From the Army to Building a Mission-Driven Brand
In this episode of The DTC Insider, Brian Roisentul sits down with Elisabeth Crossley-Wright, founder of With Love Darling, to discuss her unconventional journey from serving in the Danish army and deploying on NATO missions to building a jewelry brand centered around storytelling, purpose, and meaningful impact.
Elisabeth shares how her experiences in the army, Bosnia, and Kosovo shaped her resilience and perspective on entrepreneurship, and why she eventually decided to build a business that could make a difference. She explains how With Love Darling evolved from a creative outlet into a mission-driven brand, and why working with artisans and creating economic opportunities became central to the business.
They dive into the growth of With Love Darling, how Facebook advertising helped take the business from one or two orders per day to as many as 30, and why rising customer acquisition costs eventually pushed Elisabeth to rethink that strategy. She shares why she scaled back paid advertising in favor of organic growth, community, and a stronger brand voice, and how listening directly to customers has helped shape the business.
Plus, they explore With Love Darling’s work with Maasai women in Kenya, how creating economic opportunities led to greater independence and unexpected support networks, and how limited access to period products inspired a new initiative within the brand. Elisabeth also shares how she thinks about balancing mission with profitability, why meaningful impact starts with understanding what people actually need, and why building a business that makes a difference doesn’t mean trying to solve every problem at once.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
• What her NATO missions in Bosnia and Kosovo taught her about conflict, entrepreneurship, opportunity, and hope.
• Why she decided to build a business that could make a difference.
• How With Love Darling evolved from a creative outlet into a mission-driven jewelry brand.
• Why storytelling became more important to Elisabeth than the jewelry itself.
• How she searched through hundreds of workshops to find the right production partners in India.
• Why sustainability, recycled materials, fair pay, and working conditions influenced her supplier decisions.
• How With Love Darling built its collections around global goals including clean water, peace, and equality.
• How customers ultimately helped shape the brand and its direction.
• How Facebook advertising helped grow the business from one or two orders per day to as many as 30.
• Why rising customer acquisition costs led Elisabeth to scale back paid advertising.
• How the brand shifted its focus toward organic growth, community, and building a stronger brand voice.
• Why direct conversations with customers can become a valuable source of insights for DTC brands.
• How working with Maasai women in Kenya created income, community, and greater independence.
• Why visiting Kenya changed Elisabeth’s assumptions about the challenges those women were facing.
• How limited access to period products became part of With Love Darling’s mission.
• Why engaging directly with communities can uncover problems a brand might otherwise never see.
• How Elisabeth approaches the tension between profitability and maintaining a strong social and environmental mission.
• Why entrepreneurs sometimes need the courage to ignore what they’re “supposed” to do.
• Why Elisabeth believes meaningful impact can start with solving one small problem at a time.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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This episode is brought to you by BSR.
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