Passion To Profit: The Journey Of Tezza's Rise In The Photo-Editing World

In 2017, amidst the challenge of affording their $2,800-per-month rent in New York, Tessa Barton and Cole Herrmann turned their creative and technical talents towards developing photo filters for Adobe Lightroom.

This endeavor laid the groundwork for Tezza, a photo-editing app named after Barton's college nickname.

Initially a side hustle, Tezza has since morphed into a lifestyle brand, amassing $26.5 million in sales last year, or an average of $2.2 million per month, as per documents reviewed by CNBC. 

"We started this without the intention of it becoming a business," Herrmann shared, highlighting the venture's humble beginnings.

The couple's journey from struggling to pay rent to achieving financial success underscores the transformative power of passion and perseverance.

Building The Brand

The creation of Tezza was a blend of Barton's photography and Herrmann's software development skills.

Despite early challenges and doubts — Barton recalls that "[it] was a lot of tears and trial and error and thinking, 'OK, this is a dumb idea. It's never going to work'" — the couple persisted, working late into the night to develop their app.

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A Unique Approach To Photo Editing

To stand out in a crowded market, Tezza embraced a bold, user-friendly design and casual millennial slang, diverging from competitors' professional aesthetics.

This strategy resonated with users, propelling Tezza onto Apple's "Essential Photo & Video Apps" list and achieving high rankings in app stores.

Co-CEOs Barton and Herrmann continue to innovate within the photo and video editing space, with plans to expand Tezza into physical events. Despite their success, they remain focused on creativity and learning, according to CNBC. 

Tezza's journey from a side hustle to a multimillion-dollar enterprise is not just a story of financial success but a testament to the power of following one's passion and the impact of creative collaboration.

This story is part of a series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire.

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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.