How I Built a 20K-Strong Brand from My Living Room (with a Baby in a Pouch)

Spoiler: I didn’t have a business plan. I didn’t have a fancy studio or startup capital. I had a baby in a pouch, a craft machine I barely knew how to use, and a deep need to do something while battling nausea during my second pregnancy.

My first “launch” wasn’t a launch at all. It was me uploading Instagram stories of things I was making in real time. No logo. No strategy. No five-year plan. Just me and my hands and the quiet belief that creating might help me feel a little more like me again.

Then someone messaged me: “Can I buy one?”I blinked.I hadn’t set pricing. I didn’t know how to invoice. But I said yes.

I charged just enough to cover materials and maybe five bucks for my time. That one order turned into five. Then ten. And suddenly, I was shipping handmade products from my kitchen table while my toddler tried to climb the counter and my dog barked at the mailman.

It wasn’t polished. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was chaos — and it was working.

My husband (lovingly) suggested I find a better system when orders started to bury our dining room table. So I moved into the garage. From the garage, I graduated to a storage unit. Eventually, I outsourced shipping to a 3PL warehouse. But the growth didn’t come from ads or campaigns. It came from connection.

Here’s what I was doing that worked — even though I didn’t know it at the time:

• I posted what I was making, even when it was imperfect.

• I shared behind-the-scenes, like the mess of supplies in my garage.

• I responded to every DM like a human, not a brand.

• I told the truth about what I was learning, even when it was messy.

And people came back.

They came back because they weren’t just buying a product. They were watching a story unfold. They were cheering on a mom trying to figure it out in real time. They were part of something — and I never took that for granted.

There were plenty of mistakes.I oversold limited launches.I ordered the wrong materials.I sent the wrong package to the wrong customer.I cried. More than once.

But I also told the truth. I updated my customers. I apologized. I shared what I learned. And because I’d built trust, people gave me grace. They stuck with me.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned?People buy from people. And people root for progress. They don’t need you to be perfect — they need you to be present.

As the brand grew, I started learning about marketing and systems. I invested in email marketing, cleaned up my website, and hired help. But none of that replaced the real magic: showing up in my full, human, mom-bun, pajama-wearing glory — consistently.

That’s what built a 20K+ strong community across email and socials. Not virality. Not flashy funnels. Not big budgets.Just honesty. Repetition. Relationship. Heart.

So if you’re reading this from your couch or garage or kitchen table, wondering if any of it matters — I want you to know it does.

You don’t need a perfect launch to get started. You don’t need investors. You don’t even need to know what the end goal looks like.

You just need to take that first brave step — and share it.

Because your one order? It could be the beginning of something beautiful.Just like it was for me.