How did you know your dream was taking off?
There are many pivotal moments in history where we wonder, “when did they realize how huge of an impact their action would have?” Were they aware long before they acted, or did it take months or even years to see the full picture? Luckily, we were able to sit down with our Co-Founder, Lisa Bradley, to ask her just that— “When did you realize this dream of yours was really taking off?”
Lisa says, “The moment for me was when we offered our first remote riveter opportunity to a military spouse. We had been working three or four months in the attic designing and crafting the handbags between Cameron and myself. We started to realize that two people couldn’t effectively make all the product and sell it, especially when one of us had a tendency to sew the pockets upside down. (spoiler: it was Lisa) That’s when I moved full time to marketing and finance and we opened our first remote riveter position. We asked our military spouse friends in the area if they wanted to be our first riveters and immediately, we had too many people interested that we had to tell people we would have to get back to them. Not a couple of months later, Cameron’s driveway was so packed with people picking up and dropping off parts we knew it was probably time to start utilizing the post office. That’s the moment when we offered our first fully remote position to a riveter located on the other side of the country. It was an amazing feeling to see that there was such a need for flexible, remote work that had nothing to do with direct sales. Not long after that did I realize that the military spouse story was largely untold and most people didn’t realize what difficulties spouses had finding consistent income opportunities. When we had our first article written about us in the Atlanta newspaper in 2012, we had so many people reach out to us about the story, and I knew in that moment that it was up to Cameron and me to tell our and so many other military spouses’ stories.”
And tell their stories they did! With the business growing, the mission was heard across the country and people flocked to support these spouses. The best part about telling the stories of these spouses is that when they are brought on as a Riveter, they receive a unique-to-them RR I.D. number which customers can search and read more about the maker behind the bag.
During National Women’s History Month (and every month in between) it’s important to support businesses that empower and encourage other women. Let’s be cheerleaders for our fellow gal pals.
