Meet Flávia Oliveira: the entrepreneur who, at just 27, earned R$15 million, lost everything, and is now leading a historic comeback toward earning one million per month

'BUSINESS' COVER EDITION - JULY 2025 ISSUE

Photos: @_marcelorichardfoto - Make: @lilianfigueiredo

Fashion, intuition, and resilience (a whole lot of resilience) have shaped Flávia Oliveira’s journey, a path where she turned the pain of failure into creative fuel to rebuild not only her brand but also herself.

At 27, Flávia watched her business collapse for the second time. Faced with debt, a discouraged team, and a broken heart, she looked in the mirror and made a decision: she wouldn’t just start over, she would build a fashion e-commerce capable of generating R$1 million per month. It was a bold promise, made through tears, but it carried the strength of someone who had already risen once before.

Born in Abaeté, a small town in the countryside of Minas Gerais (Brazil), Flávia comes from humble beginnings and proudly so, the daughter of a cleaning lady and a machine operator. She grew up far from the spotlight, with no role models in digital entrepreneurship. But one thing she always knew: she wanted something different for her life. And when fate led her to the world of women’s fashion, she found not only her calling but also her greatest battlefield.

At just 22, Flávia lost everything after walking away from a poorly resolved business partnership. She left with nothing but the clothes on her back, and a lawsuit on her hands. While battling depression and panic attacks, she made a bold choice: to try one more time. Alone, she walked into a bank, secured a loan, and opened her first brick-and-mortar store. The pandemic would soon force her to pivot fully to digital, and that’s when her husband joined the journey, becoming her business partner and CEO.

Together, in a town with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants, they built one of the region’s first fashion e-commerces, selling women’s clothing to customers all across Brazil. With no mentors or network, they learned everything from YouTube videos and grueling 18-hour workdays. Within just a few months, they went from zero to over R$2 million in revenue.

But rapid success came with its own set of challenges. In 2022, during one of the company’s highest peaks, their website was plagiarized. Scammers began using the brand’s name to deceive customers and deliver counterfeit products. Flávia found herself falsely accused by hundreds of people who believed they had been scammed by her business. After finally managing to take down the fake site, another blow hit: her Instagram and ad accounts were hacked. Sales came to a halt. Debt began to pile up. And the very foundation they had just invested in began to crumble.

“It felt like everything was falling apart at once,” she recalls. “The city could no longer support the growth we dreamed of, but moving meant starting from scratch all over again.”

At the height of the chaos, Flávia’s health gave out. She was diagnosed with Chikungunya and could barely get out of bed. Still, she made the bold decision to join a women’s entrepreneurship reality show. With pain in both body and spirit, she entered the competition determined to win, and she did. The R$50,000 prize didn’t erase the mounting debt, but it reignited her belief in herself. It was a sign.

But as soon as she returned, another betrayal: a team member violated her trust and leaked to the staff that she was planning to move to a different city. The energy shifted.

“It felt like I was no longer welcome in my own company,” she says.

The team fell apart. Leadership collapsed. And the decision to start over in a new city became inevitable.

With half a million reais in debt and just one remote employee left, Flávia moved the entire operation into her own apartment. She split her time between household chores and managing the e-commerce business. She filmed videos, posted content, replied to customers, and packed orders, everything, side by side with her husband.

“It was either give up right there or use that moment as a springboard,” she says.

And that’s when the tide began to turn. Sales slowly started to pick up. Campaigns began performing again. The fire was reignited.

The turning point came in Alphaville, when Flávia met Flávio Augusto, the entrepreneur whose voice she had listened to religiously during her darkest days.

“I cried and told him that his voice kept me from giving up. And he hugged me.”

It was symbolic. It was definitive. Flávia returned to Belo Horizonte with a clear goal: to reach R$1 million in monthly sales.

Today, she continues to grow, with courage, with soul, and with dreams that are still bigger than the numbers. Flávia has already impacted thousands of women through her mentorship programs and surpassed 100,000 orders delivered through her store. But her greatest asset is the story she carries, and shares, with vulnerability and purpose.

“Everyone shows the spotlight—but few reveal the backstage. I almost gave up, but I realized my ‘why’ was so much bigger. I want to buy a house for my parents. And prove to the little girl I once was that yes, it was possible.”

Her story has gone viral, inspiring thousands of students, customers, and fellow women entrepreneurs.

“Being real is my greatest advantage.”

Now, Flávia is back. Stronger than ever. With a loyal community by her side, and with them, a new generation of brands that don’t just sell fashion, but tell stories.

We had the chance to sit down with this inspiring and much-needed voice in today’s business world for an exclusive interview.

1. Flávia, your story sounds like a movie script. At what point did you realize that the pain you were going through was actually a turning point?

I've always believed that if I'm going through a tough time that I didn’t cause with my own hands, it’s God’s way of pushing me to move. So from the very beginning, I was recording everything and telling my husband, “One day this will all pass, and I’ll share it with my audience.”

The turning point happened during a week that felt almost surreal: we managed to rent a new distribution center, I started a mentorship with Isabela Matte, and I randomly met Flávio Augusto at a restaurant. It felt like I had already lived that moment—it carried a completely different energy. That’s when I knew the game was about to change.

2. Many entrepreneurs avoid showing their failures. Why did you choose to share that part of your journey publicly, even as an influencer?

Precisely because I am an influencer. I went through a year and a half of chaos in my business, and every day I’d open Instagram just to see everyone I followed looking happy, traveling, making massive sales, and that gave me anxiety attacks. It made me believe I was the only one going through that.

