2 Moms Used Kickstarter to Launch Their Side Hustle. It Made $2,500 Fast and Is on Track for $30,000 Within Months: ‘Honestly Thrilling.’

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Portland, Oregon-based entrepreneur Lauren McDuffie, 42. McDuffie and her relative Rachel Albers, 49, co-founded Dressy, a statement of superfood-forward crockery dressing mixes that tin beryllium prepared quickly and easy astatine home, this past June. Following a $12,000 Kickstarter fundraising campaign, Dressy launched arsenic a broadside hustle and made $2,500 wrong its first fewer weeks. Now the business is projected to spot astir $30,000 successful gross by the extremity of the year. Responses person been edited for magnitude and clarity. 

Image Credit: Dressy. Lauren McDuffie.

What was your time occupation aliases superior business erstwhile you started your broadside hustle?
Before launching Dressy, I spent much than a decade building a profession arsenic a nutrient writer, look developer, cookbook writer and photographer. Through my look website, My Kitchen Little, and my cookbooks, I worked to thief group make location cooking consciousness much approachable and interesting. 

Running a look website gave maine firsthand acquisition astatine building an online brand, creating contented and knowing really engaged group really usage their kitchens. Dressy grew very people retired of that work; it felt little for illustration swapping careers and much for illustration solving a problem that had been bugging maine for years. 

Rachel, who is an lawyer by education, had ended a agelong profession moving arsenic a governmental advisor and was preparing to nonstop 1 of her sons disconnected to college. She shared pinch maine complete java 1 greeting that she was fresh for thing new, and I realized that moving pinch her — combining our different accomplishment sets, experience, interests and aptitudes — would make for a awesome partnership. 

Image Credit: Dressy

Starting a superfood-packed broadside hustle

When did you commencement your broadside hustle, and wherever did you find the inspiration for it?
We officially launched Dressy connected June 1, 2026, but I first had the thought successful the autumn of 2024. Again and again, I noticed the aforesaid disconnect: People were consenting to make homemade pasta sauces and caller breads from scratch, but erstwhile it came to crockery dressing, moreover enthusiastic location cooks almost ever reached for a store-bought bottle. 

I realized it wasn’t because group preferred bottled dressing. It was because homemade dressings, while mostly simple, still require keeping a agelong database of caller ingredients connected hand, unless you conscionable usage lipid and vinegar each the clip — which is awesome but somewhat boring aft a while. So I started asking myself what homemade dressing mightiness look for illustration if it were designed (or re-designed, really) for modern life.

The reply yet became Dressy: clean, flavor-forward, superfood-boosted dressing mixes that fto group make caller dressing successful little than a infinitesimal pinch conscionable 1 staple constituent they apt already have. Each Dressy pouch contains everything you request to create a fresh, flavorful dressing astatine home. Our flavors – Hello, Ranch, Green Goodness, and Sundress – are made pinch thoughtfully chosen ingredients and designed to present the spirit of homemade.

Image Credit: Dressy

Investing $30,000 to motorboat the broadside hustle

What were immoderate of the first steps you took to get your broadside hustle disconnected the ground? How overmuch money/investment did it return to launch?
The first measurement was trademarking our name. Not to beryllium all, “it came to maine successful a dream,” but it really did. So, I scooped it up. The adjacent measurement was validating that the problem was real. Before we worried astir packaging aliases branding, we spent clip asking if we were solving thing group really struggled with. I’d spent a agelong clip watching others clasp homemade versions of almost everything — isolated from crockery dressing. That study gave maine capable assurance to judge location was a existent opportunity to rethink the category.

From there, we focused connected building the marque very thoughtfully, keeping operations arsenic thin arsenic imaginable and investing successful things that we genuinely saw arsenic ngo critical. We invested successful look improvement pinch nutrient scientists that progressive a batch of testing and iterating, arsenic getting our flavors conscionable correct was a non-negotiable.

Every determination has to gain its place

It was besides highly important to maine to put successful civilization packaging and branding correct retired of the gate, and we did truthful by moving pinch a awesome Portland-based schematic creation patient (Perspektiiv). We began sourcing high-quality ingredients and focused connected obtaining them from section companies to support shipping costs arsenic debased arsenic possible. Because Dressy is simply a nutrient product, location was besides a important magnitude of (less exciting) operational and structural activity down the scenes, from regulatory requirements, labeling and researching commercialized accumulation options to uncovering the correct suppliers and manufacturing partners. 

By the clip Dressy launched, we’d invested astir $30,000 into the business. The mostly has been self-funded, pinch astir $10,000 coming from a mini friends-and-family fundraising round. When you’re spending your ain money, each determination has to gain its place, truthful we afloat gamed things retired each on the way. I’d for illustration to deliberation this attack shaped the bones of the institution successful ways that will salary disconnected down the line.

Image Credit: Dressy

Scaling a CPG business pinch intenti0n

Are location immoderate free aliases paid resources that person been particularly adjuvant for you successful starting and moving this business? 
One of the astir valuable resources early connected was simply talking to group who person done it before. We sought proposal from experienced CPG founders and fractional consultants who were generous capable to stock what they’d learned, and those conversations helped america debar immoderate costly mistakes. 

We besides chose to activity pinch the Food Innovation Center astatine Oregon State University, which was an unthinkable assets passim our merchandise improvement process. Many land-grant universities and schools pinch beardown cultivation aliases nutrient subject programs connection benchtop merchandise improvement services, nutrient information expertise, and some method and business support for entrepreneurs, often astatine a overmuch little costs than backstage consulting firms. For anyone reasoning astir starting a nutrient business, I would perfectly promote them to spot what resources their state’s universities person available.

