This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Six-Figure Side Hustle series, where people with lucrative side hustles break down the routines and habits they’ve used to make money on top of their full-time jobs. Got a story to tell? Let us know! Email us at AskMakeIt@cnbc.com.
Alexandra Rutkay rejoiced when her son became 18 months old. She could finally ditch her diaper bag and pull her neglected designer purses back out of her closet.
But as her family of three headed to dinner in New York in August 2021, she realized she couldn’t shove wet wipes, snacks and an emergency pull-up into her sleek Saint Laurent crossbody. “I was so mad about it,” says Rutkay, now 41. “I thought, ‘There has to be something better for us moms. Everything is so frumpy and stupid and nothing is cute.'”
Rutkay is a full-time makeup artist who sometimes works up to 16-hour days on movie and television sets. Her …