Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mandy Hull. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mandy, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
During the very quiet days of COVID, when everyone was seemingly bored and looking for things to do inside their homes, I began brainstorming different hobbies to participate in or side hustles I could create to pass the time. When brainstorming, I focused on things I already knew and loved. One thing kept bubbling to the top – Resin art. Resin art had always been a passion of mine, and I’d been doing it for over 12 years at that point, so I decided it would be my hobby to pass the time.
I became much more active as a resin crafter, using both 2-part epoxy resin and UV resin, but the more I experimented with different brands and resin products, the more frustrated I became at the lack of high-quality products available in the market. I tried brand after brand of resin, resin molds, and other resin supplies, testing products to figure out what would create the high-quality final products I wanted to create. During the process, I developed a wish list of products and product features that were missing from the marketplace. I believed there had to be a large percentage of resin artists that experienced the same frustrations and felt I had discovered a significant gap in the market.
I decided to find a manufacturing source that could create very high-quality resin supplies for me. Starting out, I wanted to create and sell premium products, but I also wanted to lean on my artistic skills to create a space where people could feel supported in their resin art journey. I wanted to teach them how to create beautiful art and to take the guesswork out of it for them. Beginning with just one product, a resin mold, I opened a tiny Etsy shop and began teaching on social media. That first product sold surprisingly well, so I added resin inclusions and pigments to my store. All the while, I leaned on my resin art skills to very thoroughly test every product before having it manufactured and putting my brand name on it. I also leveraged the Etsy platform and my social media channels as my market research arm, testing our products to see what would resonate with our growing customer base. However, one thing continued to plague my artistic endeavors – every resin I tried was very odorous, would yellow quickly, trap bubbles, or wouldn’t cure properly.
The business was very small and budgets very lean, but I knew there would be a huge market for a premium resin if I could create the perfect formula. After very careful consideration, I chose UV resin over epoxy resin as our foray into manufacturing our own formula. Being easy to use, UV resin also supported our goal of making resin art more accessible to beginners and was easy to teach with on social media. After extensive testing, I created the best UV resin on the market – fast curing, crystal clear, no bubbles, no yellowing, and always consistent cures. It was revolutionary to the industry and to our company. In one month, our sales exceeded the goal we had set for the entire year. We quickly opened an online storefront, and Resin Rockers was on its way to becoming a major force in the resin crafting industry.
Looking back, the mission of the business was simple: solving problems for artists, making resin more accessible to those that had never used it, teaching, and developing a community where artists could thrive, find inspiration, and feel supported every step of the way.
Mandy, 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?
At Resin Rockers, we call ourselves a Resin Artist Emporium because that is exactly what we are. We offer a huge selection of resin and resin crafting-related products for artists. We are a one-stop shop where everyone from beginners to resin masters can find the quality supplies they need to craft with resin. Our mission is grounded in three main pillars: offering the highest quality products, encouraging a community of artists, and delivering the best customer service in the industry.
Our shop started as a side hustle in one tiny room of the basement of our home with one product being sold on Etsy. Through a massive amount of research, and with complete dedication to offering the absolute highest quality products available anywhere, I created my very own UV resin formula, and the business quickly expanded. I then crafted my own formulas for epoxy resins and began manufacturing resin molds, glitter, resin inclusions, crafting tools and much more (later, I would develop the very first lamp specifically design to cure UV resin in the entire world). Within a year, we moved from the basement of our home to taking up half the house to moving into a 4,000 square foot mixed-use office/warehouse space. That first year, I also experienced the single thing I’m most proud of. I was able to gather the courage to make the leap from a very comfortable corporate job to running my own business full-time and with employees I was responsible for. While the business exploded in growth, as did the stress of having to rely on the business to replace my corporate income and support the lives of my staff, I never lost sight of why I started the business.
