A MUM has revealed how she made £39million after her stylish side hustle took off – even Meghan Markle loves her products.
Bianca Gates, 44, from California, was inspired to start the side hustle when she couldn’t find any shoes suitable for wearing while hosting guests at her home.
Mum Bianca Gates (left) revealed how she grew her side hustle into a multi-million business
While working full-time for Facebook, she started making indoor slippers in her spare time with friend Marisa Sharkey.
She told MSNBC: “I did not want to keep entertaining barefoot or in pajama slippers or in socks.”
The mum’s Birdies slippers took off when she noticed that fans wore them everywhere they went, not just at home.
Bianca said: “It was sort of a problem for us in the early days, because the shoes would disintegrate pretty quickly because the rubber sole was so thin and intended to be worn at home.”
She and Marisa decided to expand the Birdies range to include flats, slides and running shoes.
Their gamble paid off, and two years after Bianca started the side hustle in 2015, she quit her job at Facebook to pursue it as a full-time business.
The pair invested £79,000 ($100,000) in the production costs, leaving nothing for advertising – so they hosted pop-up sales around their local neighbourhood.
Bianca said: “We would stand there and put up our little table and have them on display. And some days it was a huge success.
“Other days, not one person would walk our way and talk to us, but that never bummed us out.”
When the mum spotted a celebrity in a restaurant, she seized an opportunity to promote Birdies footwear,
She said: “I waited for her outside of the restroom and pretended to run into her.
“I said, don’t leave, I have your size in my trunk. I pulled out the shoe and gave it to her, and she ended up wearing us quite a lot.”
Other famous Birdies fans include Meghan Markle, who was seen wearing them on a trip with Prince Harry to New Zealand.
Now the business has converted a £7.9million ($10million) venture capital investment into £39.6million ($50million) sales.
Bianca said: “I think it’s that passion that carries me forward and has me working tirelessly because I love it.”
It comes after a man revealed how he turned his after-work side hustle into a £2.1million business with backing from a huge celebrity.
