How I Went From Corporate America to Etsy to CEO of an Education Company and Software Startup Founder

How Starting an Etsy Business Changed My Career

I don’t often share the full story behind how I built my businesses. Most of the time, I focus on tactics, strategies, Etsy growth, SEO, pricing, and the practical things that can help you build a successful online business. However, I know many of you are curious about how I got here. How did I go from climbing the corporate ladder in e-commerce to starting an Etsy business, becoming the CEO of an education company, and eventually becoming a software startup founder?

The answer is not a straight line.

When people see where my businesses are today, it can be easy to assume I had a clear plan from the beginning. I didn’t. My experience with starting an Etsy business began during a difficult season of my life, when I was struggling to find a corporate job after moving to San Diego with my military husband.

What started as a small side hustle quickly became something much bigger. I took the e-commerce skills I had developed in corporate America and applied them to Etsy. Within eight weeks, my shop was generating more than $10,000 per month, and my first year generated more than $140,000.

That experience completely changed the way I thought about entrepreneurship. Starting an Etsy business showed me that the skills I had developed in corporate e-commerce could be used to build something of my own.

From there, I scaled my Etsy business, built a team, and eventually stepped away from the day-to-day operations. That gave me the opportunity to teach other entrepreneurs what I had learned. What started with a YouTube channel and a few coaching conversations grew into an education company with thousands of students and a team of more than 53 people.

Eventually, that education business led to another opportunity: building a complementary software company.

Looking back, starting an Etsy business was never just about selling products online. It became the foundation for everything I would go on to build.

My Corporate E-Commerce Career Before Starting an Etsy Business

Before starting an Etsy business, I was deeply invested in my corporate career.

I studied business and eventually found my way into e-commerce. One of my first major opportunities was working at Zappos, where I worked in the action sports footwear category. That experience taught me one of the most important principles I still use today: customer first, product second.

Because I wasn’t necessarily the target customer for the products I managed, I had to learn how to understand what customers actually wanted rather than relying on my own preferences. Meanwhile, I was learning how large e-commerce businesses thought about products, customers, merchandising, and growth.

Later, I worked at Zulily and gained another perspective on e-commerce and customer relationships. Each experience gave me another piece of the foundation I would eventually use in my own business.

At that point, I was climbing the corporate ladder and genuinely enjoyed working hard. I wanted to be someone people could count on. In fact, I was the person who often had to be told to go home because I would stay late working.

I thought my career was heading in a very traditional direction.

Then my life changed.

Why I Started an Etsy Business After Leaving Corporate America

My husband was in the military, which meant moving was part of our life. When we moved to San Diego, I expected that I would find another e-commerce position relatively quickly.

Instead, I struggled to find a job.

I applied for position after position and received very few opportunities. I even applied for jobs that had little connection to the career I had worked so hard to build. For someone who had been so invested in corporate success, it was incredibly discouraging.

I remember feeling like my career had peaked at 25.

At the same time, I needed to contribute financially. Therefore, I started taking on whatever work I could find. I walked dogs, house-sat, and took on other side hustles while continuing to look for a corporate opportunity.

One of those side hustles was Etsy.

I didn’t start an Etsy business with a grand business plan. In fact, my first product was something I had made for my own wedding: a floral letter J.

I listed it in my shop and essentially forgot about it.

Two months later, it sold.

That tiny sale made me realize something important. I already knew e-commerce. I understood customers, products, merchandising, and online sales because I had spent years learning those principles in corporate America.

So instead of treating Etsy as a hobby, I started applying the same business principles I had learned professionally.

Starting an Etsy Business With Corporate E-Commerce Principles

Within eight weeks, my Etsy shop was generating more than $10,000 per month.

That was the moment I saw the potential.

I realized Etsy wasn’t simply a marketplace where people posted handmade products and hoped someone would buy them. It was an e-commerce platform, and the same fundamental principles that worked in larger online businesses could be applied there.

This became one of the most important lessons from starting an Etsy business: you don’t necessarily need to start from scratch. You can take the knowledge, skills, and experience you’ve already developed and apply them in a new environment.

My corporate background gave me an advantage because I understood how to think about the customer rather than simply focusing on the product. I knew how to identify demand, think strategically about products, and create momentum.

Those principles became the foundation for my Etsy growth.

The Decision to Go All In

Around the same time, I found out I was pregnant with my first child.

Interestingly, I also received what felt like my dream corporate job offer. It was an e-commerce category manager position at Petco headquarters, and the compensation was significantly higher than the jobs I had previously been applying for.

I accepted the offer.

Then I changed my mind.

By that point, I had started to believe that I could potentially make more money working for myself. More importantly, I was excited about the freedom entrepreneurship could give me as a new mother.

So I decided to go all in on starting an Etsy business.

My goal was to make $110,000 during my first year, which was roughly what I would have earned in the corporate position. Instead, I generated more than $140,000 in my first year.

That experience changed my perspective completely.

I learned that working for yourself was not nearly as frightening when you trusted yourself to take action, learn, adapt, and keep going.

What Starting an Etsy Business Taught Me About Scaling

Once I knew the business worked, I wanted to see how far I could take it.

I continued scaling while raising my family and navigating my husband’s military deployments. During one deployment in 2020, I decided to push the business even further.

