Well Made
Jeff Sheldon, Ugmonk: Staying Small on Purpose – Well Made E8
August 3, 2016 · RSS · Apple Podcasts
Jeff Sheldon’s company Ugmonk is a lifestyle brand that’s made a name for itself in the design and entrepreneur worlds. Jeff runs Ugmonk with his small family team — his mom, brother, and wife — keeping things going like a well-oiled machine.
What started as a collection of graphic t-shirts has grown into a full brand offering of apparel, bags, prints, and workplace accessories. The design is striking, the quality is impeccable, and with his new rebrand, Jeff is building a small but successful business on high quality minimalism.
In this episode of Well Made, Jeff talks to Stephan about how promoting brand transparency and staying small has earned Ugmonk an ever-growing, faithful following.
In June, Jeff unveiled a whole new rebrand of Ugmonk. The seven-year-old logo, previous website, and even the packaging, was all replaced and refined to showcase the minimal aesthetic Ugmonk is known for. It's all the same products, Jeff just wanted a new home for them — the right stage.
Take a glance through Instagram comments and tweets to Ugmonk, and you'll see that a lot of fans mention Jeff's story. Jeff's story as an entrepreneur and growth as a designer has been something that he's completely candid about. This transparency not only promotes a spirit of entrepreneurship, but it gives Ugmonk products a story and a sense of pride for the customer. Jeff sees it as a modern turn of consumers valuing connection over commodity.
In recent posts on the newly revamped Ugmonk Journal, Jeff even divulges the 30 tools he uses to run his business and his "secret source" for packaging. Spoiler alert— it's us.
“The story gives the person more intrinsic value to what they own.”
“I’m trying to be really intentional — just keeping the things that I like. And if that means staying smaller, I’m 100% okay with that.”
Keeping his operation small and familial is really important to Jeff. He notes how a lot of entrepreneurs have to take on duties outside of the job they enjoy the most. With Ugmonk, as long as he keeps it small, he doesn't have to do that. So far, keeping Ugmonk small has treated him well, and we can't wait to see what's next.
Also mentioned on the show:
You can find this and all future episodes on iTunes, Google Play, and here on the Lumi blog. This episode was edited by Evan Goodchild.
