CREATING A BRAND FROM SAMPLES TO $5 MILLI+
Client
LONE CONE
Service
Creative Direction,
Strategy, & Execution
Year
2016- 2025
Four tiny rain boot samples turned into Lone Cone, the brand that became my rain boot era. I handled it all: website, photos, packaging, product design, campaigns. What started scrappy grew into a multi-million dollar line with 25+ boot variations, 30,000 parents following along, an ambassador crew making content that felt real, and a house brand that got so big it spun into its own Amazon agency.
Strategy
Lone Cone kicked off with four rain boot samples and zero plan. The move was obvious: make moms trust it, make kids beg for it, and keep the brand looking good everywhere it showed up. So I listened to parents, let kids destroy test pairs, and built a creative system that tied website, photos, packaging, and campaigns into one vibe. The scrappy setup turned into a multi-million dollar product line with 25 variations, 30,000 parents along for the ride, an ambassador crew cranking out real content, and a brand strong enough to spin into its own Amazon agency.
My Role
I worked with the owner, a mom of three, to figure out what parents actually needed: gear that could survive hand-me-downs, keep up with playtime, and still feel fun. We brought in local moms for feedback sessions and they did not hold back. The wish list was clear — tough boots, flexible fit, eco-friendly materials. From there we built a brand that felt real: local illustrators drew the patterns, the messaging celebrated messy family adventures, and we put give-back initiatives front and center because parents cared about them.
Four random samples snowballed into a multi-million dollar product line with over 25 variations plus backpacks, lunch boxes, shoes, and thermals because why stop at boots. I took over social and mentored our coordinator until we had 30,000 parents following along for the chaos. To keep things real, I built an ambassador program where families got free gear in exchange for photos, which meant endless authentic content without the fake smiles. Lone Cone turned into the kids’ gear brand parents actually trusted, and that success was big enough to spin into a full Amazon agency.
