A DARLINGTON schoolgirl may just be one of the youngest employers in the region as her mother has quit her job in order to work for her full time, selling toys on TikTok.

Alex Stubbs, who has become quite the online sensation and grown to have a following of around 250,000 people, can now call her mother, Melissa Brunskill an employee.

After famously going from selling six stress balls from her bedroom to taking 70 orders per day, the Harrowgate Hill schoolgirl has continued to see a huge demand ever since.

The Echo previously revealed how in just 12 weeks, Alex had gone from a handful of orders for 'fidget toys' to having her very own website, selling thousands of items.

Read more: Darlington girl goes from selling six toys on TikTok to taking 70 orders per day

At the time, Alex said she was hoping to begin shipping worldwide following a barrage of requests, while her mum admitted she was having to juggle work to help pack. 

The Northern Echo:

But just several weeks on, the pair have finally gone international with Ms Brunskill saying she has left her job in order to help her daughter's business succeed.

Ms Brunskill told The Northern Echo: "We went worldwide a few weeks ago, shipping toys to America, Australia and we've just done one for Ireland.

"Alex has gone from having 100,000 followers on TikTok to 250,000 since the end of March and we're now doing around 100 orders a day."

Ms Brunskill, who said she was balancing her role at a baby scan clinic with packing orders, said it had become much more of a joint effort following Alex's return to school.

The Northern Echo:

She said: "Alex is still going it, she's back at school so she doesn't pack as much, school always comes first.

"I have left my job to help, I had to leave it as coming home from work and doing this was getting too much – I now work for my daughter, and not many people can say that."

After converting their conservatory into a stockroom due to the sheer level of demand earlier this year, Ms Brunskill said they were now seeing almost 100 orders per day.

They said they were inundated with orders, both nationally and internationally with demand continuing to soar.

The Northern Echo:

Ms Brunskill said: "The reaction to it has been really positive.

"Alex is even getting other kids sending her fan mail, she gets letters from other kids saying she's inspired them and they're going to set up their own shop."

Since setting up shop on TikTok, Alex has been involved in a virtual meeting with the social media platform to discuss her future business idea.

And it has not just been the big names of social media showing an interest too, one Darlington school this week asked Alex to do a 'Q&A' on her venture. 

Ms Brunskill said: "Alex just loves doing it, she loves it - she thinks she's now a little celeb."

Revealing that now their major goal has been ticked off, she said the pair had just managed to launch their own sticker range, designed by them.

She said: "We've finally added our own sticker range, we designed them ourselves, got them created and were giving them free with every order.

"Kids have started collecting them so we've even created a sticker pack which they can buy too when hunting for particular designs."

She added: "I'm really proud of her."

To visit Alex's website - visit funkyfidgetsshop.co.uk

--

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054