642: I Quit My 15 Year Career To Build a Jewelry Business — and Hit $400,000 in My First Year

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Business

4.9 • 665 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rosie Collins had a Christmas epiphany about baby shower gifts—every present focused on the baby, never the mom. That single observation turned into Deja Marc, a multimillion-dollar personalized jewelry brand that captures fingerprints, handwriting, and meaningful moments in elegant, timeless pieces. Within a year, she hit $400,000 in revenue while working full time. The secret? An engraving fairy she never actually met who packed orders while Rosie was at work, and an obsessive focus on mastering the craft before outsourcing anything. In this interview, the founder of Deja Marc breaks down how she built this customer-obsessed brand without burning out, why she tracks MER (marketing efficiency ratio) over ROAS as her primary metric, and her counterintuitive take on Black Friday promotions—why doing 40 hours instead of two weeks can deliver the same results without destroying your team or margins. What you'll learn in this interview: How a Christmas epiphany about baby shower gifts sparked a multimillion-dollar brand Why Rosie quit her agency job after hitting $400K in year one How she found an "engraving fairy" to pack orders while she worked full time Why mastering the craft yourself before outsourcing is critical How she built a relationship with her first supplier that still lasts today Why she tracks MER (marketing efficiency ratio) instead of ROAS Her approach to Black Friday: 40 hours vs two weeks of promotions How organic contribution to paid marketing changes profitability Why she believes in building expertise in-house before delegating The importance of unit economics and sustainable growth over hustle If you're building a product-based business, juggling full-time work with side hustle ambitions, or trying to scale profitably without burning out, this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about sustainable growth, customer obsession, and building a brand that lasts. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started. WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠ HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH ROSIE COLLINS Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/rosie.c._/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/dejamarc/ Website → https://dejamarc.com/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Founder Fam, I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omniscend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e-commerce founders. We've been recommending OmnisCent to Founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling the seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results.
0:24.0	Did you know on average, Omnysend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment.
0:32.6	And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code Founder 50.
0:39.3	Just head to Omnicend.com forward slash founder without the E to get started.
0:45.0	All right, now let's jump back into the show.
0:48.6	What if a single Christmas epiphany about baby shower gifts turned into a multi-million
0:53.8	dollar jewelry empire.
0:55.3	And the secret to scaling wasn't actually hustle, but an engraving fairy you never actually
1:00.1	met. Well, today's guest, Rosie Collins is founder of Deja Mark and after noticing that every
1:05.4	baby shower gift focused on the baby and never the mum, Rosie became obsessed with creating elegant, timeless
1:12.9	jewelry that really captures fingerprints, handwriting and meaningful moments. Within a year, she'd hit
1:19.1	$400,000 in revenue. And in this conversation, you're going to discover how Rosie built this
1:24.5	business while working full time by finding an engraving fairy who pack her orders
1:29.8	while she was at work, why she tracks MER marketing efficiency ratio over ROAS, and why that
1:35.5	single shift changes everything about profitability and her counterintuitive take on mastering
1:40.9	the craft before outsourcing, even when you're exhausted.
1:45.0	This is an absolute masterclass in building a product-obsessed,
1:49.0	customer-first brand without burning out and proof that sometimes the best ideas come from
1:55.0	noticing what everyone else overlooks.
2:02.2	Hear the stories.
2:07.7	Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship.
2:11.6	Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chan.
	...

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