Emily Bitkow and Sarah Hua turn Vivra from market side hustle to million dollar venture

A weekend market side hustle is set to turn into a million dollar fashion business for two entrepreneurs who now have plans to expand into the US.

A weekend market side hustle is set to turn into a million dollar business for Brisbane entrepreneurs Emily Bitkow and Sarah Hua.

The women (illustrated) started off selling their Vivra range of magnetic belt-free bags as a hobby but in the next year are set to crack a million dollars in sales.

The patented high-fashion style bags are designed to hold phones and other items while people work out at the gym or go jogging.

When Covid-19 hit in 2020 and the retailers that stocked their bags closed down, the Brisbane duo thought their nascent business was doomed.

But a decision to take the brand online immediately paid off and they sold out of four months-worth of stock within days.

“We are now looking to expand into the US,” Bitkow tells your diarist.

Bitkow and Hua, who is a sonographer by profession and just announced her pregnancy, reveal they have put in their biggest order of bags to date, a whopping 25,000 units.

As well as online, Vivra bags also are stocked at Westfields throughout the country.

The duo credit My Business, which is Australia’s largest business advisory organisation, helping them with their success. My Business chief customer experience officer Richard Spencer says the services provides small businesses with a wealth of knowledge about maximising cash flow, managing costs and recruitment.

Emily Bitkow and Sarah Hua are eyeing expansion plans.

Hong Kong Gig

Former Suncorp Stadium grounds manager Malcolm Caddies may have prepared his last State of Origin field. But the pitch wizard has a brand new gig as general manager of sports, turf and landscape at ASM Global’s brand new Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.

Caddies, renowned for his ability to deliver a first class pitch for multiple World Cup Tournaments and back-to-back international sporting events, will take up his position in the Fragrant Harbour in October.

Hong Kong’s state-of-the-art multipurpose sports precinct, built on the site of the former Kai Tak Airport on Kowloon, is set for completion in the second half of 2024.

ASM Global (Asia Pacific) boss Harvey Lister says Caddie’s appointment was recognition of his professionalism and dedication during his 19 years at Suncorp Stadium.

“Kai Tak Sports Park is set to be one of the greatest sporting precincts in the world and this appointment will highlight Malcolm’s skills in being able to accommodate all sporting codes, delivering world class pitches for international competition,” Lister says.

Former Suncorp stadium grounds manager Malcolm Caddies.

Rock On

Who says lawyers don’t have a sense of humour? Top Brisbane barrister Nick Ferrett, now a KC rather than a QC, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, told colleagues to “all the people who have suggested today that I add ‘and the Sunshine Band’ to my letterhead, I say “Give It Up”. Give it Up is a reference to the KC and Sunshine Band hit song of the early 1980s.

It has not taken long for the city’s top barristers to adapt to the end of the second Elizabethan era.

The website of the Inns of Court in North Quay, home to many of the former QCs, was updated over the weekend with Michael Drysdale, Daniel Gore, Christopher Hughes, Michael Kent and Benedict Power among those to affix the KC to end of their name.

Originally published as Emily Bitkow and Sarah Hua turn Vivra from market side hustle to million dollar venture