26-year-old college dropout's business brings in $570,000 a year: 'I didn't want to have a conventional job'
When Kate Sullivan started making jewelry in her bedroom at age 19, she couldn't have imagined that her designs would one day be spotted on stars like Gigi Hadid and SZA.
Today, Sullivan's online jewelry company, The Sage Vintage, brings in six figures a year, topping $570,000 in total sales in 2024.
Sullivan, now 26, started The Sage Vintage as a side hustle after she took a break from college in 2017. She left the University of Colorado Boulder, where she was pursuing a degree in neuroscience, and moved back in with her father in a suburb of Chicago.
To make some money while she figured out her next steps, Sullivan started buying vintage clothing from local thrift stores and selling it on Depop, a popular online resale marketplace.
Sullivan's clothing business was profitable, but when the Covid-19 pandemic started, the clothing resale market quickly became more competitive, and Sullivan's sales began to fall.
She knew it was time to pivot. "I wanted to do something different, to stand out and to make sure my business was successful long term," she says.
Inspiration struck when she found an old jewelry making kit from her childhood, and Sullivan began to create handmade jewelry in 2020.
"I thrifted some necklaces, took them apart and started making charm jewelry. And that's how it all started," she says.
With the help of her father, Sullivan scoured local flea markets, antique malls and thrift stores for vintage charms and chains. She sold her first batch of charm necklaces on Depop at between $60 and $100 each.
"I didn't really see a lot of people doing charm jewelry at that point. I felt like it was almost outdated, and I liked the individuality that it brought to each piece," she says.
As her business grew, Sullivan created her own website in January 2020, which she named "The Sage Vintage" in honor of her dog, Sage, to sell her clothing and jewelry.
"I think starting our website really made it feel real to me because I wasn't just selling on a platform anymore. It was my own thing," she says.
Sullivan had initially planned to return to college, but she decided to drop out and focus on growing The Sage Vintage instead.
"Once I started being my own boss, I realized that I didn't want to have a conventional job," she says.
Still, she was running the business full time out of her bedroom, often working on her jewelry until 1 or 2 a.m. She also handled packaging and shipping, though she hired a contract employee in August 2020 to handle emails and customer service.
By the end of 2020, Sullivan's clothing and jewelry sales generated just over $70,000 in sales. She took a salary of $12,000 after paying overhead costs.
"It felt like I was pretty much just getting by," she recalls. "I was hoping to make a lot more the next year."
Sales for The Sage Vintage remained flat at around $70,000 in 2021, but business took off in 2022 after a viral collaboration with Haricot Vert, a NYC-based handmade jewelry brand.
In July 2022, Haricot Vert and Sullivan launched a joint collection of 30 one-of-a-kind pieces priced between $100 and $350.
The collection sold out in under five minutes.
"That was insane to me," Sullivan says. "I've never made that amount of money in that little of time."
Her subsequent collaborations with Haricot Vert continued to quickly sell out and go viral.
"Once I started seeing my own pictures all over Pinterest, I knew that it was going to be something big," Sullivan says. "I'll still be scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram, and I'll see people reposting my pictures from 2 or 3 years ago, and I still cannot tell that it's me at first."
Sullivan can also count major celebrities among her customers.
Singer SZA wore an abalone butterfly necklace from The Sage Vintage onstage while performing at a music festival in 2022, and model Gigi Hadid was spotted in 2023 wearing a necklace from one of The Sage Vintage and Haricot Vert's collaborations.
Hadid's stylist reached out to Sullivan, who sent her three custom pieces.
"That was a crazy moment for me," Sullivan says.
Due to increased demand for her handmade pieces, Sullivan found herself working 14 to 16 hours a day.
"One of the biggest struggles is when you're growing at such a fast pace," she says. "After our collaborations, I was having a really hard time working by myself."
She decided to change her strategy: "In order to scale my business, I really needed to start making multiples of each piece, and not just one of ones."
Sullivan began to purchase bulk batches of charms and worked with manufacturers to create gold-plated replicas of vintage charms. She started selling single charms and chains, as well as offering choose-your-own-charm custom options.
A single charm can cost as little as $12 to $14, while a custom charm necklace typically costs over $350, Sullivan says. The most expensive piece of jewelry on her site is a 14k charm necklace priced at $1,148.
She also expanded into wholesale: in April 2023, a buyer from Anthropologie reached out to Sullivan and purchased 8 handmade, one-of-one necklaces for $1,500. Jewelry from The Sage Vintage is now available in several boutiques and small businesses across the country.
