A Side Hustle From Her Bedroom Floor Became an 8-Figure Business.

Madi Stefanis started her business at 19 with one old film camera and a Facebook Marketplace listing. It sold for 5x the asking price, and that was the beginning of a side hustle that scaled to $70K a month from her bedroom floor, before turning into 35mm Co., a camera brand now sold in nearly every country in the world with over 100,000 units sold.

This episode is a true side-hustle-to-global-business story: how Madi went from sourcing and reselling vintage cameras solo, to betting her entire house deposit on manufacturing her own product, to building an 8-figure company, all before turning 26.

We get into the real mechanics of scaling a side hustle: how she decided when it was time to go all in, the financial risk that nearly didn't pay off, working with contractors across four countries, and the practical, unglamorous advice she'd give anyone thinking about starting their own thing on the side.

Madi’s links

35mm Co Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/35mm_co/)

35mmco.com

Madi’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/madistefanis/reels/)

Check out IOU (The Practical Lessons) here: https://thecurveplatform.com/

We're proud to be partnering with BNZ. There's an art to starting something new, and like any art form, you need the right tools to make it work. Whether you're flatting, saving to travel, or making a career move, BNZ has the tools to help you master your money from the get-go.

Credits:

Hosts: Sophie Hallwright & Vic Harris

Producer: Emily Rigby