Side Hustle School Ep. 3224 - STORY: Line Chef Makes Millions Cooking Up Apron Empire
Oct 29, 2025
A chef transforms the humble apron into a multi-million-dollar empire while juggling restaurant shifts at night. Starting from her kitchen failures, she learns to design aprons without any sewing skills. Harsh feedback helps her refine her product, leading to a strong market presence through farmers markets and chef endorsements. Balancing two demanding careers, she grows her brand into a kitchen lifestyle phenomenon, emphasizing functionality and dignity. Her creative journey inspires others to pursue their side hustles!
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Apron Idea Born On The Line
- Ellen Bennett started Hedley & Bennett after fixing flimsy aprons for her restaurant and taking a $300 risk to prototype them.
- Her first batch failed, she remade them at a loss, and used feedback to create a signature strap system.
Prototype, Test, And Eat Early Costs
- Iterate quickly on real-world usage and fix the parts that fail under pressure.
- Invest personally in prototypes and be willing to absorb early losses to reach a durable product.
Dual Life: Day Business, Night Service
- Ellen balanced days running the apron business and nights working on the restaurant line for years while scaling production and sales.
- She kept iterating, selling at farmers markets, and hired sewers as demand grew until she could go full-time.
