We are sharing a variety of side hustles and tips from the people who do them.
Jules is from Sydney and founded Gaiae as her side hustle which stemmed from personal research, interest and noticing a gap in the market.
Here is her journey and advice.
What is your side hustle?
Gaiae, an Australian feminine wellness brand.
I make and sell crystal pleasure tools, yoni care products and botanical ritual oils, all built around naturally derived ingredients.
Why did you want a side hustle?
Gaiae actually grew out of my own wellness journey rather than a plan to “start a business”
I got into ritual self-care and pleasure products personally, found the market full of clinical or low-quality options, and wanted something that felt intentional and beautifully made instead.
How did you decide this was the right one for you?
Once I started digging into ingredients, sourcing and packaging for my own use, I realised there was a real gap for products that treated this space as sacred rather than taboo.
That’s when it stopped being a personal project and became gaiae.
How long have you been doing it?
6 Years alongside my full-time role as a Business Development Manager.
What did you need to get started?
An ethically sourced crystal supplier, a supplier of organic natural ingredients, extra space in my home for small production products and packaging setup, a Shopify store, and a brand identity that actually reflected the ritual, earthy feel I wanted rather than a clinical “wellness” look.
What have you needed to help it grow?
Multi-channel selling (Shopify, Etsy, and more recently Amazon AU), and a lot of relationship-building partnering with influencers, sexologists, yoga studios and events rather than relying on paid ads.
Word of mouth and community trust matter more in this category than almost any other.
How much time do you spend on it?
20-30 hours per week on top of a full-time day job. It fluctuates a lot around launches and campaigns, sales periods etc.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome those?
Balancing Gaiae with a full-time corporate job is the constant one.
I protect blocks of time for it rather than trying to fit it into leftover minutes.
Expanding into new channels like Amazon AU has also meant a steep learning curve (Brand Registry, listings, logistics) that I’ve had to work through from scratch.
What have been your biggest achievements or happy moments through your journey?
Being shortlisted to submit for the SheComm Awards.
Meeting people in person and discussing the products, I love meeting someone who already buys from me.
What advice do you have for someone considering this as a side hustle?
Lead with authenticity and education, not just sales, especially in a category people can feel awkward about.
Build relationships with aligned communities before you spend a cent on ads, and expect the “boring” infrastructure (logistics, compliance, multi-channel setup) to take longer than the fun creative parts.
There is a huge learning experience and you have to learn to wear allot of hats.
What are your future plans?
Continuing to grow gaiae’s presence, building out more event and brand partnerships in the wellness space.
Discount code for readers
Discount code “THRIFTY20” for 20% off at gaiae.com.au on all full priced items.
