Laker Side Hustles: Hearts and Crafts by Han

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Elphena Elsar, Staff writer

Running a small business is not an easy task especially if the only employee you have is yourself. You are forced to play the role and do the tasks of every employee like financial management, planning and strategy, daily operations, sales and marketing, customer service, and more. Now imagine being a college student with a major and a minor in two completely different fields of focus, which come with loads of classes along with great responsibilities plus maintaining a personal life, a family and other things.

Hannah Dragan, a junior dance major and fashion merchandising here at Mercyhurst owns and operates a crafting business. Her small business, ‘Hearts and Crafts by Han’ is hosted on Etsy where she sells her handmade jewelry online. The store sells unique earrings, rings, necklaces and bracelets from new and vintage beads and other materials. Dragan’s products range from a variety of prices but have a unique style. Her earrings range from $5 to $22 while the rest of her products fall under a similar range.

Her style flourishes in her products. The earrings, in particular, show an array of floral patterns and beading arrangements. Dragan has a variety of patterns and styles that fit anyone’s interests and styles. She currently has 70 items in her store and her page is very easy to sort through to find any and all of her products.

“I have always been a very crafty person and having a passion for making clothing, I decided I wanted to try making jewelry for myself and friends, too! I had so much free time over our long winter break last year and was inspired by jewelry I had seen and loved made by others online. After selling to many friends last semester, I worked on making an Etsy account over the summer to reach more people,” said Dragan.

As daunting as it sounds being a college student with great responsibilities like Dragan, her inspiration to keep going comes from making people happy with the crafts and fashion she creates. “Creating new and unique pieces for oth-ers who love fashion makes me incredibly happy and it serves as a really great outlet for me to be creative!” said Dragan, “making jewelry has quickly become a hobby of mine and I can’t wait to grow my business and share my creations with more lovely people! I love playing a small part in mak-ing others happy and feel like their beauti-ful selves with my jewelry!”If you are interested in checking out the unique jewelry made by Hannah, find her on Etsy.com, and search her online store name, “Hearts and Crafts by Han” then make sure to follow the Instagram page @heartsandcraftsbyhan.

For any college student out there who is inspired by the work Hannah Dragan does or maybe you have interest in starting your own small business but you’re intimidated by the thought of it, here is what the amazing Hannah has to say: “Though college can be a very busy time in our lives, I have found it to be important for me to find time to do things that I truly love.”Beautifully said, but do not let the words be just words. Instead, use the words as a driving tool that inspires and guides you in allowing yourself to be creative with the hope that the innovation will come to fruition. Remember to have fun while on your journey to self-discovery.

If you have a small business or know a friend who has one and want to have it featured in the newspaper, email merciad@mercyhurst.edu or message @merciadmu on Instagram to have your business featured. Alternatively, one can also email the current Features section editor, Victoria McGinty, at vmcgin82@lakers.mercyhurst.edu to be featured.