We besides collaborated pinch the consulting firm, FoodWit, whose guidance gave america assurance that our packaging and labels met FDA requirements earlier launch. Having knowledgeable experts successful areas wherever we aren’t specialists allows america to move overmuch much confidently.

More than anything, though, and astatine the consequence of sounding platitudinal, I deliberation curiosity has been our top resource. We’re profoundly alert of really overmuch we don’t cognize erstwhile it comes to moving and scaling a CPG business. So, we inquire a bunch of questions and effort to talk to arsenic galore group arsenic we tin each of the time. We publication a lot, scan the forums complete connected StartupCPG (also a awesome resource) and effort not to presume we person to fig everything retired connected our own. Every speech pinch personification a fewer steps up of america shortens our learning curve.

Image Credit: Dressy

Don’t unreserved to a speedy hole erstwhile things spell wrong

Can you callback a circumstantial lawsuit erstwhile thing went very incorrect — really did you hole it?
One of our biggest early setbacks came earlier motorboat erstwhile the commercial kitchen we’d planned to usage for first tally accumulation unexpectedly became unavailable. Overnight, we mislaid the manufacturing scheme we’d spent months preparing astir and had to find an wholly caller way forward.

It was tempting to look for a speedy fix, but we’d been very intentional astir staying thin successful the early stages of the business. Rather than rushing into a co-manufacturer earlier we felt we’d genuinely established product-market fit, we doubled down connected our original accuracy of protecting our superior and proving the conception first. We recovered different commercialized kitchen, adapted our process and kept accumulation in-house.

Raising $12k connected Kickstarter, making complete $2k successful weeks

How agelong did it return you to spot accordant monthly revenue? How overmuch did the broadside hustle earn?
We’re still successful the early stages of building the business — it’s only period 2 — truthful for america occurrence correct now isn’t only, aliases moreover primarily, measured successful revenue. We’re focused connected repeat customers, word-of-mouth sales, retailer conversations and proving group genuinely travel backmost erstwhile they’ve tried the product.

The period anterior to launching, we successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign, raising $12,000 while besides being selected arsenic a coveted “Project We Love” by the editors. This was a awesome early awesome that group would respond positively to our marque and products. 

We launched successful June very softly, pinch lowkey announcements, but still made a speedy $2,500 wrong the first fewer weeks, trading retired of our limited-edition summertime flavor, Sundress. We are preparing to rotation retired a section unit motorboat adjacent month, will beryllium trading astatine the Portland Night Market this autumn and are kicking disconnected a sustained, focused advertizing push arsenic well. As such, our projected 2026 gross (first six months station launch) is location astir $30,000.

Steady and controlled maturation and revenue

What does maturation and gross look for illustration now? 
The words that travel to mind are dependable and controlled. We’ve been very observant not to overstretch our skis erstwhile it comes to our operational and accumulation capacities, truthful that’s what I mean erstwhile I opportunity we launched quietly. But transparently, this determination was mostly owed to the truth that we’re some moms and person very engaged schedules successful the summertime that impact a batch of travel. That’s conscionable the truth of it, and we mutually agreed to debar hitting the state until the engaged play had passed. 

At this point, though, we’ve had 2 months to understand really consumers respond erstwhile they observe our dressing mixes organically — and the consequence has been incredible. I’m excited to spot what the autumn play brings now that we tin return our feet disconnected the brakes and fto it rip. 

Image Credit: Dressy

No 2 days look alike while moving a broadside hustle

What does a emblematic week moving connected this broadside hustle look like?
Right now, Dressy is still successful its early stages, truthful nary 2 days look alike. Some weeks I walk clip successful our commercialized room making product, while others I attraction connected look development, photography, societal media marketing, customer work aliases gathering pinch partners. Since it’s conscionable the 2 of america moving the show correct now, we deterioration a batch of hats.

That said, I’ve learned that being productive isn’t the aforesaid point arsenic being busy. At this stage, I’m perpetually asking myself what will really move the business guardant the most. Sometimes that’s processing a caller look and sometimes it’s simply having a speech that influences really I deliberation astir the business. I’ve go overmuch much intentional astir protecting my power and focusing connected the activity that creates the top momentum.

The other of a grind — and the worth successful amended questions

What do you bask astir about moving this business?
I’ve wanted to create a marque and business for illustration this for the mostly of my life. So witnessing this point bloom that’s mostly lived wrong my caput is honestly thrilling. I still benignant of can’t judge it. That is easy the point I bask the most. That and moving it alongside Rachel. We’ve lived connected other coasts for our full lives, but my family moved to the Portland area 3 years ago, and moving this business pinch her has been truthful overmuch fun. It’s taken a process that is often described arsenic a grind and made it the nonstop other of that.

What is your champion portion of specific, actionable business advice?
The proposal I person is simply a merchandise of having started aggregate nutrient businesses, from my profession publishing books to my activity arsenic a nutrient blogger to now building a CPG company.

Don’t hold until you deliberation you’re fresh to inquire amended questions. Just commencement talking and don’t stop; make yourself a student of immoderate it is you’re trying to execute aliases become, and don’t move that mounting off. Find group who are 5 steps up of you, not 50, and inquire them thing and everything you want to know. They’re usually the ones who retrieve precisely what you’re struggling pinch and what you’re feeling, and they’re often incredibly generous pinch what they’ve learned.