Until recently, the Sydney based physiotherapist was working hard on her side hustle, trying desperately to get it off the ground after buying it on Gumtree in April 2017.
But it was only after Australian YouTube star Shani Grimmond, who has 1.4 million followers on Instagram, shared a photo of her monogrammed pj's to her Instagram Stories that Tess started to get some serious sales.
When Shani Grimmond, pictured, shared a photo on Instagram of Tess' monogrammed pyjamas, her struggling business was catapulted into the spotlight. Photo / Instagram
"When Shani Grimmond posted a photo of the pyjamas I left for her in a hotel, my phone started blowing up," Tess told news.com.au.
"One photo changed everything for me, I usually do about AU$500 worth of sales in a day — but I've been selling over AU$2,500 a day everyday since. It's been crazy."
And it's not just Shani who has had a positive effect on Tess' business she said, with former Bachelorette star Georgia Love also boosting sales when she shared a white pair of the silk short set monogrammed with "Mrs Elliott" after she got engaged to her partner of three years Lee. Tess has also worked with travel influencer Tahlia Skaines, who told her 370,000 followers she "loved" the pjs earlier this year.
But while there has been Instagram success aplenty this year, it hasn't been easy.
"When I teamed up with Tahlia for Valentine's Day, I remember I got about 20 sales from her post," she said.
That "little win" had been almost a year in the making, though Tess said sales definitely "started to pick up" after that.
"When I bought the business from a woman on Gumtree for AU$15,000, my friends and family thought I was crazy," the 22-year-old explained.
This was the photo that led to Tess earning $2700 a day. Photo / Instagram
Tess has also received praise from former Bachelorette Georgia Love. Photo / Instagram
"I'd never heard of monogrammed pyjamas before, which was what drew me in, as personalisation never goes out fashion. Looking back, buying a business without any stock, any customer data and no social accounts was a very silly decision.
"However I was determined to make it work."
Tess set about "targeting Millennials" using Instagram as her strategy to get her brand seen.
"Being young I sort of grew up with Instagram, I've had some mutual friends blow up on Instagram and saw that social media was a lucrative market, so I started reaching out to lots of people offering them free pyjamas in exchange for a post.
Nguyen was struggling to get her personalised pyjamas noticed before a mega influencer shared a photo online. Photo / Instagram
"Lots of people were saying no at first, many didn't respond it was disappointing — now it's totally different, people are asking to be my ambassador. A year ago nobody wanted to work with me."
Now Tess is still reaping the rewards from going viral with Shani Grimmond, who is best known for her swimwear brand Sylk Swim, admitting she's "surprised" how many orders are still rolling in off the back of the post last month.
