job.”  

Alana Worth, 27, works in human resources at Albemarle Corporation, but as a student at JCSU styled hair as her main source of income. Worth, Ferguson and Golden use social media to advertise their services.  Though none of them have a cosmetology license or degree, their side businesses provide a valuable service for economy-minded clients who are looking for less expensive options.

Professional braiding can cost a minimum of $100 and the price can grow depending on the type and length of hair.

Worth, who also starting styling at age 14, said she does not charge as much as a professional because of her relative lack of experience as well as her belief that prices should be reasonable.

“I feel like I never charge too much. It was kind of like prices that I know I would want to pay,” she said. “That’s also why I started doing my own hair as well, because I feel like when I got to college, I was not willing to pay prices that people were charging out here, and a lot of people now are doing like a deposit, and you got to have all these rules. … It’s almost like you got to come with your hair halfway done by the time you get to them. I like to be reasonable.”  

Worth, who said she learned styling because she didn’t like how her mom did her hair when she was a child, became an entrepreneur at JCSU.

“I started braiding for family in high school,” she said. “When I got to college, that’s when I started braiding for other people. Sometimes I would promote it and people would come to my dorm room, or I would go to their dorm room and do it right there.”

Despite having a good job, Worth, whose career goal is talent acquisition, still styles on the side to earn extra cash.

“You plan your money out with your bills that come out each month where you have unexpected things that pop up,” she said. “It’s like, ‘OK, how can I get some money to go ahead and pay this off?’ I don’t want to take out a loan or anything, so it helps me stay afloat sometimes.”       

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