A WOMAN has revealed she earns £270,000 a year from a side job she started during her lunch break.
Maya Portorreal, 27, dreamed of becoming a fashion designer when she left university, but she soon discovered that getting patterns and samples made is expensive.
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Instead, she took a job as a saleswoman at a luxury brand and after less than a month and a half, she decided she wanted to start a jewelry brand.
Maya said her colleagues thought she was “crazy,” but she decided to continue with her business, Kitten & Co.
She started her business in 2019 with just £1,500 and spent a month and a half coming up with the idea.
After finding a supplier, she created a ring design and then promoted her work through social media.
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Maya was soon noticed by a number of influencers, who started sharing her jewelry online.
She soon started selling and initially sold her rings for just £14.75.
As her business grew, she raised her prices and soon Kitten & Co. was earning £8,000 a month.
Maya started taking courses to promote her brand, which she said “scaled her business to an unimaginable level.”
“Facebook ads have become an important part of my business and I can’t live without them,” she told CNBC.
Maya said that she would work on her part-time job during her lunch break and in the evenings when she got home from work.
“Everyone thought I was crazy for working two full-time jobs,” she said.
Maya was working until 3am on her jewelry business and has now hired her mother to help her.
“My mother is an entrepreneur herself, so it was very easy to get her involved,” she says.
“She’s like my assistant, and I pick up ideas from her.”
Maya’s jewellery ranges in price from £30,000 to £270,000 and her business now generates £270,000 a year.
She makes everything from earrings to necklaces and men’s jewelry.
Maya has since quit her job and is working full-time on Kitten & Co.
“A steady job gives you time to step out of your comfort zone,” she said.
Maya is now working on automating her business so that she can have more free time.
“I’ve worked hard, I’ve worked hard, and now I want it to work for me,” she said.
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