Yearly Co. Built an $11.5 Million Bangle Business by Saying No to Growth in 10 Directions

Quick Facts

Yearly Co. founder Ann Williams started making 14k gold bangles in her garage in 2016 and built the brand to $11.5 million in revenue.
The Nashville-based company now employs 18 people, operates a retail showroom in Green Hills, and ranked No. 18 on the Nashville Business Journal’s Fastest-Growing Companies list.
Williams credits the brand’s growth to product focus, custom sizing, a lifetime repair policy, and refusing to diversify beyond what the brand does best.

Ann Williams did not set out to build an eight-figure jewelry company. She took a metalworking class at Vanderbilt, converted her garage into a studio, and started making gold bangles for her family. Eight years later, Yearly Co. is a $11.5 million business with 18 employees, a retail store in Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood, and a headquarters on Music Row.

Williams founded the brand in 2016, drawing on a family tradition that began 60 years earlier when her grandfather gave her grandmother a gold bangle to mark their anniversary. After failing to find a vendor who met her quality standards, she learned goldsmithing herself and began making pieces by hand.

What Set the Product Apart

Yearly Co. sells solid 14k gold bangles designed for daily wear. Every piece is sized to the individual wrist, a deliberate departure from the one-size-fits-all standard common in fine jewelry retail. Customers use a sizing kit, available for purchase online, to find their fit before ordering.

The brand backs every bangle with a lifetime repair policy. Williams positions the pieces as heirlooms meant to be worn in the shower, the gym, and the ocean without removal. That durability promise is central to the brand’s retention story.

Every Friday, Yearly Co. holds gold trade-in appointments at its retail location. Customers bring existing gold pieces and exchange them for new Yearly Co. jewelry. The program creates a recurring reason to return and lowers the barrier to purchasing at higher price points.

Growth Through Discipline

Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in child development from Vanderbilt, which makes her path to running a fine jewelry manufacturing operation unconventional. Her business philosophy is equally unconventional: she has actively resisted the pressure to expand the product line.

“Grow forward, not in 10 directions,” Williams has said of her strategy. Rather than introducing new categories, she focused on refining the core bangle collection and strengthening customer service. That discipline carried the company through rapid growth between 2019 and 2021.

Williams has stepped back from day-to-day operations, with CEO Elizabeth Geny now leading the team. The leadership transition has not slowed expansion. The brand recently renovated its Green Hills showroom and hosts trunk shows in cities across the country to reach customers outside Nashville.

Collaborations and New Products

Yearly Co. recently partnered with Los Angeles-based fine jewelry brand Octavia Elizabeth on the Etoile Bangles, a limited-edition collection that has since expanded to include pendants. Both brands share a manufacturing philosophy centered on handmade construction and long-term wearability.

The company also introduced the Beloved Bangle, its widest style to date at 8mm. The piece is designed to hold an engraved name, date, or phrase and is made from solid 14k gold with a flat interior and rounded exterior.

The Business Case

Yearly Co. is bootstrapped. Its growth from a one-person garage operation to a 18-person team generating $11.5 million demonstrates what focused product development and a clearly defined customer promise can produce without outside capital.

For DTC founders watching the brand, the lesson is straightforward. Williams built her customer base by solving a specific problem, custom fit in fine jewelry, backed it with strong service policies, and resisted the temptation to chase adjacent markets before dominating the one she entered first.