With a focus on Greater Philadelphia small businesses and entrepreneurs, "The Creators" is a weekly feature presented by PHL Inno. Check back each Monday for a new profile on a local business. Have a story you think we should know about? Email associate editor Lisa Dukart at ldukart@bizjournals.com.
If it wasn’t for Oprah – or her magazine, at least – Violet and Brooks may not have become the successful business it is today.
When Robbin Cook learned in 2017 that a set of her earrings had been selected for the annual Oprah’s Favorite Things list, she didn’t even have a business.
But that didn’t stop her. Cook is no stranger to perseverance and changing directions at the drop of a hat. While Oprah may have been the catalyst, the success was thanks to Cook’s tenacity, something she’s had from a young age.
With just a few months before the popular issue of O, The Oprah Magazine would hit stands, she had a lot of work to do. In a matter of weeks, Cook rebranded, hired graphic and web designers and ramped up for what she knew would be a deluge of orders.
“What happens is you have this incredible opportunity to connect with a retail audience and create pull for the brand,” said Cook, noting it wasn’t her first experience with the Oprah effect.
An item at the company she worked for previously for 30 years, Maximal Art, had received the accolade some years prior, so she had a baseline for what to expect.
Nonetheless, a full overhaul was a daunting task. But all that preparation set Cook and Violet and Brooks up for success. What ensued when the issue came out that November was an onslaught of orders. Thousands of earrings sold, Cook said, noting the six months following were a whirlwind of activity that included a nod from "Good Morning America" and skyrocketing sales on Amazon.
In the four-plus years since, Violet and Brooks has expanded beyond those earrings and is known for its affordable luxury pieces that range from earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces, to headbands, hair accessories and scarves.
But that all lay in the future at the time. Ready to hit pause after those chaotic six months, Cook began to reassess.
That had been her plan prior to launching Violet and Brooks – which takes its moniker from her children’s middle names. Having parted ways with Maximal Art, where she had served as president for over two decades when it experienced a sharp financial downturn, Cook even considered pursuing her first love of interior design. Ultimately, though, she found herself back in the world of jewelry thanks to Oprah’s Favorite Things.
The fevered sales led Cook to the conclusion that she didn’t want Violet and Brooks to focus on large scale single-volume sales, but rather wholesale partnerships. That meant turning away from direct-to-consumer platforms like Amazon.
Around the same time, her daughter Madisen graduated from Drexel University, where she studied design and merchandising. Initially having no intentions of joining Violet and Brooks, Madisen was ultimately drawn to the business she’d grown up around and soon joined the team on the creative side. In addition to design, she models for the company’s catalogs.
“Immediately she started to have ideas about what she wanted to make and how she wanted to influence the creative direction of the brand, making it more relevant for a wider audience,” Cook said. “She's brought this extremely delicate and feminine look to what we were doing.”
The self-styled creative director, Madisen now works on relationships with brands like Anthropologie, one of Violet and Brooks’ wholesale partners. Anthropologie’s best-selling headband during the last holiday season was one of Madisen’s designs, Cook said, adding that her daughter has been instrumental in building such momentum.
Having the eye of two generations not only spans the range of Violet and Brooks’ target demographic, but has catapulted the company to huge success of late. In just the first half of January 2022, the company has already matched Violet and Brooks’ sales for the entire first quarter of 2021.
Part of that is thanks to creative design and furthering business connections like Anthropologie. Cook had long been connected with the women’s focused retailer that is part of Philadelphia-based URBN brands through Maximal Art and when she launched Violet and Brooks.
With Madisen on board, they looked to fortify the relationship and Madisen began working closely with Anthropologie on pieces in late 2020. “2021 was a huge growth [year] in the Anthropologie relationship,” said Cook, something they plan to build on in the year ahead.
Continually evolving, the Media-based jewelry and accessories company is branching into textiles, debuting a loungewear collection this spring, marking its first foray into apparel. The collection was a result, in part, of customer demand. “From the time I started this business, we've had so many requests to really grow it as a brand and extend the product categories,” said Cook. That demand ramped up during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The line includes items like linen shorts, pants and tops, T-shirts and tank tops, eye masks and slippers. It will hit stores in mid to late March.
“I'm very excited for the reaction of the PJ's and the loungewear. I think it flows perfectly with the brand,” Madisen said. “It'll be fun to see where it goes season after season from here.”
Today, Violet and Brooks’ sales are almost entirely wholesale, with its products stocked in about 1,000 stores nationwide, including at retail heavyweights like Macy’s and Nordstrom. Violet and Brooks is also available on QVC’s website, and Cook hasn’t ruled out pitching on-air segments to the West Chester-headquartered home shopping giant.
While Violet and Brooks has found sure footing and success, Cook herself has had to overcome obstacles to get to that point.
Raised in Connecticut, Cook’s parents encouraged creativity, gifting their children wooden blocks they could whittle or embroidery tools for sewing, rather than toys. Music, sports and community service were also encouraged, Cook said, adding she comes from a long line of creative individuals.
Those early days of creativity proved valuable when at age 18 Cook found herself having to financially support herself. Choosing something with a defined career path, she pursued a degree at the Philadelphia Textile School, now part of Thomas Jefferson University.
During that time, Cook took up nannying, where she met a woman with her own jewelry business. That sparked an interest for Cook who took up jewelry making on the side and later pursued the industry as her career.
Cook had no thoughts of launching her own company, but when Maximal Art experienced financial setbacks, that changed. “I was very happy in my role. It was very satisfying in many ways,” she said. When she left Maximal Art, Cook retained the full rights to a collection then known as Circa Modern Vintage. That proved invaluable when one of its pieces, the Grace Earring Gift Quint set, was selected for Oprah’s Favorite Things.
From that one set, Violet and Brooks has continually built momentum. As the company heads toward its fifth year and its latest endeavor, it will look to usher in another new phase.
What’s it like working in a mother-daughter team?
MC: Every day is different. It's exciting.
RC: It really is actually very fun. For me as a mom, it's so cool seeing your talented daughter add value to the brand. In fact, she even came up with the name of the brand.
Who is the Violet and Brooks customer?
RC: She's 20 to 60, she loves fashion, but isn't always comfortable trying things, so we give her an opportunity to try fashion at an affordable price. … So I love this idea that in our collections we always have something for mom and daughter, grown daughter. And none of it is going to make people look like they're trying fashion they shouldn't be trying. It all looks good.
What are your goals for Violet and Brooks going forward?
RC: Number one, to grow and do it well. And what I mean by well, is over delivering what our customers are expecting from us. And beyond that, strategically growing our team.
