Hackers destroyed my livelihood when I couldn’t afford to pay them $120,000 to leave me alone. So I started all over again… and I earn much more than before

Katie Coleman spent more than a decade building her career as a makeup artist, earning more than $250,000 a year — but it all came crashing down when hackers destroyed her business and demanded a fortune to get it back.

The devastating blow, which ultimately ended her business, was the second major setback in Katie’s life.

She was a professional dancer, but an ankle injury shattered her dreams of a life on stage.

“I got into make-up through doing it for dance growing up,” Katie told FEMAIL.

‘I took a make-up course when I was 21 and my goal was to book one wedding a week. I never expected it to blow up so quickly.”

Katie worked at Melbourne Fashion Week, did campaigns for brands such as Australis, was hired to do make-up for Miss Universe Australia contestants and regularly collaborated with model photographers for photo shoots.

“My entire business revolved around my Instagram account; there I spoke to customers and made bookings.

“One night I posted a huge video and expected to wake up to my account blowing up. My phone pinged at 2am with a suspicious login attempt and I was logged out of my account.

Katie Coleman spent more than a decade building her career as a makeup artist from the ground up, earning more than $250,000 per year

The professional was originally a dancer, but a devastating ankle injury ‘shattered’ her dreams

‘I tried to reset my password but I got an email from someone telling me to check my WhatsApp.’

Katie’s WhatsApp revealed a sinister message from an unknown number in Singapore, demanding she transfer 400,000 bitcoin within 72 hours if she wanted access to her account back.

‘I was 36 weeks pregnant and I remember standing in the shower and crying because everything was gone. My content, my leads, my entire business is built on it.

‘My stomach dropped to the floor and I felt physically ill. My heart was pounding and I couldn’t breathe.

“I checked the bitcoin conversion rate and it was over AUD$120,000 – we definitely couldn’t afford that at all. Even if we could, there was no guarantee I would ever get my account back.”

Still, Katie spent $5,000 hiring people in Australia who tried unsuccessfully to get her account back.

Her Instagram account was deleted three days later when she failed to transfer the money.

The hacking also came at a particularly tumultuous time because Katie’s husband had just been told he had to move interstate for work.

‘I had only just opened a studio in Mornington, on the high street. I had two contractors working for me, so it was heartbreaking to find out that I had lost all my content, all my leads, my entire portfolio,” Katie said.

“Especially since I was about to make the transition to interstate to rebuild with a newborn.”

Katie lost some of her brand deals and packages she had with PR agencies because she no longer had a following.

The mother also lost 5kg in a month due to the stress and anxiety the situation brought.

Katie (above) has worked for Melbourne Fashion Week, done campaigns for brands such as Australis, been hired to do make-up for Miss Universe Australia contestants and regularly collaborated with model photographers for photo shoots

She took some time off from work to reassess how she wanted to proceed during labor and adjust to life as a mother of two.

Katie hired a business coach who suggested she rebuild her entire account and document the process as a “manifesto” to sell to other small business owners.

Her new account gained 29,000 followers in six months and she has sold $90,000 worth of courses on how to build a business from scratch.

“My life could have gone either way,” she said.

“I definitely could have crumbled and given up my business, or I could have used the situation I was in to help rebuild and help other makeup artists achieve their goals.”

The mother wondered if the hack was a message from the universe to slow down

Katie sometimes wonders if the hack was a message from the universe to slow down.

“I was working seven days a week at the time and missed a lot of firsts with my son,” she says.

“I couldn’t go to swimming lessons, weekend things, and with the way I wanted to scale my business, that just wouldn’t have worked.

“When I got hacked and moved interstate, I had to reassess my goals and wanted to stay home with my kids more.”

Katie then recorded videos and tutorials on how people can optimize their small businesses – and the Instagram segment only cost $27.

With her experience she has helped more than 800 companies grow.

“Without that really stressful experience, I would never have grown into the person and entrepreneur I am today, so I’m actually glad it happened,” she said.