Originally published in Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. .听
In Juliana Owen鈥檚 hometown of Seagrove, North Carolina, you鈥檙e either a potter or you know one. Growing up in America鈥檚 鈥渉andmade pottery capital,鈥� much of her childhood was spent in her father鈥檚 pottery studio. Owen 鈥�25 is even named after Juliana Busbee, a trailblazing ceramics designer from Seagrove who worked with her great-grandfather. It鈥檚 this legacy that inspired her to launch an upscale handbag brand with her first product, the Busbee Bag.
Owen may have studied marketing at the Carroll School, but she didn鈥檛 cast off her artistic upbringing. She double majored in studio art after taking a class in urban design offered by the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action, which she says made her 鈥渢hink more [with] a design lens.鈥� For her senior capstone art project, Owen decided to design a purse, despite not really knowing how to sew. Instead, she experimented with creative folding techniques. The result was a sculptural leather handbag that could be deconstructed to lie flat and reassembled in six folds.
Realizing that a folding handbag was a great business concept, she entered the Edmund H.听Shea Jr. Center for Entrepreneurship鈥檚 Strakosch Venture Competition, winning second place. Owen received $5,000 in equity- free funding and a new mentor in competition judge Cory Munchbach, MCAS 鈥�09, former CEO of BlueConic. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to be an entrepreneur,鈥� she says, but 鈥渉aving someone [like Munchbach] tell you that you can do this makes you much more likely to take the next step.鈥�
The Busbee Bag transforms from a 2D shape into a 3D vessel, mirroring architectural principles and the design sensiblities that shaped Owen.
After moving to Chicago for a marketing associate job with Deloitte, Owen found a manufacturer to produce the Busbee Bag in three colorways that she named Cabernet, Penny, and Tea as a nod to her father鈥檚 ceramic glazes. In late 2025, the first 54 bags went on sale online, selling out within a month. The bag is now also stocked at high-end Chicago boutique IngaDoutzen.
As a part-time founder, Owen is often answering emails from her manufacturer while commuting to work or spending weekends running through her to-do list. Even doing just a couple of tasks a day for her business and 鈥渕oving in the right direction really makes a big difference,鈥� she says.
听Like making pottery, starting a business is a messy but exciting process. Owen is enjoying learning by doing: 鈥淭here really is no age where you suddenly know everything,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚鈥檓 just saying yes and figuring it out as I go.鈥�
