Shopping for wedding bands is a high stakes experience, due to the cost and nature of the product. So when John Ruggiero and Michelle Luchese went shopping for a wedding band for John, they had a “nightmare” experience finding one that matched his personality and budget. That’s when they decided to launch Manly Bands, a line of rings that uses high-quality, non-traditional materials like dino bone, meteorite, and deer antler. In this episode of Shopify Masters, John and Michelle discuss how to differentiate themselves in a saturated market and how to hire the ideal team for expansion.

Show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/manly-bands-niche-market

How a “Nightmare” Ring Shopping Experience Turned Into a Niche Business

Michael Pan fell in love with mushroom jerky during a visit to family in Malaysia. He knew right away that he needed to share the snack with the rest of the world. Michael launched Pan’s Mushroom Jerky and brought this family recipe to the market. In this episode of Shopify Masters, Michael shares how he ran the business as a decade-long side hustle, and how his Shark Tank pitch generated millions in sales in a matter of days.

Show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/blog-pans-mushroom-jerky-side-hustle

From Family Recipe to 7-Figure Sales: Pan’s Journey of A Decade-Long Side Hustle

Elle Liu always had trouble drifting off at night. As a hot sleeper, her slumber would be interrupted by having to toss off her bed sheets whenever they became too suffocating. It’s a frustration that many share—but in Elle’s case, it it sparked an idea that changed her life and launched her down the path of entrepreneurship. 

Since most bed sheets are made from cotton, sleepers crawl into them every night without realizing that more comfortable and sustainable options are out there. 

“Cotton is actually not a very sleep-friendly fabric. It’s not very eco-friendly either,” shared Elle on the Shopify Masters podcast. “I found out that cotton is one of the dirtiest and thirstiest crops. So it takes a significant amount of water and pesticide to grow and manufacture and causes a lot of pollution and environmental runoff.”

So Elle set off on a mission to find a fabric that was better for sleep and better for the environment. After a year of visiting textile plants around the world, she landed on her chosen fiber, eucalyptus, which inspired the name of her company: Eucalypso, a bedding company that makes sheets, duvet covers, pillows, and sleep masks from eucalyptus trees. Today, this brand has transformed from a side hustle to a 7-figure business. Here are the lessons she learned along the way.

Show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/eucalypso-side-hustle

How Elle Liu Turned a Rough Night’s Sleep into a 7-Figure Ecommerce Brand

Shopify Masters is a business podcast powered by Shopify, featuring real stories of entrepreneurship, actionable marketing tips and tools for ecommerce growth.

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