Last month, Jackie Dew was on the brink of a very special victory. “I’m sure big brands don’t focus on these types of things, but we’re about to hit 5,000 followers on Instagram,” reveals the New York-based founder of Born + Made, a women’s apparel and accessory line. (The brand is now edging closer to 6,500 followers.) This is a big win, especially considering that prior to forming her company, Dew shunned the Internet for as long as possible. “I wasn’t into social media,” she explains, “and it was really foreign to me.”
Perhaps Dew’s fashionably late arrival is what’s making Born + Made resonate so quickly and deeply—she recognizes that each follower is a loyal customer and that each post is a chance to not only inspire, but show her gratitude. Later that same day, she posted a photo of herself holding a bottle of champagne while wearing a signature Born + Made floppy sun hat. Cursive letters across the front read: “Thank you 5,000.”
You’d think Dew would have seen some of this success coming, especially given her background. The 33-year-old Boston native grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, her parents owning several businesses separately and together. “From when I was five to when I had left for college, every night at dinner we’d be discussing things with their businesses,” says Dew. “It’s just always been a part of the fam.”
And she soaked it all up. “I had a lot of startup businesses,” she recalls. While studying history, political science, and business at Northwestern, “I would do things like paint houses, which is a bit random, but I literally did that for probably five to 10 years as a side business to get extra cash.”
Before and after getting her MBA at Harvard, Dew focused on private equity and venture capital. “I moved through the ranks there,” she says, “but always liked working directly with the companies that we invested in. My main focus was on consumer retail brands, and I would always—in addition to doing the typical finance stuff you do—do projects with them and get hands-on experience in the real operations of the business.”
This led to her becoming CEO of several businesses both large and small, from a health and wellness brand on the West Coast to a local blow-dry chain in Boston.
“I ran a couple other companies,” Dew says, “but I really wanted to be doing it for myself.”
Launched in May, Born + Made gives Dew the opportunity to be working in an industry that she finds both exciting and relevant to her daily life: fashion.
“I don’t love working in industries that’s stuff that I don’t buy, or don’t consume, or don’t think about on a daily basis,” she explains. “I really wanted to be in an area where I got the people who were buying, and I understood how they purchased and why they purchased and what they were looking for.”
Born + Made specializes in affordable clothing and accessories that can be customized—like the fashion hats, a hit for bridal and bachelorette events. What Dew wrote off as merely a summer item (since they are perfect for the beach) soon became the brand’s most popular product year-round.
“People feel some personal connection to getting a hat with their name or their saying on it, and they appreciate that it’s handmade and well made,” says the WeWork NoMad member. “We have a lot of brand loyalty that’s created out of those hats. Customers will contact us on their wedding day, or they’ll email saying ‘thank you,’ or they’ll send in all of their photos from their vacation showing the hats—they get really into it.”
In accomplishing so much in only half a year—teaching herself how to build a website, learning the ins and outs of social media, and creating a brand that resonates—Dew is most proud of Born + Made’s relationships with customers.
“Honestly, for such a new brand, we’ve already had so many people repurchase with us,” says Dew, “which is great, especially just given how many hats can you have?”
A lot, turns out.
Photos: Lauren Kallen, Roman Gomez