This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Natural deodorant becomes beauty line. Welcome friends, welcome to Side Hustle School, a new episode, a new Throwback Thursday segment in fact, where we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. It's been fun here in the 10th year of Side Hustle School to dig back into the archives and hear some updates on what's happened since we first featured somebody. So today we're gonna go to Hong Kong. Well, actually our, I should say our caller, our featured side hustler is originally from Hong Kong.
She now lives in California. I like both those places. I'm a big fan of both Hong Kong and California. She's a CPA who turns natural deodorant made from apple cider vinegar into a full on beauty and skincare line. She went from one product to multiple products.
What has she learned along the way? What has worked well? What's been challenging? Perhaps some inspiration or a practical tip for a listener out there who is also starting their own business or Side Hustle. That's why we make the show every day.
Gonna pass the microphone to Rebecca. I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. [Music]
My name is Rebecca So. My company name is called Sway and I was on episode 566. And we're located in Los Angeles, California.
I started Sway to actually show the world the first apple cider vinegar deodorant. That was three years ago. And the reason I started it because I couldn't find anything that helped. Not even clinical strength, antiperspirant, natural, not natural. Anything I could find I tried and nothing worked on me.
So I just developed my own deodorant based on whatever I could find in my cabinet, which is apple cider vinegar and some other natural ingredients. And it's worked on me so well that one day I decided, wait, I've always been looking to invent some gadgets to help people solve problems. And I actually have one. So why wouldn't I just market it? That's how Sway started a few years ago.
But now it has transformed into not just a deodorant company, but also a body care and skincare company. I'm actually still a practicing CPA. So I just finished a gruesome tax season because everyone's working from home and clients are working from home. Lots of uncertainties. So, but then we got through it.
So that's still my main hustle. So Sway remains a side hustle. Since the last episode, I've realized I cannot just have one product and also not a product that is a low average order value because it's costly to be running ads and marketing. So I wanted to develop more products or something that has a larger value, average order value. So since then we've added skincare and other body care products.
And my latest, latest product is a customizable body oil that has actually showed big success even during COVID because a lot of people are buying online. So that has been my focus for the past few months is to push my body oil. And so far we don't really see a lot of similar products on the market. There are tons of body oils on the market, but nothing that you can customize the way that you can customize Sway's. We also include a card in every single order to tell you what your options are.
And you can write the name or we will write the name for the customer where it goes to. So it's a perfect gift idea for people to give out because you can show the recipient how much care you put into making this product because you've chosen their favorite items, favorite scent, favorite essential oil, favorite flowers. I love being a CPM, I'm good at it, but nothing compares to making something from scratch and then from an idea to a final product. And then to have a customer writing you a review saying how much she loves it. Rarely do you get that from a client when you hand them a tax return.
They usually do not appreciate it. So when I have an idea in my mind and to be able to create that and make it a final product and people telling me how pretty it is, how good it smells, that is the best thing to hear. [Music]
Hey, thanks Rebecca. I appreciate you sharing those updates. And I took a look, her website is still up and running many years after starting lovemysway.com.
Check it out, lovemysway.com, an all natural skincare company with the goal of empowering customers through organic and locally sourced products. It includes free shipping on all US orders over $40. Listeners, thank you for being out there. I make the show for you. I hope it's helpful in terms of inspiration, practical support, ideas, or just a gentle nudge toward taking action on something that's important to you.
I'll be back again tomorrow of course, new episodes every day. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
