While most high schoolers have jobs, one student makes money in an unconventional way.

“I’ve always been into beauty ever since I was little. I feel like I’ve always been such a girly girl. In sixth grade, I started doing my nails, but they didn’t look that good. But I started doing them more complicatedly, and then I started doing them on my sisters, and I just really enjoyed it,” freshman Tessa Kindler said. 

The process to gain skill and confidence with nail art took some trial and error. 

“At first, I couldn’t figure out how to make them last a long time. But I realized that you have to get good quality stuff if you want them to look and last good,” Kindler said.

Tessa has been able to use social media as an asset to her business.

“I did some of my friends’ nails. And then I made a Tik Tok account, and started posting a few videos. More and more people in my grade or in school have found out. I made an Instagram now too, and that’s where I post most of my stuff,” Kindler said.

Tessa has plenty of support from her family.

“My mom thinks that I have a real talent. My sisters always let me practice on them, especially at the beginning, when I was not that good. I don’t know how they were walking around with all that ugly stuff on their nails,” Kindler said.

Each client can work one on one with Tessa for the nails they want.

“So you meet up at their house, or I have a nail room in my house. So I do them in there, and then, I also do press on sets for people. They can order from me, and I can ship it out to their house,” Kindler said.

“It really depends on the set and what you get. Obviously, acrylic starting takes longer than just doing a builder gel with polish, and the designs are gonna take longer, but usually it’s around an hour or 45 minutes,” Kindler said.

Tessa’s skill and talent did come from hard work and dedication.

“It took me three years to get where I am now. I would say keep going, and if you really want it, then you have to work for it. You have to keep practicing and practicing to get better. You’re not gonna get better if you don’t practice on yourself,” Kindler said.

Also doing cheer has allowed Tessa to understand what hard work would look like while learning to do nail art.

“I’ve always had at least a little bit of trust in myself with nails. I feel like I’ve always known that you have to because with cheer you have to work for it. I learned that you have to work for whatever you want to do, and if you really want to do it, then you have to put in the effort,” Kindler said.