Hey dev.to crew,
Imagine this: It's midnight in my room in India, I've just dragged myself home after a brutal ten-hour commute from college, and instead of crashing, I'm firing up my laptop. Exams are looming on the 20th, my brain's fried from signals and systems lectures, but I'm tweaking the UI for this app I've been obsessing over. Why? Because if it works, it'll all be worth it – that grind of coding on weekends, holidays, and every spare second. I'm Divyansh, a third-year CS undergrad juggling studies and a startup gig, and this is the story of how GlamFlow went from a vague idea to something I'm damn proud of.
The Spark: From General Freelance Mess to Beauty Niche Magic
It started at work – I code for a startup, and my founder (who's also the CEO) pulled me aside one day. "Let's build a platform for freelancers," he said. We kicked off with something broad: a tool for anyone to manage bookings, tasks, and profiles. But then he mentioned his network – tons of friends in the beauty industry, like makeup artists and hairstylists drowning in disorganized gigs. Why not niche down? It clicked. These folks deal with chaotic schedules, scattered portfolios, and clients who ghost because there's no easy way to hire them directly. I thought, "As Engineers, we solve problems – let's make this simple and free."
We pivoted hard. I handled the frontend with React (my go-tos, with some Tailwind for styling), while keeping the backend lean with Supabase for quick deploys. No overkill – just ship fast, like I do with side projects.
The Grind: Late Nights, Design Frustrations, and That Constant Pull
Balancing this with college? Brutal. I travel Eleven hours round-trip daily, squeeze in study sessions, then code till my eyes burn. Weekends? Gone. Holidays? Project time. I've got marketing videos to edit now, and yeah, I'm stressing about not doing enough – studies slipping, feeling like I should push harder. It's created this split personality: the stressed student vs. the obsessed builder. But hey, if GlamFlow takes off, it'll prove the hustle builds character.
Tech-wise, the biggest headache was the UI. I wanted it minimal, simple, and attractive – think clean calendars and effortless portfolio uploads. But design isn't my strong suit. I'd tweak a layout, hate it, scrap it, repeat. Frustrating as hell, especially late at night when everything blurs. Finally nailed it with shadcn/ui components for that modern vibe, but it took way too many iterations.
The Win: Seeing It All Come Together
Every time I load the app, I get this rush – "I built this." From zero to a working beta, with real potential to help freelancers land gigs and ditch the chaos. We're in beta at Here, free for now, and feedback's been motivating. It's not perfect, but it's mine, born from those exhausting nights.
If you're a dev grinding side hustles or know beauty pros who need this, check it out! Try creating a profile, chat with Manno, and drop thoughts below – what's your biggest build struggle?
Keep coding,
Divyansh
(That Ambitious coder who's probably on a college bus right now)
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