Ashley Jung and Paige Dellavalle, Cofounder and Chief Creative Officer, Stella Valle
The Old Grad Story:
Ashley, a Corp-squad swimmer and first-generation West Pointer, commissioned in 2004 as an Engineer. After five years of service, Ashley left the Army to work in finance and, a year later, consulting at Deloitte.
Paige, a Class of 2009 graduate, is Ashley’s younger sister and was also a recruited swimmer. After a series of shoulder surgeries left her unable to commission, Paige secured a role as a telecom Sales Engineer while she determined the next steps in her future.
After the two sisters left the military in 2009, they cofounded Stella Valle, a jewelry company, which they moonlighted for several years. In 2013, they landed the opportunity to pitch their business on Shark Tank, from which they were able to secure a joint partnership with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner for $150k at 35% equity.
Old Grad Knowledge:
[Ashley Jung]
We believe in an ecosystem for retail; you need to be where your customers are. Our customers are only, but they’re also out in tourist areas, visiting cool places, so we want to be there, too. Having a holistic approach to building the brand will be key for us, in the future.
There is no work/life balance for us – it’s insanity! It’s non-stop, and there are so many ups and downs, but I always try to go back to my military service and time at West Point to get perspective. Mentally, I think the ups and downs are the hardest part of entrepreneurship.
The problem with manufacturing overseas is that you don’t have as much control, it’s all on a handshake, and they want to supply in volume, so you have to have the capital to support.
[Paige Walker]
Starting out as an entrepreneur, you don’t know what you don’t know – through trial-and-error and falling on your face, you learn it and figure it out to get on the right path. If we went on Shark Tank today, with eight years of learning, we’d have a totally different outcome!
I think it’s important for entrepreneurs to have someone who isn’t emotionally tied to the business, to utilize them to take the emotion out of it and assess options. It’s incredibly helpful to have those people on our side, helping us manage the emotional elements.
Our biggest mistakes have come from wanting to grow too big, too fast. Sometimes, slow-and-steady wins the race, which can be really hard for the type-A personalities.
Make sure the product is done right – we’d rather wait a year and take four iterations than get it in three months and miss on the product.
Stella Valle
Started out wholesaling and selling through trunk shows.
Today, their revenue is 90% e-commerce, direct-to-consumer.
The founders have adapted their product lines significantly over time, retiring many product lines to focus on modern charm jewelry.
Stella Valle hopes to expand the brand and explore multiple sales channels, including brick-and-mortar retail, Shopify, and other venues.
Shark Tank Experience
The sisters spent six months (and iterated thirteen pitches) before they filmed. Throughout the process, only a very small percentage go in front of the Sharks. After the “handshake” deal, due diligence completed another six months after recording.
At the time of the deal, partnering with Mark and Lori was extremely helpful. However, the Sharks weren’t interested in any investments beyond the initial cash infusion. To scale their business, the sisters would need to seek VC funding.
After about a year of discussions with VC firms, it became clear that there wasn’t enough equity left to raise the capital they required. Mark and Lori had made more than 10x their investment, so they agreed to return their equity and part ways.
Ashley and Paige are in mature discussions with another investor, with whom they hope to bring the company to the next level.
