Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kattie Blu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kattie, thanks for joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Our business has grown over the years due to a lot of hard work and dedication. We started off super small selling our glass straws on our website and thinking about how to carry around a straw to make using a reusable straw more practical. Jeremy was making our glass straws and I was shipping them. Once we figured out how we wanted to make our carrying cases, I, Kattie started to also work on that. We talked to our local coffee stand about our products and even the local BBQ place which we loved. They believed in us and our products they decided to wholesale some glass straws from us. They were our 1st wholesale customers!
As a family, we decided to go ALL in! I quit my job that was 3 hours away and we branched out. Jeremy and I started to reach out to local stores about carrying our products and I eventually learned phone sales. THAT was crazy! I have phone anxiety and I had to call stores and see if they would be interested in trying out our products. I made MANY, MANY phone calls. I got a LOT of No’s and a few Yes’s. Over time it got a little easier but my nerves still act up when I pick up a phone. We didn’t let anything hold us back. Glass Straws weren’t a thing when we started, 14 years ago. Now, we are in over 1000 retail stores!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
We LOVE what we do! That is #1. We are a husband and wife team who create reusable glass straws and carrying cases. Artisan Glass Straws that are extremely durable. Jeremy is a glass artist of over 25 years and Kattie learned to sew in high school. :) We started this company to make a difference. To promote change and have fun at the same time! Our handcrafted glass straws are unique and fun to help people get away from single use straws like plastic or paper. To help promote a reusable mentality so the planet is a little healthier.
We make it fun with our Custom Designs and have straws for all beverages no matter the texture or size of the cup! We make it all when it comes to a straw, ( well all most.)
We make a durable product but if our glass straws break we replace them. We have done less than 1% under our Lifetime Guarantee policy. We care. Our packaging is recyclable and ship with ecofriendly materials. Every little bit adds up and counts!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
2018 Seattle banned plastic straws. We are located in Washington State. We have a retail space in Pike Place Market and life was crazy after the ban. Then Covid hit. reusables weren’t allowed anywhere because we couldn’t go out. We had to close the shop for a bit and then slowly open it back up and over time and baby steps we managed to keep our doors open. It wasn’t easy and each day we didn’t know what was going to happen but we didn’t want to give up on our mission and what we care about.
We keep on talking about reusables and how to make a change. We kept on believing.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Jeremy and I met at a Music Festival through a friend who we both knew. We met briefly one year and didn’t see each other until 2 years later and that’s when our relationship started. Then a few years after that I was full time into the business. The music festival we met at we also got engaged at and then got Married at! This festival Jeremy would arrive a week early and help set up and then stay a week or two later to help clean up the grounds. They sorted through the trash and had one of the greenest festivals in Washington State.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drinkingstraws.glass/
- Instagram: glassdrinkingstraws
- Facebook: DrinkingStraws.Glass