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businessEntrepreneurs

Meet two Dallas women who turned a frustrating morning into a $7.5 million enterprise

Janie Cooke and Caroline Nix came up with an idea for a better key ring, chipped in $5,000 each and ran with it.

Never have two women been more grateful for misplacing their keys.

Janie Cooke and Caroline Nix have a multimillion-dollar enterprise to show for it.

Exactly nine years ago, the 40-somethings made plans to meet at Southpaws in Preston Center to kick around ideas for going into business together.

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“We were at a time in our lives when we were ready to start something new and take the entrepreneurial plunge,” Nix said. “Our kids were older. We had more time in the day.

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“I couldn’t think of anyone better to go into business with than Janie.”

Then something happened as they were trying to dash out the door for their meetup. Neither of them could find their car keys.

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Cooke’s turned up buried in a big tote. Nix’s were hidden beneath a pile of papers on the kitchen counter.

That morning’s frustration turned into inspiration over organic egg wraps and healthy smoothies.

They remembered the big brass jailer key rings from the ’70s that their mothers wore around their wrists and hung on a doorknob when they got home. The trend quickly came and went because the key rings were clunky, uncomfortable and not the least bit cute.

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“We thought if we could design something that was fashionable, would give women an extra hand and have them never lose their keys again, then we’d be on to something,” Cooke said.

Seven months later, they launched their first product, the Big O Key Ring, an oversized leather wristlet in five colors.

Big O Key Rings and their accessories come in a variety of materials, colors and styles.
Big O Key Rings and their accessories come in a variety of materials, colors and styles.(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)

They kicked in $5,000 apiece and ordered 1,700 key rings to sell that Christmas.

“I can clearly remember people saying, ‘Can you believe they bought that many units?’ They will never sell them,’ " Cooke said.

They sold out in two months and used that money to order 3,200 more.

“We’ve never put another cent of our personal money into the business or taken on any outside investors,” Cooke said. “Obviously, we’ve invested a lot of sweat equity. But that’s how we built it — off of $5,000 each.”

The company’s name is a mashup.

“We love what the O symbolizes,” Cooke said. “It’s whole, inclusive and well-rounded, and it stands for opportunity. We were starting a business venture and an adventure, so we combined the O with venture.”

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The co-owners and co-CEOs of Oventure have expanded their product line to include wallets, small purses, phone cases and other “OccessOries” that attach to a patented hub that can be quickly removed at the valet stand without chipping a nail. That’s the key to the key ring: The Big O is secure but it’s also easy to open to get things on and off, and you can wear it on your wrist to keep your hands free.

The Oventure line comes in a variety of materials and 100 colors and styles, retailing from $25 for a basic locking key ring to $88 for a fancy bracelet bag.

Melissa Wayte, owner of Paper Affair, started carrying Big Os in 2014 after a steady stream of customers asked her whether she carried them.

“For a while, we kinda laughed about it, ‘What is a Big O Key Ring?’ " the 50-year-old recalled. “I finally looked it up and said, ‘Oh, these are cool.’ So I bought a few. For seven years straight, it has been one of our top-selling items based on quantity and revenue.”

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She keeps a big display near her cash registers and says that some uninitiated customers ask if they are dog collars.

All three of her locations — in Frisco, Plano and on Lovers Lane — are Oventure “signature stores,” which means she sells a heckuva lot of Big O Key Rings and companion pieces.

She has personally carried the same one for seven years.

“I always tell them that my biggest complaint is that their quality is too good because they last forever — although people will come in and buy more so that they have extra colors,” Wayte said.

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Fads come and go, but Oventure continues to evolve and innovate, she said. “Every single girl who turns 16 wants a silicone O Ring. So it’s a whole new generation.”

What’s it like to work with Cooke and Nix?

“Oh my gosh! A dream. I have maybe 250 vendors and they are probably my favorite,” Wayte said. “Everything they do is high quality, and if there’s ever an issue, it’s fixed that day.”

Glam and gumption

Cooke and Nix started out selling Big O key rings through parties at friends’ homes and by doing impromptu sales calls at boutiques.

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“One day, Caroline’s mom said, ‘I think you should make your goal to sell a million Big O Key Rings,’ ” Cooke said. “At the time, we thought, ‘How in the world are we going to do that?’ "

So in January 2014, they decided to rent a booth at the Atlanta Gift Show.

