06/19/2026
🎓➡️🎨 She Went to Law School... Then Paid Off Her Student Loans Selling Stickers.
Most people expect a law degree to lead to a legal career.
Elyse Burns had a different plan.
While attending Duke Law School, she kept growing a small Etsy shop she started at 18. What began as selling hand-painted artwork evolved into a business offering:
🖍️ Coloring books
✨ Stickers
📓 Stationery
🏡 Home goods
Instead of taking the bar exam after graduation, she doubled down on her creative business.
The result?
💰 More than $75,000 in student loans paid off
📈 Millions in annual sales
🏪 Her own retail store
👥 18 full-time employees
Perhaps the most interesting part of her story is that the side hustle she started for fun ultimately became more valuable than the career she originally thought she needed.
It's a powerful reminder that success doesn't always look the way we expect.
🔗 Read more at : https://tinyurl.com/2s4ecbev
💬 If you could turn one hobby, passion, or side project into a full-time career, what would it be?
📚 Every successful side hustle starts somewhere. Whether you're selling old textbooks for extra cash, funding a passion project, or simply decluttering your shelves, BookScouter.com helps you get more value from the books you already own. ♻️📚💸
Elyse Burns started selling her art on Etsy when she turned 18. Now she's paid off her student loans and did nearly $5 million last year.
