From the Garage to the Market
Marcus Williams didn't set out to start a business. He started making leather wallets and belts as a hobby — something to do with his hands after work. When a friend posted a photo of one of his pieces online and orders started coming in, he realized he might have something real.
"I was working full time, making stuff on weekends, and shipping out of my garage," Marcus recalls. "I had no idea what I was doing as a business. I just knew people kept buying."
Joining EAP
A mentor at a local 1 Million Cups event suggested Marcus apply to EAP. He almost didn't. "I thought EAP was for tech companies and people with MBAs," he says. "I make leather goods. I didn't think I fit."
He did apply, and was accepted into the cohort. Within the first month, his EAP mentor helped him see that the business he was running informally had real structural problems — no pricing strategy, no inventory system, and no way to scale production without burning out.
Building the Real Business
Over the next 18 months, Marcus worked through EAP's core programming while simultaneously rebuilding his business from the ground up. He developed a proper pricing model, hired his first part-time employee, moved production out of his garage into a small workshop, and launched a direct-to-consumer e-commerce site.
By the end of his second year in the program, Marcus had crossed six figures in annual revenue, was employing a team of four, and was shipping products to customers in 38 states.
What's Next
Marcus is now exploring wholesale partnerships with regional retailers and working with his EAP mentor on a production expansion plan. He credits the program not just with the business knowledge, but with the confidence to think bigger.
"EAP didn't build my business," he says. "But it gave me the tools and the people around me to build it myself. That's the difference."