Megan Smalley didn’t plan to build a powerhouse ecommerce brand. Scarlet & Gold started as a creative side project—until she got laid off.
Fast forward 12 years, and Scarlet & Gold is one of the only women-owned businesses licensed for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) merch on Shopify. This March, their Shopify sales are up 74.2% year-over-year—with over 53.6% of those sales tied to March Madness merchandise.
And here’s the kicker: 69.5% of their basketball sales come from just two NIL deals.
So how did she do it? What makes NIL merch so powerful? And what’s it really like running an ecommerce business that lives and dies by game-day hype?
That’s what we’re talking about today.
👉 Read more from Shopify’s newsroom: https://www.shopify.com/news/march-madness-entrepreneurs
⏳ Timestamps:
- 00:00 Introduction to Scarlet and Gold
- 01:26 The Birth of an Entrepreneur
- 04:08 Understanding NIL and Influencer Partnerships
- 06:56 Product Offerings and Market Differentiation
- 10:11 Validation Through Sales and Media Exposure
- 13:10 Adapting to Market Trends and Manufacturing Innovations
- 16:18 Essential Tools for E-commerce Success
- 20:51 Engaging with Athletes: The Pitching Process
- 23:49 Navigating Licensing and Brand Integrity
- 27:05 Learning from Mistakes: The In-House Production Journey
- 30:50 The Importance of Emotional Resilience in Entrepreneurship
- 35:17 Growth and Sustainability: Balancing Business and Life
- 38:15 Creating a Positive Work Culture for Success
- 39:36 Usp Outro 169 1.mp4
🔗 Links & Resources:
👉 Check out Scarlet & Gold: https://scarletandgoldshop.com
👉 Need custom merch? https://scarletandgoldcustom.com
👉 Follow Megan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmalley
📌 Sponsors:
- 🚀 Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels → https://zipify.com/KURT
- 🛠️ Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify → https://cleverific.com/unofficial
- 📦 Address Validator – Reduce delivery errors & costs → https://www.addressvalidator.com/
💡 Want to grow your Shopify store? Work with Kurt:
🔥 Apply for a strategy session → https://ethercycle.com/apply
🚀 See what we’ve built → https://ethercycle.com/work
📩 Get my best Shopify insights → https://kurtelster.com/
👥 Join Our Private Facebook Group:
Connect with other Shopify entrepreneurs → https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast/
This is a story about ecommerce, sports, and the weird world of NIL merch.
It’s about how one Shopify store turned athlete partnerships into real growth.
And it’s about what happens when you take a risk—and it actually works.
