A young Aussie woman who dropped out of college to launch her own nail brand is now taking home $85,000 a month.
Chloe Zhu, 21, from Sydney, launched Glowie in 2021 when she was just 19.
While attending university, she found herself not having time to get her nails done regularly like many of her friends, as she balanced her studies with various sports and extracurricular activities.
She found that push-in nails were a “great idea,” but when she picked up a few, they were badly formed and flew off after a few hours.
Unable to find what she was looking for in the Australian market, she decided to create her own brand and spent four months researching and creating press studs.
So determined to start the brand, the entrepreneur wouldn’t shower for 10 days in a row and risked $25,000 of her own money in starting the business.
“I studied computer science and finance and have now started two six-figure companies, all in just one year,” she told FEMAIL.
‘And I’ve also become something of an influencer. A year ago I had 2,000 followers and now more than 55,000.’
Chloe Zhu, 21, from Sydney, launched Glowie in 2021 when she was just 19
Chloe said she “always wanted to be an entrepreneur” but had no idea what to do.
After graduating from high school and earning one of the top HSC results in the state, she decided to start a tutoring business.
“With the money I saved by working 30 hours a week while in school, I decided to start my very first tutoring business.
‘That started in January 2021. I did that for a year, we enrolled more than 100 students.’
In January 2022, she sold it to her business partner.
Unable to find what she was looking for in the Australian market, she decided to create her own brand and spent four months researching and creating press studs.
So determined to start the brand, the entrepreneur wouldn’t shower for 10 days in a row and risked $25,000 of her own money in starting the business. Chloe is seen modeling her nails
She later took $25,000 of the money she made from selling the business to start Glowie.
“When I was in college I started seeing all my friends get their nails done and I realized I couldn’t because I had so many different commitments,” she said.
“I was just working all the time. So having a nail just wasn’t practical for me.”
Chloe then discovered pressed nails while shopping at a drugstore, thinking they would be “perfect for her.”
“The ones I’ve tried. They just didn’t stay on, it was just such a bad experience.
“They looked very cheap and plastic and some fell off within an hour.
Chloe (pictured) said she “always wanted to be an entrepreneur” but had no idea what to do
After graduating from high school and getting one of the best HSC results in the state, she decided to start a tutoring business and later used the money to fund Glowie.
“So when I went to an event, the nails flew all over the place because they wouldn’t stay put.”
Despite her bad experience, she said she thought press-on nails were a “really interesting product” that would be perfect if they worked.
‘Then I started doing a lot of research on manufacturers and trying to find out what press-on nails are out there and found there weren’t any in Australia that offered what I was looking for.
“I started and it was definitely quite a challenge in the beginning as a solo founder.
“This is kind of rude, but funny, but I wouldn’t shower for 10 days because I was preparing so many aspects of the business and wanted to move as soon as possible.
“All that allowed me to launch Glowie in four months.”
Chloe added that she enjoyed the design aspect the most, which surprised her as she knew the least about it.
“Growing up I was always taught the value of academics, so I originally followed a very traditional career path by studying finance and computer science,” she said.
‘I thought I was a very logical person, the career path of an entrepreneur would not be the most stable and suitable for me.
“But when I started Glowie, I realized that the aspect I liked the most was actually design and the creative side.”
After a “very challenging” six months, Chloe said she felt “very lost” and needed someone to “bounce ideas on.”
“I didn’t have many friends in space because all my friends were still in college and working in their important corporate jobs.
“I felt very much to learn in my entrepreneurial journey. Six months later, I hired my first intern.
“This person who is now actually my business partner.
“She came in and she really helped scale the company a lot.
‘We are usually a team of two people and we also work with different contractors.’
Chloe marketed primarily on TikTok and Instagram, and within a month of launching, Glowie had over 100,000 followers on TikTok.
She hopes to get Glowie (pictured) in stock in Mecca, Sephora and Adore Beauty — with the goal of it becoming a household name like Naked Sundays and Ultra Violette
“There was such a great reception from the audience because this was just something that had never been done before,” she said.
“We all had very interesting designs that were trendy at the time. Within our first 24 hours of launch, we made $15,000 in sales, which was very unexpected.”
Shortly after launching, she decided to leave university and focus on the business full-time.
For eight months she did not tell her parents.
“It came out at dinner because my brother literally said to me, ‘Did you tell mom and dad that you’ve already quit?'” she said.
“They were really against it at first.
“I think it’s a really big moment to see your kid graduate from college.
“But when they saw how much traction I was getting with Glowie and how passionate I was about business, I think they just let me do my own thing then.
“They support now.”
Chloe is only 21 and wants to focus on Glowie for at least five years before embarking on a new project.
She hopes to get it stocked in Mecca, Sephora, and Adore Beauty — with the goal of it becoming a household name, like Naked Sundays and Ultra Violette.
“A huge goal for us would be to get into a major retailer,” she said.
“If you had told me a year ago that I was here right now, I would have thought you were crazy.”