Mum now making millions after coming up with a ‘simple’ idea

A young Melbourne mother has opened up about ditching her $40k-a-year job and taking a leap of faith that has landed her millions.

Ann's incredible idea is raking her in millions. Picture: Supplied

Ann Thai never imagined that this would be her life.

Just a few years ago, the Perth mum-of-two was working as a paralegal and making just $40,000 a year.

She thought getting into law would be a dream job, but she felt deeply unhappy about the path she was taking.

The 29-year-old was struggling to get ahead, and was making very little money despite working 60-hour week slogs at the office that left her with zero work-life balance.

Despite the promise of a job when her degree was finished, she decided to call it quits a year before she was set to graduate.

Pregnant with her second child at the time, it was a risky move and one of the most terrifying decisions she has ever had to make.

“I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my career,” the mum-of-two told news.com.au.

She is glad to have made that huge career move, despite it feeling scary at the time. Picture: Supplied

“I had a whole career set out for me. I was working hard for $40k a year and I was working 60 hour weeks.

“I thought it would all be worth it. But when I looked around, all my colleagues were miserable.

“They had worked so hard that they didn’t have a life outside work. Most of them were divorced and estranged from their kids.

“I was pregnant with my second child at the time and thought, ‘this cannot be my life’.”

Although it was a bold move, looking back now Ann is thankful to have listened to her gut and taken that first step into the unknown.

She is now head of her booming business, Amaia Lashes, which specialises in selling fake eyelashes that adhere to the eye using a special magnetic eyeliner instead of glue.

While she had a slower start, her business is now thriving – and she is set to rake in $3 million this year, with no sign of slowing.

“It was quite a challenge to get the business off the ground,” she explained.

“It was a lot of research, googling, sampling, and a lot of mistakes. We worked with a cosmetic chemist to formulate the product for us.

“We learnt a lot along the way. When we first launched, we only did $1,000 in sales the first week.

“It was a slow burn, and it wasn’t until we used an omnichannel marketing approach that we saw things taking off.”

She never imagined that she would own this kind of business. Picture: Instagram / @amaia_lashes

The product has proven to be incredibly popular. Picture: Instagram / @amaia_lashes

Ann said that she had wanted to start a business from scratch for a long time, but just had no idea where to start.

But as it often happens with some of the best companies, her million dollar idea manifested organically one day.

With no experience in the beauty industry, Ann recalls a personal experience of trying to apply traditional fake eyelashes that ended in disaster.

“I remember one day, I was getting ready to go to a party,” she said.

“I was applying traditional fake lashes, and literally glued my eyelid shut with the lash glue. It was terrible.

“I researched alternatives, including some magnetic eyelashes, but they either didn’t hold or the eyelashes themselves were very plasticky.

Ann formulated the magnetic lash liner with the help of a cosmetic chemist. Picture: Instagram / @amaia_lashes

“I just thought this is it, I know what I want to do with my new business. That is how my company was born.”

Incredible, Ann launched her business just three days after giving birth to her second child.

Amaia Lashes now has six people on the team and Ann is currently hunting for another two people to help up with the demand.

The mum’s biggest advice to anyone thinking about starting up their own business is quite simple.

“You need that point of difference,” Ann said.

“Once you find something that people need, you need to be able to identify why people should buy your product over a competitor’s product.

The young mum launched her business just three days after having her second child. Picture: Supplied

“What is it about yours that is unique? Once you have this, you just need to find a way to get it in front of your target consumer.

“It is always going to be risky staring something new, but if you really want it and have found a product you believe in, you just need to go for it.

“Start small, order minimum quantities, test it in the market, get feedback, reiterate, and keep going.

“Whatever the situation, if your gut is telling you that this is not it, you are not fulfilled, lean into it and develop a plan.

“You only get one life, and you have to do what makes you happy.”

Originally published as Mum now making millions after coming up with a ‘simple’ idea