How Nicole Nollette built ettellon around a travel system
Nicole Nollette, Founder & CEO of ettellon, makes luxury travel organization products, including the Luxe Ensemble, a coordinated shell and five pouches. The conversation offers practical lessons on product development, finding manufacturing partners, reaching customers and staying close to a brand’s audience.
Start with a problem you understand, take time to find the right manufacturing partner, and stay close to your customers and brand. For marketing, focus on the place your customers already spend time instead of trying to be everywhere at once.
How did the business start, and what makes it different from others in your space?
ettellon started with my own frustration. I’ve traveled for work and for pleasure for more than two decades, first as a naval officer, then as an investment banker, then as an operations executive. I was always digging through a pile of mismatched pouches in my suitcase, and none of them worked together.
So I designed the system I wanted. It took about 12 years to get it right, between the materials, the construction, and finding the right manufacturing partner. We ended up with a woman-owned factory, and that mattered to me.
What makes us different is that it’s a system, not a single bag. Each piece is durable and easy to clean. The Luxe Ensemble is one Luxe Shell with five matching pouches inside: two Jillians, two Ryans, and a Sloane. Everything has a place. And every piece multitasks. Take the pouches out and the Luxe Shell is a work bag for a tablet, a 12" laptop, and headphones. Pull out a Jillian and it’s your purse for the day. Where Function Meets Luxury is our line, and we mean both halves of it.
How did you win your first customers, and where does most new business come from today?
My first customers came from my own network. People who’d watched me travel for years and knew exactly the problem I was solving. Having them buy it and actually use it on trips told me more than any survey could.
Today most new interest comes from several places: soical media and press. My audience is professional women who are on a plane every other week, and social media is where they really are. Press has been huge too. Features in The Beauty Box, Knightsbridge Circle, and She Wins Magazine each brought in people who’d never heard of us, and this holiday season we’re in gift guides from GoNOMAD, BrownStyle, FemFounder, and others.
What is one decision that changed the direction of the business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
The decision was leaving my job as an Operations EVP in March 2026 to run ettellon full-time. I’d built it on the side for years. Going all in changed how fast everything moves, from press to product to the new pieces coming this winter.
The mistake was hiring the wrong social media team. I gave them six months, and it didn’t work. What I learned is that you can outsource the work, but you can’t outsource knowing your own brand and your own customer. I stay much closer to it now, and the team I have today is a much better fit.
What has changed in your industry or in what customers expect, and how have you adapted?
The line between work travel and personal travel is basically gone. The woman I design for flies to a client meeting on Tuesday and stays through the weekend. She doesn’t want one bag for business and another for fun.
She also expects more from what she buys. She’ll pay for quality, but it has to earn its place in her suitcase. That’s why we built the Luxe Ensemble to flex. The same pieces work on a flight to Las Vegas and on a Metro ride to run errands in DC. We’ve also stayed direct-to-consumer at ettellon.com, so I’m close to every customer and can hear what they need.
If someone were starting a business like yours today, what should they do first, and what should they ignore?
Do first: solve a problem you actually have, and spend real time finding the right manufacturing partner. Your product is only as good as the people making it. I’d rather take longer and get it right than rush something I’m not proud of.
Ignore: the pressure to be on every platform at once. Find the one place your customer really spends time and show up there consistently. Everything else can follow.
Nicole Nollette is the Founder & CEO of ettellon. Instagram: @ettellon · www.ettellon.com
Thank you to Nicole Nollette and the team at ettellon for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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