Head-to-Toe Holistic Skincare Biz Shows Moxie

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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If you got a tax refund last month, did you do anything special with it? Did you get money back, whether it was last month or last quarter, or at some point you had a tax return, did you get some money back? Well, the story I'm gonna tell you here today might inspire you. This person used her entire tax refund, which was a grand total of $150, has her entire startup costs for her side hustle. She's a single mom who teaches the science of healthy skin with simple small batch skincare products.

I think it's a good time to ask, what can you do with what you have? What can you do with what you have right now, as opposed to looking to some other resource, some other person, some other circumstance or situation for an answer? What can you do with what you have? I'll tell you this inspiring tax refund story, holistic skincare biz takes success from head to toe. It's coming up after this quick message from our sponsor.

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Ayanna De Dease thought she had it all. She had designed clothing for some very successful companies. She had done a lot of traveling and even lived abroad. Engaged at age 30, she was looking forward to the wedding. Life kept getting better and better.

But of course, it doesn't always continue that way. And in fact, if that was the whole story, it would be kind of a boring story. So by the time she was 33, Ayanna was the mother of a two-year-old divorced and living back in her hometown in Georgia after taking the midnight train, no doubt. She was tired, broke and felt lost. Fortunately, she had a lot of good experience to draw upon, including a ton of knowledge she'd gained by studying holistic remedies in her twenties.

While stressed and depressed, she began reading a small red notebook she'd filled with information from her studies. She wasn't actually looking for a business, but a business found her. Ayanna began mixing formulas based on her old notes and found the process to be therapeutic. She soon created a hair and body oil and began giving it away to family, friends and sometimes strangers until one of those friends convinced Ayanna that she could sell the product. Now at the time, Ayanna was working in a hotel for minimum wage.

It was a job, but she only felt happy when she was mixing ingredients and seeing how the oil helped others. That same friend bought the first bottle of skin oil for $10 and Ayanna was in business. She decided to call it head to toe and soon she had the opportunity to sell at a festival. She used $150 from her tax refund to get supplies and then made enough money at the event to cover her rent. Over the next year, she continued selling at local markets and other special events, sometimes making great money and sometimes making very little.

When her daughter was five, Ayanna decided to pack her SUV and moved to New Mexico with just a bit of money in her savings and no job waiting for her. She leased a kiosk in a small shopping center at Kirkland Air Force Base. Those first few months in New Mexico were tough. Ayanna was miserable, resentful and broke, but she continued selling at the kiosk and slowly grew a following as customers began reordering. Today, Ayanna Denise Skin, new name, is a thriving business offering simple small batch skincare products, including cleansers, toners, moisturizers, as well as that same oil she started with.

While she used to craft every batch of products herself, these days a small production facility now makes the products for her. Customers are women aged 34 to 55 who are health conscious. Many of them come by referral or search engine results. Now, like so many of our stories, Ayanna found that advertising on social media was expensive and not successful for her. She's grown her business instead by focusing on educating others about skincare.

Again, startup costs for this were very low, just that $150 from her tax refund. And today, the side hustle brings in up to $4,000 a month. Going forward, she wants to expand the reach of her products and services. She's looking to partner with wellness centers and holistic resorts. [Music]

What can you do with what you have?

That is our theme for the day. What can you do with what you have? Whether it's $150 in a tax refund or maybe just some money you've been saving or maybe there's no money at all. You know, we've had so many stories that are $0 startups focusing on education, focusing on transferring knowledge, or otherwise, you know, some kind of affiliate opportunity, some kind of marketing program. There's just so many different things you could do.

What can you do with what you have now? That's my encouragement for you today. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Today's show notes, including links to Ayana's website, anything else I mentioned, sidehustleschool.com/1963. If you've got a comment or question for us, you can leave it there as well.

I hope you will subscribe or follow and come back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]