43. Blended Designs - How Black representation turned into $1m in backpack sales

Casey Kelley launched Blended Designs in 2017 after her son told her “I want a bag with my face on it.” Using her background in consumer insights and analytics, she did the research and confirmed that there was a lack of Black representation in school gear. Today, Blended Designs specializes in printing children of color on backpacks, but the product line has expanded into so much more.

In this episode, we talk about the landmark 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, how Blended Designs stays innovative, and the future of the company.

I’m really looking forward to hear what you think - leave a message... just keep in mind that the recording cuts you off at 1 minute: https://anchor.fm/yfm/message

And thank you Purple for sponsoring the show!

Highlights

12:38 Casey tells me what makes Blended Design backpacks special

15:57 We talk about the COVID-19 masks protests and our observations as Black women

17:25 Casey talks about how Blended Designs earned their first million by listening to their customers

20:41 I ask her how the company pivoted during COVID-19 to make their second (!) million

22:40 Casey tells me what she was doing before Blended Designs and how her son inspired the business

25:30 She explains the importance of protecting intellectual property

28:53 I ask her about the future of Blended Designs

31:56 Casey Kelley tells me (unprompted) what she thinks about my book It’s About Damn Time as someone who primarily enjoys fiction books

Links

Blendeddesigns.com

Credits

Music by Jeff Kaale (1, 2, 3, 4)