Boss Babe
I quit my Asos job for my side hustle… then made £100k in three MONTHS despite having zero experience
Frustrated by constantly moving departments and her slow career progress, the twenty-something decided to invest in herself
WITH everyday essentials going up and up, you might have thought about starting a side hustle.
Though most of us would be happy with a bit of extra cash, business woman Aimee Smale made over £100k from her side hustle and it’s now one of fastest growing fashion brands in the UK.
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If you’ve scrolled through social media in the last six months, you’ll have definitely seen designs from her brand: Odd Muse.
Known for its luxe styles and iconic embellished dresses, the company has been trending ever since it first launched during the pandemic.
While you might think Aimee would be a certified girl boss, she actually revealed that she doesn’t consider herself a ‘massively competitive person’.
In fact, her small business actually came about because she was didn't want to compete with her colleague while working as a buyer’s admin assistant (BA) for ASOS.
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Having studied Fashion Business at university, Aimee had ‘literally loved’ the role and was eager to climb the corporate ladder before seeing how competitive it was.
Chatting with Grace Beverley on the Working hard, Hardly working podcast, the fashion founder said: “I literally loved that job, the only issue the progression was quite slow.
“There must be 500 buyer’s assistants at ASOS, it’s huge.
"I’m just not competitive enough to go for that promotion to be against all of these girls.”
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Still keen to learn, she continued with the role and dreamt of having her own women’s wear similar to the Women’s Wear Department.
It wasn’t long before she was moved to the Beauty Department, leaving the then-21-year-old frustrated with where her career was going.
“Everyone at ASOS that knew must still speaks about how dramatic I was,” she joked during the interview, adding: “I literally acted like my world was crumbling down."
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Despite her team being lovely and trying to get her more involved, the final straw came when Aimee was she moved between departments for the final time.
“There was talks of their new category opening up and I was going to be on sex toys…and I was like this is a sign,” she admitted.
Having plead with her old manager to move her back to her original team, the entrepreneur was horrified when another colleague, Alice, was moved to make room for her.
This was all the incentive she needed to commit to Odd Muse, with Aimee saying: “Within four weeks, we are on this big call and the other BA is being moved off the department.”
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“I was sat there like this is my fault. I literally rang her back straight after and said I’m going to quit…you can stay on the department” the fashionista explained, adding that she’d had some samples made and that this was the catalyst for her to start her own brand.
She added: “I felt that there were just so many things pushing me to do it.”
Investing the £12,000 she’d been saving for a house deposit, the Essex girl then launched Odd Muse in 2020 and her first 100 units sold out within days.
Having wondered whether she would have a career in fashion, she made £100,000 in three short months and her business flourish - even with her limited experience.
Now 26, Odd Muse is worth an estimated £5 million and has even opened it’s first physical store in London late last year.
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Her journey has been even more full circle, with Aimee eventually hiring her former colleague, Alice, as a junior buyer.
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