30-year-old without a college degree started a side hustle with her last $2,000—the business now brings in $10,000 a month
This story is part of CNBC Make It's Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.
A little over a year into running her cleaning business, Cool Aunt Cleaners, Anna-Marie Ortiz has learned a lot about the resilience and adaptability needed to succeed as a small business owner.
When she's not cleaning apartments with a portable vacuum strapped to her back, the 30-year-old is managing fluctuating revenue, controlling operational costs and making tough decisions — like downsizing her team — to keep her Portland, Oregon-based business running.
"In the beginning, I had no idea how it was going to go," she tells CNBC Make It. "But you keep going because you believe in what you're building."
Ortiz started the business in July 2023 with her last $2,000 in savings. Since then, she's grown it from a part-time side hustle into a business that's projected to earn over $100,000 in revenue in 2024. She currently pays herself a salary of about $29,000 per year.
While she's faced setbacks and had to adjust her operations, Ortiz remains committed to growing her business. "Looking back on the past year, it hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it, knowing that we're heading in the right direction," she says.
Ortiz grew up in Wichita, Kansas, with four sisters, raised by young parents who divorced when she was 3. Her mother later married her stepfather, who ran a flooring business that, though eventually successful, faced financial struggles in its early years.
"Growing up, money was definitely tight," says Ortiz. "I've been poor my whole life."
The family lived paycheck to paycheck, stretching every dollar to cover essentials and often relying on thrifted items and hand-me-downs to make