Rockets of Awesome founder Rachel Blumenthal on leaving corporate America for entrepreneurship
Rachel Blumenthal never described herself as entrepreneurial. She had aspirations of working in a corporate organization, climbing the ladder and eventually becoming the CEO. She didn’t know that when she took her first job at Yves Saint Laurent that she would end up leaving that job to pursue her own jewelry line that had previously only been a hobby.
“I think what I've learned over my career is that really great entrepreneurs learn how to mitigate risk along their journey,” Blumenthal said on an episode of "No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis," describing how she made the decision to leave her corporate position to pursue entrepreneurship.
While working at Yves Saint Laurent, an editor from Lucky Magazine noticed Blumenthal’s ring that she had made herself and wanted to feature her in their magazine as an up-and-coming designer. At the time, Blumenthal didn’t even have a brand name for the jewelry line.
“I had no brand name, I had no prize, I had no retailer to purchase it, and I walked up and down Amsterdam and Columbus and Madison Avenue that weekend and I basically begged somebody to take it on consignment,” Blumenthal recalled of her experience.
After finding a vendor to take the ring on consignment, Blumenthal officially had a retailer, meaning that Lucky could feature her and provide information on where to find her products. From there, Blumenthal hired someone to create a website, was featured in Daily Candy, was picked up by online retailer ShopBop and was doing trunk shows at Henri Bendel.
"I ultimately decided to leave YSL, set up shop in my living room, my coffee table, and I figured I'd go back in six months when it didn't work ... And it worked," Blumenthal said.
From that moment on, Blumenthal got the entrepreneur bug and went on to create Cricket Circle, an online site that features a selection of baby products with recommendations for new and expectant parents, helped her husband Neil Blumenthal build eyewear brand Warby Parker and her latest venture Rockets of Awesome, a data driven children’s clothing brand that offers personalized subscription boxes to make kids shopping personal and fun.
"I second and third guessed myself along the way, but always sort of had a very, very strong perspective of what this brand was going to be and how it was going to serve customers, and in every moment of self-doubt would try to convince myself that I should listen to my gut and follow my vision," Blumenthal recalled of trusting herself while developing Rockets of Awesome.
Rockets of Awesome launched in 2016 and opened their first brick and mortar pop-up shop in 2019, hoping to create an environment where shoppers can physically connect with the brand.
“For us, we really believe that brick and mortar was a way to sort of wave our hand over here and say, hey, hey, pay attention to us, we matter,” Blumenthal said.
And when it comes to the future of the company and the ever-changing world of retail, Blumenthal stressed that she thinks of her brand like a baby.
"I think of a brand like a baby where every day, every week, every month, they are developing new characteristics and their personality is evolving," Blumenthal said. "It's not just about having the right color palette or the logo or the packaging. It is, what is that mission? What is that conversation that you're having with our customer and how does that evolve and change over time?"
Hear more from Rachel Blumenthal on episode #145 of "No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis" podcast.
