This couple's blind date led to a marriage — and a multimillion-dollar company

Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.For Dawn and Steve Kelley, a blind date led to two big commitments: marriage and a business partner.Dawn, formerly a tech executive and marketer, enjoys the creativity and logistics necessary to run the company.About 10 years ago, Dawn Kelley went on a blind date. That's when she met her future husband and business partner., an almond butter company started by a family friend.

What appealed to the couple was the fact that Barney Butter, named after its original founder Jennifer Barney, manufactured its own products."We had this opportunity where we could run this manufacturing facility and make the highest quality product that we can," she said."There were all these options available to us."

"My motto — and the sign that I have hanging on my office wall — is 'make something,'" Kelley said."I consider myself a perfect blend, at least most days, of left and right brain. Having the manufacturing side gives us that kind of ownership of it versus just being a sales and marketing organization where we're working with a third party co-packer."

"The way we went about growth all along was not to get as many new points of distribution as fast as possible, but instead focus on velocity and turns within the accounts that we do get," Dawn said."There's so many unintended consequences of taking that account in a region where maybe you don't have a stronghold yet."

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

How one mom’s idea to help her visually impaired son led her to launch a companyGracie Beneditch-Cane created Braille Code Inc. to help her visually impaired son, Wani, dress himself independently in the morning. The company prints Braille patches for clothing to help blind and visually impaired people identify items by touch. Let me tell you something, a mama will do what she's gotta do for her kids. This ain't no joke. We don't play when it come to our kids. If it's something out there our babies want that nobody else has, we will create it and keep it moving like it's no big deal. So awesome.
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »