ERIC RYAN HAS a soft spot for startups. After selling Method, his ecofriendly cleaning-products Company, to Ecover in 2012, Ryan just had to do it all again, twice, launching the Supplements startup Olly in 2015 and the first-aid Company Welly in 2019. The three businesses have a combined valuation of more than $1 billion.
Ryan's latest venture is the direct-to-consumer jewelry brand Cast, which he helped launch in 2021 as a founding investor, and which represents his first Company outside of the consumer packaged goods category.
“I always want to go out and do something I've never done before,” says Ryan, 49. “That's the only way to find out what you're capable of.”
Cast co-founder and chief Creative officer Rachel Skelly shares Ryan's penchant for branching out into new industries. Prior to serving as VP of Creative at Olly from 2014 to 2019, Skelly, 45, held Creative roles at the baby food Company Plum Organics and at
