Making Something From Nothing: Tracy Vontélle Green and Nancey Harris Of Vontélle Eyewear Company On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
…Don’t be afraid to reach out and introduce yourself and ask what the company is doing for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color), or Women owned businesses. We led with this, and it helped us get traction to our site. We are very grateful to theSkimm, which featured Vontélle in a complimentary ad. Our website traffic increased to over 14,000 visitors during the month of February.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tracy Vontélle Green and Nancey Harris Founders of Vontélle Eyewear Company.
Vontélle, LLC was incorporated with a clear vision and ironic symbolism of “2020”. The company produces luxury bespoke eyewear that has unique African, Caribbean, and Latinx print designs and textiles. The company launched their website in October 2020 targeting consumers ages 25–65. Vontélle was created by Tracy Vontélle Green and Nancey Harris, both women of color and very highly accomplished. Tracy is a former Chief Financial Officer of a hospital and Nancey was a former sales executive at a well-known media giant.
Think about this: In 2020, the global eyewear market was valued at approximately $140 billion and estimated to grow to $200 billion by 2027. Yet there are less than a handful of Black eyewear makers. According to the Vision Council, 164 million American adults wear glasses and 218 million Americans wear non-prescription sunglasses (to block sunrays). Vontélle is poised to make their mark as there is a lot of consumers looking for eyewear.
The concept for Vontélle was born out of a need of both founders, who each lost their expensive eyewear within the same year and decided to focus their efforts on making their next purchases from a Black-owned brand. After searching high and low for glasses that were stylish, better fitting, and had an ethnic flair, they realized it simply did not exist. That is when Tracy suggested we start our own line and Nancey booked our fate determining trip to Paris. Due to their loss, the company offers a unique protection for consumers by providing a one-year/one-time replacement warranty from date of purchase if your eyewear is lost, stolen, damaged, or broken.
Most importantly, Vontélle Eyewear handcrafted designs are for diverse faces. As their research concluded that many of us are wearing ill-fitting glasses. Vontélle wider bridges for your nose, longer temples for no pain behind the ears and larger lenses for high cheekbones will fit comfortably on your face. Although the pandemic continues to ravage our nation, many people especially minorities are forced to forge new paths and career journeys. It is no different for these two new fashion couture eyewear designers. Thus, they added mid-production matching masks in the same eye-catching and awe-inspiring patterns as the eyewear. They have coined the phrase/slogan #fullfacefashion.
Eyewear is not only an extension of your wardrobe, but a necessary medical device. Vontélle understands that eyewear is essential and realizes the importance of quality, thus want to help with eye health disparities. The National Institute of Health’s National Eye Institute report that, African Americans are more likely to have cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy than any other ethnic group. Befittingly, the Co-Founders have partnered with WIN (Women in Need), the largest provider of family shelter and supportive housing in New York City. The eyewear company has partnered with local optometrists to offer free eye exams, vision companies and foundations to provide free eyeglasses and pay for the prescription lenses.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
Nancey: I’m a native New Yorker and was born and raised in Brooklyn. As a kid, I wanted to be so many things ranging from Wonder Woman, because of her superhuman strength and mobility to WNBC Award winning journalist, Sue Simmons, and make an impact in the world of journalism. My bachelor’s degree is Mass Communications with a minor in journalism. My world shifted after graduation, and I found myself in the world of advertising and sales. Before long, I became a top sales executive, and the rest is Her-story.
Tracy — I was born in Harlem and later raised Queens, New York. Funny as a child I wanted to be the boss (I was the eldest child of 4). I knew I was going to be in charge of something. As a teenager, I loved Fashion, Art and wanted to be a supermodel (I remember spending my allowance on subscribing to all the major magazines and creating collages). However, I was very good with numbers and entered college at Morgan State University as a Political Science major with my eyes set on attending law school. However, a very good friend at college (Nancey) said you should major in accounting as by that time I was doing many of my friends’ annual income taxes including my parents. Thus, I minored in accounting, received a master’s degree, and worked my way up to Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In addition, as a businesswoman, I had an income tax business and own and rent real estate.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Tracy — Quote by Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
I’ve come from meager means, neither of my parents finished college –I’m the first college graduate in my family but they always pushed me to do better, and nothing was beyond my reach. I learned that I could do just about anything if I read, take the necessary steps and execute.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Nancey — The Autobiography of Malcolm X is one of my favorite autobiographies along with The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt. The story of Malcolm X reminds me about the intersections of life and how the choices you make can shape your future. However, if you’re an astute student of life, you learn from your mistakes turning a negative into a positive. Once Malcolm X realized his intelligence could provoke change, he realized his true power. Malcolm X’s quote, “A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything,” will always hold validity.
