I Quit My $250k Job for a Side Hustle

I was a litigation attorney for 16 years. It's a high-pressure job that involves a lot of travel, but I loved the principle behind our work. We represented large groups of employees from major companies who were being treated unfairly in their wages.

What I disliked was the day-to-day reality of the job. Litigation in the U.S. has essentially become a game of "hide the ball". Nowadays, all evidence is digital, which makes it easy to withhold and not disclose. I found that frustrating.

I left the profession around eight years ago, and I'm sure it's changed even more since then.

I had a young family at the time, and I worked on substantial cases that were time-consuming. My income was inconsistent—I didn't earn much, and then I would receive a bulk payment upon successful completion of a case.

On the plaintiff side, you always have a salary, but it's lower with the expectation that if you find success, you will receive a bonus. So, the amount you earn can vary greatly depending on how the year goes.

I didn't particularly enjoy the extensive travel because it kept me away from my family for extended periods. While it's a good way to earn a living, finding a balance can be challenging.

Our pay varied greatly based on the cases we were working on, but I walked away from $250,000 a year.

In 2016, my wife and I moved to Scandinavia to further our studies. My wife, also a trial lawyer, found us a program at the University of Oslo; an LLM called Communication and Technology Law, essentially the law of the Internet.

It provided a snapshot of what it means to run a business in the digital world, and this move marked a new chapter in our lives.

While studying in West Oslo, we lived as Norwegians and discovered many parallels between their lifestyle and that of Coloradans, particularly in Denver where I'm from.

Both cultures have a strong liking for outdoor activities and a similar approach to clothing. We discovered numerous small Scandinavian brands that we had never heard of before, and we were impressed by the quality of their products.

When we hosted visitors from the U.S., they often went shopping and seemed to favor one brand in particular. This observation sparked a conversation about making these brands more available in the U.S.

What resonated with us the most in Norway is their unofficial motto: "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." This concept implies that regardless of the weather, be it rain or snow, one should be prepared with appropriate clothing.

When we first heard it from our daughter's first-grade teacher in Oslo, she told us: "We know you're American, but there are no rain or snow days here. The kids are outside all the time, properly geared up."

Years later, this became an unofficial motto for the clothing store that we founded in the U.S.

After 13 months in Norway with our two children, we returned home in August 2017, and the following year I began reaching out to the Scandinavian companies we were interested in, proposing the idea of selling their high-quality products in the American market.

We wanted to stock these items in the U.S. and start our own business for many reasons, one of which being the use of high-quality wool. It's not something we see much of in the U.S. The wool typically available tends to be harsher lambswool.

It's not part of the general culture to understand how to use it properly. For instance, it's not supposed to be worn directly against your skin—there should always be a layer in between. So the use of Merino wool, which is softer and more comfortable, stood out to us. It's not as readily available in the U.S.

I began reaching out to various companies on our wishlist. All we had were email addresses and no website yet, so there was a lot of back-and-forth communication.

During this time, we were making roughly one sale a day. We were able to sustain ourselves thanks to our savings, which served as our operating budget. This allowed us to self-finance our business at the beginning, although it was nerve-wracking.

We launched our business as an online store in July 2018, with the website going live in October. It became both mine and Leslie's full-time job after she finished her dissertation.

That first year was a learning curve, understanding the ins and outs of e-commerce. At that time, social media was a welcoming platform for small businesses. The commodity was time, and engaging in discussions with potential customers was a positive experience.

We spent our days online, commenting, and building our brand. It's fascinating how people discovered us.

Many travelers to Scandinavia from the U.S. are drawn by the beauty and heritage. There's a significant population of Norwegians and Swedes in the Upper Midwest, where I'm from, and they appreciate having a piece of their ancestral home. Our business caters to this desire.

The American concept of being able to purchase whatever we want was a driving factor for our business. Many of the Scandinavian brands we loved were small and didn't have a presence in the U.S., making their products inaccessible to American consumers.

Our long-term goal was always to establish a brick-and-mortar store, but we saw that as a five-year plan. However, when COVID-19 hit in 2020, it had an interesting impact on our business.

With people unable to shop in person, they turned to online shopping, which boosted our sales. Around the same time, a space opened up in a marketplace we were interested in, so we decided to take the plunge into the brick-and-mortar world.

At this point, Leslie, while still involved in the business, returned to law and began working as a data privacy officer for a large American company. This was beneficial from a financial standpoint, as it provided a steady income while I focused full-time on the store.

We opened our store in September 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first winter season was a rollercoaster due to the lockdowns. There were days when it was just me in the shop, but we persevered.

When the world started reopening, we had the opportunity to interact with customers in person, which I enjoy, particularly guiding them through our range of products. Our goal is always to sell a customer their favorite item of clothing.

While we haven't reached the earning capacity of our previous careers in law, we've built a business that has significant value. Estimating its worth is challenging, but a figure of around $1.5 million comes to mind.

The fall and winter seasons are crucial for us, given the nature of our products. In terms of e-commerce, the landscape has changed post-COVID. Larger businesses have invested more capital into the digital marketplace, making it more competitive for smaller shops like ours. It seems we have to work harder to reach customers online.

However, in the physical marketplace, things are a bit easier. Our store offers something unique that's harder to find, which gives us an edge.

We hope to continue to grow our company through our online shop while considering expansion with a second physical location.

Areas we would consider for the second location include the mountain towns in Colorado, the Twin Cities in Minnesota or the Seattle metro area. We also see a significant amount of visitors from New Hampshire and Vermont due to the shared philosophy about the outdoors and can see a day when we have a shop in one of those states too.

The journey has been challenging, but also rewarding as we navigate the evolving retail landscape.

Nate Axvig is a recovering trial lawyer and the founder of Aktiv which brings the best of Scandinavian clothing to the United States.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

As told to Newsweek's associate editor, Carine Harb.

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