It's Yours To Carry
2017 — The Beginning
It was the summer of 2017, and I had just turned sixteen years old when I partnered with my father, a jeweler with decades of experience, to start an in-house jewelry company.
Growing up, jewelry was our family’s way of making a living. I spent much of my childhood in jewelry exchanges, around tools, stones, and the craft my father built his life on.
It wasn’t as fancy or glamorous as it may sound, but it was ours.
We started out in our small townhome garage, barely big enough to fit our car.
Our setup consisted of a few computers used for designing, two benches, and basic jewelry making equipment my father collected over the years.
This would serve as our workshop for the next five years.
We started off making simple pieces — rings, pendants, earrings — and listing them on Etsy.
Experimenting to see what the online market responded to.
And it was during these experiments that one day we came up with the idea of our original Snook pendant.
A 3D-like, realistic, double-sided and fully solid design that featured a top diamond polish finish, a bottom mirror finish, and black enamel for its iconic black line.
With both of us being avid fishermen from South Florida, the Snook was one of our most sought after catches.
After making our first few original pendants and wearing them out in the local piers and fishing spots, other anglers would often notice and ask about it.
Some even wanted one of their own.
After seeing the locals' positive reaction to the design, I listed it on Etsy to see what would happen.
At first... nothing.
In fact, the first nautical design ever sold online was a triple Snook ring I designed based on the pendant.
It was only later, towards the end of 2017, that we started getting our first few sales for the pendant.
Looking back now, I'm amazed how one fish pendant would eventually become the design that quietly set the foundation for everything that followed.
2018 - 2020 — The Founding of Castil
Originally, the brand was called “Castil.”
I came up with the name by splitting my last name, Castillo, in half.
I remember wanting a name that could represent my family’s lineage in jewelry, something that could sound like the name of a jewelry house.
The name became my standard. Whenever I wasn't sure what direction to take, I would simply ask myself: what would a jewelry house do?
As the ambitious, slightly delusional kid I was, I dreamed of creating something far bigger than our small, cramped, and hot garage workshop.
Or at the very least, grow into something that could afford a warehouse...
During my later high school years, we began building our nautical collection, coming up with some of our more popular designs such as the Mahi, the Tarpon, and the Redfish.
I spent many of my afternoons after school designing new products, building our website, and coming up with pricing and marketing strategies.
That routine would continue once I left for college as well.
However, as a freshman in my second semester, I realized I could not balance being both a full-time student and starting up a jewelry company.
At 18 years old, I decided to put all my efforts into what I thought would work out better not only for me, but for my family in the long run.
When the pandemic officially hit during my week of spring break, I took the opportunity to drop out of school and focus full-time on the business.
Around this time, Castil was officially registered as a company and my journey as a full-time jewelry entrepreneur would begin.
2020 - 2023 — The Isolation Years and The Come Up
The following years that would await me would include many long nights, setbacks, and situations I never thought I'd ever find myself in.
The typical entrepreneur's journey I suppose.
During this time, I spent many days alone and isolated, as much of the world did.
But if the earlier startup years taught me anything, it's that I can work well alone and under pressure.
2020 and 2021 would serve as our foundation years, investing our profits back into the business, upgrading machinery, making more designs.
Designs such as our movable Spin Reel and our Action Fish series.
2022 would be a year where my character would be tested to its core.
Somehow... we survived.
And in late 2022, we finally moved out of that hot and cramped garage and into our first warehouse.
2023 would start off a bit unpromising, but things would turn around quickly once June arrived.
By the end of that year, Castil finally became a thriving and stable business.
2024 — Success, and what comes after it.
At the start of the new year, I was 22, and I had finally achieved what I had been longing for since I was a teen.
A real and stable business that my family and I could live off of.
And the freedom to go wherever I want, eat wherever I want, and do largely whatever I pleased.
Remarkably, it was all done privately and peacefully, without the need for social media or any real heavy marketing.
Solely through organic traffic and word of mouth.
It was an incredible position to be in at such a young age, albeit achieved through much sacrifice.
But of course, being the ambitious person I am, naturally I set my sights on growing the company more.
And grow we did.
More machines, more designs, and even a bigger warehouse.
However, as the year went on...
I noticed that the motivation that originally drove me had begun to fade.
Despite having crafted and sold our nautical jewelry across the country and globe for years now, I found myself not fully understanding what I was working toward beyond business success alone.
As my passion for my work seemed to dwindle, I drifted through life for a while.
The funny thing about success is that no one seems to talk about what can happen after you achieve it.
