36-Year-Old Makes $220,000 a Year From Etsy on the Side: ‘It’s Absolutely Possible to Make a Good Living.’

Emily Odio-Sutton can still remember the instant she made her first side-business sale.

A children’s birthday party at a nearby gym in Melbourne, Florida. Her phone vibrated — her 18-year-old daughter had just bitten into a piece of cake at a friend’s party, and she’d made a $22 sale on Etsy of a T-shirt featuring a speech therapy-themed design that read: You find it in the strangest places.

“Literally I remember that scene so vividly — the cake, the balloons — and [it hitting me that], ‘This might just work,’” shared Odio-Sutton, now 36.

By 2022, Odio-Sutton’s side hustle search had already begun after the mother-of-one realized that her full-time internal operations manager job with a publishing company would likely preclude her from being able to be there for her daughter when she’d start kindergarten. Instead, she decided to open a print-on-demand store and designed things like T-shirts and candles that Canva offered to sell on Etsy. The designs are printed and fulfilled by an outside company called Printify, as orders are received from customers.

Last year, she did $220,300 in revenue from her Etsy shop, based off documentation that was reviewed by CNBC Make It. Odio-Sutton estimates around 30% of that amount is profit. In that time, her side gig has helped her wipe out $20,000 in student debt and funnel money into investments in stocks and a Roth individual retirement account. She also used the money to set up separate college savings accounts for her two children and to take a cruise with her husband; they had never previously been able to afford a vacation together.

Last year, alongside her first store, Odio-Sutton also started a second Etsy shop that offers downloadable event materials such as sign-up sheets and templates. It has already generated about $17,200 this year. In June, she migrated into a part-time role at her publishing job and now earns $40 per hour, working 20 hours a week.

She spends about 10 hours a week managing her Etsy businesses, often working on the go from her daughters’ gymnastic and swim practices. She likes keeping the name of her stores private because she is worried about people copying it.

Odio-Sutton shared how to get started with a side hustle like hers, the tactics behind her best-selling pieces, and what beginners commonly get wrong.