Successfully running a business is challenging. Then, tack on the fact that the business owner is also a full-time, degree-seeking student. College students are often tasked with balancing a successful academic career alongside a resume full of internship experience and participation in multiple clubs. 

Outside of the classroom, they attempt to balance a decent social life and maintain healthy habits such as working out and eating healthy, all while operating within a budget. The fast-paced nature of college makes running a successful business seem impossible.

Having a passion for entrepreneurship is an important aspect of running a successful business, according to several Black women-owned businesses at The University of Alabama. 

“I used to do a bunch of different things when I was younger, just to make money,” said Elissa Nation, a senior majoring in political science. Before finalizing her charm bracelet brand, Nation dabbled in painting nails and selling snacks before realizing that she wanted a business that she could consider her own.

Nation is the owner of A Nation’s Charm, a customizable bracelet brand. The Birmingham-based business offers international shipping and allows customers to shop for a variety of body accessories, hats, bags and sunglasses. She said the idea of the brand came from the need around campus to find accessible fashion on a budget.

“I was making charm bracelets just for fun and wearing them myself,” Nation said. “Then people started telling me that they wanted one, so I started selling them to my friends, and thought I might as well make this a legitimate business.”

Nation’s charms are fully customizable, so customers have as much of the creative rights to the jewelry as they want. A Simplistic Charm Bracelet on Nation’s site retails for $14, and comes with seven charms. The customer can choose the color charms they prefer, as well as silver, gold, rose-gold, or black plate. 

“For people that like to dance, I find a charm for dancers,” she said. “For people that want to be a nurse, I find medical charms, so you can feel that the bracelet matches you as best as you would like it to.”

Janeé Hill, a senior majoring in marketing, said the passion for her two businesses — Dose of Nae Podcast and Calyx Cosmetics, a vegan and cruelty-free lipstick brand — came from wanting to be her own boss. 

Hill began to look more into an LLC to ensure that her business formation would be right, as she would be to dealing with skin.

“I always knew I wanted to work for myself since I was a kid,” Hill said. 

She said the idea of her cosmetics brand came in 2019 before her freshman year of college. She wanted a brand that would relay the message that “less is more.” 

Hill felt that makeup should be optional and that women should feel confident with or without it.

“I don’t feel like we, as women, need too much makeup and it was a way to boost mine and other women’s confidence,” she said.

Hill then turned to her podcast in 2020 during COVID-19, creating it as an outlet for herself and others to speak about experiences. 

“As college students, we have so much to say, and we go through so much, especially when it comes to trying to find ourselves and navigate through life,” she said. 

Although Nation and Hill have seemed to successfully navigate their respective business ventures, it didn’t come without a period of trial and error. 

“I’m never going to say that the process is easy, nor is it always fun, but at the end of the day I’m happy with the turnout and the journey doesn’t define what the ending product is,” Nation said.

Hill said that sometimes as a Black woman business owner, she feels that she’s not always moving fast enough or getting her products seen as much as she would like. 

“It can be discouraging sometimes,” she said. “Sometimes you’ll have good months with a decent amount of sales, and other times it’s months where you won’t get many sales. But consistency and patience keeps you going.”