This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A options Colorado-based entrepreneurs Boone Whiteside, 29, and Ben Medalie, 28. Whiteside and Medalie are the co-founders of Highland, a haircare model that began as a DIY ardour undertaking in a Denver house and has grown into an eight-figure enterprise in three years. Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Highland. Boone Whiteside, left, and Ben Medalie, proper.
When did you begin your facet hustle, and the place did you discover the inspiration for it?
Whiteside: When Ben and I grew to become finest associates throughout our junior 12 months at CU Boulder, one of many issues that introduced us shut was our shared aspiration of constructing our personal factor — in not strolling a 9-5 path engaged on another person’s dream. This shared ardour would not manifest till a lot later, although.
After I first began dreaming of a hair product firm that went past styling one’s hair with poisonous sh*t, I used to be working at an ecommerce startup in a advertising and operations position. We had been a small staff, and the corporate was struggling onerous to ascertain itself. I discovered a ton about problem-solving by way of the early phases of enterprise, however I had one foot out the door, pulling me towards my calling of being my very own entrepreneur.
Ben was working at a payroll tech firm in an analyst position, however the precise position modified a lot throughout his tenure as a result of he hated doing the identical factor daily. Juggling gross sales, studying to code, dealing with threat evaluation, dabbling in advertising and progress… his managers had been always respiratory down his neck to “JUST FOCUS” on “his predominant position.” Neither of us had been pleased with these profession trajectories.
Sick of the archaic legacy manufacturers that dominated the hair styling area with low-cost, chemical-based formulations and wasteful packaging, and unsuccessful in my seek for a model that was disrupting the business, I stumbled into an concept that may remedy my very own shopper want. I had a hunch this drawback would resonate with individuals like me.
What had been a number of the first steps you took to get the facet hustle off the bottom?
Whiteside: The primary steps had been hitting the Google machine (BAI, or earlier than AI) to uncover naturally occurring, plant-based elements that might change plastic, endocrine-disrupting formulation. With out a lick of chemistry or cooking expertise to my title, I started ordering waxes, clays, oils and different botanical elements and began mixing them on my stovetop.
Thankfully I’ve all the time been a weirdo, so I used to be bizarre sufficient to start out placing these failed concoctions into my hair, bizarre sufficient to make all of my associates do the identical and provides me suggestions and bizarre sufficient to be unbothered by my roommate, Ben telling me how bizarre I’m… quickly to develop into a hair weirdo himself.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Highland
Are there any free or paid assets which have been particularly useful for you in beginning and operating this enterprise?
Medalie: Some tech standouts embrace: Klaviyo for electronic mail advertising, Shopify (and all its superior plugins) to energy our website, Triple Whale for attribution metrics, Amped (now Mailchimp) for lead seize, Adobe Premiere for content material creation and eventually Figma for making the non-designer feel and appear like Rembrandt.
Whiteside: Ben lined a lot of the paid ones. At no cost, the very best useful resource we tapped into was our well mannered persistence in demanding assist from different enterprise builders. Folks usually wish to assist, however you may’t be afraid to ask. We just lately grabbed espresso with Justin Gold, founding father of Justin’s, the peanut butter model, and he summed it up properly: “Be unreasonable.” This mentality has been instrumental in constructing an unbelievably useful community of people that have helped us construct the Highland technique from the bottom up and in avoiding errors different founders have made. So go be unreasonable — simply be well mannered about it.
When you may return in your enterprise journey and alter one course of or method, what would it not be, and the way do you would like you’d completed it in another way?
Whiteside: I feel Highland will get excessive marks for doing this early, however I want we might completed it even earlier. Get very critical about your unit economics from day one. Be taught what your gross margins are. Make a plan for the way you’ll convey down COGs over time, and know that each penny counts. Get critical about your funds, and determine how and when you can also make your enterprise worthwhile. For now, the times of elevating capital and determining find out how to develop into worthwhile later are gone, as are a lot of the companies that took this route.
One of the vital magical days of Highland was when the June 2023 books closed, and we had $113 in revenue. We might found out find out how to make the enterprise self-sustaining, and that meant our runway was limitless. Turn out to be worthwhile, do not die, then determine find out how to successfully scale.
But in addition, no regrets. The journey was the journey, and it formed us. Let yours form you.
