Senior Madden Lardy turned quarantine hobby into booming business
by Peyton Hove, GHS Blue Ink
Over the past six months some people have worked out, some people caught up on their TV series, and some people have cleaned. GHS senior Madden Lardy jumpstarted her own t -shirt business.
Being quarantined caused some boredom in Lardy’s life, so at the beginning of May she decided to “spruce up” her closet and try something new. In her case, something new was bleach dye. Lardy started with her sweatshirts then moved to her shirts.
Eventually her friends and family started to join her action, and gave her some of their pieces to dye. Her aunt then began buying pieces from Lardy and gave her the idea to start her own business.
She first started dying her own personal pieces and selling those. Realizing this could be something, she went out and bought new items to bleach dye. “Some of the shirts I’ve bought were from Ross or Marshalls, but mostly thrift stores,” stated Lardy.
Receiving such positive feedback, Lardy began to sell her products on social media. She began on Snapchat and then expanded to Instagram. With her own business account (instagram: madtiedyeco), people from across the region started showing an interest in her products.
“I love them! I like how they are oversized because I think those are more in style right now! They are all also very unique and personalized and I think that is so cool,” remarked Mya Long.
Alli Gawarecki commented on her purchases, “They are so comfy and they were really cheap and easy to get from her.”
While Lardy is sharing her creations with the community, she isn’t sharing everything. People have asked her how she does it, but she states “It’s a business secret.” However, she did say it takes her around 30 minutes to wear the finished product.
“One day I did over 15 pieces,” she said.
Over the course of six months, Lardy has sold more than hundreds of items and has made over a thousand dollars. When asked about doing this as a career, Lardy expressed that tie dying is definitely a skill she’s going to keep in her back pocket.
