'hustling Every Day': These Friends Started A Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'snowballed' To Over $500,000 And Became A Multimillion-dollar Brand

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Paris Emily Nicholson, 26, and Saskia Teje Jenkins, 25. The business partners and friends began moving connected Australian mode marque Amelie Teje arsenic a broadside hustle successful 2020 pinch conscionable $2,500 each and personification since grown it to 7 figures. Responses personification been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Amelie Teje

What was your clip business aliases superior business erstwhile you started your broadside hustle?
Nicholson: I was astatine nan extremity of completing my business trading and events people astatine assemblage while moving part-time successful portion and doing freelance integer trading for a bunch of ecommerce brands.

Jenkins: I was a full-time mode model. I worked betwixt LA, London and Australia. I was ne'er astatine location for overmuch than a month, usually connected nan spell to nan adjacent spot and ne'er settled down anyplace long-term.

Related: 'I Just Hustled': She Earned More Than $300,000 Wrapping Gifts Last Year — and It All Started With a Side Hustle

When did you commencement your broadside hustle, and wherever did you find nan inspiration for it?
Nicholson: After freelancing successful integer marketing, I quickly realized I preferred moving for myself. Working pinch ecommerce mode labels, I fell overmuch and overmuch successful emotion pinch nan thought of having my own. I saw location were immoderate gaps successful nan market. I felt that pieces were missing from my ain wardrobe that I wanted to create myself. Saskia and I sat down 1 clip successful 2020 and started discussing nan idea. From that clip on, we made our dream recreation to reality, officially launching Amelie Teje astatine nan opening of 2021. We personification been hustling each clip since!

Jenkins: We started during nan pandemic, for illustration galore caller businesses. It was nan first clip I had to enactment put for a agelong period, and I started reflecting a batch connected wherever I was successful my life and wherever I wanted to go. I personification ever been truthful obsessed pinch mode and being creative. I consciousness for illustration it's nan 1 constituent I will ne'er get saturated of; successful fact, it wholly recharges me. I ever dreamed of having a mode company, but I didn't judge I could execute it arsenic I went consecutive from schoolhouse to modeling pinch nary assemblage education. But being astir designers, creatives, accumulation managers and everything successful betwixt taught maine truthful much. Just by watching and listening, I picked up truthful much, and I wasn't acrophobic to beryllium nosey and inquire questions erstwhile I could! Then, 1 day, Paris and I sewage connected nan taxable of what we should do next, and nan thought was born.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Amelie Teje

What were immoderate of nan first steps you took to get your broadside hustle disconnected nan ground?
Nicholson: We started by penning down imaginable business names, and we came up pinch nan thought of putting immoderate of our mediate names together: Amelie Teje. Then, we began drafting logo designs and discussing what we wanted to create and banal pinch nan remainder of nan world. Once we had a imagination of what we wanted Amelie Teje to look like, we began searching nan web for manufacturers that we felt would beryllium champion suited for our brand. We did tons of investigation to fig retired our cleanable customers and what our imaginable competitors would be. We began making sacrifices and started redeeming for illustration crazy truthful that we could put immoderate savings we had into our first-ever collection.

Related: Best Friends' 'Scrappy' Side Hustle Led to a Product connected Track for $1 Million Annual Sales: 'Rare to Find Somebody With This Same Passion'

What were immoderate of nan biggest challenges you faced while building your broadside hustle, and really did you navigate them?
Nicholson: My biggest business was juggling my paid jobs astatine nan clip pinch nan business, arsenic we weren't drafting immoderate money retired for astatine slightest nan first 2 years. Trying to put each of nan money I was making from my jobs into nan business and seeing nary return was hard. It almost felt for illustration I was throwing money distant for nan first mates of years. Finding nan correct work/life equilibrium was too a struggle because, arsenic a 22-year-old, I ever wanted to spell retired and spot my friends, and a batch of that time, I had to activity instead. Late nights and weekends mostly became Amelie Teje time. It was reliable astatine nan start, but I genuinely believed successful and loved nan marque truthful overmuch that I was consenting to make sacrifices.

