Kyla Smith was exhausted, working 15-hour days, unsure if this whole entrepreneurship thing was worth it.

She was sitting in a coffee shop chatting with some friends, when a woman interrupted them.

Excuse me, are you talking aboutEvolve Fit Wear?

Side gig

Evolve Fit Wear now has an office, warehouse, photo studio and five staff members, as well as an in-house clothing line. Photo courtesy of Kyla Smith from Evolve Fit Wear

My friends and I love that site!

And in that moment, Smiths exhaustion evaporated.

Seven years into her business, she finally felt like she had made it.

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Just to hear that out of a random person was the most rewarding feeling, she says.

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Although she spent most of her time traveling around the country, she had several months off each year.

She grew bored during those periods and started brainstormingways to make extra money.

I love how good I feel when I put on a new workout outfit, she says.

It makes me feel so healthy.

Did you know?

It was all about repping the smaller brands, she says.

Finding cool unique ones that werent Lululemon, because they have enough representation.

Eventually, she settled on three lines from Brazil and one handmade line called Sandra McCray.

Then she took $5,000 of her shoe saleswoman savings and bought clothing from each.

She nearly sold out.

I just kept bankrolling the money into more and more inventory, she says.

That added up to about $30,000 worth of inventory, which Smith calls the sweet spot for retail.

Something had to give and shedropped out.

I wanted tobe an entrepreneur, she says.

I dont regret that.

A website was the obvious solution but one big thing stood in her way.

Smith was, as she puts it, the least technical person ever.

Much to her surprise, it started selling.

And, alongside her knowledge, her online business grew.

A lot of entrepreneurs think theyll quit their job and live happily ever after, she says.

But it takes a long time [to build a business].

With the move, she also took her business entirely online.

Any new brand, we drop-ship, Smith explains.

If youre selling something online, sell the brands that no one really knows, she says.

Theyd be more likely to drop-ship because they want the opportunity for growth, too.

It didnt want to deal with the myriad smaller vendors, preferring instead to go through one store.

I was hesitant at first, says Smith.

But its turned out to be a great channel.

Positivity #FTW

Evolve now has an office, warehouse, photo studio and five staff members.

It also has an in-house clothing line, which includes the most incrediblegoat yoga leggings.

Smith attributes her success to several factors.

Its important for me to spread the message to be healthy in your body.

There are some days when Im like, What am I doing?

But theres always a new day.

There are going to be ups and downs and theres always going to be an up around the corner.

Susan Shain is a freelance writer and digital nomad.

Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)

You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…