Wooden Jewelry That "Wows": Scaling a Handmade Product Business in a Crowded Market | Mike Yarbrough (MU Classic)

About this episode

Mike Yarbrough shares his journey of turning a garage project into a successful handmade wooden wedding band business.

#937 What happens when a side project in your garage turns into a multi-million dollar business? In this episode, host Kirsten Tyrrel sits down with Mike Yarbrough, co-founder of Rustic & Main, to share how he and his wife turned handmade wooden wedding bands into a fast-growing jewelry brand with nearly 40 employees and a retail storefront in the childhood home of country star Luke Combs. Mike opens up about walking away from his six-figure IT job, scaling production beyond the garage, and how they’ve built a company culture that still feels like family while continuing to expand. He also talks about standing out in a crowded industry, navigating major marketing shifts, and why storytelling and sentimentality are the keys to creating products people truly cherish. Whether you’re a maker, dreamer, or entrepreneur ready to grow, this episode is packed with lessons on scaling a handmade product business the right way! (Original Air Date - 10/3/25) What we discuss with Mike: + Garage project to full business + Handmade wooden wedding bands + Quit six-figure IT job + Scaling from Etsy to Shopify + Storytelling in marketing + Pivot after ad platform changes + Building strong company…

People in this episode

Host: Kirsten Tyrrel

Guest: Mike Yarbrough

Topics covered

• handmade products
• scaling a business
• jewelry industry
• company culture
• marketing strategies

Keywords

• handmade jewelry
• business growth
• storytelling
• Etsy
• Shopify
• company culture
• marketing shifts

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rustic & Main

Places: Luke Combs

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