When I think of an ideal business partner, my sibling is not the first person I would think of. This was not true, however, for Emily and Mark Stallings, a brother and sister from Brooklyn who started the designer phone case brand Casely in 2017 when Mark realized there was a hole in the very saturated niche market of tech accessories. When he realized the opportunity, he recruited his sister Emily, who designed cases and the website. The business started as a subscription service, in which the company sent 2 cases per month with the goal of allowing people to match their phone case with their outfit. This has since shifted to be focused on one-time purchases of the company’s many designs on phone cases, AirPods cases, and power pods. They collab with many organizations, including the Van Gogh museum and Crayola, in which they create unique cases that showcase artwork related to the organizations.

Additionally, Casely places a lot of emphasis on their mission to give back, especially through their initiative called “#EveryCaseCounts”, in which they donate money from their profits to support a variety of charities, along with giving an extra $1 to a Charity-of-the-Month for every tagged Instagram post featuring the hashtag #EveryCaseCounts – through this campaign, they have donated over $1 million in their lifetime. They also give artists the chance to feature their artworks on a case and get paid for it, allowing up-and-coming artists to get their art out and make a profit from it. These initiatives make Casely stand out as an organization who values impact rather than profits. This approach shows the redemptive mindsets of the owners, and is a great example of using creativity to find a niche market, and use that advantage to help others!