Viral business owner defiant about debts, says ‘liquidation’ helps people ‘rebuild’

Carly Soderstrom went viral in a video attacking lockdowns. Supporters quickly raised $60k for her but a background check revealed problems.

A small business crusader who received more than $60,000 from sympathetic Australians after her heartfelt video of lockdown desperation went viral has been accused of being already broke before the pandemic.

But Carly Soderstrom, who counts friends and acquaintances among people owed a total of $380,000 after her business dissolved, has defiantly stated that “liquidation exists so people can rebuild”.

Ms Soderstrom, a photographer and designer from country Victoria, gained national media attention when she posted a video this month about her “stress, destruction, anxiety and devastation” in her state’s fifth lockdown.

A fellow Victorian started a GoFundMe page which rocketed to $60,604 before it was suddenly suspended.

Ms Soderstrom, 35, who operated her photography and fashion design business as a sole trader in Torquay, 100km southwest of Melbourne, claimed she had been abandoned by governments because of her circumstances.

“I’m a sole trader, I work in the creative industry and I’m single and I live in regional Victoria,” she said in the video.

“All those reasons made me ineligible for any support.”

But Ms Soderstrom’s appeal which sparked the online fundraiser also drew out people who claim she owes them money and allegations her business was already insolvent before Covid-19 even reached Australia.

Carly Soderstrom says ‘liquidation sucks’ but it helps people including those owed $400k by her failed business move on.

A GoFundMe page which raised $60,000 for Carly Soderstrom has been suspended.

And after a tearful appearance on Channel 9’s A Current Affair in which she broke down, Ms Soderstrom has now come out saying the liquidation of her business had helped people move on and erase their debts.

Records of Ms Soderstrom’s business 21, 15, Nine from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) showed it was placed into administration in January 2020.

The business had debts of more than $400,000, most of which was owed to unsecured creditors, including friends and one man who lent Ms Soderstrom $220,000.

One woman told A Current Affair she had loaned Ms Soderstrom $10,000 out of her house mortgage to help start clothing label “Kobey”, which sold $180 hoodies.

Brittany Hayes told ACA she had lent the money after being told it was to support “a dream” and that she no longer beieved Ms Soderstrom’s story.

A sobbing Ms Soderstrom told the program she has received “death threats” from “people telling me I’m a scammer”.

When news.com.au sought a response from Ms Soderstrom, it was directed to a statement posted on Saturday night on her Instagram page.

A teary Carly Soderstrom in her video, which she now says it was not her intention that it went viral.

In the statement, Ms Soderstrom said it wasn’t her fault the video went viral and that the liquidation of her business meant the debts would disappear.

“A few weeks ago a social media post I made went viral. This was unintentional,” Ms Soderstrom wrote.

“I have a failed business in my past. I have never tried to hide this. I have openly spoken about this … many times.

“People lost a lot of money when our plans failed, including me.

“I am very sorry for those who worked with me on a venture which didn’t work.

“Please understand … the people who lost money are not ‘my debtors’. Yes they lost money. We all did.

“But when people use money to try and build a business and those plans fail, what happens next is called liquidation.

“Liquidation sucks to be a part of. But it exists so people can cut their losses and start to rebuild.

“With liquidation when the business disappears, so does the debt.”

Charity director Josh Reid Jones’ video (above) revealed Carly Soderstrom’s failed business and said the GoFundMe money could be used elsewhere.

Carly Soderstrom has released a statement saying ‘liquidation sucks’ but it meant people could move on and debts disappeared.

Ms Soderstrom said that others lost money in her venture but so did she.

Apart from emphasising she was single and a sole trader in her viral video, Ms Soderstrom had also complained that government assistance had deemed neither “being able to feed myself … nor being able to pay for the roof over my head” as essential.

In a video, the founder of the Just Be Nice Project, Josh Reid Jones, said Ms Soderstrom had claimed to be “representative of small business and the every man”.

He said she had done this “while owing $400,000 just at the beginning of 2020 as we go into one of the most challenging economic periods for a lot of families, individuals and small businesses”.

“After liquidating a company that was unable to pay the people or companies that it had been purchasing things from to the tune of $400,000 and then asked for money from people who out of the goodness of their hearts have reached into their pockets and contributed,” Mr Jones said.

“I just think that there are so many people, so many places that would benefit from that.”