How Odette Made $243,000 With Fewer Than 15k Followers through Rose
What if the fastest way to grow your income isn't a bigger following — it's charging for the conversations you're already having?
Rose Team
Creator Growth
TL;DR: Odette had 12k followers and a busy day job in tech when she opened a Rose line in April 2026. Instead of chasing reach, she leaned into the fans who were already messaging her, turning paid conversations into a recurring revenue stream. 5 months later, she's made $243,000 and was able to pay off her mortgage - proof that a small, engaged audience can outearn a much bigger one.
From Tech Operations to Full-Time Creator
Odette didn't start out chasing followers. She spent 3 years in investment banking and private equity, then pivoted into tech, before posting workout and lifestyle content on the side. Growth was slow and steady - by the time she considered monetizing seriously, she had just 12,000 followers on Instagram and 26,000 on TikTok.
"I had bills to pay with my new apartment and I didn’t want to wait for the right time to start. I had been doing content on the side for a few years and I saw the potential, but regular one-off brand collabs were only paying a few hundred at the time."
What she did have was depth: the same fans messaging her, again and again, asking for workout and career advice.
The Challenge: Answering Everyone for Free Wasn't Sustainable
As the DMs piled up, Odette hit a wall familiar to a lot of creators: real relationships with fans, and zero income to show for the hours spent maintaining them. She was selling workout guides which helped, but it was a one-time transaction and her audience still needed continued engagement and help from her.
"It’s a lot, trying to do it all yourself. I didn’t have a team, and I would literally hide in the bathroom at work trying to answer all my dms."
The Solution: Charging for the Conversations She Was Already Having
Rather than trying to grow a bigger audience, Odette restructured around the one she had. She opened a dedicated line on Rose, the messaging platform that lets creators monetize direct fan conversations over iMessage, SMS, and RCS - without exposing a personal number.
Reaching the right people, not more people She stopped optimizing for reach and started treating her existing messages as the product: setting clear topics, pricing, and boundary controls so the highest-intent fans could pay for real, direct attention.
Turning one-off replies into a repeatable offer Instead of answering the same questions ad hoc, she packaged her most-requested advice into paid messaging subscriptions, using:
- Monthly subscription messages for 1:1 advice, feedback, coaching-style replies
- Pay-per-view content for exclusive drops, behind-the-scenes, extended tutorials
- Tips from fans who wanted to support without a specific ask
"My mindset and bank account completely changed when I stopped chasing new followers and engaged with the ones that were completely obsessed already."
The Result: $243,000 and Paying off her Mortgage
5 months after opening her Rose line, Odette had generated $243,000 - with a following still under 15,000 on Instagram. Because creators keep 50% of paid messaging profits and 85% of tips and pay-per-view revenue on Rose, that income scaled directly with the relationships she was already building.
The numbers:
- $243,000 - total revenue through Rose
- 12,000 followers on Instagram - audience size, largely unchanged
- Paid off mortgage - 5 months after starting her Rose account
"It’s the financial freedom of not having to worry about my bills and splurging on a trip that really makes the difference. My day job was putting food on the table, but my Rose income really helps me live my life and do what I want, on my terms."
What's Next for Odette
Odette is now continuing to invest her Rose income in real estate and private investments, to grow her wealth while doing what she loves. Her advice to creators waiting for a bigger following before they charge for their time:
"There’s never a perfect time, or target follower goal. You can start making legit money today by paying attention to the connections you already have and fostering them”
Your following doesn't need to be big. It needs to be paying.
If people already message you for advice, feedback, or access, you don't need more followers to build a business - you need a way to charge the ones you have. Rose gives you a dedicated line for paid conversations, free to start, with no upfront cost.