Tessa Barton and Cole Herrmann lived in a 250-square-foot New York studio apartment, with a showerhead that spit brown water and a radiator capable of giving second-degree burns.
You’d never have known it from Barton’s Instagram account. At the time, in 2017, she was a freelance photographer — gaining followers by posting images of their living space that made their home life look aspirational.
She and Herrmann, a software engineer, realized they could bottle up her aesthetic into pre-made photo filters and sell them. Her followers could make their lives look Instagram-worthy — no fancy cameras or editing programs required.
That idea is now Tezza, a Los Angeles-based company that makes collage kits, apparel and its claim-to-fame photo editing app. The business, which the husband-and-wife duo run as co-CEOs, brought in $26.5 million in sales last year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Tezza has been profitable almost since its inception, the founders say, due to its lean business model. The editing features are time-consuming to make, but once they’re done, they bring in relatively passive revenue, giving Herrmann and Barton time and funds to create more features and expand Tezza into a larger lifestyle brand.
“There’s a way to be making money while you sleep,” Barton, 32, tells CNBC Make It.
A ‘naïve’ trial-and-error process
Barton used the name Tezza for her side hustles while attending the University of Utah. She worked as a wedding photographer and content creator for brands like Urban Outfitters, helping her build a following before influencing was considered a full-time career.
She and Herrmann got married, then moved to New York in 2016. Barton wanted to combine her side hustles into something that helped non-professional creatives explore new kinds of art, but didn’t know where to start.
Together, the couple tried selling books, and invested in a denim jacket line that never officially launched. As those early business ventures struggled, they…
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