From the very beginning, I set out to help artists solve problems, make resin more accessible to beginners, teach new artists, and develop a community where artists could thrive, find inspiration, and feel supported every step of the way. From my own experience, I knew resin art can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. So, I made it a priority to teach people through videos, tutorials, and guides. I have always wanted my customers to feel confident in their ability to create beautiful pieces from start to finish, without the stress or uncertainty that can come with trying a new craft. Whether it’s through online classes, video tutorials, or product guides, I’m proud we provide the tips, techniques, and inspiration to help our customers succeed. Our loyal community comes back to us not just because of our products but because they trust us to support them in their creative journey.
I’m also proud to say Resin Rockers is very well known for our superior level of customer service. Beginning with my husband and I answering customer emails in the wee hours of the night to now employing a customer service team, Resin Rockers has and always will be available to our customers where and when they need us. Our philosophy is to treat our customers how we want to be treated as a shopper. From answering questions to resolving customer issues to using feedback to improve our products and processes, we put the customer above all else.
We are passionate about resin art, and we’re here to make it accessible to everyone. We are dedicated to solving the problems that resin artists face and providing high-quality products they can rely on. We want to help artists create beautiful, professional-looking pieces they are proud of, whether they are just starting out or are seasoned professionals. We’re not just a company selling products; we’re a community of creators, educators, and problem-solvers. We want to inspire creativity, eliminate the guesswork, and make sure our customers feel supported every step of the way.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Resin Rockers was born in a tiny windowless basement room in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Beginning as a side hustle, the company exploded in the first year, scaling to over $1 million in revenue within 12 months.
In October 2020, Covid was in full force, and my husband and I were bored. We both had full-time jobs in the corporate world, but without kids’ activities and going out with friends to keep us busy in the off-hours, we needed a hobby or side hustle to keep us busy. For over 12 years, I had dabbled in resin art. It had always been a passion of mine, but I only crafted occasionally. It was the first thing I thought of to pass the time.
I became much more active as a resin crafter, using both 2-part epoxy resin and UV resin, but the more I experimented with different brands and resin products, the more frustrated I became at the lack of high-quality products available in the market. I decided to find manufacturing sources that could create very high-quality resin supplies for me. I knew I could turn my hobby into a side hustle. I wanted to design and sell premium products, but I also wanted to lean on my artistic skills to create a space where people could feel supported in their resin art journey. I wanted to teach them how to create beautiful art and to take the guesswork out of it for them.
I opened a tiny Etsy shop by sourcing just one, high-quality 2-part epoxy mold. Using social media, I created tutorials, shared my own art and helped promote beautiful art created by others. Our initial financial goal for the business was to bring in a few hundred dollars a month to help support the family. But, that first product sold better than we expected and provided some cash to invest in our second product – gold, silver and bronze flakes to use as inclusions in resin art. Through word-of-mouth and social media self-promotion, our store gained further traction, and we quickly gained a strong customer base.
However, one thing continued to plague my artistic endeavors. Every single resin I tried, and I tried dozens, was very odorous, would yellow quickly, trap bubbles, or wouldn’t cure properly. The business was very small and budgets very lean, but our Etsy sales were doing well, and I knew there would be a huge market for a premium resin if I could create the perfect formula. I chose UV resin over epoxy resin as our first formula because it’s easy to use and supported our goal of making resin art more accessible to beginners. Because of its fast cure time, UV resin was also easy to teach with on social media. Through very extensive testing, I created the best UV resin on the market. It was revolutionary to the industry and to our company.
In January 2021 alone, we exceeded our 12-month sales goal! I knew it was time to scale. We continued to reinvest all profits back into the business, adding resin inclusions, pigments, more molds, crafting tools and more to the store. All the while, I leaned on my resin art skills to very thoroughly test every product before having it manufactured and putting my brand name on it. I used my social media channels as my market research arm, testing our products to see what would resonate with our growing customer base. A few months later, we launched an online store front.
