Many students find creative ways to utilize their skills in an entrepreneurial way, starting businesses at home or on campus and here are five: Julia Warbington, Kennedy Tilley, Trinity MacPhee, and Jayliene Bonilla.

Kennedy Tilley: car detailing

Kennedy Tilley, a freshman undecided major, began a car detailing service after working two years at a car dealership. 

Tilley began detailing cars while he was still in high school, learning the trade at a car dealership in his hometown of Clanton, Alabama. After spending over two months in the summer researching, Tilley now uses his own tools to buff and wax cars. 

The price is negotiable based upon what the car needs, but the full package, cut, polish and wax, is $400, taking roughly eight hours to complete.

Cutting removes all the major scratches from the car that is not a part of the clear coat. Polishing removes “swirls” and oxidation from the the car, “the main stuff you see in the paint of your car that keeps it from looking new,” said Tilley. The high gloss heat wax seals and protects the car, binding with the clear coat to make it hydrophobic. Tilley then takes the cars to a local service to get them hand washed before returning the car to the owner.

Tilley has other plans for his career, but “I really do enjoy doing this (car detailing), so I would like to do it the majority of my life. If just on the side,” Sid Tilley.

Tilley’s preferred contact method is texting (205) 553-7634.

Andrew Zoba: garbage can cleaning

Andrew Zoba, a junior marketing major, started Middle Tennessee’s first trash can cleaning company, in his hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.

The company uses a custom built truck using high pressure and temperature water to clean, sanitize and deodorize trash cans at people’s curbs. The truck grabs the cans and lifts them up rotating them over 360 degrees while “blasting” the inside.

After someone’s trash has been picked up, they come by to clean the trash can. “You don’t have the smell, you don’t have the bugs, the bacteria, any of that. It’s all clean,” said Zoba.

During Zoba’s sophomore year of high school, he quit baseball to pursue this company which has rapidly grown from a “side-hustle.” After Zoba graduates he plans to continue this company and “see where it goes.”

“It’s been good so far,” said Zoba

Find more about Envirobinz through their website.

Trinity MacPhee

In 2020, Trinity MacPhee, junior graphic design major, created a freelance graphic design Instagram page where she sells stickers and creates content.

Her business hones her art skills and shares them with the world.

“I came [to Lee] having never done anything with art, to now starting a business where that's all I do. And so, with my last two years, I hope to learn all I can so that when I graduate I'm the best designer I can be,” MacPhee said.

MacPhee’s content ranges from seasonal wallpapers to inspirational quotes, and her website gives her a platform to sell her designs through versatile stickers.

She views her page as more than a place to share artwork. She incorporates her art into her vision of ministry.

“Since continuing my education here at Lee, I've learned so much more about the creativity of God, and how He places those desires in us as well, and we in turn, create. And that's what I love, the place where God and art meet and I'm simply allowed to be apart of the process,” said MacPhee.

Upon graduation, MacPhee hopes to continue her work in graphic design to serve revitalizing the marketing in non-profit organizations.

“There [are] a lot of individuals that know nothing about design,” said MacPhee. “It’s the sweetest thing when they share their vision of what they’re wanting and I’m able to help make it possible!”

For more information on MacPhee’s stickers or designs, visit her instagram page @designswithtrinity.

Julia Warbington

Julia Warbington, sophomore nursing major, rediscovered her love for painting and decided to create her own Instagram business page, @juliarose.creates, to celebrate her hobby.

Warbington sells one-of-a-kind watercolor paintings of flowers and aesthetically pleasing natural sceneries for a cheaper price than most art businesses.

For Warbington, art is an outlet for her creativity amid the chaos of a college student’s life.

“It's been really helpful just mentally and emotionally just to be painting, and I feel like my best work has come from the most stressful times,” said Warbington.

After a semester of stress, her dorm room was full of paintings, and her roommates encouraged her to sell her work. Hesitantly, she created her platform from which shares her work today.

“I asked her if she could paint my daughter’s wedding bouquet. She did an amazing job,” said Dara Johnson, one of Warbington’s customers. “I framed it and gave it to my daughter for her birthday. It is now hanging in her dining room!”

Upon graduation, Warbington does not plan to make a career out of her business, but she hopes to continue selling the art she created to bring fun and peace to her hectic schedule.

For more information, visit Warbington’s Instagram page or her Etsy shop.

Golden Glow by Jay

Jayliene Bonilla, a fourth-year journalism major, is the founder of Golden Glow by Jay, a makeup business. 

The name Golden Glow by Jay came about because of her signature “glowing” look and her love for gold. Bonilla officially launched her business in September of 2021, but her passion for makeup and art has been around for much longer. Her love for the medium comes from her mother.

“My mom was a facepaint artist and makeup artist too, so growing up I saw lots of bright and bold colors around the house. So it wasn’t a shock when I started getting older and was at the age to wear makeup that I wasn’t scared to use bright colors because I saw it around the house a lot.” 

With the expansion of her business, she launched a website. The website was actually a gift, according to Bonilla. “A friend of mine who does web design called me one day and was like ‘Hey, I feel like your business is growing and I want to be the first person to sow a seed into your business,’ and I was like ‘Okay, what does this mean?’ and he says ‘Go online and type in the words GOLDEN GLOW BY JAY.’” This led her to the website that he built based off of a photoshoot she had done. The website is one of the main ways to reach her and inquire about bookings and prices.

As for the future, Bonilla wants to keep expanding.

“I would love to eventually have my own makeup line or brand called Golden Glow by Jay.” One of her big inspirations for developing a line is Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty. “She has one of the most inclusive brands right now. The pigments she has are really the darkest of shades and the lightest of shades, so it really broke a lot of boundaries in the industry. Seeing that done, I want to do the same thing and bring my own twist. Makeup is meant to cross boundaries.”

“What makes Golden Glow super special to me, and hopefully to other people, is that every shoot that I have ever done tells a story,” said Bonilla. “For Golden Glow, it’s all about telling a story and making people feel significant, bold, beautiful in their own skin.”