Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Caroline Tucker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Caroline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I certainly want to be remembered as hard-working and ambitious, but the legacy I want to leave really has nothing to do with running a business. There’s a quote from Maya Angelo that I think perfectly sums up a well-lived life: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I just want to be considered as someone who is genuine, someone who keeps her word, who treats people kindly, who is willing to lend a helping hand, someone who inspires and encourages others to work hard and achieve their dreams.
Saying that actually brought back the memory of my grandma, who passed a few years ago; she was 104 years old! When peopled offered their condolences I would certainly appreciate it, but I’d also think, you know, it’s hard to be sad because her life was incredible. She was the most selfless and profoundly loving person. She would help absolutely anyone in need without hesitation. She was the epitome of life lived to its absolute fullest. And that’s exactly the type of legacy I want to leave.

Caroline, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Chris and I were both working typical office jobs in our respective fields when we started the business. When we were planning our wedding, we were shopping for gifts for our wedding party and I mentioned, “I feel like we could do some of this ourselves”. That sparked an idea. After a lot of research, we purchased a small impact engraver, started an Etsy shop. It became something we did to make extra money to pay for our wedding, travel, etc. We hadn’t planned for it to become a full-time job, but it did, for both of us.
We have two Etsy shops – CMT Impressions and One Dapper Gent. CMT Impressions offers a large variety of personalized gift items for occasions like weddings, graduations, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, etc. One Dapper Gent is focused mainly on gifts for men, including watches, cigar accessories like cases and humidors, and beard care accessories like razors and shave kits.
We are solely a husband-wife team with 1-2 seasonal employees. Every product goes through our hands. When a customer contacts us, they are speaking with me directly. When you order a personalized item, we are the ones handling the product and treating it as if it is a gift for our own loved one.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

The business started as a side hustle for us. For two years, I came home from my 9-5 job and fulfilled orders. Chris continued to build our product catalog and fine tune marketing. We never really planned for it to take the place of our full time jobs, but as the business continued to grow, we simply didn’t have time to do both anymore. When we decided it made sense financially, I quit my office job and fully dedicate my energy to the business. We thought that Chris would follow after a few years, but with full time effort, the business grew quickly, and he quit 6 months after I did.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

We are a husband-wife team. We actually met 13 years ago playing in a volleyball tournament. We entered a draw style tournament, where teams are randomly assembled, and ended up on the same team. That day, we became friends. We continued to spend time together, began dating, and now we have been married for over 9 years. We are partners in everything. We play volleyball together, we go to the gym together, we travel together, and we run a business together. We have found that our strengths within the business complement each other. We’re good a different things, we each have our own tasks and responsibilities, and we also collaborate on certain tasks as well.

Contact Info:

• Other: etsy.com/shop/onedappergent
  etsy.com/shop/cmtimpressionsUnfortunately our Facebook/Instagram were hacked and have not yet been rebuilt