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On this episode of Mompreneurs, Nancy Redd invites Kalilah Wright, the CEO of the inspirational t-shirt company Mess In A Bottle, to talk about embracing the beautiful mess that is entrepreneurship.
Wright’s path might surprise some viewers. She left a highly sought-after job as an architect for Under Armour to launch her business. The jack-of-many-trades tells Redd that having her son made her rethink her priorities, explaining. “Having a child made me realize I want to live my life on purpose…and not just do what I think my career ‘should’ be.”
The mompreneur’s first business was a baby furniture company, but then the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of police in 2015 sent her down a different road. The tragedy took place in Wright’s community of Baltimore and had her and her son shaken.
“This is not the world I wanted to live in…I just felt like…I needed a voice,” explains the designer, adding. “I decided to create t-shirts with messages because I felt like the world and my community needed a message at that time.” So in 2016, Mess in a Bottle was born.
Shortly after starting her company, Wright left her 9-to-5, giving herself 365 days to make it work. And she did, but she wants aspiring mompreneurs to know it can be a bumpy road — she had to drive for Uber and find funding in non-traditional ways. For this mompreneur, it paid off.
In 2018, Wright got to pitch her brand on Shark Tank, which sparked a massive influx of orders that the entrepreneur wasn’t quite ready for.
“People don’t understand that going from zero to 100 really quick can be as good and as bad as …you know…you think that it’s a success, but it really can hurt you…if you’re not ready.”
The relentless working mom knew it was time to scale up and went from filling orders in her son’s bedroom to getting a storefront.
A series of celebrity endorsements (including the likes of Serena Williams and Bozoma “Boz” Saint John) eventually provided even more fuel to the sales flames. Williams, at one point, ordered 25 jackets from the designer. Today, Wright can proudly say that she can sustain herself with her business, and she’s even working on taking a more hands-off role in it.
Redd finishes the episode with the critical question she always asks her guests: their advice for other mompreneurs. The Mess in a Bottle CEO encourages women not to fear the mess.
“Life is gonna life…and you have to figure out how you’re gonna live through it.”
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