When Dana Bakich needed a new desk for her home office late last year, she bought one online from a large retailer after several hours of research.
She spent $450 and thought she’d scored a good deal.
“It came broken,” she said.
It also arrived “with a million pieces to put together,” she said.
OK, maybe it was just 17 pieces.
Made in Vietnam with particle board, the desk didn’t live up to Bakich’s expectations. She was both frustrated and inspired.
She wanted to find a sustainably-built desk that was made in the United States by a female-owned company.
When she couldn’t find any, she created her own company, herdesk, which recently launched in Atlanta.
It’s the second company Bakich has started. She also founded and operates a digital consulting company for nonprofits, Positive Equation.
Bakich started her career working in New York City for a digital sports company. In 2017, she founded Positive Equation and moved to Los Angeles, where she also worked as a digital producer for “American Idol.”
She moved to Atlanta a few months ago. She and her fiancé are from Florida, and “once Covid hit, it just became more important to us to be closer to family.”
She began working on herdesk about a year ago but started focusing on it after her move to Georgia.
A business coach encouraged her to pursue herdesk.
“She said ‘Dana, everyone’s working from home, and this probably isn’t going to go away soon.’ ” Bakich said. “At that point I started looking for manufacturers, and I wanted to stay true to the female conception of this.”
What grew out of that was a desk that Bakich says can be assembled in 10 minutes using only a screwdriver.
She connected with a woman woodworker in Atlanta who took a look at her first prototype and introduced her to a manufacturer based in Texas.
“One of the biggest challenges at the beginning was trying to find a female-owned manufacturing facility,” she said. “In the spring almost all of the manufacturing facilities were closed down.”
The desk features a whiteboard top that “you can write all over,” a cupholder with a coaster, an integrated power strip, a wireless charger hidden under the wood and full-extension and soft-close drawers. The sides of the desk feature hooks for purses, backpacks or jackets.
“I wanted the side of the desk to be functional,” she said. “My backpack weighs about 30 pounds.”
The desk comes in three paint colors with customizable handles made from brass and leather.
Made of Baltic birch plywood, the desk weighs about 60 pounds.
“When you put together, it’s not moving,” she said. “It has some feminine touches to it, but it really blends well into multiple spaces.”
Bakich has self-funded herdesk but launched a crowdfunding campaign through iFundWomen. She hopes to raise $10,000 to help cover production costs.
She will participate in the HERMARKET Weekend at Buckhead Village on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 and said she is “excited to meet all the women who have different brands.”
Bakich said it’s important to her to invest back into women.
“I think female entrepreneurs receive 7 percent of all venture capital even though we own 30 to 40 percent of all businesses,” she said. “I want to pay it forward.”
She hopes to sell about 30 desks a month at $845 each, including shipping.
“If it exceeds those expectations, that would be great,” she said.
Bakich recently served on a panel for a virtual workshop about how to build a business during Covid-19.
“I love sharing expertise about what I’m doing and being an inspiration for other young girls and women who want to take the next step for a business,” she said. “I built one business, and it’s been successful for the past three-and-a-half years. Trust your gut.”
