Julie Peck

My ex-husband's second wife and I became friends while they were married. After their divorce, our bond grew stronger. Now she's my best friend.

The freedom of self-employment came with the motherhood cost I never saw coming. Instead of more flexibility, I got more stress.

When my mother got sick, I moved her in with me, which meant I had to cut back work hours and pay medical bills. I'm still paying the price.

I visited Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and was impressed by its restaurants, nature, and relaxing beach scene.

"When getting started on Amazon, you have to be a risk-taker," says Deanna Slamans, a seller from Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Julie Peck tried BrainTap when her inability to focus started to affect her work and free time. After a month she noticed huge improvements.

@SilverDisobedience's Dian Griesel bucks the trend of having to be young to be successful online. It's landed her five-figure deals and new PR clients.

Alexa Allamano's company Foamy Wader uses QR codes in the windows to direct window shoppers online. In-store sales made up 60% of her revenue in 2019.

When writer Julie Peck was in her mid 20s, she took time off work for an abortion. Now she fears many Americans won't be able to make that choice.

Marc Ritter says the number of people the company laid off startled him, but he's glad he can focus on his passion: social-media-addiction coaching.

When writer Julie Peck's mom died, she got access to mental-health resources she never had for her bipolar disorder. But even those will expire soon.

Garry Ray and his wife got into retail arbitrage in 2015 when they became empty nesters. Now they make six figures in mostly passive income.

Ecommerce aggregators that are still acquiring other brands are increasingly using tech to help decide which acquisitions to move forward with.

E-commerce startup Thrasio helped define the Amazon aggregator model. Insiders describe how the company went from raising $3.5 billion in funding to layoffs.

"Amazon has been a great equalizer. I mean, if two menopausal grandmothers living in the Ozarks can do it, anyone can do it, too," Gaye Lisby says.

Yury Gurevitch spent 10 years at Amazon before becoming Elevate's COO. The aggregator acquired 30 e-commerce and direct-to-consumer brands in 2021.

Swiftline purchased Yardline from Thrasio as it moves to enter the e-commerce space and work closely with Amazon aggregators and brands.

Kristiana Helmick spent 13 years at Amazon. As Perch's chief revenue officer, she hopes to further improve its platform and ability to scale brands.

Thrasio, Perch, and other firms had a big year of snatching up Amazon brands, getting billions in funding, and building name recognition.

Carlos Cashman, Thrasio's CEO, and Salit Kulla, head of creative and brand strategy at Thrasio, are working to rebrand the aggregator as a consumer-facing brand.