Today, Sullivan employs three part-time contractors to help with the logistics of running The Sage Vintage, though she still makes the jewelry herself.
"I have a lot more flexibility now that I have employees," Sullivan says. "I do try to have a proper weekend now, and I really do try to stick to a 9 to 5. But again, if I do want to take a day off, I'm welcome to do that, thankfully."
In 2022, Sullivan moved from Chicago to Idaho, bought a house, and began operating The Sage Vintage from a small outbuilding on her new property.
Last September, Sullivan took out a $67,000 loan from e-commerce platform Shopify, which she uses to power her website, to renovate the outbuilding into a full-scale jewelry workshop, as well as to redesign her website and increase stock ahead of the holiday season. Since then, she's paid off over 50% of the loan.
After years of paying herself through distributions from the business, she plans to pay herself a "proper salary" of $100,000 in 2025.
In the future, Sullivan hopes to expand The Sage Vintage and open up a storefront in Chicago. Later this year, she plans to launch her own line of apparel in addition to jewelry, "coming full-circle" from her early days on Depop.
"I definitely am so grateful that I did drop out and didn't continue on the track that I was on," Sullivan says.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Survive, nothing more': Cuba's elderly live hand to mouth
With a monthly pension barely sufficient to buy 15 eggs or a small bag of rice, Cuba's elderly struggle to make ends meet in one of Latin America's poorest and fastest-aging countries. As the communist island battles its deepest economic crisis in three decades, the state is finding it increasingly hard to care for some 2.4 million inhabitants -- more than a quarter of the population -- aged 60 and over. Sixty is the age at which women -- for men it's 65 -- qualify for the state pension which starts at 1,528 Cuban pesos per month. This is less than $13 at the official exchange rate and a mere $4 on the informal street market where most Cubans do their shopping. "Fight for life, for death is certain," vendor Isidro Manuet, 73, told AFP sitting on a sidewalk in the heart of Havana, his skin battered by years in the sun, several of his front teeth missing. "I manage to live, survive, nothing more," he said of his meager income that allows him to buy a little food, and not much else. As he spoke to AFP, Manuet looked on as small groups of people walked by his stall carrying bags full of food. They were coming out of Casalinda, one of several part government-run megastores that sells goods exclusively to holders of US dollars -- a small minority of Cubans. Most rely instead on informal stalls such as the ones Manuet and other elderly Cubans set up on sidewalks every morning to sell fruit, coffee, cigarettes, candy, used clothes and other second-hand goods. - 'Things are bad' - Near Manuet's stall, 70-year-old Antonia Diez sells clothing and makeup. "Things are bad, really bad," she sighs, shaking her head. Many of Cuba's elderly have been without family support since 2022, when the biggest migratory exodus in the country's history began amid a crisis marked by food, fuel and medicine shortages, power blackouts and rampant inflation. More beggars can be seen on Havana's streets -- though there are no official figures -- and every now and then an elderly person can be spotted rummaging through garbage bins for something to eat, or sell. The Cuban crisis, which Havana blames on decades of US sanctions but analysts say was fueled by government economic mismanagement and tourism tanking under the Covid-19 pandemic, has affected the public purse too, with cuts in welfare spending. As a result, the government has struggled to buy enough of the staples it has made available for decades to impoverished Cubans at heavily subsidized prices under the "libreta" ration book system. It is the only way many people have to access affordable staples such as rice, sugar and beans -- when there is any. Diez said she used to receive an occasional state-sponsored food package, "but it's been a while since they've sent anything." - 'No future' - This all means that many products can only be found at "dollar stores" such as Casalinda, or private markets where most people cannot afford to shop. According to the University of Havana's Center for Cuban Economic Studies, in 2023 a Cuban family of three would have needed 12 to 14 times the average minimum monthly salary of 2,100 pesos (around $17) to meet their basic food needs. Official figures show about 68,000 Cubans over 60 rely on soup kitchens run by the state Family Assistance System for one warm meal per day. At one such facility, "Las Margaritas," a plate of food costs about 13 pesos (11 dollar cents). Pensioner Eva Suarez, 78, has been going there daily for 18 months. "The country is in such need. There's no food, there's nothing," she told AFP, adding her pension is basically worthless "because everything is so expensive." Inflation rose by 190 percent between 2018 and 2023, but pensions have not kept pace. Some are losing faith in communism, brought to the island by Fidel Castro's revolution, and its unfulfilled promises such as a liter of subsidized milk for every child under seven per day. "I have nothing, my house is falling apart," said Lucy Perez, a 72-year-old economist who retired with 1,600 pesos (about 13 dollars) a month after a 36-year career. "The situation is dire. The nation has no future." It's not just the elderly suffering. Cuba was rocked by unprecedented anti-government protests in 2021, and students have been rebelling in recent months due to a steep hike in the cost of mobile internet -- which only arrived on the island seven years ago. In January, the government announced a partial dollarization of the economy that has angered many unable to lay their hands on greenbacks. rd-jb/lp/mlr/sms/ksb
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Is J.B. Hunt Transport Stock Underperforming the S&P 500?