“They said, ‘Oh, we happen to have a booth available.’ They didn’t say it was back in the farthest corner by the freight elevators,” Cooke said with a laugh.

“We literally spent Christmas Eve with our husbands at Ikea in Frisco trying to furnish our little booth that we were going to have. It’s been a family affair from Day One. It indicates the support our husbands have given us for the business from the outset and to this day.”

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About a dozen or so buyers stopped by their remote outpost.

“Thankfully, those were smart businesswomen searching for great new ideas,” Cooke said. “They shopped every square inch of the market and found us.”

All of those buyers — the ones that are still in business — are Oventure customers today.

That includes Pam Kuhl-Linscomb, who owns an upscale design and lifestyle products store in Houston that bears her name.

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She liked the Big O because it combined a practical need with fashion and quality materials.

“While the concept was brand new, it was clear Caroline and Janie meant business,” Kuhl-Linscomb said. “The fabrication was top quality, the initial branding was smart and legible, and they seemed measured for growth.”

Why does she continue to carry the line?

“Sales, of course,” Kuhl-Linscomb said. “While sales alone could speak for itself, the soulful way we communicate with Caroline and Janie, their genuine curiosity about our business and the ways they respond to what we learn together bring great depth to our partnership.”

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When the Atlanta show reopened this past January, Oventure’s spot was front and center in the atrium.

Big O Key Rings and clutches are on display at Oventure's office.
Big O Key Rings and clutches are on display at Oventure's office.(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)

Spanx and Oprah

A month after the Atlanta show, Oventure won the Spanx Leg Up Award, which meant being featured in Spanx’s catalog and on its website. It also came with a coaching session with CEO Sara Blakely, who became their entrepreneurial role model.

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“We’ve always admired Sara because she took the hosiery industry and came at it from a different angle,” Nix said. “That’s what we feel we’ve done with the small accessories business by paring down and creating a hands-free lifestyle.”

That August, they learned that Oventure’s key rings and Ossential Card Cases — a tiny wallet that can hold credit cards, cash and a driver’s license — were being considered for Oprah’s Favorite Things.

They ordered 15,000 key rings and 4,000 cases just in case.

The gamble paid off. Both were featured in the holiday issue of O, Oprah’s magazine, and sales soared to nearly $500,000, closing out the year 246% higher than 2013.

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“Oprah put Oventure on the national stage, and to this day, we still see the impact,” Nix said.

“People always ask, ‘How did you meet Sara Blakely?’ or ‘How did you get in Oprah’s Favorite Things?’ " Cooke said. “We always say it was grit, patience and passionate persistence. We just kept trying, again and again.”

Jennifer Sampson, CEO of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, was one of the earliest customers. She was so smitten that she bought one for herself and bought a slew of them as Christmas gifts. “I’m always looking for creative and practical — accent on practical — gifts for my friends and family.”

She’s still one of Oventure’s best customers.

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Lean but not mean

Oventure operated out of Nix’s Preston Hollow home until 2018, when the company moved into new digs in the Dallas Design Center.

“We were at the point where big trucks were pulling up to my neighborhood,” Nix said. “We decided we needed something with a dock-high door and industrial space.”

Jana Wood, Oventure’s customer experience manager, packs a small “influencer mailing” box at...
Jana Wood, Oventure’s customer experience manager, packs a small “influencer mailing” box at the company’s office.(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)
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They also have a team on the ground in China to oversee production. And two years ago, they hired a company in The Colony to do dedicated fulfillment and shipping.

Today the company has eight employees — all women — at the Design Center, including mid-managers who run the e-commerce site, create brand collateral, manage the wholesale channel and handle customer experience.

“Each of those people are solid in their roles and report up to us, which allows us to keep thinking of how to grow the business,” Cooke said.

Cooke’s 77-year-old mother, Jane Dunne, handles customer care online and remotely from her home. “She is the quintessential Southern lady who treats everyone like a friend welcoming them into her home,” Cooke said. “That’s how she treats each and every customer that she interacts with — trying to make them feel special and appreciated.”

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From left: Janie Cooke's mother, Jane Dunne, Caroline Nix's mother, Josie Heath, and their...
From left: Janie Cooke's mother, Jane Dunne, Caroline Nix's mother, Josie Heath, and their friend Susan Brown helped pack Big O Key Rings in a converted playroom at Nix's Preston Hollow home in November 2012.(Oventure)

Nix says her 74-year-old mother, Josie Heath, has been her guiding influence.