I initially thought I would simply try to reach $1 million. Instead, the business generated more than $360,000 on Etsy alone, with additional revenue coming through Shopify and Amazon.

The numbers were exciting, but what mattered even more was what I was learning about myself.

I discovered that I loved building.

I loved taking an idea, figuring out what worked, creating systems, and watching the results grow. Additionally, I discovered how powerful it was to follow a process consistently instead of constantly looking for the next shortcut.

That mindset became central to how I approach business today.

From Etsy Seller to Education Company CEO

Eventually, I hired people to handle much of the production inside my Etsy business. This was partly because the physical demands of producing handmade products had become difficult, but it also created something I hadn’t expected: time.

Rather than simply slowing down, I started asking myself what I wanted to build next.

I began making YouTube videos about Etsy and sharing what I had learned. Soon, people started asking me if they could work with me directly.

That was when I recognized a gap.

There were plenty of people teaching Etsy strategies, but I saw an opportunity to teach Etsy from a corporate e-commerce perspective. I wasn’t interested in presenting random hacks or short-term tricks. Instead, I wanted to teach the underlying business principles that could be applied repeatedly.

The same principles I had used while managing large e-commerce portfolios could be adapted for Etsy sellers.

This was the beginning of my education company.

How Starting an Etsy Business Led Me to Coaching

My first coaching calls were far from perfect.

In fact, my very first discovery call lasted four hours because I had no idea how to structure the conversation. I was essentially talking to the person like a friend.

However, those early conversations taught me something incredibly valuable. To truly help business owners, I needed to understand their specific problems, goals, and circumstances.

From there, I developed a more personalized coaching approach. Rather than simply giving people generic information, I focused on understanding what they were trying to accomplish and creating a path forward.

The education business grew quickly. Within the first year, I had thousands of students. Meanwhile, I was building a team and figuring out how to create a coaching model that could maintain a high level of personalized support.

That philosophy still shapes the company today.

From Education to Becoming a Software Startup Founder

As the education company grew, I also began thinking about what our customers needed beyond coaching and education.

One pivotal moment came from a conversation with experienced entrepreneurs who helped me see a larger path forward for the business. Their guidance included building a complementary software company, which eventually became EtsyO.

That conversation was incredibly influential because it gave me something I hadn’t had before: a clear plan for what could come next.

I followed the advice, took action, and continued building.

Consequently, the business expanded beyond education. I was no longer simply an Etsy seller teaching other sellers. I was leading an education company while also becoming a software startup founder.

That transition reinforced one of the biggest lessons from starting an Etsy business: the opportunity you begin with doesn’t have to be the opportunity you finish with.

The Biggest Lessons From Starting an Etsy Business

Looking back at starting an Etsy business, I can see several lessons that continue to influence how I work with entrepreneurs today.

Your Existing Skills Can Become Your Competitive Advantage

I didn’t start Etsy with a blank slate.

My corporate experience gave me knowledge about e-commerce, customers, products, and growth. Instead of starting over, I transferred those skills into a new environment.

Your previous career, even if you want to leave it, may contain skills that become your greatest competitive advantage.

You Don’t Need Perfect Circumstances

My transition happened during a period when I was struggling to find work, moving because of my husband’s military career, and preparing to become a mother.

It wasn’t the perfect time.

Nevertheless, I started.

That is another reason starting an Etsy business was so important to me. It showed me that you don’t need to wait until every part of your life is perfectly organized before you take action.

Action Creates Clarity

I didn’t know exactly where Etsy would take me when I listed that first product.

I discovered the opportunity by taking action.

Then I tested. I learned. I scaled. I hired. I taught. Eventually, I built a larger company.

Each step revealed the next one.

Build Something Bigger Than Yourself

One of the biggest reasons I eventually moved into education was that I wanted to use what I had learned to help other people build businesses.

Today, my work isn’t simply about Etsy sales. It’s about helping entrepreneurs create options for themselves and their families. I believe people can build businesses despite difficult circumstances, and I want to help them do exactly that.

What Starting an Etsy Business Made Possible

When I look back at starting an Etsy business, I don’t see a single overnight breakthrough.

I see years of experience, difficult circumstances, small decisions, uncomfortable risks, relentless action, and people who helped me along the way.

My corporate career gave me the foundation. Etsy gave me the opportunity to prove what I could build for myself. Education gave me a way to share what I had learned. Software opened another opportunity to create something bigger.

Most importantly, starting an Etsy business showed me that my circumstances didn’t have to determine my future.

If you’re currently stuck in a job you don’t love, struggling to get your business off the ground, or wondering whether you’re capable of building something of your own, I want you to remember this: you don’t need to have the entire path figured out.

You need to take the next step.

That is ultimately the story of how I went from corporate America to Etsy, and from Etsy to building companies that allow me to help thousands of other entrepreneurs do the same.

Your next chapter may look completely different from mine. However, you may be much closer to building it than you think.

Ready to Grow Your Etsy Shop in 2026?

I’ve helped thousands of students generate over $10 million in Etsy revenue, and I want to help you too.

Download my 16-Step Etsy Checklist with profit-focused action steps you can use daily to drive more traffic, sales and momentum fast!”

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2026 can be the year your shop finally breaks through. These strategies are just the beginning—are you ready to use them? Contact us now and let’s get started!