VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach small business owner went viral and gained tens of thousands of followers overnight after getting a shoutout on social media last week.
Bella Schwartz makes and sells handmade pet tags and scrunchie bandanas under the name "Ash & Bell Designs" on Etsy. Last Thursday she was doing a TikTok Live video where she was revealing new merchandise.
During the video, she said that her goal "was to reach 10,000 followers by the end of the year, but I doubt that'll happen."
What Schwartz didn't know was that Jen Hamilton, a TikTok influencer with over 3 million followers, was watching her live. After purchasing a few bandanas for her pet chickens Hamilton posted a shoutout on her page, encouraging her followers to check out Schwartz's page.
Schwartz said she looked at her phone and saw approximately ten orders for her handmade pet bandanas in a single second. Then she got ten more, and then a dozen more, and then hundreds.
By the time Schwartz logged into TikTok, she saw her local business had gone viral.
"I checked my follower count on TikTok, and as I'm refreshing my count was going up by the thousands in every passing second," she recalled. "My stomach dropped, I could not believe what was happening!"
Within an hour of Hamilton's shoutout, Schwartz had to temporarily close her online orders because of the sheer volume of interest. Her store completely sold out after she received over 100 orders, including 200 bandanas and tags.
"I make everything by hand, everything is either sewn by me or hand stamped, and it does take a fair bit of work," said Schwartz. "I watched the orders climb to 200 in an hour, and that's when I said 'okay, that's enough!'"
With 50,000 new followers, she posted on Instagram thankful for the overwhelming support, "A big thank you to my friends, followers, customers, and everyone else. Jen Hamilton, along with all of you, has made a lasting impact on my life."
She said the inspiration for her business started with her dog, Ash, who proudly modeled a few of the pieces when interviewed by 13News Now.
"I've always considered myself a creative person, and in 2022 I decided to take the leap and quit my job to follow my passion full-time," she said. "I never imagined it would take off to this degree though."
Schwartz says she hopes to re-open her online orders by the end of February and is even planning to launch a website.
In the meantime, Schwartz has a message for other aspiring business owners.
"This is your sign!" said Schwartz. "No matter how big or small your success is, you should go for and not compare yourself to others because you can get there."