27-Year-Old Entrepreneur Makes Over $350,000 Sales a Year With Online Jewelry Business

Maya Portorreal, 27, was only making $45,000 per year working in retail in 2018. Last year, her online jewelry business brought in more than $350,000 in sales.

Portorreal started selling jewelry as a side hustle in 2019. She wanted to provide “trendy, fun” jewelry to buyers that wouldn’t irritate skin and cause rashes.

Being a retail assistant for luxury apparel brand, Pierre Hardy in New York City, Portorreal spent a lot of time noticing flaws in the jewelry industry. Having very sensitive skin, she noticed that fashion jewelry was made cheaply. There was no happy medium as the only other option was over-priced jewelry.

That’s when she decided to launch her boutique brand, Kitten Co. Jewelry. Her boutique makes affordable jewelry from skin-friendly materials.

Portorreal reached out to suppliers and manufacturers hoping to turn her idea into an actual jewelry line. She had only the $2,000 she had been saving in her sayings account.

She leveraged social media and got online influencers to feature her pieces in posts.

A big moment for Portorreal was last year when rapper Saweetie wore her Maiko butterfly necklace in her official music video for the single “Best Friend,” with fellow rapper Doja Cat.

Now, she typically makes more than $30,000 in monthly revenue. Her profit is anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 a month.

In 2020, the company totaled $472,000 in gross sales, nearly double the $250,000 from her first year in business.

And in 2021, sales dipped to $350,000 as a result of her primary manufacturer not operating during the pandemic. Portorreal has found a new manufacturer, but the temporary blip still affected her sales.

Even with this minor set-back, Portorreal’s numbers and sales are astounding.