How boredom during Covid lockdown sparked young woman’s million-dollar business idea – and she has a unique TikTok trend to thank for her success
- Dani Regan, who lives in Melbourne, is the founder and director of Dani by Dsgn
- She was suffering through lockdowns and Covid when a business idea struck her
- The creative corporate worker started to make her own monograms from words
- She started to get noticed on TikTok for her unique designs, started charging fee
- Now businesses and individuals alike pay her to make personalised ‘logos’
The Covid pandemic managed to change the trajectory of many lives but for Dani Regan, who lived through the world’s longest lockdown in Melbourne, it saw her quit her corporate role to oversee a six-figure business in monogramming.
It was a single TikTok trend that was the making of the Australian’s business venture, alongside a pinch of creative flair, a black sharpie and a single sheet of white paper.
She downloaded the popular social media app in June 2020 only to come across a video encouraging users to write their name with the letters overlapping. She decided to try it with the name of her account at the time ‘Harlo and Rei’, filming it with her phone and uploading it shortly after.
‘I don’t know what happened. The video got to 8,000 views really quickly and I had comments and comments and comments of people asking for their own names to be designed into a symbol,’ she told 9News.
The Covid pandemic managed to change the trajectory of many lives but for Dani Regan, who lived through the world’s longest lockdown in Melbourne, it saw her quit her corporate role to oversee a six-figure business in monogramming
It was a single TikTok trend that was the making of the Australian’s business venture, alongside a pinch of creative flair, a black sharpie and a single sheet of white paper (Dani’s monograms as tattoos)
‘I got inundated with requests – DMs, followers, comments. It was just insane.’
Her nifty skill quickly saw her take on jobs – for free – for loyal friends and fans alike which she would film after work and share on her channel.
It wasn’t until a friend suggested she start selling the personalised monograms on Etsy that a business idea, Dani by Dsgn, formed.
Through her website of the same name Dani now connects with businesses and individuals as far reaching as California and Ecuador to produce logos for brands, restaurants, cafes and even tattoos.
Her Instagram account, which has 158,000 subscribers, is filled with pictures of tattoos and engraved jewellery – which she does herself at home with an engraver – and videos showing how she comes up with the unique designs.
Her Instagram account, which has 158,000 subscribers, is filled with pictures of tattoos and engraved jewellery – which she does herself at home with an engraver – and videos showing how she comes up with the unique designs
In June this year, two years after she started her TikTok account, Dani was able to quit her corporate role and work on her ‘side hustle’ full-time
In June this year, two years after she started her TikTok account, Dani was able to quit her corporate role and work on her ‘side hustle’ full-time.
‘I thought 9 to 5 was going to be the be all and end all for me, and I was going to work my way up the corporate ladder,’ she said.
‘But social media, it’s literally changed my whole life.’
Dani is able to monogram dates, special names and phrases into $30-a-piece ‘symbols’ with hidden meanings, making them extremely popular because of their ‘exclusive’ nature
A number of businesses have used her expertise to create their logos
Dani is able to monogram dates, special names and phrases into $30-a-piece ‘symbols’ with hidden meanings, making them extremely popular because of their ‘exclusive’ nature.
Incredibly her start-up company generated a six-figure profit in its first full year of operation, and Dani was only working on it part-time.
She’s excited to see where the brand might go now that it has her full and undivided attention.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk