Money: not a matter of degree

While most of her friends earn an average of $600 a month and drive used cars, 26-year-old SF State student Elayne Wofford earns $4,000 a month and has a new 1995 Pontiac Grand Am.

She is one of several SF State students seeking alternative ways to make money without all the stress of working a regular 9-to-5 job or working more than one job to make ends meet.

One year ago, Wofford was forced to quit her 20-hour a week job at a bank because of a series of conflicts with a new manager. After Wofford quit, she realized that bills were due.

Making $8 an hour at the bank, she made about $300 every two weeks. While working at the bank and going to school, she sold Mary Kay every now and then to make ends meet. Once she quit the bank, she began selling Mary Kay full-time to meet her financial obligations.

Wofford got the idea of selling Mary Kay from a booth at the Black Expo in Oakland. The Black Expo is an annual convention where successful black business people go to promote their businesses and inventions and to display goods for sale.

As a Mary Kay representative, Wofford can set her own work hours and she doesn't have to go in to work if she doesn't want to. "It's a relief to be my own boss," Wofford said, "That's the beauty of being in business for yourself."

Many students are finding that doing this kind of work can be rewarding financially without the hassles of reporting to a boss or supervisor.

Wofford's job consists of hosting Mary Kay parties, convincing people to buy Mary Kay products and ultimately to recruit others to become Mary Kay representatives.

She gets a small percentage of the sales her recruits make in addition to the money she earns from her own sales.

Like Wofford, 23-year-old Michael Lee was never happy working for someone else. He was always looking for something more rewarding than working in retail.

"It's got to be more to life than showing someone what outfit looks best on them," Lee said.

Lee is a junior at SF State and has a work history that is almost three pages long. His last occupation was as a security guard at a warehouse in Oakland.

Lee's latest project is a writing service. He types copy on his computer and prints it on a laser printer. Most of his business comes from churches in his community. He also types term papers.

He's been at it for almost three months now, and he manages to bring in around $1,000 a month. His monthly bills total nearly $500. He saves at least $200 a month.

Lee lives with his parents and gets financial aid to pay for his tuition, so he gets to keep most of the money he earns.

"I'll never go back to a 9-to-5 job when I can earn money like this, working on my own time," Lee said.

Music major Donald Jackson found happiness working on his own as a part-time music producer. He believes a person might as well do the kind of work that makes them happy.

With three classes remaining, the 24-year-old plans to graduate from SF State in May.

For his 18th birthday, Jackson's uncle gave him a production studio with top-of-the-line equipment. In his spare time Jackson can earn $500 or more a week producing music groups and renting out the studio. Already he's producing two new rap groups and rents the studio out to other musicians by the hour.

"I used to work at the mall, but that was too boring. I hated getting up at 8 in the morning and doing the same thing everyday. I needed something more," Jackson said.

These SF State students all agree that making up their minds to go into business for themselves was frightening at first, but the rewards have been unimaginable.

"If you dream of being your own boss, go for it," Wofford said.

[ Golden Gater Online November 2, 1995 ]

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