4 Success Stories You Didn’t Know Started As Side Hustles
Hustlers is in cinemas October 10.
If you’re 100 percent that (business) bitch, you probably have a side hustle on the go.
And, like you, some of the most successful bosses in make-up, fashion and fitness got their start as a side hustle, and have managed to transform them into game-changing trends, products, and businesses that the rest of us literally can’t live without.
So, to inspire your own hustle, here are four success stories that started on the side. You’ve got this!
Cute AF Beauty Brand Glossier
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Emily Weiss was in three episodes of The Hills before she pivoted into a $1 billion beauty empire. Total goals.
When Weiss cameoed on the show as the Teen Vogue “super-intern” who worked with Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port, it wasn’t just a manufactured TV storyline. Off camera, Weiss scored a paid job at the magazine and, while she was working there, used her downtime to build her killer make-up brand.
In 2010, she started Into The Gloss, a blog about the careers and skincare routines of beauty and fashion’s biggest names. Every morning from 4am to 8am, before she went to Teen Vogue for the day, Weiss would work on the blog. Then, in 2014, she used its popularity as a springboard to launch Glossier, the cult beauty brand now worth even more than Kylie Cosmetics.
It wouldn’t have happened if Weiss didn’t put in the hours. “There was a full year between the launch of Into The Gloss and when I quit my day job,” she told the podcast Million$. “I think that’s important in an era when there are a lot of inspirational quotes on Instagram telling you to follow your dreams and seize the day.” We have no choice but to stan.
The Godsend That Is Spanx
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Before she became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, Sarah Blakely spent seven years selling fax machines door-to-door (the ‘90s, folks). It was then she had a simple but killer idea: what if you could make shapewear… that didn’t suck? She cut the legs off some control-top pantyhose and the Spanx prototype was built.
Blakely invested her $5000 life savings, meticulously researched the hosiery industry, bought the Spanx trademark, and launched the brand from her apartment, staying up all night to package and post out orders.
It paid off: Spanx raked in $4 million in its first year. Nothing but respect for my Spanx queen.
Under Armour, The Label That Invented Non-Soggy Workout Clothes
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Kevin Plank was a university football player who was grossed out by having to wear sweat-soaked cotton t-shirts under his jersey and padding. Working out in sweaty clothes? Ew. So he designed a synthetic, sweat-wicking undershirt that would stay dry, even during the gnarliest training sessions.
He made the shirts in his grandmother’s basement and spent a year driving around America selling them to other athletes from the boot of his car. Now, Under Armour is one of the biggest brands in sportswear, even selling more than Adidas.
A Little Company Called Apple (Maybe You’ve Heard Of It)
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That iPhone you’re reading this on? It wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the SIDE HUSTLE.
It’s the stuff of legend: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak spend hours in one of their parent’s garages, building computers in their time off. Together, they founded “Apple Computer Company” and, four decades later, Apple’s worth $1 trillion. Not bad, boys.
This article originally appeared on Junkee.
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Feeling inspired? Hustlers is in cinemas now.
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(Lead image: Andrew Neel / Unsplash)