Her parents divorced when Nix was in the first grade. “To make a living as a young single mother, my mom would knock on doors of houses in new subdivisions and sell them window shades and draperies.

“She’s a pistol. Her grandkids call her ‘Hot Rod,’ which is the perfect way to describe her fun, energetic, strong-willed personality.”

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A pandemic pause

The company has been profitable since Year One, and Oventure’s sales rose sharply, hitting a high of $5.4 million in 2019.

But revenue took a hit in 2020 as mainstay boutique customers struggled to stay in business during the pandemic.

Oventure did get an online boost by promoting its waterproof silicone products that can be washed and worn on the arm instead of laying them on a counter or in a grocery cart.

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Tory Johnson, Good Morning America’s Deals and Steals contributor and a longtime Oventure supporter, featured Cooke and Nix in a 30-minute special with ABC’s Sam Champion that highlighted the people behind small businesses in America. It aired during the holidays.

That helped get things back on track this year, the duo said, and the company expects to sell $7.5 million in merchandise at more than 4,000 domestic boutiques across the country as well as direct-to-consumer sales through its website.

Domestic sales are split 60-40 between boutiques and online.

Oventure has been able to connect with so many individual store owners through trade shows and the granular power of the female voice, where consumers and shop owners spread the message, Cooke said.

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The company wants to increase its international presence, primarily through online and social media for starters.

“We recently launched Facebook and Instagram ads in Australia and Canada, and our sales there have been phenomenal,” Nix said. “Now we’re expanding to Europe, which we believe will be another exciting move for the company.”

That’s why they have their sights set on $10 million in sales next year.

Oventure expects to sell its millionth Big O sometime later this year, which will place the company’s nine-year cumulative sales at nearly $27 million, they said.

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They haven’t been hit up with any serious offers to buy Oventure, and for now, they’re willing to sit tight. “We are always open to considering opportunities, but we love running our business and know it still has tremendous growth potential,” Cooke said.

Oventure’s office in Dallas.
Oventure’s office in Dallas.(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)
Oventure's workspace.
Oventure's workspace.(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)

Defying the odds

People have been telling Cooke and Nix from the get-go that being co-CEOs is a lousy idea.

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“But we’ve defied convention,” Cooke said. “We disagree sometimes, but we always see eye-to-eye on the big picture. Running it together has provided us with the balance that we’ve needed with family, as well as a clearer strategic vision by having both of our eyes and thoughts looking at where we’re headed.”

They play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses. “We are equal business partners in every sense of the word,” Cooke said. “But it doesn’t mean we do everything equally.”

So what do they see as the other’s yin to their yang?

“Janie is a force of positive energy,” Nix said. “Janie can always find a way to put a positive spin on any and everything. Mistakes become learning experiences. Setbacks become exciting challenges. Janie’s grit and sharp, analytical mind help set the framework with which we make crucial long- term and short-term decisions for the business.”

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Cooke responds: “Caroline possesses an unparalleled determination, creative spirit and steadfast integrity. Her drive and her ability to problem-solve and retool when necessary help make Oventure the innovative, trend-setting brand that it is. Plus, even in the most challenging moments, her unwavering humor and lightheartedness always propel us forward.”

From left: Cooke and Nix pose say being co-CEOs works for them and that even when they...
From left: Cooke and Nix pose say being co-CEOs works for them and that even when they disagree, they always see eye-to-eye on the big picture. (Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)

AT A GLANCE: Janie Cooke

Title: Co-owner and co-CEO of Oventure

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Age: 54

Resides: Devonshire

Education: The Hockaday School, 1985; bachelor of arts in Plan II, University of Texas at Austin, 1989.

Personal: Married to Paul for 26 years. They have two sons, 24 and 21.

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Caroline Nix

Title: Co-owner and co-CEO of Oventure

Age: 52

Resides: Preston Hollow

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Education: Trinity Christian Academy, 1987; bachelor of arts in English literature, University of Texas at Austin, 1991.

Personal: Married to Jason for 26 years. They have a son 23, and a daughter, 22.

Oventure

Founded: 2012

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Ownership: Privately held equally by Janie Cooke and Caroline Nix

Headquarters: Dallas Design District

Projected 2021 revenue: $7.5 million

Cumulative sales through 2020: $20 million

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Employees: Eight

Patents: Four patents on the Big O Key Ring; six patents on other Oventure products; and numerous additional patents pending

SOURCE: Oventure

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