After spending her teenage years in lockdown learning embroidery, a teenager has since quit her job at a supermarket. She used social media to market her bag designs and is now able to make five figures per day.

Maisie Crompton (19 years old) lives in Cambridge and explained to us that she used to work one day per week at Waitrose while locked down. She then started embroidery as a hobby, trying not be bored.

After she used TikTok for her documentation, she saw other people interested in her designs.

Having purchased materials from Amazon with £25 from her grandmother, Maisie debuted her sell-out range of products on Depop and now earns up to £12,000 in sales a day on her own website, offering both personalised bags and her own embroidered designs. 

Maisie Crompton, 19, (pictured) who lives in Cambridge, has launched Totes For You after taking up embroidery as a hobby during lockdown

Maisie Crompton (pictured), a 19-year-old Cambridge resident, launched Totes For You. She started embroidering as a hobby in lockdown.

Maisie boasts more than 176,000 TikTok users and close to 7,000 YouTube views. Maisie admitted that she never expected to be in a position to leave her grocery store job after starting Totes For You.

Maisie shared this YouTube vlog: “In my first lockdown, just finishing my A Levels. Because I worked in a supermarket I was considered a key worker. I also found it boring in my spare time. It was an idea that I had to learn embroidery.

“I created a series of videos on TikTok in which I shared my journey with others and it was a success. It went better than I thought. The entire process of getting an idea to creating it, getting materials and starting the site was documented. Everything.

I had no clue how to manage a company, let alone run one that was successful. Although I was aware of the basic principles, which stated that your goal should be to make more money than what you spend on it, that wasn’t enough.

She claimed that studying GCSE Business didn’t help her, and she decided to do her research on the subject herself and create designs.

In just one week, her TikTok first video of her embroidery received more than 60,000 views.

Maisie said she spent £25 on materials to start her business, including needles, an embroidery hoop, thread and tote bags. Pictured: Maisie's embroidery on a tote bag

Maisie said she spent £25 on materials to start her business, including needles, an embroidery hoop, thread and tote bags. Pictured is Maisie’s embroidery in a tote.

Maisie revealed that she began the business using hand embroidery after her grandmother gave her £25, saying: ‘I bought needles, embroidery hoop, embroidery thread and tote bags for £25 all of Amazon. Evidently, since then I have switched suppliers.

“I was 10/11 years old when I started sewing. I stopped doing much as a teenager, but my skills were still there.

It came to me quite easily when I began. Additionally, I have a tendency to be perfectionistic so even if it wasn’t possible, I worked until I succeeded. 

“Each one of them would take me approximately one to three hour, but because I had time and there wasn’t anything else to do during lockdown, I could manage it.”  

Maisie (pictured) said her website began racking up £4,000 a month in sales when it first launched, and she hadn't earned as much in a year at Waitrose

Maisie (pictured) said her website began racking up £4,000 a month in sales when it first launched, and she hadn’t earned as much in a year at Waitrose 

Maisie stated that Depop was her first platform to sell on because it doesn’t charge any start-up fees.

Five-star reviews later, she started her own website and asked her friends to review her products. Then, to speed up her production, she purchased a used embroidery machine.

Maisie stated that she made 13 sales the day after we launched. My joy was infectious. We made around £4,000 in a month, I had never seen money like that come in.

To put that in context, I was employed at Waitrose for a full year and did not make more than four thousand dollars. It was profit, but sales. I thought it was insane.

Maisie (pictured), who is saving to buy a house, admitted it's been difficult to remain motivated since launching her business

Maisie, pictured (pictured), is currently saving for a home and admitted that it has been hard to stay motivated since she launched her company. 

Maise’s website has since expanded its range of products to include sweatshirts for £36, T-shirts for £24 and stationery from £1.40 – in addition to her tote bags which start from £15. 

She admitted that it is difficult for her to upload regularly to YouTube because of the success of her company at 19 years old.

According to her, work can become ‘overwhelming’. She also revealed that sometimes she needs to travel outside of her home in order to find inspiration.  

Maisie shared that she now saves for a mortgage to buy her house. Maisie stated: “I’d rather not rent, because it’s a waste.

‘I’m financially stable enough that I can afford to live somewhere nice, but it’s just not money that I really want to spend.’