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March 24, 2021Capital Region BOCES Alumni Finds Business Success With a “Butta” Line Of Products
A Capital Region BOCES alumni is combining her love of cosmetology, skin care and children to make the world a better place.
Tiffany Harris graduated in 2008 from the Cosmetology Program on the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School Albany Campus and Voorheesville High School. She went on to attend the College of Saint Rose, where she studied business management and then Maria College, where she earned a degree in occupational therapy. While not going to college or raising children, she developed a product line called Whip My Butta Organics that she sells through local retailers, as well as online. “My children inspired me to create my line as they both developed eczema,” she said. “I ended up spending so much money on ‘the right’ product for their skin in hopes it would clear it up without added chemicals or ingredients that I had no idea what they were. One day, after much research and time, I decided to make my own organic and natural products. After a couple of days, their skin cleared up indefinitely,” she said.
March is Women’s History Month and throughout the month, Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School will be shining a spotlight on women in the trades and women who have excelled as a result of their time Capital Region BOCES. Tiffany Harris certainly meets that criteria. While maintaining business with a full line of products ranging from eczema fighters to facial washes and body butters for kids, men and women, Harris finds time to work as a cosmetologist as well as an occupational therapy assistant. “It’s all about finding balance,” she said.
Career and Technical School Teacher Jean Hoffer said it’s incredibly gratifying to see students find success. “One of the joys of teaching is seeing student success. I am incredibly proud of Tiffany’s achievements,” she said. For her part, Harris credits BOCES with putting her on the path to success. “BOCES prepared me for the professional world in the fact that we all needed to be punctual and whatever we put on display needed to be professionally able to sell,” Harris said. “Going through BOCES, we learned how to respect people’s decisions, as well as speak to customers. I believe this is very important to have throughout life in general as it can be applied to a variety of situations and career choices.” She also used her cosmetology skills to fund her dreams. “I worked at several hair salons while I was in college to help pay for supplies, meals and rent,” Harris said.
As to the future, Harris said she only sees big things.
“My future goals are to eventually get into Target or a bigger box store. I also plan to have multiple vending machines with my products for the public,” Harris said. To check out Harris’ Whip My Butta line of products, go to https://whipmybuttaorganics.com/
Recruitment for the 2021-22 school year is underway. Anyone interested in information on attending our Cosmetology program or any of our programs, go to https://www.capitalregionboces.org/visit-career-and-technical-ed/