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt unearths the story of a woman who was courageous during her time and lived a full and rich life. Roosevelt was a controversial first lady at the time for her outspokenness, particularly on civil rights for African Americans. Indeed, she was privileged. Still, I believe that even if she wasn’t, she would have fought the same injustices.
A few of my favorite quotes from Roosevelt are, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,” and “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
The commonality between Malcolm X and Eleanor Roosevelt is they both wanted change and to level the playing field to eradicate what we now call “Systemic Racism”.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
Tracy — Write it down! Put the goal on a piece of paper and then write all the steps to reach that goal. It also helps to have a business partner, husband, family (support) to push you and believe in your idea but if you don’t, you must believe in it. Everything we use, from our phones -to a hairbrush — to the music we listen too came from a person who had an idea. I remind myself of that every day.
Nancey — Motivational speaker, Les Brown said, “The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled.” My first big business venture was a book publishing company. After receiving dozens of rejection letters from publishers for my manuscript, I decided to start my own company. I knew I was going to need more money than I had in the bank. I took a part-time job at a retailer and dedicated every dollar I made to this project. Then I did a ton of research on the publishing industry and was able to locate book manufacturers, a typesetter, an editor, and I even tracked down a well-known artist who allowed me to use his artwork for the cover of my book. It took me two years from rejection letter to final publication. The key was, I was committed and over the course of my publishing career, I sold over 30,000 books. I never allowed “NO” to become my final resting place. Don’t travel with a duffle bag and expect overnight success. It requires an entire set of luggage!
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
We searched the internet intensely. Thereafter, we took a trip to Paris in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and saw thousands of glasses and met eyewear manufacturers and designers, but nothing like what we envisioned. This served as our “aha moment” and, we decided to design and create better fitting eyewear with a focus on adding textiles and patterns. There are many entrepreneurs who birthed companies out of necessity and a missing component (Untuck It (shirts), Bevel (razor), Ruby Love (period panties), Peloton (exercise bike), Beats (headphones), Sundial/Shea Moisture (lotion/hair products), etc. All these products already exist, but they each found a missing component and used that to build multi-million-dollar companies. Vontélle Eyewear is following a similar path by providing a new solution to the eyewear industry and working with our community. The corporate vision for Vontélle Eyewear is to become the leading African American woman-owned luxury eyewear design company. Vontélle will provide a missing component of rich textiles, patterns and better fit to the eyewear industry.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
There are a lot of steps involved and we split them based on our expertise. However, the first and most important steps are to hire an attorney, accountant and prepare a business plan. After that we did the following:
- Trademark our name and logo — Vontélle is Tracy’s middle name and after going to Paris we decided we wanted to use it. It’s a beautiful French name that means, “There she goes” or “to go” and many well-known designers have French & Italian brand names. Our attorney filed the paperwork to ensure no one else was using the name or our logo that we created.
- The design process is extensive. We began with choosing fabrics and textiles — this determines the colors chosen. We picked the shape of the glasses — Real estate is important to print the patterns on the frames. Lastly, we worked with a graphic designer to put it together (at the beginning Tracy was drawing designs on paper — we are not artists — but it is what we had — Nancey learned how to use Corel Draw program to make the final technical drawings).
- Collaborations are key and essential to any business. When we decided we wanted to start this business, we traveled to Paris for Fashion Week, which featured all the brands in the marketplace. We immediately stood out. Truth set in as we realized, there were only a handful of African Americans present. Had we not met the right manufacturer during our visit to Paris, we would not have an eyewear collection today. We interviewed many designers & manufacturers, and they either did not believe in us, could not understand our vision and/or did not want to work with two young black women. Many did not call us back, of the 3 (three) that did; one was over charging. We had to find the right collaborator who saw our vision and wanted to work with us at the right price.
- Reviewing the prototypes and making edits and changes to get them just right before going into production. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, for 2020 we had to work with our manufacturer over Zoom and WhatsApp. It was difficult and took more time, but you can’t rush perfection.
- Creating a website — “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” — Additionally, we have colleagues assisting us with website & maintenance, marketing, social media and branding. Although we are driving the vision, we need people around us that have expertise in certain areas and help navigate the things we do not know. We are learning as we go on several topics. Luckily, we cover some areas as Nancey has extensive knowledge in sales, manufacturing and shipping, while Tracy has extensive knowledge in finance, taxes etc. On October 1, 2020, we launched our website!
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
1.Creating and building a website was more encompassing than we thought. We did not have coding experience, so we are thankful for our wonderful Website/Graphic Designer Kelsey. On October 1, 2020, at midnight we called a few close friends to visit the site and provide us with feedback. It was an effective way to see if the site was working, had grammatical errors, functioned properly, etc. After spending so much time with the site, it became impossible to see the little errors.
