This episode of Side Hustle Spotlight features a Q&A with Cynthia Sakai, designer and founding father of the luxury body care company evolve together. Sakai began evolvetogether as a side hustle while running her jewelry business, then made it her full-time business inside six months. While evolvetogether started off with a focus on masks, it now offers a range of body and face products and other merchandise, including water bottles, canvas bags and more. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Image source: courtesy of evolvetogether. Cynthia Sakai.
What was your day job (or other sources of income) when you began working on the side?
I owned a jewelry company called Vita Fede, which I founded in 2009. We have partnered with major retailers around the world, including Bergdorf Goodman, Lane Crawford and Harvey Nichols, gaining a dedicated following.
When did you begin your side hustle and where did you discover the inspiration for it?
At the starting of the pandemic, I felt obliged to support relief efforts and in 2020, I transformed my jewelry business into a face mask business by founding evolvetogether. When I used to be working on my jewelry brand, I at all times had the desire to build an on a regular basis goods brand, but it wasn’t until I felt a calling to help people during the pandemic that evolvetogether really got here to life.
The transition from jewelry to masks was an intentional moment of name development for me – the pandemic has shed light on the need to build a brand based on the pillars of community and sustainability in a time of such division. We wanted to “evolve together” as humans in very scary and uncertain times – hence the origin of the name.
What were the first steps you took to break away from the game?
Despite my limited knowledge of healthcare supplies, I applied my design philosophy to face masks. It’s essential to note that there was no playbook on how to launch a brand and get it off the ground during a global pandemic.
I knew we had a product that was not only protected and efficient, but also unique in design. I’m a bit quaint and consider that the product says all of it. This was not the time for easy sales messages; it was time to build a brand.
Once we created our masks, I knew I had to get the product to as many people as possible, so we got into cars with boxes and boxes of masks to hand out to people on the streets of New York. After a while, you could not walk a block, scroll through Instagram, or even turn on the TV without seeing our masks. If you create a good product, people will come and sales will occur. It was word of mouth that established evolvetogether as a trusted and charitable household brand in the face of the global health crisis.
What were the biggest challenges you faced while building your side business and how did you overcome them?
We began our evolution together during a global pandemic, so it was a challenge from the start. Everything that might go fallacious did. We dealt with logistics, raw material shortages, changing factory protocols, and recent safety regulations and laws.
Every day brought recent obstacles and I learned to be resilient. There was no waiting and giving up. I had to be agile and learn to adapt quickly. I knew we had to have the highest quality medical mask and we couldn’t compromise on performance, so I made it work. I analyzed what was happening in the moment to focus on the larger picture and longevity, which was building a brand that gives reliable, essential products.
How long did it take for you to achieve stable monthly income? How much did the side hustle earn?
Considering when and how we began, our monthly revenue has never been flat. We went from $0 in sales to over $6M in six months and $18M in 12 months.
When did you’re taking over the company full-time and what motivated you to do that? What does growth and revenue seem like now?
Quite immediately. I at all times wanted to start a personal care brand, but I had exhausted my jewelry brand. After the first six months, we felt it was right to focus solely on building the evolution together and expanding our product line beyond masks.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
I used to be able to create a brand that makes an impact. Of course, I’m extremely pleased with our products because we have managed to create a line of gorgeous, efficient on a regular basis products that make sustainable living a easy a part of your each day routine. But at volvogether, it has at all times been about building something larger than just products. We want to do good and are on a mission to connect people in what matters most – taking good care of the planet and each other.
What is your advice for others looking to start a successful side hustle or their very own business?
Have a goal. It’s essential to know why you are doing it and make sure your vision and purpose are aligned. Once you define your “why”, every part else will fall into place.
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