Lowell, Arkansas-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistics services in the United States. With a market cap of $13.8 billion, the company operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). Companies worth $10 billion or more are typically referred to as "large-cap stocks." JBHT fits right into that category, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, reflecting its substantial size and influence in the integrated freight & logistics industry. 2 Outstanding Stocks Under $50 to Buy and Hold Now Nvidia's Bringing Sovereign AI to Germany. Should You Buy NVDA Stock Here? A $1 Billion Reason to Buy MicroStrategy Stock Here Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! Despite its strengths, the stock has dipped 30.6% from its 52-week high of $200.40 touched on Nov. 11, 2024. Moreover, over the past three months, JBHT stock has declined 5.5%, underperforming the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 5.4% uptick during the same time frame. JBHT stock has declined 18.6% on a YTD basis, underperforming SPX's 1.7% uptick in 2025. Moreover, JBHT has declined 10.7% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming SPX's 9% gains. JBHT stock has been trading below its 200-day moving average since mid-February and mostly above its 50-day moving average since mid-May. On Apr. 15, JBHT stock declined 2% following the release of its Q1 earnings. The trucking and logistics company posted revenue of $2.92 billion in the period, which met Street forecasts. Moreover, its adjusted earnings for the quarter amounted to $1.17, surpassing the consensus estimates by 1.7%. Within the integrated freight & logistics industry, rival Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD) has grown 2.1% in 2025 and has declined 9.2% over the past year, slightly outperforming the stock. Among the 24 analysts covering the JBHT stock, the consensus rating is a 'Moderate Buy.' Its mean price target of $151.33 suggests a modest 8.9% upside potential from current price levels. On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rays owner in ‘advanced talks' to sell MLB franchise for $1.7 billion
The Rays revealed Wednesday that owner Stu Sternberg is in 'advanced talks' to sell the team. The potential deal values the MLB club at $1.7 billion with a group led by Jacksonville homebuilder Patrick Zalupski having executed a letter of intent to purchase the club, per Sportico. Advertisement 'The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible sale of the team,' the team said in a statement. 'Neither the Rays nor the group will have further comment during the discussions.' Rays' Junior Caminero runs the bases after his double off Miami Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera. AP The Rays perennially have one of the smallest payrolls in Major League Baseball but have been one of the most successful teams since 2008, with the third-highest winning percentage in that time. Only the Yankees and the Dodgers have a higher win percentage. Sternberg, principal owner of the franchise, purchased the Rays in 2004 for $200 million, but has faced mounting pressure to sell the team in recent years. Advertisement According to The Athletic, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and other owners have been attempting to persuade Sternberg to sell. The Rays have spent considerable time trying to build a new stadium to replace Tropicana Field. They had a deal in place to begin building a new 30,000-capacity stadium as part of a mixed-use development in the Historic Gas Plant District in downtown St. Petersburg. Patrick Zalupski is the founder, chairman and CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a Florida-based homebuilder. University of Florida Tropicana Field after Hurricane Milton. AFP via Getty Images However, as the March 31 funding deadline passed, Sternberg announced that the plans were being scrapped due to financing delays. Currently, the Rays are unable to play at Tropicana Field after the stadium sustain massive damage from Hurricane Milton in October 2024. They are instead playing out of George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa, which is the site of the Yankees' spring training facility and home of their High-A club. Advertisement A Rays sale would be MLB's third franchise to change hands in recent years. In 2020, the Mets were sold to Steve Cohen, and, in 2024, a group led by David Rubenstein bought the Orioles. The news of the franchise's potential sale came just hours before ESPN reported the majority share of the NBA's Lakers being sold to Mark Walter, owner of MLB's Dodgers, in a $10 billion deal.
