Meg Strachan (pictured) has a résumé that any modern-day retailer would drool over: Sixteen-plus years in e-commerce, expertise in retention and growth, and positions at some of the most recognizable retail brands, including Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and performance fashion brand Carbon38.
Strachan has used those decades in business to launch Dorsey, a direct-to-consumer, lab-grown gemstone jewelry company she started as a solo act in November 2019. The Connecticut native had settled in Los Angeles by then, and had held jobs everywhere from a mall restaurant to Virgin Records to TechStyle, where she worked directly for CEO Adam Goldenberg.
As Dorsey’s CEO and founder, Strachan can talk about startups, strategy, and influencers without sounding glib or trendy. That’s because she eschews much of what makes Los Angeles the punch line of so many jokes and, instead, focuses on what makes her shine, such as her work ethic and hands-on experience.
Equally important, Strachan says, is what she didn’t learn along the way. For example, she got an academic scholarship at Fordham University, but she didn’t actually graduate.
“I decided to leave school to start working after enrolling, and I didn’t go back to finish. My career is rooted in e-commerce, and at the time I started it was such a new industry, there really weren’t classes or proper schooling to prepare students adequately,” Strachan says. “The hands-on experience I got from jumping straight into working proved to be much more valuable.
“I kept thinking I would go back and finish and get my MBA, but my career kept moving forward. I was self-conscious that I didn’t finish school until I worked directly for Goldenberg, in my twenties,” Strachan says. “He didn’t graduate high school, and when I interviewed with him and he asked me where I went to college, he was the first person to really understand why I didn’t finish. To this day he is the most innovative CEO I’ve ever worked for.”
Another example is what Strachan took away from her time as a consultant for big e-commerce companies including Bandier, Re/Done, and Girlfriend Collective.
“It may sound simple, but consulting for all of these brands taught me how important it is to learn who your customer is—what works for one company doesn’t work for another. There’s no one-size-fits-all growth strategy,” Strachan says.
Much of her wisdom about business does come from personal experience. But she also credits her grandmother, Dorsey, whom she named her company after as a tribute. That influence is also why she sought out lab-grown gemstones for her own brand.
“She was a vintage collector, like so many women, but she had the most interesting collection I’ve ever seen to this day. Jewelry wasn’t her add on, it was a part of her identity, and she taught me about clasps and settings and what made one piece better than another,” Strachan says. “When she picked up a piece of jewelry, the first thing she would notice was the clasp.
“She kept a few of her pieces in a safe, but she wore mostly costume jewelry from the ’20s and ’30s that looked like fine jewelry. It was all in perfect condition. The price points of [fine] jewelry are usually incredibly expensive or curiously inexpensive [costume jewelry],” Strachan says. “My interest in the lab-grown gemstone industry is rooted in creating beautiful pieces of jewelry that are more affordable, while not compromising on craftsmanship, look, and feel.”
Strachan says she never compromises—and that’s also what she hopes the people who shop with her at Dorsey understand. Lab-grown gemstones aren’t compromising, she says—they’re the future.
“Currently, the question I hear most often is, ‘Is that necklace ‘real’ or is it ‘fake’? Lab-grown diamonds are molecularly identical to their mined counterparts, so, of course, they’re real. The question people should be asking, and I think will be in the near future, is, ‘Is that necklace mined or is it lab-grown?’ ” Strachan says.
“Education on lab-grown gemstones and diamonds over the next five years is going to flip the jewelry industry on its head,” Strachan says. “Luxury jewelry is being redefined, and lab-grown is the future. Consumers want lab-grown pieces. Nobody can deny that anymore.”
Top: Meg Strachan is the definition of a solopreneur, starting Dorsey on her own and building it into a hugely popular brand that has celebrity fans that include Justin Bieber (photos courtesy of Dorsey).
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