With regards to this particular enterprise, what’s one thing you’ve got discovered significantly difficult and/or shocking that individuals who get into this kind of work must be ready for, however probably aren’t?
Medalie: Formulations (of any variety, however particularly in magnificence) which are actually pure are extremely onerous to get proper. We discovered quick why all of those that got here earlier than us minimize the corners they did, and we had been provided the identical formulation shortcuts that guarantee consistency and so-called “efficiency.”
In being adamant that our merchandise could be totally different, we bumped into points left and proper. Our elements are risky and misbehaving; early batches would differ significantly, they usually had a a lot shorter shelf life than the merchandise we had been going up in opposition to. A number of instances, we misplaced 1000’s of models to failed batches, went out of inventory in consequence and questioned if it was all value it. Ultimately, we broke by way of on the opposite facet of this problem, now redefining what innovation is feasible inside “higher for you, higher for the planet” formulation.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Highland
Are you able to recall a particular occasion when one thing went very mistaken? How did you repair it?
Whiteside: We have by no means raised a multi-million-dollar spherical — no less than, not but — however that hasn’t spared us from dealing with critical money movement challenges. Proper after our family and friends spherical, we hit a tough patch. We had been burning about $10,000 a month as we labored towards lowering our losses and slowly ramped up our advertising spend. Nonetheless, we weren’t too nervous. We had three months of runway and what felt like the proper investor lined up — somebody prepared to write down the total examine and produce business experience and mentorship that Ben and I had solely ever hoped for. We had been set. Till, all of the sudden, we weren’t.
The method dragged on for months. Our checking account drained. The deal finally fell by way of. We needed to cease paying ourselves, minimize bills to the bone, delay progress plans and pressure relationships with our manufacturing companions. It was the primary time we actually confronted the potential of dropping the corporate, and it was a intestine examine.
Medalie: So, we scrambled. We raised much less capital than we had deliberate, however we made it work. We stored a assured entrance for our buyers, obtained lean and stayed scrappy. Trying again, it was the most effective issues that might’ve occurred. It compelled us to show our path to turning into cash-flow optimistic and helped us retain extra possession. But it surely was a hard-earned lesson: Fundraising is not actual till the cash hits the financial institution. And regardless of how promising a deal seems to be, you may’t construct a enterprise on potential alone.
How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income? How a lot did the facet hustle earn? What does progress and income appear to be now?
Whitside and Medalie: We did not begin incomes constant month-to-month income ($10,000-$20,000 per thirty days) till mid-2023. The facet hustle kicked off all the way in which again in 2021, when Ben and I had been making the batches of our Glacial Clay Pomade in our KitchenAid mixer, packing the models by hand and promoting them on our Shopify storefront and to a few salons and barbershops. The facet hustle most likely generated a median of $1,000-$3,000 a month between 2021 and 2023.
Now in 2025, after launching our third-ever SKU, we hit our first million-dollar month and have been worthwhile for practically two years straight. It isn’t a race. Turn out to be an in a single day success in 5 to 10 years.
What do you get pleasure from most about operating this enterprise?
Medalie: Truthfully, sizzling take… getting to do that complete factor with the individuals we love and cherish most in life. Folks all the time warn in opposition to entering into enterprise with finest associates or household, however this half has been probably the most enjoyable. Each single day is totally different, and attending to see your self and associates develop, thrive and even fail in entrance of one another is extremely highly effective and motivating.
Whiteside: What I get pleasure from most is waking up every day with a goal, fixing difficult issues with my finest buddy and co-founder and selecting our personal journey in each aspect of what we do. Being your individual boss is NOT an overrated a part of being an entrepreneur. It is extremely onerous, nevertheless it’s additionally the very best.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Highland
What’s your finest piece of particular, actionable enterprise recommendation?
Whiteside: Getting began is usually the toughest half, but when somebody has, I might supply a bit of recommendation from my pricey buddy and Shopbop founder, Bob Lamey: “Beware the incoming name.” It means to be laser-focused on what you suppose the roadmap is for your enterprise and striving towards these targets with intention. Many emails, cellphone calls, pitches and day-to-day duties develop into a distraction from what you realize you want to be engaged on.
This doesn’t suggest to disregard alternatives as they come up — it’s a name to outline your imaginative and prescient and maintain your self accountable in working to convey it to life. what you want to be doing; do not let the noise distract you.