Success Stories
Crown Nine
Working with her advisor, Kate says, has “made the quality of my life, my stress level, etc., so much better — which really was the aim in working for myself.”
Kate Ellen owns Crown Nine, an Oakland, California-based boutique and art gallery that also handmakes custom jewelry. Kate, a former teacher and social worker, has always had a talent and passion for jewelry design, and launched her own business in 2011. Crown Nine is a fixture in the Old Oakland district, and often appears in the local press — and they’re a Yelp! darling. Kate is also a member of Ethical Metalsmiths, an advocacy collective that promotes sustainable mining and metalwork.
She initially came to our program a year and a half ago, looking to address some concerns around wholesaling, marketing, online sales growth, and how to become a more effective team leader. Our team partnered her with advisor Greg Flood, and they’ve made a lot of progress working together.
Kate told us that in the last year, working with Greg has enabled her to pivot how she’s approached everything — from sales to managing client information to project communication and policies. Kate says that Crown Nine is a “tighter ship now”. She also just hit a revenue milestone — an overall 20% growth from the previous year! She also expanded to three employees.
Working with Greg and BusinessAdvising.org, Kate says, has “made the quality of my life, my stress level, etc., so much better — which really was the aim in working for myself. It’s also helped me support my staff and provide meaningful and rewarding employment to my staff. Getting help in 2015 with my cashflow issues was life changing, and Greg has given me so much to work with to reconfigure how I was doing things so that I am now working smarter. It was a serendipitous connection to begin with, and the program has given me so much strength and confidence. Cannot thank your team enough. And I love Greg!!”
Greg has really helped her think about revenue. As a creative person, Kate said she tends to get excited about new projects, but Greg’s consistently given her tools to make more informed decisions. In the upcoming year, she hopes to experience a 100% growth in sales, and we think she’ll be able to achieve that milestone, too!
To learn more about Kate and her amazing designs at Crown Nine visit them online, and if you happen to be in the Bay Area be sure to pop in to their shop sometime!
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