How this 25-year-old Aussie businesswoman made six figures in her first year of business

The Perth-born entrepreneur has tapped into three millennial favourites — Instagram, swimwear and travel — and created not one but two successful businesses from it.

She began Ete Swimwear at just 22 when she was uninspired by her job and “needed something more”.

“I have always had a strong connection to the beach and the ocean, and noticed a lot of brands were moving toward athleisure and a more minimalist aesthetic which just wasn’t me, so I set out to create designs that were not only comfortable, but beautiful,” explains Williamson.

The label was launched with dizzying speed. She first had the idea in mid-2015 and within seven months, the label launched.

“First up I decided to contact manufacturers, of which I contacted over 100 different places to find one who could meet my needs … this was a huge challenge early on but once I had that in place I could begin marketing,” she explains.

“My background is actually in marketing. I did a business degree at uni and then went the formal route of getting a job. I worked in digital marketing, which was a pretty handy background for running a business. I knew how to build my own website, run social media, organise photoshoots, and best position a brand. All of that was pretty helpful in the beginning.

“I didn’t have any formal design training, I just design what I like and then my boyfriend’s an illustrator — so he paints the prints for me”.

Incredibly, within the first week of launching, she was invited to showcase at New York Fashion Week and took to establishing the label as a six figure business in her first year.

She attributes Instagram with much of her success.

“When I launched, it was the easiest route for me to use Instagram as my main marketing tool and just grow it as fast as I could,” she says.

“I used to create Instagram accounts and just grow them to learn what people liked and the best ways to build an account. I grew the Ete Swimwear account to about 5,000 before launching, and within a few months I had up to 20,000 followers.

“In the beginning I was posting every two hours — I was literally on Instagram 24/7. It was a bit crazy, but that was how I grew so quickly. People always want the magic bullet that will just grow you to 100,000, but you really have to basically spend 24 hours a day on Instagram to grow that quickly if you want the results.

“This strong Instagram following, in combination with my clear vision and eye for branding and photography helped position my brand well in the market which caught the eye of Fashion Week scouts really early on.”

The label now boasts more than 50,000 social media followers, and she has collaborated with some high profile influencers in that time, including The Salty Blonde, Hildee, Lisa Smith and Matilda Djerf.

“Influencers have been at the core of my marketing since the very beginning,” she says.

“Early on I came up with the idea to co-design a collection a collection with Matilda Djerf because it would mean something more to her and her followers and it really could be something she was proud of promoting as well.

“She was really excited when I approached her. Collaborating with influencers in a more meaningful way has had a greater impact for us but also for the influencers to be able to offer something amazing to their followers.”

Through her experience working with influencers on Ete, Williamson saw a second business opportunity and launched Somewear Elsewhere, an agency that connects influencers with labels, destinations, and resorts.

Described as “a cutting-edge answer to modern marketing”, Somewear Elsewhere provides brands with content from around the world — effectively removing the costs typically associated with overseas photo shoots.

“While brands have traditionally paid for flights, makeup artists, hair stylists, and photographers on international shoots — all big drains on a company’s bank account — Somewear Elsewhere does all the work for them, creating bespoke solutions to fit every budget,” explains Williamson.

“I have worked with over 200 influencers in the past two years so I have built up vast experience and expertise understanding which influencers are the right fit,” she says.

She points out a major point of different with other influencer agencies.

“Where traditional agencies look to only maximise the revenue for the influencer, we are looking to maximise value for brands and are able to offer much more value than one post on an influencer account by creating high quality content for the brands too.”

“As for the influencers, we take the stress out of curating trips by organising everything for them. We offer them fun travel experiences where they get to meet and hang out with other influencers in the most amazing locations”.

So far there have been two group trips to Bali, which Williamson credits as being a huge success.

“By doing it in a group vacation setting, the hype created is much larger due to many influencers posting about the brands at once,” she explains.

While it sounds like a fairytale Williamson has, like any business owner, faced challenges along the way.

“Seeing Ete Swimwear designs being ripped off all over the internet is definitely a low point for me,” she recalls.

“When I put in so much hard work to create something that is unique, just to see it on other websites, where they are actually using my images (without permission) to sell my stolen designs, its crazy.

“The first time I found a brand stealing my designs, it broke my heart, I did have a little breakdown and messaged them to remove it asap. But usually they won’t and it's a hard battle to fight so I have learnt to not focus on others, stick to my brand and what I know to be true and hope that my customers will stay loyal and support designers like me.”

She says there is no “magic secret” to success, and advises anyone wanting to start their own business to just take the leap.

“Start before you are ready. I quit my full time job before I felt ready to but it was the best decision I have ever made.”