Lesson: I don’t think we could have done this any better. Perhaps, we could have provided access to our friends prior to the launch, but until its live, you really don’t know all the issues. We did an excellent job, fixing all the bugs immediately as friends, customers etc. brought it to our attention. Check out our website here: https://www.vontelle.com
2. There is no such thing as a soft or big launch. Once your site is up, if you post about your product, it is available for the world to see. Funny story, we had one college friend who ordered and paid for a pair of optical glasses in August. Since the website was technically up — as we were working on it- she saw our posts and just figured out the URL (we had not sent it out yet).
We were super excited, but the eyewear had not been manufactured and delivered. We launched with 37 designs. Our goal was to launch in October for pre-orders and then mail to the customers in December. So, when she ordered in August, she had months to wait. But since she was our 1st customer, we gave her an additional pair of sunglasses and matching masks at no charge.
Lesson: Consumers do not read! Although we had the word “PRE-ORDER” in the largest font possible, once the site is up, and the customer purchases, they will email you constantly about their order(s). Additionally, in hindsight, we would not open with so many designs. We probably should have started with 5–10 eyewear styles maximum — we did 37 eyewear designs.
3. Since we launched during the pandemic and we bootstrapped the firm, lack of money was an issue. Therefore, we did not have additional funds to put towards marketing or advertising. We used social media — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to build awareness. About six months after we began to see a revenue flow, we began a marketing campaign, which entailed running commercial spots and placing ads on social platforms.
We started to get press, and reached out to friends, business associates as well as magazines, podcasts, companies, etc. directly to say — “Hey, Vontélle is here and open for business.” Our alma mater — Morgan State University did the first article, which led to an article in a local Baltimore, MD newspaper. A friend reached out for a podcast interview, and through more networking we amassed features in Data Bird Business Journal, Sheen Magazine, Black Enterprise, The Network Journal, Good Morning America (digital) and more. In September 2021, InStyle Magazine (Jennifer Aniston on the cover), highlighted our brand as a “You Know You Want It Item”
Lesson: Don’t be afraid to reach out and introduce yourself and ask what the company is doing for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color), or Women owned businesses. We led with this, and it helped us get traction to our site. We are very grateful to theSkimm, which featured Vontélle in a complimentary ad. Our website traffic increased to over 14,000 visitors during the month of February.
Note: Online engagement doesn’t necessarily lead to sales, but we did see about 5–8 sales just from their followers/email list within the week of the ad on their site. However, many of the users signed up on our email list and now we can send them discounts, blogs, newsletters, etc.
4. Our goal was to get sales. Of course, we had the dream of breaking the internet but that’s difficult to do if you are not a celebrity. From October — December we made $6,000 and we were ecstatic. Our goal was to be taken seriously and prove that we are filling a gap in the industry. Not only bringing beautiful patterns, but better fitting eyewear for African Americans and Hispanics.
Sales was our original measure of success and we saw a direct correlation to an editorial feature and the number of sales. Each time an article came out, sales increased. We started to speak to more customers, via social media, attending events (vision expos, pop ups, etc.) and we had Asian, East Indian, Caucasian tell us they have a hard time finding glasses that fit their faces as well. Reality struck; our better fit wasn’t only for us (African American & Hispanic). We are serving a great deal of people with diverse features who love art, patterns and colors. Our measure of success began to change.
Lesson: Our measurement now is, how can we reach more consumers with this problem? While our goal was to only sell direct to consumer from our website, we adjusted and started selling to Opticians/Optometrists (Business to business) as they have our customer in their chairs and not everyone is suited for contacts. This pivot has provided a steady income for us, and we are now selling to optical stores in major cities across the U.S., including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Charlotte, Denver, Houston, just to name a few.
5. As a startup, we are working around the clock. In 2020 alone (compounded with the pandemic), one of us was diagnosed with a rare form of diabetes and the other had a fire at her home and had to relocate. Throughout it all, we continued to work, taking calls and responding to emails. In setting boundaries, we agreed that we will try to take off on Sundays. That just means we do not call our team; we only call each other. Our determination to push through, our vision and mission was bigger than both of us.
Lesson: Our motto was to expend the same energy into our own business as we did in our paying jobs, which we both reached the C-Suite and had successful careers. It is most gratifying to put that energy into your own creation/company. We are both starting over with this business. Tracy, after having a successful financial career in healthcare as a Chief Financial Officer and Nancey as a successful Sales Executive in media and entertainment. We have taken that knowledge to start this business. We are just as happy; however, this does not feel like work. We finally get the phrase “do what you love, and you never work a day in life”.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
The first steps we recommend is to ask questions. Ask everyone how did you do that? Where should I go to get this? Do not be afraid to ask. The internet is your best friend. You can find a great deal of information using search engines. Moreover, do not take “no” or “I do not know” for an answer. If you want or need information, keep asking. Do your research and get the knowledge and answers you seek. Lastly, ensure you have a business plan, review the numbers — actual potential ROI (return on investment) and reach out to other start up business owners. There is the fun part of the business, which is probably what drew you there, and there’s the necessary business needs (taxes, sales tax, website management, content, inventory, meeting timelines etc.).
