We had the good fortune of connecting with Janel Hawkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janel, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My entire career has been about taking risks! Several years ago, I was a broke college kid scrolling help wanted ads on Craigslist and saw an ad for a sand sculpting apprentice. I thought that sounded like the coolest job ever and I had to find out what it was all about. I answered the ad, was hired, and then apprenticed under a master sand sculptor for three years before I decided to quit college (fun conversation with my parents) and start my own business. At first, I really thought it would just be a fun side hustle during college, but my junior year, I realized I wouldn’t be happy finishing my degree and working a regular 9-to-5 job. I’ve always been a free spirit and the idea of working for someone else doesn’t really fit my personality. So, I returned home to Gulf Shores, AL (where I grew up) to start my own business — Sand Castle University. For the first couple of years, I juggled two other jobs while figuring out what I wanted my business to look like and how to run a business in the first place- I was 22 years old! I’m pretty stubborn and I was determined to figure things out. Then, in 2020 as COVID-19 intensified, I found my business blowing up. Since sandcastle classes are a private, outdoor activity, we fit the criteria for an approved activity. We soon we blew up and I was the busiest I had ever been. Now, we are well known and stay booked up for most of the summer season. Now, back to taking risks? Think about owning a 100% outdoor business in the Alabama panhandle where weather can often play a big factor!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being a professional sand sculptor is a pretty unique way to make a living. Even though I grew up in Gulf Shores and loved to play on the beach as a child, I never took the time to sit and make a sandcastle. In my personal time, I love to sculpt detail rather than sculpt big. I focus on architecture, often taking photos of a building or house I like and then trying to replicate that. It has taken 11 years of hard work, but now my business has grown such that we offer a variety of different services to customers, including custom sculptures and consultations for brand marketing activations to proposals to private sand sculpture building lessons for groups of all sizes. I’ve been in business since 2017 and now, people pay us to build sand sculptures. The other part of it is that our customers want a video of us building the sculptures. I had to teach myself how to shoot and edit content, and recently began experimenting with different kinds of videos to see what draws attention. We have quite a large social media following- with 2.7 million across all platforms, the largest being TikTok. I didn’t realize that being a content creator is so important for a business like mine, but it’s a huge part of my focus. We have collaborated with major brands like Toyota, Disney and La Roche-Posay, as well as many others. Social media has officially become our main source of income, surpassing both classes and commissions.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a pretty laid back outdoorsy girl, so we would probably hang out at the beach, play in the sand, go fishing (and floating) in the lagoon and maybe take a motorcycle ride. I also like to shoot pool and I’m always up for listening to live music.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Of course, I need to give a shout out to my parents for not freaking out too much when I decided to quit college to pursue my sand sculpting career. They have been my biggest supporters and loudest cheerleaders since. And I definitely have to give a shout out to my staff. After a couple of busy years working by myself, I decided it was time to hire and train my own sandcastle instructors. Things had just become too busy for me to handle it on my own. I was working all day every day and that is difficult, even for a young person. Today, I employ four instructors: Catie, Katelyn, Kit, and Patrick as well as a part time Administrative Assistant: Anita. Having a crew to teach most of the classes and an admin who handles all the emails and phone calls allows me to focus on large group classes, custom sculptures, and social media content. This been the ticket to our success at Sand Castle University.

Website: https://www.sandcastleu.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sand_castle_university/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandcastleuniversity

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sandcastleuniversity

Other: TikTok; https://www.tiktok.com/@sand_castle_university

Image Credits
Janel Hawkins, Sand Castle University

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