The pandemic undoubtedly ended many businesses and side hustles of individuals across the world. However, amidst the doom and gloom, some entrepreneurs were able to chalk up success for their businesses, and one of such outliers is Ciera Gaskins.
Ciera was working at Johns Hopkins as a clinical service representative when the pandemic set in. At the height of the health crisis, many healthcare workers were required to work extra hours as caseloads became overwhelming.
When Gaskins realized that many of the nurses working at the hospital were unable to get their hair done because hair salons were closed due to the pandemic, she started offering to braid their hair out of her home for a fee,” the business journal reported. Within just a week, she made an excess of $1000.
After evaluating the performance of her new business, the 30-year-old decided to grow her side hustle into a brand by establishing Cidehustle.
She leased space inside The Cube Cowork, a Black- and woman-owned coworking space focused on serving women entrepreneurs and moms. The space at 4709 Harford Road includes Cidehustle’s hair salon on one side and nail services on the other.
The West Baltimore native has now gained a reputation for being an extraordinarily fast braider, Business Journal reported. Her status has also increased the number of clients patronizing her.
Gaskins founded the company using her savings. Today, she has been able to scale the business into a six-figure venture. However, the black entrepreneur says she is not going to be complacent. She is planning to open a full nail salon where she can also train other women and teach them how to start their own businesses.
“This year, it’s about crunching the numbers now that I know I can scale my business and it can only get bigger and better from here,” she said.
Gaskins has a Nail Technician License from high school and studied pre-med at Towson. However, she left when she had her first child, later pursued a degree in nursing, and is now aiming to become a physician. Her interest revolves around women’s issues like breastfeeding.
For now, Gaskins says she is enjoying the success of her business and the sky can only be her limit. “A little girl from Baltimore being able to have her own business? I would have never thought in a million years.”
