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Tanja Filipovska had just $10,000 left in her business bank account and a warehouse full of socks. It was 2019 and having just become the sole owner of the Madmia crazy socks business, she faced a sliding doors moment. The decision she made changed everything.
“I decided to get a stand at the Easter Show in Sydney,” Tanja, 39, from the Sydney suburb of Botany, tells WHO. “It was $7000 for a tiny stand and I spent $300 in IKEA on signage and wallpaper. It was a make-or-break moment.”
All she had hoped for was to make the $7000 back and increase awareness of the sock brand she’d been designing for and running for the previous three years.
“It was my absolute baby. I’d put all my heart into the business,” she says, explaining why she bought the remaining 50 per cent of the company from her retired business partner and co-investor.
But what happened at the Easter Show shocked her. Within moments of opening her Madmia sock stand, there was a line around the block.
“I made the [stand] rent back within five hours and there was a line from morning until evening. I had to call my family and everyone to come and help serve because it was just me there. People were buying bags and bags of socks,” she says.
Inspired by her kids, her designs were bright and colourful with accessorise like ears, shoelaces, pompoms and sparkles.
“It started as a generic range of bright socks, meant to stand out and empower kids, but when I was designing one pair, I added a shoelace and people loved it,” she says.
Before the Easter Show, her online brand was unknown – but that quickly changed. “The Easter Show was my ‘wow’ moment. The website went wild after that. The brand went viral,” Tanja says.
Two years later, Madmia was so popular that even Disney was interested and Tanja signed a licensing agreement allowing her to use their characters. She’s gone on to develop further collaborations with Mattel, Warner Bros. and Harry Potter.
“Disney is now our most popular range. The new Stitch socks have been doing incredible numbers and Disneyland Paris has just approached us. We will be the first Australian brand to launch there,” she says.
As well as juggling three young kids – Penelope, 5, Charlotte, 3 and Harrison, 2 – Tanja has spent the past few years building an empire that includes warehouses all over the world, allowing her to export to America and Europe. She now sells 10 pairs of socks every minute and is on track to make $30 million in revenue this year.
“My partner is selling his business to come and help me. I have 30 employees worldwide now,” Tanja says. “I wake up at 2am to talk to my Europe team, and then again for my US team, but I can’t complain. I love it so much!”
And it’s not just Tanja who’s happy about Madmia’s success. She’s had feedback from all over the world about how much kids and parents love the socks.
“What more can you do than buy a child something colourful that makes them smile?” she asks. “They are just such wild products. They make people so happy.”
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