Overall Steps to Note:
- Don’t be afraid to pivot, adjust, change, — listen to all feedback. We launched during a pandemic, which was crazy. Then, we decided to add masks to match the eyewear and, coined the phrase #fullfacefasion. It has been a nice selling point.
- Don’t give up. Celebrate each win…no matter how small. You will need it when things are not going well.
- Ensure you have a business plan with real costs and revenue projections. For every $1.00 you make you are probably spending $3.00. Websites costs, you will pay a fee for everything (credit card fees, apps fees, bank fees, accounting platform fees, lawyers, trademarks, domain names, custom emails addresses, URLs, postage, paper, phone, ads on social media, etc.).
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
Strike out on your own! It’s your idea and only YOU know what you want to do. Write it down! Draft the concept and then after you do your research, network and meet people in the industry; in most cases you will find a mentor. We were lucky to find a phenomenal mentor who has decades of experience in the eyewear industry. When you start a business, capital is precious and paying for a consultant early on may not be the best option financially or business wise. You want to create your vision, not someone else’s.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
Most venture capitalists want to see proven results — actual revenue — before investing. Therefore, you are bootstrapping by default, but you can fundraise, crowdfund and get family and friends to support. We did all the above. After one year of operation, we are generating revenue and could use venture capital funding. However, we have zero debt, and at this time, we are not ready to give up control of the company. A loan with a low interest rate is a good option. In three — five years, we expect to need venture capital as the company scales and grows. Nonetheless, it’s amazingly fulfilling to watch the company grow and know that we had 100% effort in doing it.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Vontélle Eyewear launched a partnership with WIN (Women in Need), the largest provider of family shelter and supportive housing in New York City, to provide free eyeglasses and eye exams for families experiencing homelessness. Vontélle is collaborating with several organizations and optometrists across the city to provide these services to families in WIN’s 13 shelters. Vontélle enlisted the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation, which generously provided a grant covering the costs of prescription lenses for WIN families. In 2021, Vontélle has provided free eye exams to over 80 homeless residents and donated prescriptive glasses to men, women and children living in three (3) WIN shelters. Our goal is to continue within NYC homeless shelters and eventually nationwide.
The National Institute of Health’s National Eye Institute report that, African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to have cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy than any other ethnic group. Most importantly due to these factors, high astigmatism, many people cannot wear contacts. Wearing ill-fitting glasses also causes pain after prolonged wear. This includes lines across the noses, pain behind the ears and imprints on the face because glasses are too tight and not made for our faces. Vontélle Eyewear has conducted a small sample research to create its current collection. We intend to conduct more research to continue to create better fitting eyewear for all ethnicities.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
There are a few movements we care about:
- Homelessness is a big issue — housing needs to be more affordable. And affordable doesn’t mean old or dilapidated. It should be just as nice and safe as a place you or I would want to reside.
- Education — everyone should be allowed to have the same resources and option to attend an ivy league, HBCU and/or a public college if they are qualified. Money should not be a deterrent. There should be an option to go to college for free — public college option.
- Healthcare is a basic human right. Yet so many people still don’t have coverage; including affordable eyewear prescription coverage. Millions of Americans still lack coverage due to the rising health care costs. It wouldn’t hurt us to adopt the method of what our neighbors are doing in Canada to cover everyone equally.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
MacKenzie Scott with her ex-husband Jeff Bezos took an idea from their garage to create an online marketplace for books to a multi-billion-dollar company that sells everything via an online store — Amazon. Mrs. Scott has donated millions to HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) including our alma mater Morgan State University. To meet her and understand their process, what they did at each stage, and the expansion dos and don’ts would be remarkable.
Chris Paul — One of the greatest basketball players of his generation is doing phenomenal work by supporting HBCUs, black designers and, fighting for Social Justice. Both founders are products of HBCUs and would love to have the ability to work with him and his platform in the near future.
Serena Williams is a living legend and icon. She is also a fashion and jewelry designer. Her commitment to help entrepreneurs has been impactful. It would be an honor to collaborate with Ms. Williams.
T-Pain started out as a rapper who popularized the creative use of Auto-tune pitch, shifted into songwriting, producing and a host of other business ventures. We love his versatility and most recently he’s been pushing “Buy Black” and has even written a blog post with the same theme.
Oprah Winfrey is a businesswoman, entrepreneur, and a black woman that knows the obstacles and steps to getting a seat at the table. Ms. Winfrey has made careers for so many and her greenlight on your product can drastically increase your revenues and build your brand.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Tracy Vontélle Green and Nancey Harris Of Vontélle Eyewear Company… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
