Exclusive products and a never-say-no customer service approach keep Ashton Harrison standing in a successful light

By Matt Griffin

Most surprising part of the catalog startup: “You have to have a lot of money in your pocket before you can turn a profit with a catalog,” Harrison says. “The catalog cost us about $1 million to get started ... and it took probably five years to turn a profit.”

Biggest Mistake: Hiring the wrong people and not reacting to it quickly enough. “Some people are inherently negative, and have destructive effects on sales and morale,” she says. Learning from past hiring mistakes, Harrison looks for negative cues during the hiring process, such as talking poorly of previous employers or co-workers.