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These Sisters Started a Side Hustle After a 'Light Bulb Moment' Led to a 'Versatile' Product. Now It's Done Over $45 Million in Sales.

4 1
11.10.2024

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Lauren Stephens and Kaki McGrath. With their mother, Bonnie Dudley, Stephens and McGrath co-founded the "high-performance, eco-friendly, elevated everyday-wear" brand Dudley Stephens in 2015. The digitally native brand has sold over 445,000 products to over 330,000 customers, resulting in more than $45 million in sales over the past 10 years with a 60% customer return rate, per the company.

Over the past decade, Dudley Stephens has repurposed more than seven million plastic bottles (and counting), recycled more than 2,000 pieces through its DS Renew program and donated $200,000 through DS Gives for women and children in need.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Dudley Stephens. Kaki McGrath, left; Bonnie Dudley, center; and Lauren Stephens, right.

What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
LS: Before launching Dudley, I spent my career in fashion and beauty PR, working for brands like Gucci, Calvin Klein, L'Oreal and Lancome. We started Dudley Stephens shortly after I left L'Oreal in 2015. As co-founders, the three of us — Kaki, our mom and I — had well-balanced expertise; we each brought something different to the table. Kaki spent the previous decade in loyalty marketing with Momentum Worldwide, managing their VIP experiences for American Express and was with Starwood in its global partnership marketing department then. That combination — my background in fashion and retail and Kaki's experience in operations and loyalty marketing — proved effective.

Related: Mom's Side Hustle Started With a Facebook Page. Now It Makes More Than $1 Million a Year: 'Don't Overthink.

When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
KM: The idea arose in 2015. I was a young mom who had just moved to the Connecticut suburbs where we grew up, and Lauren was recently married and thinking........

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