I promised myself that once I overcame it, I would use my story to show that everyone goes through phases like this. And when I finally posted that I almost gave up, and received over 3,000 DMs from entrepreneurs saying they had thought about giving up too, that’s when I saw the REALITY that’s hidden behind Instagram.

I wanted to show that entrepreneurship is far from a fairytale. Quite the opposite, sometimes, you have to hit rock bottom before you can rise again.

3. You started in Abaeté, a town with less than 25,000 inhabitants, and built an e-commerce brand at a time when no one around you was talking about it. How much did coming from the countryside shape you as an entrepreneur?

Coming from the countryside is one of the most powerful parts of my story. I was always the unlikely one. The daughter of humble parents, I never had a “godfather” or someone to open doors for me. I started out working at an electronics store, earning R$60 a week. I’ve worked at snack bars, sold chocolates at school. I was the first to launch an e-commerce in my town.

I’ve always had this deep desire to be big, to be recognized. And in a small town, the only way to achieve that was through the internet. That’s how we became known as the girl from the countryside of Minas Gerais who took her clothing brand nationwide.

To me, that’s the most beautiful part. It shows so many other “unlikely” girls in small towns that yes, they can too.

4. The episode of betrayal by your team was particularly painful. What did it teach you about leadership, trust, and company culture?

I realized I couldn’t afford to be naive anymore. I’ve always been the kind of person who wanted to help all my employees, but many of them didn’t want to be helped. Often, I held back from taking a firm stance because I was afraid of what people might think of me. When that betrayal happened, I saw that no matter what, many people saw me as the one at fault.

So, my biggest lesson about culture was this: do what’s best for the company and for the employees who want to give their best. Because if you fail, it’s you against yourself; you’re the one responsible for honoring your commitments.

I realized that there is no democracy in culture. This is the culture, and if someone doesn’t fit, that’s okay! We’ll find someone else who loves our culture, and that person can find a company whose culture fits them. To grow the way we want, we need people who want the same things.

That’s the most important, and challenging part: properly selecting who will be with you. You do everything for them except their part!

5. Your journey shows that falling doesn’t mean the end. For those who are at rock bottom right now, what would you say?

If you’re there, you already know how to get out. The answer isn’t outside—it’s inside you. To find it, you need to silence everything around you and reconnect with yourself.

The craziest part is, once you’ve been through hell once, you already know the way out. Because falls don’t really have an “end.” What changes is our ability to handle each one.

If I can share one thing, it’s that success has always come after a fall in my life. When I thought, “This is really the end for me,” I heard a phrase that I now share with you:

What if you knew you’re just one failure away from your success? Would you keep going?

6. If you could talk to the Flavinha who was about to give up, what would you say to her?

I would reaffirm exactly what she once heard: You are just one failure away from your success. No matter how hopeless it seems, keep going. Try to reconnect with your beginnings—the moment you started your business. Recapture the energy of day one. The very first day you began, the drive you had, the sparkle in your eyes.

7. You’ve faced two business failures, virtual attacks, and lost almost everything. What stopped you from giving up completely?

Thinking about who I’m going to become. I know I’m still going to be a very relevant person, and that future version of me demanded that I be strong now to keep going. More than that: I’m an expert at failing and rising again.

I’ve heard many “no’s” in my life since I was a teenager. Nothing has ever been easy, so I’ve developed a mindset ready to endure challenges. I was told I wouldn’t be anyone in life, that I wasn’t as smart as my high school peers. So when it comes to attacks, I know them well. I know how to deal with them. In fact, each one became fuel for me to turn the game around.

8. Today, you are a digital reference with hundreds of students and a loyal community. What moves you the most when you see other women thriving with what you teach?

Seeing that my story goes far beyond revenue. I believe God blesses the life of those who, through their story, bless the lives of others as well. And that’s what I’ve always done. Even before becoming a mentor, I was already sharing my story on Instagram, talking about what was working.

So, for me, it’s very much about purpose. Like the series I’m doing right now—I receive hundreds of direct messages from people saying they didn’t give up because, in some way, my story of overcoming motivated them to keep going. That means more to me than any amount of revenue.

9. Do you believe success is more about technique or mindset? What separates those who make it from those who give up?

For me, it’s 99% mindset. Because when you believe you can do more, even without the necessary skills, you start. And you start badly, trust me! (laughs) But from that beginning, you improve! You train every day until you become excellent.

When you only have technique, any “no” can paralyze you, any obstacle can bring you down. I never had a company before; I’m the first entrepreneur in my entire family. And even so, I started—making lots of mistakes, with no entrepreneurial background. The same goes for fashion: I didn’t go to college, but I started. I started badly, making many mistakes.

It was by trying every day, with the mindset that I could succeed and nothing would stop me, that I got there. Today, after years of practice, I consider that I have technique. But I only have it because I started, it was never the other way around.

10. Last but definitely not least: What is your voice in the world? If you had a microphone on for the whole world to hear, what would you want to shout with an open heart?

Many people will say you can’t achieve everything you dream of. More than that: many will try to convince you that it’s not meant for you. But that’s just their perspective, based on their own reality.

If God placed a dream in your heart, it’s because you have the strength to fulfill it. Put God first, talk to Him in difficult moments, and surrender your path to Him. Every time I tried to control everything, I lost.

When I understood it wasn’t about what I wanted, but what He wanted for my path, things really started to happen. And honestly? They happened on a scale MUCH bigger than I ever wanted. Because His plans are far greater than ours.