Jenkins: I would opportunity nan biggest business was trying to juggle modeling pinch nan marque erstwhile Amelie Teje started expanding fast. It was bully to negociate nan equilibrium erstwhile Amelie wasn't taking up nan mostly of nan time, but nan extremity was ever to make Amelie Teje No. 1. It's an astonishing problem to have, but stressful nonetheless. Shooting a nine-hour day, past going consecutive to nan agency until 10 p.m., conscionable to aftermath up and do it each again. We were packing orders ourselves retired of a mini room. We decided nan adjacent measurement was to move to a 3PL distributor. I too decided it was clip to propulsion backmost my modeling jobs and beryllium overmuch picky astir what I took on.

How agelong did it return you to spot accordant monthly revenue? How overmuch did nan broadside hustle earn?
It took astatine slightest 2 years to spot accordant revenue. It was disheartening erstwhile we would personification a bully play and think, Maybe this is nan infinitesimal it takes off. But then, it goes backmost down. After nan two-year mark, we snowballed each play to accordant (or better) numbers and sell-through. In nan two-year period, we only made $549,993.32.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Amelie Teje

What does maturation and gross look for illustration now?
Here are immoderate nosy stats from October:

Sales grew by 1,318% from nan 2021 to 2024 financial year, and gross profit jumped by 472% complete nan aforesaid period.

We are now moving a multimillion-dollar business — point we ne'er thought we'd beryllium tin to say!

Related: After Being Laid Off, He Started a Side Hustle With Facebook. It Made Almost $3 Million Last Year: 'I Bought My Mom a $50,000 SUV.'

What do you bask astir astir moving this business?
Nicholson: There are truthful galore things I emotion astir moving Amelie. I emotion being tin to activity pinch my champion friend each day. Being tin to banal nan aforesaid imagination is specified a emblematic and breathtaking thing. I emotion emotion proud and being truthful passionate astir my activity each azygous day. I bask navigating nan challenges we face, networking, stepping and conscionable simply creating pieces that group consciousness astonishing successful each complete nan world. There is nary amended feeling!

Jenkins: I get to activity pinch my champion friend each day. It's ever nosy going to work. Even connected nan bad days, we find comfortableness successful doing it together. I would beryllium lying if I said being tin to recreation wherever we want for photoshoots isn't amazing, and being tin to activity our ain hours.

What's your connection for others hoping to commencement successful broadside hustles aliases full-time businesses of their own?
Nicholson: Never springiness up. No matter really difficult immoderate days feel. If you are passionate tin astir something, it will activity retired really you envision it. There will beryllium times you deliberation to yourself, Is this really worthy nan accent and anxiety? Or, Am I really up for this? But you personification to spot nan process. Work hard, make sacrifices and ne'er opportunity nary to nan opportunities that scare you nan most. There's ever room to grow, truthful make judge you are perpetually consenting to study and don't beryllium acrophobic to inquire for thief and connection from group who personification done it before. I ever opportunity an inch of guardant activity is amended than a mile of intention.

Related: At 16, She Started a Side Hustle While 'Stuck astatine Home.' Now It's connected Track to Earn Over $3.1 Million This Year.

Jenkins: Just support going. There are going to beryllium moments wherever you deliberation it's easier conscionable to spell backmost to what's easy. If you're genuinely passionate astir immoderate business you are starting, you won't moreover spot quitting arsenic an option. If point sets you back, study from it and usage it arsenic ammunition to move guardant again. And sometimes you will petition to sacrifice nosy things for your future: a trip, a handbag, a nighttime out, a lazy day…it will each beryllium worthy it 1 day! Paris and I ne'er personification a clip off, moreover if we are connected picnic aliases stepping aliases hungover (everyone's sewage to rustle disconnected immoderate steam sometimes!). If there's an email that needs answering, WhatsApp messages from world accumulation teams successful different clip zones buzzing, customs forms needing to beryllium completed earlier nan bulk gets rejected aliases Zoom meetings pinch coworkers — we will get it done. Even if we want to move off, we cognize that's not an option. Some group astir apt deliberation that's depressing, but it lights america up. We emotion this business truthful overmuch — we wouldn't alteration it for nan world!

This article is information of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® bid highlighting nan stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.