After her dog marked its territory on her brand-new carpet, Jeneva Bell had a lightbulb moment. At the time (2008), she and her business partner were trying to create a product that would reinvent a household staple, inspired by the velvet Huggable Hangers they saw on TV. The pair decided to design a machine-washable rug that would look good but also withstand the messes that come with pets and children, and Ruggable was born. What followed was two years of prototyping, then failed licensing deals, buying out her business partner, and brief stints on HSN and in Lowe’s. “What really made the difference for me was that I finally had to let go of [focusing on] being successful,” Bell tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. “I had to stop and say: ‘Do you love what you do? Are you happy with what you’re doing?’ And I would always come back and tell myself, ‘Yes, I love this.’ All these problems I had to solve, I found fun. And so all of a sudden, I felt grateful that the lights were still on, that I was able to survive.”

In 2017, a venture capitalist firm’s investment allowed Bell to finally launch the brand’s website and digital advertising initiatives, turbocharging the company’s growth. Today, Ruggable has nearly 1,000 employees and factories across the globe.

One of Ruggable’s hallmarks is collaborating with designers: Its wide-ranging partnerships have included Kathy and Nicky Hilton, Goop, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Jonathan Adler, Justina Blakeney, and the Netflix show Bridgerton. These collections allow the brand to reach clients with different styles and tastes—shoppers the company may not have attracted otherwise. But as Bell has discovered, the variety has also jump-started her own creativity. “I [always] wanted to be able to create a diverse assortment so that people who have small kids or dogs [would] be able to buy a rug that they would love and have in their home,” she says. “I wanted to have a lot of designs, but to have these collaborations that allow these designers to express themselves. And their voices are just incredible.”

Crucial insight: Bell finds inspiration and advice in the pages of books, rather than on her phone screen, gaining fresh perspectives from entrepreneurship-focused titles like The Glitter Plan (written by the founders of Juicy Couture) and Shoe Dog (the story of Nike). “That’s when you really understand [launching a business is] not an overnight success,” she says. “If you just watch social media, you’re never going to understand that concept, but if you read memoirs, you can get a much better feel of what the real history was and then how it finally turned around.”

Key quote: “When you exude passion, it’s magnetic, [and] you attract other people who are passionate. The [team] we have who have helped us develop all the materials that we use in our rugs—we’ve been lucky to attract really passionate people, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been able to innovate.”

This episode is sponsored by Four Hands and Surya. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The Thursday Show

BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus and host Dennis Scully discuss the biggest news in the industry, including Havenly’s newest acquisition, Banana Republic’s exit from furniture, and why Hearst’s AI deal is drawing backlash. Later, columnist Warren Shoulberg joins the show to break down the state of play in home retail.

This episode is sponsored by Loloi and Isla Porter. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.