Julep's Journey with the Civitas Network [VIDEO]

Key takeaways:

• We were recently featured on a Civitas Showcase video which shared the journey we've walked with the Civitas network
• Julep joined the Civitas Network in early 2019 after an informal coffee conversation between founder Julia and Paul Smith in Johannesburg.
• The partnership provided peer-level founder support and insights into the realities of building and scaling a business.

Transcript: Civitas x Julep with Nic & Jules Rosslee

Justin King: These two entrepreneurs thought outside the box to make your day.

Jules Rosslee: I'm Jules.

Nic Rosslee: And I'm Nic. We're the founders of Julep. In 2019, after we'd only been dating for a few months, we started to talk about what we wanted our careers to look like. We were both in corporate roles in Joburg—I was in management consulting and Nic was an IP lawyer.

Jules Rosslee: We were both looking for an opportunity to do something that we cared deeply about and that made people's lives better.

Nic Rosslee: We both love flowers and believed that sending flowers is a way to show up meaningfully. And we couldn't find something we were excited to send to the people we love.

Jules Rosslee: Which was the spark for Julep.

Justin King: Great ideas alone don't make great businesses.

Nic Rosslee: We went through the customer journey for sending flowers and had three instincts for what we thought we could improve. First, we wanted to make sure that what customers saw online was what actually arrived. Second, getting delivery right would be crucial—delivering the flowers when we promised and in great condition. And third, the unboxing moment needed to be memorable. Our Julep box solved these challenges and we built the rest of the experience around it.

Justin King: For Jules and Nic, it's not just about sending flowers.

Jules Rosslee: Our customers—85% of the time women sending to other women—represent some of the most thoughtful people you will ever come across.

Nic Rosslee: What surprised us is how much joy we get from being part of the moment.

Jules Rosslee: We're proud to have built a team that cares about those details too. So what arrives at a home or an office is something that we all stand by.

Justin King: So talk me through how the business has evolved over the last few years and what's next?

Nic Rosslee: We actually received feedback from a customer recently that said: "You're big enough to give us great customer service, but small enough to get all the little details right."

Jules Rosslee: We are ambitious about how we want to grow in the next five, 10, 15 years, but very much in a self-funded, sustainable way. We love to kind of build on that and accelerate it, but with our customer in mind. All of our goals are around days made and that kind of thing. It's all about growth while keeping the future in mind.

Nic Rosslee: If you've been thinking about someone lately, let's make their day.