Attending college full-time takes determination and hard work, but attending school full-time, holding down a job while also starting and running a small business can be even more.
Sherry St. Charles does all of these things while also tending to her two small children of three and four-years-old. While outsiders commend Sherry’s tenacity and ability to juggle tasks, Sherry replied enthusiastically: “What? I don’t get what the big deal is — I just do what I have to do and that’s that!”
St. Charles is a senior and nontraditional student at Eastern Michigan University, majoring in speech pathology. She plans to attend a graduate program upon completion of her undergraduate degree in April of 2011.
“There have been so many times I just wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits,” said St. Charles. “I just can’t do that though — I need to continue setting a good example for my kids.”
St. Charles started her own business when she was 28. Now, six years later, St. Charles is beginning to expand her business and create more revenue for her family by advertising and spending more time on the business overall. The name of her business is Elegant Wedding Decorations. St. Charles creates wedding décor by adding chair covers, tablecloths, favors, church decorations and more to wedding tables and halls. She considers her busy lifestyle normal and is something she has become accustomed to over the years.
St. Charles began her business after putting together her own wedding. She focused excessively on the small, but noticeable details.
“With my own wedding, I put so much detail into it — friends began asking me to help them with their weddings. They said that I should do this for a living,” St. Charles said. “Although it wasn’t enough to make a living out of it, I was still able to contribute to the household.”
St. Charles’ business creates an added $15, 000 to her income per year while in school. According to St. Charles, the business is growing since she decided to transform Elegant Wedding Decorations from a side job into a busier, viable business.
“There have been many signs of growth,” St. Charles said. “I have already received more phone calls and consultations.”
To those who are interested in starting a business of their own, St. Charles encouraged, “There is only one way to find out if you can start a business and that is to just do it — you can sit around thinking about it forever, but until you just do it, you will never know,” St. Charles said.
Another student at EMU has also earned a decent wage by creating for himself a business that combines his previous experience with a passion for computers. Michael Bussert is a senior at EMU, majoring in public law and government. He aspires to attend law school upon completing his undergraduate degree in 2011.
“I am a very achievement-oriented person, I love being challenged and taking on the responsibility in order to show my potential and service to others. I feel this is very important to be exposed to all of these different qualities in order to learn as much as I can to prepare for law school, my future career, and life,” Bussert said.
Bussert is a full-time student, part-time employee at Old Navy in Novi and young entrepreneur who is also studying rigorously for his Law School Admissions Test, which he will take next week. Bussert also is president of an honors organization within his department and the executive vice president of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Since Bussert was 11 years old, he has been interested in computers and Web design.
“I absolutely loved graphic design — it has always been one of my favorite hobbies. When I was about 15, my brother and I started a Web design company creating Web sites for Farmer’s Insurance agents and a few restaurants,” said Bussert. It was at this point he discovered a way to make his passion become lucrative. He makes a decent wage designing Web pages and other designing for his clients.
“The money is nice to help pay for my education, and since I can do it in my free time it doesn’t interfere with my involvement on campus or my classes,” Bussert said.
“After about a year and a half my brother started college and had little time for the business so the company died — but I have continued to produce images, Web site layouts, and graphics for family, friends, clients and I am always practicing by producing my own artwork that I hang in my home,” Bussert said.
Attention to detail, organization and time management are important facets of Bussert’s life. “Life gets extremely stressful without time management — time management becomes the key component in keeping your sanity and being able to work as efficiently as you can,” Bussert said.
Bussert has more than 30 clients and upon admission into law school plans to discontinue his business until his third year so he can focus solely on his academics.
Bussert advises others looking to gain self employment, “Don’t be shy — get your name out as much as possible by networking and talking to as many people as you can.”
