How Therese Waechter built a $250,000 sticker company from scratch

On this week’s episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast, Therese Waechter and I discuss how she built a thriving sticker company, Otto’s Grotto, that now grosses $250,000 a year. What started as a simple sticker idea bundled with t-shirts has grown into a four-platform e-commerce machine.

Therese shared concrete strategies, especially in the second half, on platform-specific scaling, managing execution, and the power of promotional tactics. Here’s an overview of her e-commerce journey, with lessons you can apply no matter what stage you’re in.

Watch the full episode

Accidental beginnings and early growth

Therese had no intention of becoming a sticker entrepreneur. After bouncing between Amazon FBA flips and dabbling in merchandise, she had one design that resonated, and she turned it into a sticker.

Started selling on Facebook Marketplace during the pandemic.
The first runs of stickers sold out quickly, even with small print-on-demand margins.
Realizing that better margins were possible with DIY production, she printed and shipped stickers herself.
Facebook Marketplace at its peak was bringing in 200 orders a day, with untracked envelope shipping and a baby in tow.

When Facebook disabled her without warning, she had to turn around. That push led her to invest time in building long-term sales channels like Etsy and Amazon.

In-house: printing, laminating and cutting

One of Therese’s biggest scaling decisions was bringing sticker production in-house. It gave her better control and margins, but it wasn’t easy.

Started with simple desktop tools like Cricut and Silhouette, which quickly proved inefficient.
Invested in a Roland VersaStudio BN-20 commercial printer and a separate cutter.
Later, a laminating machine and scaled equipment with volume were added: “Print, cut, laminate” became her daily workflow.
The operation ran out of her garage and living room even after large orders came in.

This decision helped her quickly fulfill wholesale orders and compete on shipping time, ultimately opening new sales channels.

Platform distribution: Etsy, Amazon, Faire, Shopify

Therese now sells through four primary channels. Each plays a separate role in her company and has their own strategies.

30% of sales from Etsy: Still active, but being scaled back due to copycats and international spam listings.
30% of sales from Amazon FBA: Completely hands-off after shipment to warehouses; no paid advertising after launch.
30% of turnover from Faire Wholesale: High average order values with constant promotions to attract wholesale buyers.
10% from Shopify: Usually a placeholder and landing page for wholesale reach.

Additional wholesale leads sometimes come directly through her website, allowing her to avoid Faire’s 15% commission.

How she uses each platform differently

Understanding each platform’s search algorithm was key to Therese’s success. She uses a tailor-made approach for everyone.

Amazon: Success is linked to sales velocity. She runs small paid ads on new listings for one to three weeks and watches for traction.
Etsy: Promotions are more important than SEO. She continually offers 40% discounts to stay relevant in Etsy’s ranking system.
Honestly: Uses tiered discounts to encourage larger wholesale orders, such as 5% off $50, 10% off $100, and 30% off $300+.
Shopify: Functions as a credibility signal to wholesale buyers, with minimal direct sales activity.

The shift to commercial printing and remote fulfillment

Therese moves away from manual operations by outsourcing production to a vetted commercial printing company.

Commercial printers offer better prices and quality, but require technical preparation, such as cutting line design.
She is building a front-end experience where customers can proof and order online without her intervention.
This allows her to run the business from anywhere while helping her husband open a new brick-and-mortar gym.

This move is an important step towards a semi-passive income and a more flexible lifestyle.

The role of AI and “Vibe Coding” in her workflow

Although Therese’s reputation for “vibe coding” has not yet defined her field, it has earned her an article in Business Insider. It essentially means figuring out how to mimic or recreate website features using tools like ChatGPT.

Uses AI to build site elements, test marketing copy, and customize product descriptions.
Embraces tools like Midjourney and Nano Banana for image generation and art upscaling.
Creates custom clipart and vector designs with AI instead of using paid stock images.
AI voice-to-text has helped her publish books, with proceeds going to charity.

She acknowledges that AI can be distracting, which her husband calls “side quests,” but it has also increased her creative output and reduced manual workload.

Tips for platform-specific scaling

Towards the end of the podcast, Therese offered some practical advice for sellers trying to grow on Etsy, Amazon, and Faire.

For Amazon:

Focus on fast-moving offers (sales velocity).
Use paid ads briefly to boost momentum.
Kill offers that don’t sell quickly.

For Etsy:

Always run store-wide promotions.
Ads without discounts are buried.
Etsy changes its algorithms every quarter, often favoring only a few of your products.

For Faire:

Run tiered discounts to entice bulk purchases.
Add new listings regularly to increase discoverability.
Track email nudges from the platform; they usually give an indication of what to do next.

These strategies involve a lot of promotion, but have been crucial to its sustainable growth and visibility.

Playing the deserved media game

Therese also leverages earned media as a long-term branding and SEO play.

Uses platforms like Qwoted to get quoted in major publications, including Business Insider.
Focuses on backlinks to increase the authority of its Shopify domain.
Pays attention to how LLMs (like ChatGPT) highlight its content when external sources mention its brand.

She also uses Cision, a more advanced PR tool, by participating in group licensing purchases through marketing communities. Although most of her media hits come from Qwoted, she is investing more in media outreach to support her long-term business goals.

Final thoughts

Therese Waechter’s e-commerce journey is a mix of messy experimentation, calculated scaling, and gradual automation. While she didn’t set out to become a sticker mogul, her ability to adapt, streamline and advertise across platforms has turned a side hustle into a six-figure business.

If you’re just starting out or looking to expand your e-commerce presence, consider the following:

Exploring multiple marketplaces to diversify risk.
Invest early in margin-improving activities, such as internal production or vetted outsourcing.
Treating each platform as its own algorithmic ecosystem, and not as a one-size-fits-all strategy.
Use promotions to drive discovery and conversions.
Experimenting with earned media and AI tools to support your growth and visibility.

Therese’s story proves that with a little hustle, a few smart pivots, and a willingness to keep learning, you can turn even the simplest product, like a sticker, into a thriving, multi-platform brand.