Good morning,
When the 2008 financial crisis erupted, Melanie Casey was trading sub-prime mortgages for an investment firm in Boston.
Unsurprisingly, she quickly decided she wanted out of that industry. So, on evenings and weekends, she took every jewelry making and computer-design class she could find--despite never previously selling any art, or considering herself much of an artist. Her first year selling jewelry, she managed to net $10,000 in sales. Last year, that figure grew to $5.6 million, earning the Melanie Casey Corp. the No. 642 rank on this year’s Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America.
If her story stopped there, it would be plenty dramatic. The Small Business Administration advised her not to quit her day job. She quit anyway. She scaled her business on Etsy, which very few people do, and became profitable by year three. Then, in 2017, she took a leap of faith and gave up her Etsy shop to go fully independent.
Yet there’s more: Amid the pandemic, Casey’s company continues to grow. It’s a remarkable turn of events, since every item she sells is still handmade. “The idea that a business like mine could grow so fast must seem crazy,” she tells Inc. “Handmade anything isn’t scalable. The only way it works is with lots of amazing hands.”
Read our story to learn how Casey has grown her business in an unconventionally old-fashioned way for a surprisingly successful 2020. |
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