Imagine lying in a hospital bed recovering from a double mastectomy, suddenly realizing the side hustle you’d been tinkering with wasn’t just a hobby it was your next chapter.
For Bette Bentley, that realization came after a scary health wake-up call. She discovered a precancerous growth, then underwent urgent surgery. And during her recovery, she looked back at the little project she’d been building a side-hustle called Skimpies and decided to leap.
Here’s how she made the leap, scaled so fast hitting $60,000 in one month and what other aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from her journey.
A life-altering moment that triggered the pivot
With a family history of breast cancer, Bette didn’t wait. She got her mammogram early, found the growth, and had a double mastectomy. She writes that when she woke up in her hospital room, she asked herself: What really matters to me?
What surprised her: her business made the list. Skimpies. It was the business she’d been doing in her kitchen, hand-cutting underwear alternatives for women. Suddenly it wasn’t just a fun project it was her next act.
That moment flipped something inside her. The risks she’d just faced gave her a clarity and confidence she hadn’t felt before. If she could make a huge decision for her life, she could absolutely go all in on a business.
From basement project to booming business
Here’s how the growth story unfolded:
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Before surgery: Bette was hand-making Skimpies soft, single-use cotton underwear alternatives designed for women in leggings who didn’t want visible panty lines or discomfort from synthetic fabrics. She delivered them locally, with a wink and a joke: “I can’t wait to be in your pants.”
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While recovering: She put down a deposit on a mold to manufacture at scale. That same week in hospital.
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Official launch: September 2024 marked the full-time shift. She leaned into TikTok, used her comedy writer background to create funny, engaging content, livestreamed sales, and built community.
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Break-out month: June (2025) she hit ~$60,000 in sales in a single month. That’s a huge leap from side-hustle beginnings.
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Team build: Today the company has eight employees many of them mothers returning to work, inspired by Bette’s own second-chance mindset.
What she did differently (and what you can borrow)
Keep the focus ultra-tight
Instead of sprawling into many product lines, Skimpies has one core product: cotton underwear alternatives. That simplicity helps operations, messaging, and brand identity.
Lean into your story
Her personal health journey became authentic brand fuel. She used her recovery to build connection, not pity. People follow people and this story is raw, real, and inspiring.
Use what you already know
Bette’s background in comedy writing helped her with TikTok scripts, live-selling energy, and engaging an audience in a way many “product people” struggle with.
Act while you’re scared
Launching production while still recovering shows that momentum counts. She treated fear as a sign not a barrier.
Hire your values
By employing moms who’d stepped away from work, she tied mission to action. That fosters loyalty, culture, and meaning beyond profit.
The risks (and how she’s managing them)
Of course, there are challenges:
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Manufacturing scale: Going from hand-cut to molded production means higher fixed costs, more logistics, more quality risk.
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Market size and competition: The intimate-apparel space is crowded. She’ll need to keep advantages in brand, community, and experience strong.
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Cash-flow discipline: Hitting $60K is great now the question is sustaining growth, managing inventory, returns, marketing costs.
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Health fatigue: Given her medical background, the physical and emotional toll of business must be managed.
She’s already taking steps: strong team structure, community building, focused product set. It’s less about chasing every trend and more about deepening the one area she knows.
Why this matters for anyone with a side-hustle
If you’re juggling a job and a side project, Bette’s story offers encouragement:
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Your “just for fun” project can become the thing if you treat it like it.
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A crisis or pivot moment can clarify what you really want and push you into action.
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You don’t need a giant product catalog. Solve a specific pain, do it well, build around it.
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Story + community matter. If people feel connected to you, they’ll follow your product.
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Hiring values over credentials can build culture that grows with you.
After her double mastectomy, Bette Bentley didn’t just survive she transformed. Her side hustle ceased being “just side” and became the business she leads today.
In a world overflowing with ideas, she shows that clarity, courage, and simplicity can move mountains. Her $60K month wasn’t luck it was the outcome of focused effort, personal meaning, and relentless action.
If you’re sitting on a project you love, maybe it’s time to ask yourself: What if this was my full-time thing? Because sometimes, the hardest decisions unlock the biggest wins.
