This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Kelly Bozigian, 32, of Boston, Massachusetts. She and her husband, Colt Bozigian, run Coastal Caviar, a handmade jewelry company featuring charm necklaces, bracelets and more. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Coastal Caviar. Kelly Bozigian.
What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
Prior to leaving my full-time job this past February, I worked as an associate creative director at the TJX Companies for the TJ Maxx brand. Colt still works full-time in software sales.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
I initially had the idea for Coastal Caviar in June 2023. We were actually at the beach, and I was scrolling through my phone trying to find a charm necklace for an upcoming vacation. I was telling my family how crazy it is that I cannot find any mainstream retailers selling charm necklaces — a style I had a gut feeling would be the next big craze.
I ended up ordering from a woman on Etsy — screenshotting and circling the charms I liked, messaging back and forth with her to finalize the design. It was a pretty tedious process. That’s when I had the epiphany: There has to be a better way. I said, “I have a business idea — we need to build an interactive website where you can drag and drop the charms and see your creation in real time.” In that moment, Coastal Caviar was born.
Related: This 54-Year-Old’s Juicy Side Hustle — Which She Calls a ‘Literal ATM’ — Pulls Up to $50,000 a Month and Was Profitable Within 1 Week
People always say that the best businesses arise out of solving a problem. Entrepreneurial in spirit, I’ve always been waiting to have that “aha” moment when I realized there was a need in my own life I could solve with a product or service. A light went off in my brain on the beach that day, and I knew that this was it. The key to our business was not necessarily the necklace itself, but the online experience and what we now refer to as our “charm builder.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Coastal Caviar. Kelly and Colt Bozigian.
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
Believe it or not, by the time we got home from the beach, I’d purchased a domain name and started designing the website. I find that for a lot of people, taking action behind an idea is the hardest part, and it all feels too daunting. I’ve always been a bit impulsive (a good and bad thing!) and have a “just get it done” mentality, which definitely helped us get this off the ground quickly.
Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?
Upwork is your friend! We were able to develop a complex, interactive website with our “charm builder” at a relatively low cost by finding the right partners on Upwork. It takes trial and error, but talented people are using the platform.
For paid resources, I’m also a member of a freelance group called Freelance Founders. I joined in 2022 when I was freelancing in the digital marketing and social media space in hopes of landing clients. Ironically, I now use it way more to hire talent myself for Coastal Caviar. If you’re not an expert in something, outsource it.
Related: These Married Doctors Used ChatGPT to Start a Side Hustle That Has Nothing to Do With Healthcare — and It’s on Track to Hit $75,000
If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
I wish I had more faith in Coastal Caviar being successful. Although we started working on the business when we had the idea in June 2023, we launched in January 2024. I never anticipated the level of success we would see that first month, and didn’t have the inventory or any processes in place. At the time, I was hand-making every single necklace with not enough inventory to fulfill orders. We were pulling all-nighters to keep the business running. Three months later, we were set up with a manufacturer in Rhode Island, and life got a bit easier, but I would do anything to go back in time to be prepared for what was to come.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Coastal Caviar
Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
We’ve definitely made mistakes along the way. This past January, a large influencer reached out to us asking if we sold bag charms because she wanted to share them in an upcoming TikTok video that same week. We were actually developing bag charms as a new product, but they weren’t ready. We rushed the launch to coincide with the influencer’s post, and the bag charms took off overnight.
Unfortunately, because we rushed the product development process, we realized the rings we were using to affix charms weren’t strong enough. It resulted in a huge headache in terms of customer service, but it also damaged the trust we have with a very loyal customer base. We’ve since fixed the product, but I value the relationship we have with our consumers more than anything and wish we had taken more time to get it right.
Related: She’s a Former 911 Dispatcher Who Started a Side Hustle Dominated By Men — and It Makes Her About $4,500 a Month: ‘Hustle Paid Off’
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
The month we launched to the public in January 2024, we had pretty instant success, which I recognize is rare and a huge blessing. I started a TikTok series where I would film myself making a charm necklace for a specific influencer. My first video was for one of my favorite influencers, Alix Earle, and she saw the video and asked me to send her the necklace. Colt whipped out his phone to film me reacting to her sending me a direct message, and we posted my reaction on TikTok.
My reaction video got over 2 million views, and Alix’s video got over 9 million views. Within our first month, we had done over $100,000 in sales just from the reach on TikTok.
What does growth and revenue look like now?
We’ve seen pretty rapid growth, and we credit a lot of that to the TikTok platform. Within six months, we had hit $1 million in sales without any paid advertising. Now just over a year from our launch date, we’ve done over $2 million in sales.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Coastal Caviar
How much time do you spend working on your business on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?
I’m generally working a 12-hour day, almost seven days a week. It’s definitely a grind and has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. That being said, when it’s your baby, you will do absolutely anything to see it succeed, so I don’t mind it.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
I love sharing our journey on TikTok and connecting with our community through social media. Although we’re working constantly, it really doesn’t feel lonely because we have thousands of people cheering us on online. Given the personal nature of the product, women have shared their hardships and stories with me and expressed how much the jewelry means to them.
Our social media documents a lot of the behind-the-scenes of growing this business, and many women have messaged me to tell me that I’ve inspired them to start their own business as well. That’s brought me the most joy!
Related: This Mom’s Side Hustle Selling a $600 Children’s Toy Became a Business Making Over $1 Million a Year: ‘There Is a Lot to Love’
What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
Don’t overthink it when you’re getting started and just put yourself out there. I think that people often hold themselves back from launching a business because they overthink it and feel they need every detail of the business plan figured out before launching. My best advice is just to put your product or service out there and see what happens. I was fortunate to discover product-market fit almost instantaneously thanks to the reach that TikTok has. One post immediately validated our business idea, and all the other logistics can be figured out as you grow and scale.
Read the full article here
