Who inspires you?

I feel inspired by our clients, I truly do. We work every day with people who make and create things that are new, fresh, honest, and real. They make things because they know how. They make things because they believe in it. They make things because it makes others feel good.

I like to think that we do the same at Citizen Made, where for us, the code is the craft.

Why are you an entrepreneur?

I think entrepreneurship chose me. Over the years, all of the things I’ve done, tried, and experienced have led me to this very specific understanding of the world, products, making, and the future of things. When I started to really hone in on what it all meant and what we collectively need to realize this awesome future, I became really fixated on making it happen.

In my way, I believe that I’m doing something important and meaningful with Citizen Made, and only entrepreneurship can provide that.

How is your company different from your competitors?

Citizen Made provides a turnkey solution to brands that sell custom products. We provide an option outside of the agency experience to simply open up ecommerce to those who otherwise aren’t able to access it. By simplifying the process of getting a CMS that works simply, beautifully, and affordably, our clients find that they have very little to loose in giving us a shot. And best of all, they stick with us because our tools are made for brands and manufacturers by people who know and are from the space.

Where do you see your company in the next five years?

Our goal from the beginning was to serve small brands that already produce custom products as a core part of their revenue. The belief is that in providing the technical tools required to grow customization as a major segment in consumer products, we have to create a critical mass of companies that are able to easily sell custom products online.

In 5 years, we hope to take this notion of “mass customization” from something that we read about on the internet, to a reality. Our goal is to make Citizen Made a fixture and industry standard in setting up new supply chain and sales processes across consumer product categories. We have the potential to create infrastructure around ecommerce and production of goods, and we take that vision and goal seriously.

What’s the next milestone for your company?

We are currently working to scale our SMB practice and to serve our initial enterprise clients. Be on the lookout for more custom product experiences online!

How are you financing your business? What are your growth plans?

Our initial financing to start came from a series of grants that came from a variety of sources, namely from winning various pitch competitions over the course of 6 months. With that money, we were able to complete our software and roll out a product that can serve clients large and small. Looking forward, we are utilizing our revenue to reinvest into the company to continue growth. Our growth this year primarily will come from scaling our SMB practice, and in year 2 we will work on growing and serving additional enterprise companies.

Best advice you’ve received.

Be a filter for advice. Many people have opinions, and will share them freely. It is important for founders to take in data points, others’ experiences, and advice, but decisions are ultimately up to you. And everything becomes easier when you’re able to filter out the noise.

Tell me something about yourself that we don’t know already.

Many of the clothes that I wear, particularly to pitch events and business meetings, I made in the comfort of my living room.

What is your guilty pleasure?

In no particular order: tacos, formal tea time, and vintage shoes.

A setback, stumble or face plant…What did you learn from that experience?

When I first started pitching to audiences at events, I had a harder time than most just about anybody else I’ve ever seen. It was inexplicably hard, I lost all confidence in myself in this context, and picking myself up from this point was one of the steepest hills I’ve climbed.

In figuring out how to get past very public failures, I learned that it takes real honesty with yourself and real courage to do something about it. And getting used to using your own courage to do really hard things seems like it will do some good for as long as I’m an entrepreneur doing (intensely) ambitious things.

What is your favorite mobile app?

I love Scrabble for iPad and just downloaded Timehop.

What do you do to help focus?

I like to listen to podcasts while I work, particularly those that interview entrepreneurs that I really look up to. This gives me a boost, and usually I learn something from them. One of my favorites is From Scratch on NPR.

Also, if productivity and focus is waning, I just take a nap or a walk to recalibrate.

Citizen Made is the eCommerce platform for brands that sell custom products. Think: NikeID for anything. Our software empowers brands to sell custom products accurately and painlessly, whether goods are made by hand, in a production house, or 3D printed in a lab. We create infrastructure for consumer product manufacturing, as supply chains continue to support customization.

This post was created by Raine Dalton, WIM’s editorial and community innovation intern. Raine is passionate about finding creative ways to empower women globally through tech. In addition to WIM, Raine has written, tweeted, and posted for the Global Banking Alliance for Women, WITNESS, and 90.7 WFUV News. You can find her work at www.rainedalton.com or get in touch with her through Twitter @rainedalton, or by emailing raine@wim.co.