This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A options Leila Quraishi, 27, of Los Angeles, California. Quraishi’s sock enterprise Nudesox is focusing on seven-figure income throughout all gross sales channels subsequent yr. Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Dan Simantov. Leila Quraishi.
Need to learn extra tales like this? Subscribe to Cash Makers, our free e-newsletter full of inventive aspect hustle concepts and profitable methods. Join right here.
What was your day job or major occupation once you began your aspect hustle?I used to be a senior in highschool once I began Nudesox. Rising up, I used to be all the time entrepreneurial and beloved creating and taking up management roles. In eighth grade, I grew to become a licensed kids’s yoga teacher and taught personal classes all through highschool, designing class flows and exercise gear — now I make grip socks.
Associated: I Took My Facet Hustle Full-Time and Made $222,000 Final 12 months. This is How — and Why Generally I Work Simply 10 Hours a Week.
When did you begin your aspect hustle, and the place did you discover the inspiration for it?I got here up with the idea for Nudesox in 2015. As quickly as I turned 18, I purchased the area title for Nudesox and legally filed the enterprise quickly after. I’ve all the time beloved placing outfits collectively and dressing up, however I additionally worth my consolation. On the time, I could not discover the perfect no-show sock. They had been uncomfortable, slipped off, weren’t cushioned and did not even cowl my complete foot. I used to be by no means a fan of colourful, seen socks and thought there have been in all probability so many individuals who felt the identical approach, however nonetheless need protection and luxury. That was the second I believed to myself, Why has nobody ever created athleisure socks in pores and skin tones?
Picture Credit score: Greyson Tarantino
What had been a few of the first steps you took to get your aspect hustle off the bottom? How a lot cash/funding did it take to launch?I grew up finding out profitable entrepreneurs for enjoyable and would spend hours dissecting how they obtained to the place they had been: I might learn articles and watch interviews and, in fact, a lot of Shark Tank. I used to be all the time fascinated by enterprise and innovation. Once I began Nudesox, it was a brand new class, so it was tough to discover a producer that understood the idea. It took me two full years to nail down a producer and get correct samples. I began the model with $10,000, and to this present day, Nudesox is absolutely bootstrapped with no exterior funding. Each greenback I ever made went again into the enterprise for it to develop.
I might DM or electronic mail influencers asking in the event that they wished to strive the model, and it was well-received; many posted themselves sporting the socks on their Instagram tales. Given it was a novel product, a number of publications wrote concerning the firm, which helped unfold the phrase. I studied entrepreneurship on the College of Southern California, the place I realized find out how to create succinct pitch decks and shows, in addition to the significance of KPIs and correct enterprise administration. Combining my research with Nudesox actually helped progress the enterprise and launched me to a community of people that nonetheless help me and the model at present.
Are there any free or paid assets which were particularly useful for you in beginning and operating this enterprise?Once I began Nudesox, I relied closely on connecting with function fashions within the trend business. I might LinkedIn message and electronic mail executives at prime trend and shoe manufacturers to find out about their processes and trajectory. Networking is essential, however there’s an artwork to it. I all the time attempt to discover synergies with folks earlier than I attain out to them to ensure the dialog is sensible. When you attain out to folks aimlessly simply to solid a large internet, you will not essentially get a lot worth or substance. It is essential to be intentional together with your outreach and present that you simply care and have executed your analysis. I additionally take heed to lots of podcasts. I particularly love NPR’s How I Constructed This with Man Raz. I extremely advocate it to anybody trying to begin a enterprise or simply for some inspiration.
Associated: This 29-12 months-Outdated’s Facet Hustle Introduced Folks ‘to the Darkish Inexperienced Facet.’ It Made $10,000 Inside 2 Days and Sees 6 Figures a Month.
When you may return in your small business journey and alter one course of or method, what would it not be, and the way do you want you’d executed it otherwise?Get your operations down and work out which instruments preserve you most organized and supply the most effective stream. For instance, I’ve used a number of kinds of software program for creating invoices, and it will get messy when you have got paperwork somewhere else. Having a centralized database is so essential for record-keeping.
Picture Credit score: Dan Simantov
In terms of this particular enterprise, what’s one thing you have discovered significantly difficult and/or shocking that individuals who get into this sort of work ought to be ready for, however seemingly aren’t?Once I began Nudesox, I used to be very younger, and there was rather a lot that I did not learn about operating a enterprise and even the way in which retailers function. It is tough if you end up studying, and when folks know you are within the studying section, oftentimes you may get taken benefit of. It is essential to stroll into each room with confidence and certainty — do your analysis forward of time, however do not essentially share your doubts or questions with simply anybody. Have a choose few folks that you simply actually belief — for this reason it is essential to have mentors.
