Quarantine hobbies turned into profitable hustles

December 15, 2020

Jennifer Scholl

LANSDALE, Pa. --- In 2020, the minimum wage for servers is $2.38 an hour—just over the price of one gallon of gas in State College, PA. With minimum wage so low and daily living costs so high, these young adults have found ways to make money doing what they love during the quarantine.

Being stuck inside for so long has led people to be more creative. Annalesia Law, Kameron Mayfield, and Kylie Stretch are three twenty-somethings that turned their quarantine hobbies into success.

Annalesia Law is 20 years old. Originally from Georgia, she is currently studying Mechanical Engineering in Washington D.C. at Howard University. During her days inside, she spent a lot of time listening to podcasts.

Law embarked on a new journey this summer. In an effort to start important conversations, Law started a podcast called “Woah Now! With Annalesia Law.” She describes it on her Instagram as a podcast that is “bringing you candid conversations relevant to the masses.”

She talks about anything from social issues to funny stories from her life. A lover of podcasts herself, she decided she wanted to share her experiences and unique passions with others.

Some podcasts that she listens to and that inspired her are Small Doses with Amanda Seales and Jemele Hill is Unbothered. “[Amanda Seales] is an all-around inspiration for me… It goes beyond the podcast,” said Law.

Law says she wants to help people find “different ways to appreciate your circumstance… and being able to receive information that will allow you to better your life and different aspects of your life.” She says her target audience is women and people her age.

Law has big plans for the future of Woah Now! “I want to start an initiative that is my podcast, but beyond the audio experience, where it is actually exploring my life and the different things that I do and like to do,” said Law.

“My biggest goal is to expand my audience and begin to grow a listerneship that is stable.”

Law’s podcast is unique and powerful. “She adds her own personality to it, it feels more grounded,” said listener and close friend, Victor Desnoyers. “She’s really putting her heart and soul into this.”

“Even though she’s an engineer… she has a ton of different interests and she has a lot of aspirations for herself,” said Ziyan Sears, another friend and supporter. The COVID-19 restrictions all around the US got many creative juices flowing.

Kameron Mayfield has been baking for his friends and neighbors for many years. A recent graduate of culinary school, the 21-year-old started a bakery from his family kitchen. Specializing in cookies, the Kookie Company is a fresh look at classic flavors.

Like Law, his business was kickstarted by COVID-19’s closures. “Before I launched my company, I was working three jobs,” said Mayfield “I was busy all of the time and then COVID happened.”

Mayfield says the pandemic allowed him to stop and focus on himself. Thus, the Kookie Company was formed, after months of planning and preparation. “I was working on things for probably about eight months beforehand,” said Mayfield.

Mayfield took the unconventional route for his tasty treats which he calls “Kookies”. Kookies are square and as it says on his website: “the secret is in the square.”

Mayfield said he started baking before cooking and his journey began when he was 10 years old. His mom got called into work and left him with $10. Mayfield got his friend’s mom to drive him to the grocery store and the rest was history.

“I made cookies, took them around the neighborhood, sold them, and I came home with around $30,” he said. When his mom came home surprised and asked what he was doing he said “I don’t know, it’s fun,” recalled Mayfield. “It just kind of came natural to me. Baking over cooking.”

In high school, Mayfield worked at the William Penn Inn in Gwynedd, PA. He started at 16 and spent about three years there. Since he was young, he couldn’t work in the kitchen for the first year. “I worked front of the house for the first year,” he said.

“I would always, especially for special events… bake cookies at home and bring them in,” said Mayfield. “The kitchen staff was asking me what my recipes were.”

Dan Santiago, a long time friend of Mayfield, takes the photographs for the Kookie Co.’s website. “[Kameron] was always working a lot…” said Santiago who said in High School he was always doing more than one job. Mayfield’s efforts and talents did not go unnoticed.

One day the executive chef approached him and offered him a position in the bakery. At the same time, he was made a part-time manager for the front of the house, and he was doing all sorts of shifts for them including cooking and baking.

Mayfield said his time at the William Penn Inn was very formative for him. “It helped me learn a lot and definitely grow in my culinary skills,” said Mayfield. He didn’t always plan on going to culinary school and was very interested in Marine Biology or Entomology, but in High School, he realized it would be the right path for him.

Like Kameron Mayfield, Kylie Stretch had always been passionate about photography. Stretch bought herself her first DSLR at 12 years old. Now, at 20 years old, she has built herself a successful photography business called Kylie Brianne Photography.

Like Mayfield, her hobby started when she was young, and she never thought it would grow so big so quickly. Born out of quarantine, her photography business is already booming.

“Recently over quarantine was when I kind of was like ‘Ok, I need something to focus on, get back into’,” said Stretch. Like Law and Mayfield, COVID-19 ignited her business.

“I started shooting with my close friends... I would just go out with them and shoot all the time,” said Stretch who said her practice allowed herself to improve and get more comfortable behind the camera.

“You really have to know what you’re doing in order to make it come across as such, and then it makes [models or clients] more comfortable,” said Stretch.

A student at Penn State University studying Spanish, Stretch has taken this year slower. “I’m taking this year to focus on the business side and expanding my portfolio,” said Stretch. “My goal is to focus on growing my social media and expanding my reach… the dream would be I graduate to go full time traveling.”

This semester, Stretch is taking one class and working as a full-time nanny. She plans to become a photographer full time by 2023. “Right now I could pretty much go full time if I really dedicated myself to it,” said Stretch.

Stretch’s clients love her and keep coming back. Over the past few months, she has established a stable clientele and is working hard to balance nannying, school, and photography.

“She really makes connections with her clients. They aren’t like a one-time thing. She makes friendships [and] they talk after their sessions. People she has photoshoots with she does again in the future usually,” said Brianna Clemente, Kylie’s roommate, and best friend.

Clemente has modeled for Stretch, helped her with props and lighting, and has joined Stretch on some of her trips. Since she started her business in May 2020, Stretch has been all around the states going to places like Utah and Colorado for shoots.

Stretch participates in styled shoots. Style shoots is where multiple photographers can come together and shoot the same models, vendors, caterers, etc. They’ll put together a mock-up wedding and it becomes networking for the photographers as well as advertising for the vendors and caterers.

“Community over competition,” says Stretch. Through networking with clients and other photographers, she has made the most of her quarantine hobby. Not only did she make meaningful connections along the way, but she is completely financially independent at 20 years old.