.Manly Bands is a direct-to-consumer vendor of men's rings. The firm released in 2016 after John Ruggiero, the co-founder with his other half Michelle, could not find a suited wedding ceremony band.This is actually Ruggiero's second look on the podcast. In April 2021, we went over the company's founding, distinct band products, and even more. Since then, Manly Bands has actually obtained its own supplier. The making of rings from, say, Port Daniel's scotch barrels or even Fender guitar strings generates engaging video clip, states Ruggiero, perfect for storytelling on social media sites and also in other places.The whole audio of our talk is actually ingrained listed below. The transcript is revised for span and also clarity.Eric Bandholz: Offer us a review of what you perform.John Ruggiero: My spouse, Michelle, and also I began an internet ring provider referred to as Manly Bands in 2016 to handle an issue of wedding bands for men. Our experts were actually just married. I possess large fingers as well as could not find a band that I liked that was certainly not overpriced. My alternatives were purchasing from a directory or even possessing one thing personalized.I wound up purchasing from a web site. The band got here in a standard mailer, with no box or customer service. It was a horrible knowledge by today's ecommerce criteria.Our team acquired married, moved to Fla, as well as needed to have a job. Our team informed ourselves, "Our company're each business people. Why don't our team generate our very own company?" We talked about the types of complications our experts will seen as well as how to fix them. My ring knowledge turned up, and also we opted to attempt to resolve it for various other men.Our goal when we began was actually to spend rental fee. Our team thought creating a pair many thousand bucks a month coming from this would be actually fantastic. We considered it a way of life business, not high-growth. It was merely Michelle as well as me in our garage designing bands and also delivering them bent on consumers. Our experts had appealed one thing. Our information sounded with leads.Michelle as well as I create an exceptional team. I come up with suggestions, and she's the implementer. A bunch of our effectiveness visits her imaginative thoughts. She labels the rings and builds people. She connects the rings to consumers. Illustrating a band only as "eight-millimeter black" really did not cut it.Our team made bands from special components, like Port Daniel's gun barrels or exclusive steels. Business removed. Since then, our company have actually expanded substantially. We right now have more than 55 people in the Manly Bands family members. Regarding fifty percent of those are ring craftsmens who operate in our just recently acquired manufacturing store in Utah.Bandholz: When did you obtain a producer?Ruggiero: Concerning a year as well as an one-half back. Our company had actually been their consumer for many years, so we knew them effectively. A lot of their company was wholesale, which didn't rate of interest us-- mosting likely to mom-and-pop jewelry experts. They kept their retail customers and also brand name. Our experts obtained some of their assets and brought over staff members.Bringing on a manufacturing group has actually been just one of the best traits our team have actually done. It is actually been actually awesome to head out there and watch all of them create bands out of Fender guitar strands or metallic coming from an M1 Abrams tank.Bandholz: Just how does internal production effect advertising and marketing?Ruggiero: It is actually been substantial. Taking a camera to the opposite side of the workplace and filming the crew using turrets to reduce the metal poles or scotch barrels into rings creates amazing video recording. Our company possess our video camera team available at all times. Our experts make use of that video footage on our social media and in our adds and e-newsletters. We try to promote that because a lot of companies in the men's ring area don't produce. They fall ship or even order coming from foreign and after that deliver it out. However our company prefer it to last a lifetime as well as be something people can take honor in.Our team've had a considerable amount of excellence with our military culture assortment, where our company resource one-of-a-kind military materials. We possess the M1 Garand rifle inventory, the wood part, from War of the nations I. Enjoying our staff put that in the lathe and also cut a part out for a band is actually exciting.Our marketing for those bands talks about the past history, the soldiers, where the weapon was actually used, and things like that. My other half as well as I analyzed filmmaking in college. Our team use our abilities to educate and also tell a story. For example, I just recently obtained an e-mail coming from a client who discussed that his grand daddy made use of to steer M1 tanks. The consumer skilled some of those rings to his gramps, and also they had very a mental exchange. It behaves to aid clients associate with their past and also generate something meaningful.Bandholz: Where can folks get a band coming from you?Ruggiero: ManlyBands.com. Our company have photos on Instagram, too. I perform Twitter and LinkedIn.