Ali Dieguez's resale business started with a few pairs of Lululemon leggings she found at a local thrift store. She liked to stop in occasionally after training at the gym next door.
The leggings weren't her size, but they were too good to pass up, so the 23-year-old sold them on Poshmark — a resale platform that allows shoppers to sell clothing and accessories. For some, it can become a lucrative side hustle and for others, it can be a full-time business that earns six figures.
After Dieguez sold the leggings, she didn't sell on the app until about a year later, when she needed a job. She was studying kinesiology at San Diego State University and wanted something that would fit into her busy schedule between classes, workouts, homework, and Muay Thai. She realized that resale was just the thing.
She started selling activewear on Poshmark in January 2020 — right as the category boomed — during the early months of the pandemic as demand for casual clothes picked up. In October, Poshmark announced a pending $1.2 billion acquisition by Korean e-commerce company Naver.
"It turned out to be perfect because March 2020 was when the pandemic happened and everything shut down," Dieguez said. "I was super fortunate, because if I would have gotten a more conventional job, I probably would have been let go."
Last year, she broadened her inventory to clothing like dresses and denim. She also lists items on other resale platforms such as eBay, Mercari, Depop, and Curtsy to tap the wide scope of customers.
In 2021, Dieguez made $13,740 in sales on Poshmark, which Insider verified with documentation. Dieguez put $3,668 of her earnings toward her college tuition last year and plans to complete her bachelor's degree after one more summer course. To continue her career in wellness, she's saved much of her resale earnings to enroll in a one-year massage-therapy program in the fall.
When it comes to managing school and her business, Dieguez meticulously schedules her days. Last semester, she usually woke up at 5 a.m. and went to bed around 7 p.m. "I was kind of boring," she said. "I had the same schedule basically every day, but it worked."
Here's what her daily routine looked like when she was in school full-time and running her resale business, as told to Insider.
The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.