Pathway to my career

By Katie Le

Growing up I have always been a hard worker. I made money when I was younger but also had fun while doing it. I’ve always loved making money so that I could buy myself things and my family as well. There have been many jobs I have done that I enjoyed but eventually I will have to choose a career to pursue for the rest of my life. 

When I was 9 years old, my uncle owned a food truck. It was called “Porky’s SJ street food”. He sold chicken wings, rice plates, sandwiches, lettuce wraps, tater tots, pork tacos, and much more. At bigger events where it would be crowded I would come out to help my uncle and the people on the truck. I would always be the cashier and take people’s orders. I remember getting lots of tips because I was so young working on the food truck. I had a lot of fun doing that and it definitely helped me with my social skills. Eventually in 2017 my uncle sold the food truck which then I stopped helping out.

I always like the idea of having my own business and being my own boss. Seeing my uncle have his own businesses inspired me to do so. At 13 years old I started my own business “Katie Kustoms”. I sold sunglasses, lip glosses, and resin items but I was most popular for my custom spotify keychains. 

A promo I had done with an influencer had gone viral that got one million views on tiktok of her reviewing my product. I had reached 14,000 followers on tiktok and it expanded from there. I had over 50+ orders a week and at times couldn’t keep up with my orders that my family had to help out. I would also go out to pop ups with other small businesses such as Garden at the Flea which was a night market hosted at the Berryessa flea market. I had that business for 3 years which then I ended up stopping when high school started and I got busy. I enjoyed it very much since I got to be my own independent boss and felt like I had control. 

Once I had stopped doing my keychain business I felt I needed another way to make income. Everybody told me that I should work in retail or food but I knew that I wanted to still have my own business. One day I saw a Tiktok of a girl showing her day as a nail tech. She showed how she was able to make her own work schedule, worked from home comfortably, took breaks whenever she wanted, and was able to be creative with her work.

I personally loved the idea of knowing I can make girls feel pretty while wearing my work. I started off doing nails in my bedroom and from there I started practicing nails in my free time. Now seven months into my business I have built my own clientele and have my own nail room as well. 

Throughout all of the businesses I have done and experienced I am sure that in the future I will want to be my own boss. I have thought of pursuing real estate as my career since I can make my own schedule and it also makes very good money. Real estate also lets me be my own boss and maybe one day I would want to expand and start my own real estate company.