2/21/2026 | USA | general | ✓ Verified - cnbc.com

34-year-old spent $16K to start a side hustle, built it 20 minutes at a time—now her business brings in up to $90K a month

#Sleepy Hat #Julia Holden #Side Hustle #Baby Product #Entrepreneur Success #Mom Entrepreneur #Business Growth #Work-Life Balance

📌 Key Takeaways

Julia invested $16,000 personal savings to start Sleepy Hat
The business now generates up to $90,000 monthly
She built the business in 20-minute windows between feedings
She quit her $95,000/year job to focus on Sleepy Hat full-time
She's working to increase her salary to match her previous income

📖 Full Retelling

34-year-old Julia Holden of Lawrence Township, New Jersey, transformed her personal struggle as a new mom into a thriving business by creating Sleepy Hat, a baby hat with an eye covering that helps infants fall asleep faster, after discovering her own son slept better with his eyes covered, investing $16,000 from personal savings to build the company that now generates up to $90,000 monthly. Holden initially developed Sleepy Hat while working full-time as a senior relationship manager and caring for her newborn, finding time to work on the business in 20-minute windows between feedings, with no outside funding or team beyond family help, demonstrating how entrepreneurial ideas can emerge from everyday parenting challenges. After launching the website in September 2024 with minimal initial sales, Holden joined Amazon as a third-party seller in August 2025 and gained significant traction through TikTok posts that resonated with mothers dealing with babies who resisted sleep during various activities, leading to exponential growth that allowed her to quit her $95,000-per-year job in October to focus on Sleepy Hat full-time while reinvesting profits into scaling the business with two part-time contractors and an advisor with equity stake.

🏷️ Themes

Entrepreneurship, Work-Life Balance, Product Innovation, Financial Growth

📚 Related People & Topics

Side Hustle

American buddy comedy television series

Side Hustle is an American buddy comedy television series created by Dave Malkoff that premiered on Nickelodeon on November 7, 2020. It lasted two seasons, with the final episode airing on June 30, 2022. The series stars Jules LeBlanc, Jayden Bartels, Isaiah Crews, Mitchell Berg, and Jacques Chevell...

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Deep Analysis

Why It Matters

Julia Holden turned a simple baby nap hack into a $90k/month business, showing that a well‑identified niche and disciplined time management can turn a side hustle into a lucrative venture. Her story also highlights how new parents can leverage online platforms and bootstrapping to achieve financial independence.

Context & Background

Identified a product gap by noticing baby sleeps faster with eye cover
Bootstrapped $16k from personal savings, no outside funding
Grew sales via TikTok, Amazon, paid ads, and Grommet

What Happens Next

Holden plans to double her salary this year and eventually pay herself more than her former $95k job, aiming for a six‑figure income. She will also expand product lines, hire additional staff, and refine her marketing strategy to sustain growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did she fund the startup?

She used personal savings of $16k, no external investors

Which marketing channels drove the biggest sales?

TikTok videos, Amazon third‑party sales, and paid online advertising

How does she manage her time between work and motherhood?

She works 20‑minute blocks between feedings, 30‑60 hours a week, and sets her own schedule to balance family and business

Original Source

              Related Stories Work 27-year-old quit 9-to-5 to start floral business—it brought in 6 figures in 2025 Success She immigrated to the U.S. with $50—now she’s scaling a modern candy brand How I Made It 38-year-old nurse quit job to run laundromat full-time—it brings in $475K a year Work 30-year-old quit job to open a bakery—now her 2 stores bring in 7 figures yearly How I Made It 25-year-old college dropout's production company brings in $1.08 million a year Side Hustles 34-year-old spent $16K to start a side hustle, built it 20 minutes at a time—now her business brings in up to $90K a month Published Sat, Feb 21 2026 9:00 AM EST Ashton Jackson Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via Email Julia Holden created the Sleepy Hat after discovering her baby fell asleep faster with his eyes gently covered. Tamara Gillon / Tamara Gillon Photography Julia Holden can relate to the struggle of getting your baby to fall asleep. In February 2024, she and her husband noticed that their newborn son Maxime fell asleep more quickly when his eyes were gently covered with a burp cloth or small towel, she says. As a new mom "in survival mode," Holden quickly looked for a purchasable product — a comfortable eye covering that'd stay on his tiny face if he moved — but couldn't find one she liked, she says. As a younger adult, Holden had dreamed of entrepreneurship, so her near-instant thought was to make this product herself and sell it, she says. She designed a baby hat with an attached eye covering, named her side hustle Sleepy Hat and, over the course of the next year, spent nearly $16,000 from her personal savings to bootstrap the business, she says. Since June 2025, the business has brought in five figures in revenue each month, including over $90,000 in December and more than $69,000 in January, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. The company is profitable, says Holden, who initially launched it while working ...
            

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