The storefront created national and international scale. I created a Facebook group for like-minded crafters and set the rules so it would always be a safe space for everyone from beginners to expert crafters. My husband and I were becoming exhausted from working every night and weekend, so I had to bring on a few part-time employees. In August 2021, with revenues continuing to climb, just 10 months after opening our tiny shop, I decided to take a giant leap of faith. I quit my corporate job and took on the challenge of leaning on the business to fill the income gap. We were still working out of the basement, but an entire floor of our home was now a warehouse. We needed to expand.
Less than a month later, my husband and I moved to a new home, choosing it for its large basement that would become our new Resin Rockers headquarters. Sales continued to grow, along with the need for more and more inventory. At the same time, my social media presence was exploding with over 5,000 members in my Facebook group and over 75,000 followers on TikTok. Within two months of moving to the new home, we had already outgrown the new space. Resin Rockers moved to a 4,000 square foot office/warehouse space.
Today, Resin Rockers has taken over our neighboring space, doubling our square footage. We have sold our products to people in every state and many countries. We are on the shelves of over 1,000 Hobby Lobby stores, and we have a patent-pending UV resin lamp, a tool that was the very first lamp created specifically to cure UV resin in the entire world and is now outperforming our resin in sales volume. We have over 13,000 in our Facebook group and close to 150,000 followers on TikTok. But no matter how much we scale Resin Rockers, my company will always follow our mission: to solve problems for artists; make resin accessible to beginners; share teaching, tips, and tricks; and continue to develop a community where artists can thrive, find inspiration, and feel supported. I’m incredibly grateful for how far we’ve come and for the amazing community that’s supported us along the way. I can’t be more excited about our future.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Our mission has been the driving force behind building our brand into one of the most well-respected in the crafting world. From day-one, no matter how humble our start, our mission was to offer the highest quality products, build the strongest community of artists around, and deliver the best customer service in the industry.
The gap in the market for high-quality resin art supplies was glaring, and I knew starting out that if we offered the best in the industry, customers would come and keep coming back. Whether we personally design a product like one of our resin formulas, our exclusive UV resin curing lamps, or our countless one-of-a-kind molds, or we buy a wholesale product, every single one goes through an extensive testing process before it hits our store. We employee our own product testers and leverage a group of customers for real-world testing. If a product doesn’t test at a very high level, we don’t carry the product. For products like our resin formulas and lamps, we perform several rounds of testing over a months-long timeframe. The result is extremely satisfied customers and reduced customer service inquiries.
I set out to help artists solve problems and focused primarily on making resin art accessible to beginners by directly teaching new artists via social media and developing an online community where artists could thrive, find inspiration, and feel supported every step of the way. I was a beginning resin artist at one time too, so I knew how overwhelming resin art can be when you are just starting out. What products do I need, how do I use them, where do I even start? So, I made it a priority from our very first day to teach people through videos, tutorials, and guides. I wanted to provide the tips, techniques, and inspiration to help artists succeed.
Finally, our pre- and post-sale customer service is the best in the industry. We of course have shipping and return policies that we must stick to as a small, budget-focused business, but we do everything we can to satisfy our customers. We take pride in always being available to them where and when they need us; even as CEO, I’m involved in customer service every day of the week. Our philosophy is to treat our customers how we want to be treated as a shopper as we know how frustrating bad customer service can be. From answering questions to resolving customer issues to using feedback to improve our products and processes, we put the customer above all else.
The more I focused on solving problems, educating, and providing excellent service, the more my reputation and our company’s reputation grew within the market. I want to conclude by saying Resin Rockers is always very authentic. This is who we are. We want to help you get your order exactly as you want it, when you want it. We want to help you become the best artist you can be, and we want you to be happy and excited when you receive a package from us. This is who we are, and this is who I am as founder and CEO. And customers truly love us for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://resinrockers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resinrockers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resinrockers
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ResinRockers
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@resinrockers
