Young mum is now making $1million a YEAR with her ‘genius’ nail kits – after growing up with little money and suffering debilitating post-natal depression
- In the peak of lockdown in 2020 mum Natalie Kajkic co-founded DIPD Nails
- The 36-year-old strives to be financially stable and have a side hobby
- In just three years she claims the brand has turned over $3million dollars
A mum-of-two who suffered from post-natal depression and anxiety is now turning over an average of $1million dollars a year selling at-home nail kits.
Melbourne mum Natalia Kajkic co-founded the brand DIPD Nails in 2020 with reality television star Natalie Stamp after the two met at an airport.
Ms Kajkic, 36, told FEMAIL from a young age she’s been driven to have multiple streams of income as she grew up in a financially unstable home.
‘I was raised by a single mum and we really struggled financially – there were times when we didn’t have a car – so growing up all I ever wanted was things we couldn’t afford,’ Ms Kajkic said.
Melbourne mum Natalia Kajkic (left) co-founded the brand DIPD Nails in 2020 with reality television star Natalie Stamp (right) after the two met at an airport
DIPD Nails offer dip powder manicure sets for customers to do their own nails in the comfort of their own home, without the smell of any nasty chemicals (pictured: Ms Kajkic with her two daughters)
‘My younger sister and I never had any money for the school canteen and we didn’t have many toys to play with; from a young age I developed this mindset of how can I have more than what I have right now?’
Today Ms Kajkic is forever grateful for the success she’s achieved in business, and believes others who want the same outcome can achieve it if enough hard work is dedicated.
The DIPD Nail starter kit costs $129.90 and creates 10 manicures
DIPD Nails offer dip powder manicure sets for customers to do their own nails in the comfort of their own home, without the smell of any nasty chemicals.
While the concept of dip powder nails isn’t new in the beauty world, hardly any were available in Australia.
The business idea came about nail salons were closing due to Covid-19 lockdowns, leading customers to find alternatives.
After doing some research, Ms Kajkic stumbled across an alternative product and recommended it to Ms Stamp, who then pondered the idea of creating their own beauty nail line.
The two invested $2,000 each into the brand and chose a local manufacturer in Melbourne who was about to go out of business because of the pandemic.
In the first week alone the business received 300 orders and to this day their biggest sale on record was 27,000 orders in 24 hours. The two founders also split the responsibilities and revenue evenly.
Ms Kajkic started the business to become financially stable and occupy her mind after suffering post-natal depression after both pregnancies
Not only did the business help Ms Kajkic become financially stable, but it helped ease her thoughts on self-worth when she became a mum.
While Ms Kajkic always wanted children, the drastic lifestyle change and identity shift associated to becoming a mum was ‘overwhelming’.
She experienced anxiousness, often struggled leaving the house and was boggled by ‘what if’ scenarios if something were to go wrong.
‘In so many ways, I feel that motherhood is the greatest achievement. But perhaps because of pressure from society and the cost of living, I wanted to occupy my mind in a different way,’ she said.
‘And now I hear so many mums say that want to start a side hustle for themselves and feel a sense of achievement in another way – especially if they’re not working.
‘Now this gives me flexibility as a mum because I’m not desk bound to a job.’
In the first week alone the business received 300 orders and to this day their biggest sale on record was 27,000 orders in 24 hours. To date Ms Kajkic claims the brand has turned over close to $3million dollars (pictured right: sales over the last month)
To date the brand has received more than 50,000 orders from customers across Australia and the world, turning over $3million dollars.
Ms Kajkic was also able to purchase her ‘dream car’ – an $80,000 Range Rover Spot – which took years to save for.
‘I’ve managed to achieve so much because I’m not afraid of taking risks – but I’ve also had a lot of failures. I lost $10,000 to a business during the manufacturing process when the factory shut down,’ she said.
The kits are suited for women who don’t want to spend upwards of $60 every time they visit a nail salon. It’s also a therapeutic form of self-care.
The standard DIPD Nail kit includes enough powder to redo a manicure ten times.