Ever heard of someone turning a $100 sewing machine into a six-figure income? That’s exactly what Olivia Cleary did! Let’s dive into her amazing journey.
Olivia was in a crunch A couple weeks before her big launch party. She needed to sew 20 polyester scarves, but she was running out of time, and each scarf took five minutes to make.
So, Olivia stayed up late, working from 7 p.m. to midnight and again from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Before heading off to her full-time job as an architectural designer. She was stitching the edges of her “crappy little scarves” on a $100 sewing machine perched on a folding TV table in her New York apartment.
That was back in June 2022. Fast forward to October 2023, and her business, The Clearly Collective, made six figures yearly! Her silk scarves show off famous architectural landmarks and are now a hit.
Olivia quit her full-time job in April to focus on her growing business. She recently completed a startup incubator program at her alma mater, the University of Virginia.
The Clearly Collective’s scarves have been featured at fancy events hosted by St. Regis Hotels, McLaren Automotive, and Bacardi, and soon, an NFL team will join the list.
Her scarves even made their way into donor gift bags for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games!
Olivia’s success comes from her unique way of showcasing famous landmarks.
She blends architecture, design, and marketing to create scarves that reflect what communities mean to people.
“My designs translate how I see a community,” she says.
So, how did she get started? Olivia studied architecture at UVA, graduated in 2020, and moved back to Boston.
During the pandemic, she built outdoor tables from wooden pallets and rented them out. She called this side hustle Backyard Banquet.
Even though it wasn’t easy, this experience gave her the confidence to pursue her creative passions.
After shutting down Backyard Banquet in 2021, Olivia tried painting custom designs on white jeans but found it too slow.
Instead, she turned to polyester scarves. She built a website and launched The Clearly Collective in June 2022.
The business took off when a scarf featuring UVA’s rotunda went viral on TikTok, racking 40,000 views.
The viral success brought in tons of orders, including requests for scarves featuring landmarks from colleges across the U.S. Olivia, used the pre-orders to upgrade her scarves to luxurious silk fabric, increasing their price and boosting profits.
In February 2023, McLaren’s San Francisco dealership discovered Olivia’s work on Instagram and asked her to make scarves for a car show.
This partnership marked a turning point for her business. Now, brand deals make up about 65% of her revenue.
With a small team of herself, a contractor, and an intern, Olivia plans to expand her staff and grow her business even more. “When I started, I had no idea I could do this,” she says. “I’m just a girl from Boston with no fashion background. It’s wild to think I’m now a luxury brand designer!” Here is Meet the Side Hustlers: Inspiring Stories of Creativity and Success