.Manly Bands is a direct-to-consumer vendor of males's rings. The firm introduced in 2016 after John Ruggiero, the co-founder along with his spouse Michelle, could not find an ideal wedding band.This is actually Ruggiero's 2nd appearance on the podcast. In April 2021, our company covered the firm's founding, one-of-a-kind band products, as well as extra. Since then, Manly Bands has actually acquired its maker. The manufacturing of bands from, say, Port Daniel's whiskey barrels or even Fender guitar cords generates engaging video clip, states Ruggiero, perfect for storytelling on social networking sites as well as in other places.The whole entire sound of our discussion is actually inserted below. The transcript is modified for length and also clarity.Eric Bandholz: Offer our team a rundown of what you perform.John Ruggiero: My better half, Michelle, as well as I began an internet ring provider referred to as Manly Bands in 2016 to deal with a complication of wedding celebration bands for guys. Our experts were just married. I have huge hands and couldn't discover a band that I ased if that was actually not overpriced. My alternatives were purchasing coming from a directory or possessing something custom-made.I wound up getting from a web site. The ring got there in a standard mailer, without any package or even customer service. It was an awful knowledge through today's ecommerce criteria.We obtained married, relocated to Florida, as well as needed a work. Our experts informed ourselves, "Our company are actually each business people. Why don't our company create our own business?" Our experts covered the forms of problems we would certainly seen as well as how to fix all of them. My ring expertise came up, and our company chose to try to fix it for various other people.Our objective when our experts started was to pay for rental fee. We assumed making a married couple thousand dollars a month from this would certainly be great. Our company considered it a way of life service, certainly not high-growth. It was just Michelle and also me in our garage creating bands and sending them bent on clients. Our experts had hit on one thing. Our information sounded with leads.Michelle and I create a superb staff. I generate concepts, as well as she is actually the implementer. A ton of our success heads to her innovative mind. She labels the bands and also builds personas. She attaches the bands to consumers. Describing a ring exclusively as "eight-millimeter dark" really did not cut it.Our experts created bands coming from unique components, including Port Daniel's gun barrels or even unique steels. The business removed. Ever since, our team have actually grown significantly. Our company right now have over 55 people in the Manly Bands household. Regarding one-half of those are ring craftsmans who do work in our lately obtained production outlet in Utah.Bandholz: When performed you get a producer?Ruggiero: Regarding a year and a half ago. Our experts had actually been their customer for many years, so we knew all of them properly. A lot of their business was retail, which really did not interest our company-- mosting likely to mom-and-pop jewelry experts. They preserved their retail customers and trademark name. We got several of their properties and took over workers.Bringing on a manufacturing team has actually been among the most effective factors our team've carried out. It is actually been amazing to go out there certainly and view all of them create bands out of Fender guitar strings or even steel from an M1 Abrams container.Bandholz: Just how does in-house manufacturing impact advertising?Ruggiero: It is actually been actually large. Taking a camera to the opposite side of the workplace and also shooting the group making use of turrets to reduce the steel rods or bourbon barrels into bands creates extraordinary video clip. Our company have our camera team around regularly. Our team use that footage on our social media sites as well as in our ads and also email lists. Our company make an effort to market that given that many companies in the males's ring space do not produce. They fall ship or purchase from foreign and after that ship it out. Yet our company desire it to last a life time as well as be something folks may take honor in.Our team have actually possessed a great deal of success along with our armed forces ancestry collection, where our team source unique armed forces materials. Our company have the M1 Garand rifle inventory, the timber part, from War of the nations I. Viewing our crew placed that in the turret as well as reduced a piece out for a band is exciting.Our marketing for those bands speak about the past history, the soldiers, where the item was actually made use of, as well as things like that. My wife as well as I studied filmmaking in university. Our company utilize our skills to educate as well as tell a story. For instance, I just recently got an email from a consumer that discussed that his grandfather used to drive M1 containers. The customer talented among those bands to his gramps, as well as they had very a mental swap. It behaves to aid customers associate with their past times and also generate something meaningful.Bandholz: Where can individuals get a ring coming from you?Ruggiero: ManlyBands.com. Our company have photos on Instagram, too. I get on Twitter and also LinkedIn.