A SAVVY mum has turned her hairdressing side hustle into a full-time job – and now jets around the world while cutting celebrity dos.
Sophie Clarke, 32, has raked in over £30K after charging just £20 for her first job in April this year.
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As both of her kids are boys, the stay-at-home mum only discovered her hidden love of hairdressing after her niece asked her to jazz up her hair this spring.
Other parents then saw the girl’s hair and within days they were hiring Sophie to work her magic.
And just a week later, she was stunned to be lined up to braid hair at the home of TV host and popstar Rochelle Humes.
Sophie says she has since worked at numerous celebrity parties – and has even jetted off to Monaco since her side hustle took off.
Now boasting an annual turnover of £30,000, Sophie and her fiancé Robert Hayes, 32, have been able to buy their family home in Chelmsford, Essex.
She said: “I’ve literally gone from making £20 in my sitting room to a business with an annual turnover of £30,000 in eight months.
“If there’s something that you are good at and passionate about I really really believe from the bottom of my heart that you can turn that into a thriving business.
“We’re in a cost of living crisis and people think they don’t have any options. But you can – find a way to earn as much or as little as you like.”
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The former-estate agent said she had done just six hairstyles for parties before her business took off.
After posting her work to Instagram, a woman asked if she could help her friend Rochelle and her daughter get ready for a party.
But Sophie was shocked when just days before the session, she realised she would be working for ex-Satudays star Rochelle Humes.
Sophie hit the big time after the singer thanked her on Instagram – and she immediately started learning about the algorithm so she could tag the right people to boost her trade.
My life has changed massively and I love it
Sophie Clarke, 32
She says she now works a party every weekend, and word of her business has seen her get enquiries from LA to Sweden.
Her most expensive party – working on 40 people – came in at £4,000, including travel and accommodation for her team.
Sophie said of her new business: “This really wasn’t what I expected. It just snowballed overnight.
“On Instagram I just wrote I was available for hire, I just thought I’d take a punt, I had nothing to lose.
“It was pretty daunting after being a stay-at-home mum for four years.
“I had to learn fast – I didn’t even know what to charge and you can lose business very quickly by charging too little or too much.”
“I’m just really talented at this – and there’s always something you’re really good at that someone else needs.
“I just said yes to everything and modified my business model as I went along.
“The kids reactions at the parties are amazing. They love the hair so much – often they don’t want to take it out for days.”
SIDE-HUSTLE WARNING
For anyone making some extra money with a side-hustle, you could face a financial headache unless you act soon.
When you’re employed the company you work for takes the tax from your earnings and pays HMRC so you don’t have to.
But anyone earning extra cash, for example from selling things online or dog walking, may have to do it themselves.
If you earn more than £1,000 extra a year, you’ll need to pay tax on your extra earnings.
Sarah Coles, personal finance expert at Hargreaves Lansdown, told The Sun: “The good news is that if you make £1,000 or less from your side hustle in any one tax year, you can take advantage of a special tax-free trading allowance from the taxman.
“That means you don’t need to submit a tax return for this income, and you don’t have to pay any tax.”
But anyone earning over that amount should be reporting their income to HMRC.
