Big reason young Aussie quit her job and spent her house deposit

A young Aussie has revealed why she quit her $150,000 job after just a few months and why she’s worried it makes “delusional”.

Ellie Gante is feeling “scared” right now because she’s invested everything into her small business and she’s concerned that might make her delusional.

Ms Gante is founder of the bodysuit brand Estroni, the brand creates comfortable and chic bodysuits that you can wear on a night out or to pilates.

The idea came to the 29-year-old because she kept seeing celebrities wearing bodysuits and she wanted to own some herself.

She figured there was a gap in the market and, after finding the right kind of breathable fabrics that don’t leave you feeling “sticky”, she’s been building her brand ever since.

Ellie Gante said running a business is a ‘scary’ risk. Picture: Instagram/Ellie Gante

She’s invested more than $150,000. Picture: Instagram/Ellie Gante

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Originally she started the brand during the pandemic she was “bored”, working from home and looking for an outlet, but it was very much a project she was working on in the background.

She’d found financial security working in technology and she was a natural, which was why she was shocked when she was made redundant in 2022.

The 29-year-old ended up negotiating a new role for herself with the same company, along with a $150,000 salary.

However, she quickly realised she didn’t want to invest her efforts in another business where things could change so quickly, she wanted to start putting everything into her own.

“I’d originally studied fashion and it was always my dream but the salary was quite low,” she told news.com.au.

Ms Gante said being made redundant felt like it “came out of nowhere” and it forced her to re-examine her priorities.

“I always put my tech sales career first and I’d never put too much time into my side hustle,” she said.

She had previously put her tech career first. Picture: Instagram/Ellie Gante

She’s now invested full-time in her side hustle. Picture: Instagram/Ellie Gante

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From there she went full throttle with her business, she invested $150,000 into Facebook advertisements and watched as her business grew.

Within a few months, she needed to quit the job she fought for because her business required her full-time attention.

She now has a third-party logistics warehouse where everything gets shipped and packed. Before, she was low-scale enough to do it all herself.

However, she noted that more customers doesn’t always equal more money in your pocket.

“As your business grows all your costs grow,” she said.

“These days all my finances, every dollar is my livelihood and it is stressful. Especially if I make an investment and there’s no return.”

Ms Gante said even paying an influencer $3000 to do some marketing for the brand is a risk because there’s no guarantee she’ll get a return from that.

She’s also had to factor in paying for GST, storage fees, warehouse fees, return and exchange costs, and packaging. It all adds up.

The idea of getting into debt freaks her out. . Picture: Instagram/Ellie Gante

There’s also the fact that $150,000 she put into marketing was originally intended to be her house deposit.

But instead of renting, which has also become increasingly unaffordable, she’s become a permanent house sitter, which has saved her a fortune.

“It did get expensive and say if one month I made $7000 profit a huge chunk would have to go to rent,” she said.

“I’d prefer to be owning my own place or apartment or whatever but I feel like my business is more important to me and I’m hoping it will pay off.

“I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing or I’m being delusional.”

It has also been a harder journey than her previous 9-5 job, where she could leave for the day and not think about work until the next day.

“It is extremely scary. With my tech sales job and my jobs previously they were comfortable and I wasn’t really stressed about anything,” she said.

“These days it is scarier because there is more on the line and, before, I had more savings.”

There’s also the risk that something could go wrong and she’ll end up debt, which she explained was a “freaky” concept to her.

There’s also been some big wins.

She’s had celebrity clients like Australian singer Tones and I and American author Katherine Schwarzenegger, which made her “freak out”. She has also had pivotal wins, like when she first made $50,000 in revenue.

Those are the moments that Ms Gante says feel “amazing” and offsets some of the daily stress because it makes her feel like her hard work is paying off.

Originally published as Big reason young Aussie quit her job and spent her house deposit