A WOMAN has revealed she earns £270,000 a year from a side job she started working on during her lunch break.
Maya Portorreal, 27, dreamed of being a fashion designer when she left university, but soon realized that making prints and samples is expensive.
Instead, she got a job as a retail assistant at a luxury brand, and just a month and a half later, she decided she wanted to open a jewelry brand.
Maya said her colleagues thought she was “crazy” but she decided to pursue her business venture, Kitten & Co, anyway.
She started the business with just £1,500 in 2019 and spent a month and a half coming up with the idea.
After finding a supplier, she created a ring design and then turned to social media to promote her work.
Maya was soon noticed by several influencers, who began sharing her jewelry online.
She soon began making sales, initially selling her rings for just £14.75.
As her business began to grow, she raised prices and Kitten & Co. was soon earning £8,000 a month.
Maya began taking classes to help her market her brand, which she says “has scaled my company to an unimaginable point.”
“Facebook ads have become a huge part of my business and I can’t function without them,” she told CNBC.
Maya said she worked at lunch and at night when she got home from work.
“Everyone thought I was crazy because I had two full-time jobs,” she said.
Maya would work on her jewelry business until 3 am and has now hired her mother to help her.
“My mother is an entrepreneur, so it was very easy to convince her,” she said.
“She’s like my assistant, and I take ideas from here.”
Maya’s jewelery ranges in price from £30 to £270 and her business now makes £270 a year.
She makes everything from earrings to necklaces to men’s jewelry.
Maya has now quit her job and works full-time at Kitten & Co.
“A day job gives you time to step out of your comfort zone,” she said.
Maya is now automating her business to have more free time.
“I did the hard work, I did the hard work, now I want it to work for me,” she said.
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