Khaberni - An American woman named Julia Holden succeeded in turning a personal experience with her newborn into a profitable business project that earns her tens of thousands of dollars monthly, after designing an innovative hat that helps children sleep easily, in a project she started from her home.
The idea started in February 2024, when Holden and her husband noticed that their child fell asleep faster when they gently covered his eyes with a piece of cloth. As a new mother looking for practical solutions, she tried to find a similar product in the market but could not find one that suited her needs, which led her to think about designing the product herself and turning it into a commercial project.
Holden launched her project under the name "The Sleepy Hat", which is a hat for children equipped with a comfortable eye cover. Within one year, she invested about $16,000 to develop her project.
Since June 2025, the project began to achieve significant growth, recording monthly revenues reaching more than $90,000 in December, according to information published by CNBC. The original Sleepy Hat sketch Holden came up with in 2024.
Holden confirmed that after the project became profitable, she resigned from her job in October of last year, which was bringing her an annual salary of $95,000, to fully dedicate herself to managing her company.
Holden explained that she had been working on the project in short periods, never exceeding 20 minutes between caring for her child, without any external funding or team, except for limited family assistance, and reinvested most of the profits in developing the project, including hiring part-time assistants and launching online advertising campaigns.
Although the sales were limited initially, not exceeding $2,000 in the first few months, the first purchase from an unknown customer marked an important turning point for her, which she described as a "life-changing moment".
Her joining the Amazon platform and the spread of videos about her product on TikTok greatly increased the demand, as some videos garnered hundreds of thousands of views, and engaged with a large number of mothers who expressed interest in the product.
Holden is currently seeking to develop new products and improve her marketing strategy, assuring that her goal is to gradually increase her income and hopes that her salary from the project will exceed her previous income, reaching more than $100,000 annually.
Holden confirmed that her journey was not easy, but she learned the importance of understanding financial aspects and managing the project, in addition to trusting her instincts as she told "CNBC".
