What is your full name, title, and business name?
Kaleigh Shrigley + Claire Lowe / Co-Owners / ONE SIX FIVE
Follow ONE SIX FIVE on social: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
How did the idea for your business come about?
Kaleigh attended CCAD and made jewelry to sell on the side. We met while working at a local boutique and decided to start the business from there.
What was the turning point for your business? Was there a moment you knew you had something special?
Our turning point was signing a lease on a studio/shop space in Clintonville.
What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur and business owner?
Working for ourselves has been very rewarding! We love the independence and going to work everyday is super fun!
What does the city of Columbus mean to your business?
Columbus embraces small local businesses and has always been very supportive of us!
What’s the number one piece of advice you’d give to anyone wanting to start a business?
Don’t wait! Even if you have to start part-time and on a very small scale, just do what you can.
What do you wish you knew about entrepreneurship before starting your business?
Don’t be afraid to ask others for help! We used to think we had to have our hands in every aspect of the business, but now we know it’s best to allocate certain jobs to other people.
Photo Credit: Megan Leigh Barnard
What’s the most challenging part of your business (i.e, what keeps you up at night)
Staying relevant on social media and coming up with new designs.
Every business owner has a flaw. What’s yours?
We both have a hard time letting go and asking others for help, but we have definitely gotten better over the years!
What was you biggest mistake and what did it cost you?
Introducing a new material in a design before properly testing it out. We are much better now about wear testing new designs for long periods of time before adding them to our collection.
What tool has helped you the most for your business (invoicing, accounting, shipping, plugin for website, etc.)?
Shopify is great for small businesses that have in-store and online sales. It syncs everything and is very user friendly!
When did you know it was time to expand your business, make your first hire, etc.?
We hired our first employee to help us with marketing and in the shop. Having someone to help out on weekends is awesome because it allows us to travel more for trade shows and flea markets.
What is something that you did that was a game changer for your business?
Opening up our store front!
What was an idea that you spent a lot of time on or thought would make a big difference in your business that didn’t pan out?
Every season we experiment with a lot of new materials, which takes a lot of time and money, and we usually don’t use a lot of the ideas in the end.
What is something that your business spends a lot of money on that’s worth it?
Trade shows (for wholesale accounts) and flea markets (networking and in-person sales).
What form of marketing is the most valuable for you?
Instagram and other social media outlets / flea markets to meet new customers
Who is your best Columbus resource (accountant, lawyer, marketer, etc.)? Please provide name and business name so we can give them credit!
Our friend and designer Justin Brown (@brown.build) has helped us design and build so many displays for our shop and flea markets. He is super talented and can build pretty much anything!
What’s your most productive time of the day to work?
We get most of our work done during our shop hours (Tuesday-Saturday).
How many cups of coffee do you drink everyday and what are your usual coffee drinking times?
We try not to be too addicted to caffeine, but we usually drink tea daily (hot in the winter and iced in the summer).
If you had one hour of free time what would you do (get more specific than “hang out with family”)?
Play a game of tennis together outside!
Who do you vent to when you have a business problem?
We are lucky to have each other to vent, but our boyfriend/husband/moms hear about any issues we may have too!
Where do you see your business in the next 10 years?
We would love to slowly shift the business from wholesale/retail to retail only.
What other entrepreneur do you look up to most?
Jen Gotch of Ban.do and Jeni of Jeni’s Ice Cream
If you had to tell a visitor one thing to do/see/eat in Columbus, what would it be?
Eat at The Little Kitchen food truck (@thelittlekitchentruck) – it’s all vegan and soooo good! We eat there every Friday for lunch.