Are you able to recall a particular occasion when one thing went very fallacious? How did you repair it?I needed to pull my very first buy order of socks in 2018 as a result of they’d “slip off.” My mistake was that I did not check the product in each circumstance and with completely different sneakers to ensure they held up. Greatest mistake! Ever since that second, each new SKU is worn, washed and examined many, many occasions with numerous sneakers. I took that first loss and realized my lesson.
Associated: They Began a Facet Hustle Producing an ‘Apparent’ Meals Merchandise. It Hit $300,000 Month-to-month Income Quick — On Observe for Over $20 Million in 2025.
How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income? How a lot did the aspect hustle earn?Nudesox is an idea I by no means gave up on, and it simply takes one large “sure” to propel you ahead. That is the ability of 1. We frequently hear about in a single day successes or venture-backed manufacturers making it large shortly. I might argue it is equally as spectacular to pursue one thing for years earlier than it hits — proof that the model has a objective and giving up shouldn’t be within the equation. Persistence and resilience are two important founder qualities. All through the journey of Nudesox, our retail pop-ups would see 1000’s of {dollars} in weeks, and now the model sees 1000’s of {dollars} in minutes with extra orders and prospects. It is all about timing and product-market match.
What does progress and income seem like now?Nudesox is on observe to promote over 30,000 pairs of socks this yr throughout all gross sales channels. Having sturdy partnerships and distribution is essential for scaling. We launched with QVC this yr, and in our first present, we offered over 500 pairs of socks per minute — that is about 9 pairs per second! This was a partnership I had all the time dreamed of as a result of it is a possibility to current the operate of Nudesox visually and share the way it makes getting dressed simpler. Being on dwell TV and demonstrating Nudesox’s effectiveness elevated gross sales and allowed me to attach with prospects in actual time. Making a product that folks put on each day and by no means knew they wanted has boosted the model, particularly now that we’ve main distribution. Nudesox sees excessive returning buyer charges and natural phrase of mouth, so we’re enthusiastic about future progress.
Picture Credit score: Dan Simantov
How a lot time do you spend engaged on your small business on a each day, weekly or month-to-month foundation? How do you construction that point; what does a typical day or week of labor seem like for you?I work about 75 hours every week, together with my weekends, and I begin each day with an iced matcha! Along with Nudesox, I additionally work for Shopify, serving to manufacturers emigrate and develop on our platform. Throughout the day, you may discover me on the cellphone with retailers thinking about rising with Shopify’s platform. Throughout the night, you may discover me on the cellphone with my producer discussing margins and retail partnerships. I discover it fulfilling to have a number of issues occurring without delay, and the extra on my plate, the extra I get executed. Proper now, I am engaged on scaling Nudesox with extra distribution channels and designing new types. It is all the time been essential for me to seek out synergies in my life. I selected to work for Shopify as a result of Nudesox runs on Shopify, and I perceive the platform and the way it’s personally helped me run the enterprise. I really like connecting with different enterprise homeowners and being in that world.
What do you take pleasure in most about operating this enterprise?I really like watching every stage of its progress and seeing new alternatives come up. Attending to see one thing you have constructed attain new heights over time is rewarding. Operating a enterprise is dynamic and continually evolving; there’s by no means a boring second. Excessive highs and low lows, but it surely makes me so joyful seeing the group of people that love and put on Nudesox each day. When folks buy socks from our retail pop-ups, I typically see them come again days or even weeks later sporting the Nudesox they purchased. It is all the time such a great feeling to see folks appreciating your product and figuring out it is including worth to their lives. It is a private reminder that what I’ve constructed issues.
Associated: ‘Absolute Freedom’: Siblings Behind a Self-Funded 8-Determine Model Reveal 3 Secrets and techniques Aspiring Entrepreneurs Ought to Know About Development and Success
What’s your finest piece of particular, actionable enterprise recommendation?My finest piece of enterprise recommendation can also be private recommendation. We speak rather a lot about love languages and never sufficient about studying languages. It is pure to consider how we prefer to “obtain” from others, but it surely’s additionally essential to know find out how to “give” to your self from inside. Spend high quality time attending to know your self and the way you be taught and take up info. Consider the way you finest work together with folks — is it a particular surroundings or mind-set? The place do you discover inspiration, and the way do you cope with powerful conditions? The frequent denominator of every thing we do in life is ourselves, so having that self-awareness is what’s going to make you profitable. As soon as you have executed the self-work, give attention to fixing actual issues that folks face. Is the market there? Have a transparent imaginative and prescient on the way you wish to execute and present folks you might be keen to provide your all earlier than asking something from them. Lastly, be sure you have an X-factor. What makes your small business stand out, and what makes you the best individual for this? That is how I began Nudesox.
This text is a part of our ongoing Younger Entrepreneur® sequence highlighting the tales, challenges and triumphs of being a younger enterprise proprietor.
Be part of prime CEOs, founders and operators on the Stage Up convention to unlock methods for scaling your small business, boosting income and constructing sustainable success.
