“It was so relieving and freeing for me.”Ĭolby also had his own struggles-ones he wasn’t aware of at first. “She ended up getting on medication two years into our marriage and it was a complete 180, Colby says. In their early years of marriage, Mckenzie struggled with severe anxiety that affected their relationship. Mckenzie and Colby Bauer, co-founders of Thread Wallets, have each had their own experience with mental illness. Now, they’re taking this idea to a new level by creating a new non-profit organization, the Carry On Foundation, designed to promote positive mental health through participation in outdoor recreation. Thread Wallets has always inspired us with its purpose of embracing and expressing one’s individuality. Where do we go now? We’ll find out.This article was produced in partnership with Gal Media Thread feels like it’s been a part of our lives the whole way through. “We weren’t even married at the start of this journey, and now we have a couple of kids. “We’re excited to see where the company goes from here,” says McKenzie. And with a small but growing crew of brand ambassadors repping Thread wherever they go, the company’s getting some viral buzz too. They’re branching into phone cases, lanyards and more. Marketplace wasn’t the only avenue they used, but it was one of the most successful, and as they picked up steam it provided great results.įrom a small, humble beginning, Thread Wallets has seen a huge boost in its audience and its revenue. In fact, Marketplace ads worked so well for them that they saw a 41 percent increase in return on ad spend year over year. That gave McKenzie and Colby an audience that was already being automatically optimized by Facebook’s ad platform. They had high purchase intent already, and as Facebook served these people ads for a product that looked like something they’d buy, they tended to convert. What Marketplace ads did for them was give an easy avenue to people that were already interested in buying. That drove a lot of our early growth, and we’re still active on there today.” “When they started to offer ads, we were able to jump right in and find good results. “Facebook Marketplace was big for us,” says McKenzie. Once Colby and McKenzie realized they had a good product on their hands, they began reinvesting their profits in promotional efforts. But if no one bought it, that wouldn’t have mattered.īut the biggest driver of sales for Thread was Facebook. And it was one that wasn’t that expensive, making the barrier to entry low. Obviously having a good, simple, eye-catching product helped. What was the secret to the quick growth Thread Wallets had? I was pretty grateful to pass it off by the time we got going seriously, though-my fingers were getting tired!” The Kickstarter really opened our eyes to the possibilities. “We were kind of surprised how much demand we had. “I did a lot of sewing in the early days,” says McKenzie. Eventually, the operation got big enough that they had to pass it off to an official manufacturer. In the beginning, McKenzie was doing all the sewing, and then as it grew other people began to help. Working together, Colby and McKenzie were able to build up the business rapidly. They canceled a huge order of about 5,000 socks, taking a loss. But as the wallets picked up steam, it became clear that this was the direction to go. Given Colby’s background playing soccer for BYU in college, they had pursued the market of custom socks and other accouterments for soccer clubs. It was a tiny beginning, but it was encouraging enough that they decided to cancel another project they had going. Thread Wallets began as a Kickstarter project. So when he thought he might have a chance as a professional soccer player, we considered it but decided to give Thread six months as an idea.” “So much of our dating life was us discussing business ideas,” McKenzie says. Every time he pulled his wallet out, he was getting comments.Ĭolby and McKenzie knew they wanted to build their own business, but they hadn’t been sure which direction to go. That’s when people sat up and took notice. So he decided to get a design printed on it. So I decided I’d make something better-I sewed a simple sleeve out of some stretchy fabric and he started using that instead of a wallet.”Ĭolby’s “wallet” worked a lot better than the rubber band he’d been using before, but it wasn’t very exciting-it was plain white stretchy fabric. “Colby was bodysurfing in Hawaii and lost his wallet, and at that point he was holding his cards and cash together with a rubber band. “It started with an accident,” says McKenzie. So how has Thread Wallets been this successful this fast?
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