Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Smith.
Hi Cheyenne, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from the University of Utah and had a successful career in digital marketing working at a number of advertising agencies as well as in-house at large e-commerce company based out of Midvale. I had my daughter and didn’t feel like going back to work was the best move for me, so I decided to freelance. My goal was to make $1000 a month and I beat that goal within 6 weeks. My first company has grown 300% YoY specializing in paid digital media for companies scaling e-commerce businesses. I was making all of my clients successful and wanted to try it on my own product. Why not use my skills to build another business!
The idea for Dakota Ridge was born when I was trying to find affordable stylish rain boots for my daughter. Everything was so cheesy in my price range… My daughter also is obsessed with her cowboy boots, so I decided to merge the two. Dakota Ridge is the first to market cowboy kid rainboots!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not… I think the biggest struggle is trusting in yourself. There are so many days where I think to myself “what am I doing… I can’t do this…” Our initial molds are the wrong sizes. The colors feel different. There is so much about manufacturing a product that I had to learn by trial and error. I learn by doing so I tend to just jump headfirst into things which have cost me a lot of time and money. I think every entrepreneur needs to have the “just send it” attitude but the longer I’ve done this the more I’ve realized that it’s ok to ask for help or have people around you that can help support you in some of these decisions. My biggest regret is not having a mentor from the beginning. I just graduated the Goldman Sacks 10ksb program and being in a room with a bunch of other entrepreneurs discussing our mistakes and our wins was so critical in my growth.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Dakota Ridge?
We are the first to market cowboy Rainboots for kids! Founded by a mom for moms! We hit over $25k in revenue our first month and had boots in 47 states and 3 countries. We completely work and full-fill our orders out of our warehouse in downtown city and we give back to our community by donating 5% of our profits to forthekids.org a local non-profit focused on helping children in our community with access to food.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m an open book. I am very vocal about who I am and my struggles trying to juggle being a multi-business owner and a mom all at once. A passion of mine is working with other women business owners and knowledge sharing so that we can all succeed.
I struggled a lot for a long time that I wasn’t “good” enough to be able to build what I’m building now. I always thought people wouldn’t take me seriously (which is all tangled up in my ego), but I did a lot of therapy and coaching and met with other women entrepreneurs and am building the foundations to get out of my own head and really pursue this entrepreneurship path.
I think there is a lot of pressure put on women based on the way our society is set up to be the perfect wife, mother, homemaker, etc… We have to fit in this little box that society outlines out for us. I think this box actually looks different for everyone and every box is equally as hard.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shopdakotaridge.com/
- Instagram: @shopdakotaridge
- Other: https://blkhivemedia.com/
Image Credits
Anna Boynton
Luke Armitage
