Brand Architects: Taylor Johnson of Hazel and Olive

Fashion has always been in Taylor Johnson's blood. Growing up, she was the kid who made her own "crazy clothes" and wore them to school, inspired by her great-grandmother Hazel Olive and taught to sew by her grandmother. But in 2012, as a young mother working long hours in the fashion industry, Taylor found herself at a crossroads.

Join Bora Celik as he chats with Taylor Johnson, the Founder, Owner & CEO at Hazel and Olive.

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"I really wanted to make a better life for my daughter," Taylor recalls. With a three-year-old at home and a dream of building something of her own, she took what might seem like an unlikely path to many: she started clipping coupons.

That's right – the multimillion-dollar fashion company known as Hazel and Olive began with just $300 saved from coupon clipping. Armed with her fashion merchandising degree and experience interning with wholesale companies, Taylor knew exactly what she'd do with that money: buy six sweaters.

"I had no game plan really," she admits. "I literally told myself, if I can figure this out, I'll do it. If not, I'm just gonna keep grinding and work for someone else forever."

Those first six sweaters were photographed on a mannequin in her tiny apartment with her phone – a blurry photo that Taylor says "haunts me to this day." But something remarkable happened: they sold out that very night on Facebook.

What followed was a masterclass in bootstrapping. Every dollar earned went straight back into buying more inventory. "If they liked these sweaters, I'm just going to buy more of these sweaters and then more colors," Taylor explains. "And it kind of just spiraled very quickly."

Within six months of launching her website, Hazel & Olive had done over a million dollars in sales. The price of that success? Eighteen-hour workdays in a 500-square-foot apartment packed to the ceiling with inventory boxes – even in her daughter's room.

"Honestly, don't really know how it worked," Taylor laughs, reflecting on those early days juggling motherhood with her growing business. "She was very well-behaved. She actually loves fashion. She was maybe a little brainwashed from the age of three, but she would just stand there playing with the clothes while I'd be packing them up."

Today, Hazel & Olive launches 10-20 new products every day, a far cry from those first six sweaters. The company has made Inc. magazine's list of Fastest Growing Companies, and recently found itself unexpectedly trending as the top search result for Taylor Swift concert outfits on Google.

But perhaps what's most remarkable about Taylor's story isn't just the growth – it's her approach to business. She resisted hiring help for as long as possible, feeling the weight of responsibility for her employees' livelihoods. "If I'm going to hire someone, I'm now responsible for not only the food on my table, but the food on their table too," she explains.

Twelve years after that first blurry mannequin photo, Taylor remains hands-on with her business, regularly traveling to LA to work directly with designers on tweaking pieces for her customers. "My customer's a little picky about buying online," she says. "We have a certain way we want certain things to stretch in a certain area, we want certain things to tie in a certain spot."

When asked if she'd choose a different path knowing what she knows now, Taylor's answer is immediate: "I would still pick this for sure." Though she admits starting an online boutique in 2024 would be much harder, her love for the business hasn't dimmed.

As for what's next? Taylor's eyes are on the upcoming spring season. "Since we're known for our dresses, I love spring fashion. I love summer fashion," she says, her enthusiasm evident. "It just feels like it gets better and better and more fun every year."

From $300 and a dream to a thriving fashion empire, Taylor Johnson's story proves that sometimes the biggest successes start with the smallest steps – and maybe a few coupons.

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