Sleep-Deprived Mom Spent $16,000 And Built A Business: The Side Hustle Now Brings In Close To Six Figures
Julia Holden did not set out to become a founder. She was a sleep-deprived new mom in New Jersey, trying to solve a problem at home after noticing her newborn son fell asleep faster when his eyes were gently covered.When she could not find a product she liked, she built one herself. Enter Sleepy Hat, a baby hat with an attached eye covering that started as a side hustle and grew into a profitable business, bringing in five figures a month by mid-2025.From New Mom Problem To Side HustleHolden spent nearly $16,000 of her own savings to get Sleepy Hat off the ground, all while working full-time in advertising and caring for her baby. She built the business in 20-minute bursts between feedings, without outside funding, a team or paid child care beyond family help.She also learned the expensive way. Early prototypes came out wrong, her factory samples needed fixes and an incomplete tech pack reportedly led to around $1,500 in defective products. Even so, she kept refining the design, launched her website in September 2024 and kept pushing after early sales came in slowly.When The Side Hustle Became RealThe turning point came when outside customers started buying. Holden later called her first sale from a stranger "life-changing," according to a report by CNBC. Sleepy Hat ended 2024 with under $2,000 in sales, but momentum picked up after she expanded onto Amazon in 2025 and began seeing traction on TikTok.Since June 2025, the business has posted monthly revenue in the five figures, including more than $90,000 in December and over $69,000 in January.Holden left her $95,000-a-year job in October so she could run the company full-time. She still puts most of the profits back into the business, but her approach stays simple. She solves a real problem, starts before everything feels perfect and keeps going even when things look rough around the edges. That is how she turned a side hustle into a business that now supports her life.Photo Courtesy: ibragimova on Shutterstock.comMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.
