08 May DomeCandy

It was on a fateful camping trip, a trip that Bobby Williams, the other half of the DomeCandy duo, did not want to go on as he is the antithesis of the outdoorsy Seth. But Bobby decided if he were going to be dragged into the wilderness, at least he would bring his boom box to keep the music going…but the music (and the boom box) died because it rained all weekend and the box was not built for aquatic adventures.

Greg: What inspired DomeCandy? Where did it all begin?

Seth: “It all began because boom boxes aren’t very good. Don’t get us wrong, there are some good ones out there, but they all seem to be very vanilla. We had a boom box once, but it turned two and it busted” Seth said, remembering with a laugh.

“I tried to revive it for Bobby. I tried really hard but soon realized boom boxes weren’t really made to be fixed. They were made for easy assembly and low production cost. I thought about buying a new one, but like I said, they’re not very good. You can get parts needed to reassemble it, but getting it all back into the same place was not as easy. Parts aren’t all exactly the same, and also, plastic snaps together but then breaks apart. It was not pretty. So I got all the parts needed and assembled them in the only box that seemed to hold everything…an old suitcase. It looked pretty cool, and when I cranked it up, it sounded even better than the original. Something about the space inside the vintage suitcase that resounded so right!

Bobby thought it was such a great thing and took it everywhere. Before long, the idea hit both of us – people would buy these things!”

Greg: What industry were you in prior to forming DomeCandy?

Seth: The restaurant industry.

Greg: What is your most proud moment so far, in regards to DomeCandy?

Seth: That’s a tough one. Every time we build a new one; each time we pack up for a festival; or package the newest model for a customer…building our website by ourselves was a big accomplishment, too — each of these moments have been major milestones. We haven’t had our proudest moment yet.

Greg: What advice do you have for anyone considering launching a new business in this area?

Seth: I think that in this day & age, access to information and people affords opportunities to network and this enables us to move products to people quickly. The hardest thing is taking that first step! If you have an idea, run with it. Failing is not a big deal because failing is the worst you can do, then you just try again. Promoting creativity is important. Promoting quality that’s Made in America is important!

Greg: How do you see DomeCandy in a year…or in ten years time?

Seth: With vision, anything is possible! I see part of DomeCandy’s future in teaching others, reaching out to people at trade shows, and going to schools to get kids creating! Developing a “kit” version of our product to allow others the joy of building their own quality speaker systems in “maker labs” is another goal. This phenomenon of “maker labs” is happening worldwide as people are trying their hand at all sorts of DIY projects. This just makes sense in our area.