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A new hope: How one man’s Star Wars design turned into a million-dollar side hustle
Christy Bieber
5 min read
“Do or do not, there is no try,” were the wise words of Yoda — and in 2018, Mike O'Dell took them to heart.
He drew a Star Wars stormtrooper on a large sheet of graph paper, cut the pattern into sections, sewed the fabric onto the paper and began quilting over the design using a process called foundation paper piecing.
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As a new quilter, he found the process easy. That success sparked an idea: license images and create quilting kits to sell online. The idea blasted off. Last year, he sold $1.25 million worth of his kits — branded Legit Kits — on Shopify, and earned another $150,000 selling quilts through the now-bankrupt Joann Fabrics.
While O'Dell's side hustle has been more successful than most, his story still offers inspiration — and practical advice — for others looking to launch their own ventures.
Rebellions are built on hope
O'Dell told CNBC Make It that he devotes one day a week to his side hustle while working four days a week as a nurse anesthetist. His full-time job pays him $240,000, so he's not planning to give it up anytime soon.
"It's kind of hard to beat an anesthesia salary," he said. "I've got three kids, and I want my kids to go to college."
Balancing both jobs has been challenging. O’Dell admits to losing sleep and feeling stressed. But his creative work helps him cope with the more intense pressure of his hospital job.
"The burnout that I feel at the hospital fuels my energy to do the other thing for myself," he said. "It turns the volume down when everybody's mad at work. I hear it, but I'm like, ‘I'm not going to manage my people that way.’"
Despite Legit Kits bringing in over $1 million last year, O’Dell says the business isn’t profitable enough for him to quit his day job just yet.
"You don't really get to keep most of the money that your business makes," he explained. "It goes right back into it. When we were consistently breaking $100,000 a month in sales, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is it. But then you're spending $100,000 a month, too.’ "
This year, he plans to pay himself just $50K from his business, although he hopes that the number will grow as he increases marketing efforts, hires for custom work and tries to expand into more retail stores.
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