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More Shine for a Family Business

Mary K. Pratt

Kyle Raeburn ’08 and Lauren Raeburn ’10, MBA ’11 grew up with entrepreneurial dreams. Their father is the fifth generation to own and run International Insignia Corp., a manufacturer of military insignia based in Rhode Island. Kyle joined the company himself in 2007 and Lauren built a career in software sales. The siblings’ year-old venture — LK Meyer — operates out of the family’s foundry to make handcrafted jewelry inspired by the New England coast.

What pointed you to the jewelry business?
Lauren Raeburn: I’ve always had aspirations to create my own jewelry line and start my own business. With my family’s history in the manufacturing industry, it seemed like a natural fit, but I needed the right inspiration. In spring 2015, Kyle and I stumbled across a store in Boston and realized they were selling things we could make at our family’s foundry.
Kyle Raeburn: LK Meyer seemed like a nice complement to what International Insignia is already doing. The name combines our first initials and the maiden name of our great-grandmother whose side of the family started the business.

What were some initial challenges?
LR: Creating brand awareness. It’s all-encompassing, from creating a cohesive logo to marketing yourself on social media platforms to doing strong analytics to figure out who we want to target.
KR: On the production end, I ran into little things that I didn’t foresee. Here’s an example: When we were electroplating necklaces in gold, we didn’t have the right rack to hold them. So all the necklaces were getting tangled up, and we had to get racks to hold them correctly.

Can you walk us through your design and production process?
LR: I am constantly jotting down design ideas. I draw inspiration from my own personal style, current trends, and often our foundry’s existing military pieces. From there, Kyle and I will discuss all the potential new product concepts and the manufacturing logistics.
KR: I’m fortunate to know the manufacturing process inside and out. I’ve been exposed to a blend of Old World craftsmanship and newschool technologies, so we really can do almost anything we want.

Who is your target customer?
LR: The typical LK Meyer guy or girl is someone who embodies the diversity and style of New England, with an appreciation for quality, handcrafted products.
KR: I would add that appreciation for products manufactured in the USA has never been higher. That is a serious value-add for many people and something we are both very proud of.

Does being siblings help or hurt with working together?
LR
: We have a great relationship and as much as we have a lot of similarities, our work style is very different. Kyle’s focus is operations. My strengths are in marketing and on the creative side, handling a lot of our orders and our relationships with partners. From that perspective, the roles are obvious and we’ve never had an issue. Things just fall into place and we get stuff done.
KR: By no means do I have the secret to sibling success. But we were lucky in having a good relationship to start with and complementary skill sets. I’m more of an introvert, and I like the behind-the-scenes things — operations and logistics. Another core thing is being able to shelve our egos when it comes to respecting what the other person does better.

How did your Bentley education shape what you’re doing now?
KR
: I really wanted to go to business school and ended up being enamored with Bentley. I liked the location; I liked the idea of a business-focused education. The key things I learned were how to lead and motivate a group, how to organize people to accomplish a common goal, how to get things done.
LR: One of the unique things Bentley does is emphasize group projects. It teaches how to harness people’s differences to get a common goal achieved. It gave me an opportunity to take a leadership position and boost my confidence. I’ve been able to leverage that in my career and in starting our own company.

What do you want for LK Meyer down the road?
LR: I would want the company to get as big as possible. I’d like to scale it beyond New England, scale it region by region, and one day be a household name.
KR: While it has looked like a hobby business so far while we get our feet beneath us, we’re both successful enough in our regular jobs that we didn’t have space in our lives for a hobby business. We’re laying the groundwork for something that could be quite big. That potential is what drew us.

What’s your biggest victory to date?
LR: The re-launch of our website. It was a labor of love that was two plus months in the making. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out and feel that it embodies our brand and aesthetic perfectly.
KR: I would agree with that. Personally, I feel it is a victory whenever I see friends wearing our stuff.