Makeup Artist Turns NYC Apartment Project Into $1.7 Million Business After $50,000 Weekend

A New York mother and on-set makeup pro say her minimalist crossbody diaper bag — born from a practical need — reached $50,000 in sales over a single weekend and has since topped roughly $1.7 million in revenue. Alexandra Rutkay, 43, who splits time between film and television sets and caring for her young son, started the brand citymouse late in 2022 with a modest personal investment.

Rutkay, who works as a makeup artist on shows and films and is currently on staff with an actor from Law & Order: SVU, conceived the product after struggling to find a bag that fit somewhere between a tiny purse and a full-size diaper tote. She wanted an option that could carry a drink, a few diapers and wipes and still look like something a parent — or someone without children — would feel comfortable wearing around town. Frustrated by the sea of single-use baby products, she aimed for a compact, reusable alternative.

She put about $8,500 of her savings into the venture, drew a simple crossbody sketch and sourced a manufacturer through Alibaba. When a prototype arrived, Rutkay embraced TikTok — something she’d avoided before — and used short-form video to gauge interest. Early traction on social platforms allowed her to sell via preorder, which funded an initial production run while keeping the business self-funded. In its first full calendar year, citymouse recorded about $135,000 in sales, and cumulative revenue has since climbed into seven figures.

Rutkay credits social channels for sparking demand, but she also invested in low-cost public relations help to build credibility and used paid mentorship tools to fill gaps in her retail knowledge. She tapped a platform that connects entrepreneurs with experienced advisors and discovered a modeling service that fit her budget for product shoots. Industry specialists point out that, for consumer goods aimed at parents, a mix of organic social proof and targeted PR can accelerate awareness quickly — provided the founder can deliver on orders.

That delivery proved to be the hardest lesson. Rutkay says the brand wasn’t ready operationally when viral interest spiked; the team was fulfilling orders out of an apartment and tracking inventory manually. The result: repeated sellouts and a reliance on preorder cycles that disrupted momentum. Logistics consultants say new consumer brands often underestimate fulfillment and inventory planning, and they recommend partner warehousing or third-party logistics before demand surges.

Another surprise: how fast larger sellers can replicate a small-company idea. Within months, mass retailers and third-party online sellers introduced similar compact diaper bags, cutting into the market Rutkay helped create. Legal advisers suggest early attention to design protections and rapid iterations to stay ahead of copycats. Rutkay plans to scale carefully, keep the operation bootstrapped for now, and continue juggling her freelance makeup work while expanding the product line and tightening supply chains.