Since she was 13 and the iPhone 4 was all the rage, Kate Maescher has wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Cases by Kate began in middle school as a business for phone cases with interchangeable inserts that Maescher made and shipped on her own.
In 2021, the company has since expanded to many more products and has a following on Instagram of over 23,000. Maescher has also worked with companies like Urban Outfitters and Society6 on various product collaborations.
“It was kind of a joke honestly at first,” Maescher said. “Still doing it nine years later.”
Cases by Kate first went viral when Maescher worked with smaller influencers on Instagram and one of their posts blew up.
“It was kind of just a chain reaction after that,” Maescher said.
Maescher currently balances running her business and being a senior marketing and supply chain management double major at the University of Maryland.
Because production of her products is now outsourced, her day to day operations mostly consist of branding and social media marketing. She also continues to work with influencers on ad campaigns to promote her products.
The company’s website still sells phone cases, but also now has sweatshirts, backpacks, tapestries, masks and much more. Cases by Kate also has a yoga mat collaboration with Urban Outfitters and a Society6 store.
Recent University of Maryland graduate Camryn Hall has purchased two phone cases from Cases by Kate and said that she was impressed by the quality and only had to buy the second one once she got a new phone.
She also said that the company was accommodating; they were able to make a phone case in the size of her phone despite them not originally carrying it in that size.
Currently, Maescher is working on another unreleased project with Urban Outfitters and is working on new designs and advertising methods to continue to grow her brand further.