Taylah Rose awarded as finalist for two Young Achiever Awards for scrunchie business

A young Traralgon woman who started her own scrunchie business when she was just 15 has turned it into a huge success and has advice for those starting their own side hustle.

A Gippsland woman who started her own scrunchie business when she was just 15 has turned it into a huge global success.

Traralgon local Taylah Rose’s dream paid off after she surpassed six figure earnings in the last financial year – making $140,000 in sales.

She was also named as a finalist for two 7News Victorian Young Achiever Awards.

Ms Rose, 24, started her scrunchie business nine years ago in 2014 when she was only 15 years old.

Since Ms Rose’s journey began, it has been a thriving success — especially online, as her Instagram account ‘madebytaylahrose’ has gained almost 100,000 followers.

She is best known worldwide for her unique elastic scrunchies.

Ms Rose was “ecstatic” when she found out she was made a finalist for two categories in the Victorian Young Achiever Awards — which were the Josh‘s Rainbow Eggs Ethical Business Award and Strategic Alliance Network Small Business Award.

She was awarded certificates for both categories at the Awards Gala Presentation on April 29.

Ms Rose awarded two finalist certificates at the Awards Gala Presentation. Picture: Supplied

“There were so many amazing people that were nominated and I was just really happy to be nominated — it’s just such a privilege,” she said.

Ms Rose said she always had so much support for her small business.

“My mum and dad have been so supportive of me ever since the start — they were barracking for me — they didn’t help out with anything I sort of just did it all myself, the thing they really helped with was taking me to the post office and markets because I did attend a few markets when I was really young and also to and from the fabric store,” she said.

“Extended family and all my friend have also been really supportive.”

Ms Rose has a lot of things “bouncing around” in her head and her plans are always changing for her future goals.

“My major one is to get a nice property with a really big studio on it where I can just make all my creations and I’m really excited for that — that’s my plan for the next maybe two years or even year,” Ms Rose said.

Ms Rose said it was always her dream to have her own scrunchie business. Picture: Supplied

“I would love to start teaching more classes — I taught scrunchie classes to kids and I really enjoyed that so I would love to get more involved in the community as well,” she said.

Ms Rose said a day in the life of her job was “chaotic” and works a seven day week.

“My days can range from a normal nine to five to an eight until 2am sort of day,” she said.

“It depends on how busy my week is — I make orders, create content for my YouTube Channel and Instagram accounts and prepare for my upcoming markets.

“I love what I do so it doesn’t even feel like work to me.”

Taylah Rose, 24, started her scrunchie business nine years ago when she was only 15 years old. Picture: Jack Colantuono

Ms Rose said she had “massive growth” back in 2020 from social media which saw a “boom” to her business.

“I started posting the reels and I think that was a turning point for my business on Instagram and also the YouTube channel I was making that year — just video content and having my face out there — people really wanted to support me as a person and that was just amazing and I still can’t believe it,” she said.

“It’s been a steady rise. I’m doubling my income every year.”

Ms Rose’s advice for people wanting to enter the business world is to “love what you do”.

“You’ve just got to do it. Work your way up and see if you like it — you need to love what you’re doing, that’s so important,” she said.