Baltic Born Lands At No. 14 Nationally On The 2022 Inc. 5000 List, Leading 121 Utah-based Firms For The Prestigious Annual Ranking

Utah’s 121 companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list added over 32,500 jobs between 2019 and 2021; they also generated over $6.1 billion in combined total sales in 2021 alone. And Baltic Born? It grew over 18,000% in the three-year span and may crack $90 million in sales in 2022.

Some six years after sisters Allison Hunt, Angela Liljenquist, and Marianne Liljenquist launched their company in Allison’s Utah basement in 2016, Baltic Born, the women’s clothing brand, has experienced explosive growth as it was just named by Inc. magazine as America’s 14th fastest-growing private company between 2019 and 2021.

In fact, according to the 2022 Inc. 5000 list, American Fork, Utah-based Baltic Born grew over 18,000% during the three-year span, with sales of close to $40 million in 2021.

It also led a cohort of 121 Utah-based firms that placed on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list.

And for 2022? Baltic Born Co-Founder Allison says they expect to be “knocking on the door of $90 million in sales for 2022.”

Of the 121 companies from Utah that qualified for the latest Inc. 5000 list, 12 firms cracked the Top 500 ranking.

In combination, these 121 Utah firms added over 32,500 jobs between 2019 and 2021; they also generated over $6.1 billion in combined total sales in 2021 alone.

Baltic Born: A Utah Success Story Still Being Written

During my conversation with the three Baltic Born co-founders yesterday, I learned that although none had any training or true prior experience in running a business, their simple goal was to

“Provide dresses for women to wear at any stage of life.”

According to co-founder Allison, starting Baltic Born in 2016 was “just something fun to do as sisters.”

“We took out a $20,000 small business loan and self-funded the company. With that we bought a camera; we learned how to photograph; we built our website, and we purchased inventory to launch ourselves into the crazy ecomm/social media craze that was happening at the time.”

Although the co-founders started with a focus on European-inspired fashion, something that interested the three sisters personally, they quickly saw that the opportunity lay with affordable occasion-ware dresses that fit a woman’s ever-changing body.

So they made that shift in 2019 while also beginning to design and manufacture their own dresses, most of which are manufactured today in the People’s Republic of China.

“That’s when our growth really took off,” Allison said, “as we were listening to our customers and finding this community of women worldwide.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, they initially clamped down on everything.

Yet by June of that year sales shot back up, and they found that their customers were realizing that they still had reasons to purchase and wear dresses for momentous occasions, like backyard weddings, baby bump reveals, family photos, and other “special moments in life.”

As Marianne explained,

“The price point of our dresses made people realize that it was possible to have a beautiful dress for that occasion without breaking the bank.”

It was in 2020 that Angela took over marketing for the firm, especially online advertising and organic outreach via Instagram, Facebook, Google, and others, and those efforts led sales to skyrocket, Allison stated.

Although they experienced many of the same supply chain issues during 2020 and 2021 that most companies did that sourced products overseas, especially in the PRC, Allison said they have not had any such challenges since the beginning of 2022.

Today, the bulk of their sales are to customers in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and Germany.

As might be expected from simply visiting their website, most of their target customers are women between the ages of 25 to 45.

They admitted that they were quite shocked when they saw how highly their company was ranked by Inc. magazine versus their entrepreneurial peers around the U.S., even though Baltic Born had already received a number of awards based upon their growth.

But Marianne wanted to make sure Silicon Slopes readers understood the ongoing role each of the sisters play on a day-to-day basis at Baltic Born.

“We’re all still very involved in the business day-to-day. You’ll find us in the warehouse, in the back unloading boxes from the trucks, (and) we’re filling orders. (So) it’s hard for us to not realize how big the company has actually grown, because we’re just doing the things we need to do to keep it all running smoothly.”

“To achieve No. 14 on the Inc. 5000 list does not come without a lot of sacrifice,” Allison added. “We’re mothers, Marianne’s expecting her first child in two months, and I just think that the balancing act of running a home life along with creating this empire that we have done is quite remarkable.”

After verbalizing all of the different aspects that go into starting and running a successful business – like coming up with an idea, creating the product, finding the customer, marketing, customer service, HR, finance, operations, and customer experience – Angela says that when someone tells her they want to start a business, her first thought is, “Are you sure?”

“I don’t think people understand the hustle and the sacrifice, but also this urgency, that goes into running a business. (Sometimes) people don’t understand (and they ask), ‘Why do we have to do this right now?’ I think to have a successful business you have to have that edge because it can’t wait until Monday. (It's) just going the extra mile.

“To be No. 14 on the Inc. 5000 you have to be better, you have to work harder, and you have to go the extra mile in every aspect. And in every department. And you have to do that for a very long time, not just once. That has to be the standard of your business.”

Today, Baltic Born has expanded beyond dresses to include pantsuits and skirts and tops and swimwear and more, but all appear to be moderately priced (at least that’s the opinion of a guy with three sisters, three daughters, six granddaughters, and a sweetheart of a wife of over 40 years).

And from everything I can tell, these three powerhouse women have it going on, with a well-thought-out brand for Baltic Born that is on totally point for a ton of prospective fans, throughout North America and around the globe.

I recognize that I just met them via Zoom yesterday, but this is a team I will continue to root for.

An Overview of the 2022 Inc. 5000, Plus a Partial List of Some of Utah’s this year's Inc. 5000 Honorees

For readers not familiar with the Inc. 5000 ranking system or process, the following language comes directly from its website.

“Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2018 to 2021. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as of December 31, 2021. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.)

“The minimum revenue required for 2018 is $100,000; the minimum for 2021 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places.”

Outlined below is a list of the top 20 Utah-based companies that were included in the 2022 Inc. 5000 ranking.

Each entry noted below shows

1. Their numeric ranking on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list;
2. The company name, hotlinked to their website;
3. Their three-year percentage growth, from 2019 through 2021;
4. The Utah city where their headquarters are located;
5. The industry they primarily operate in; and
6. A description of their business.

{NOTE: Each description was provided by the company and is taken directly from the 2022 Inc. 5000 listing.}

For individuals interested in conducting their own research, each of the entries for the 121 Utah-based firms included in the 2022 Inc. 5000 list can be found by visiting https://www.inc.com/inc5000/2022 and then filtering the list by selecting Utah under the State tab.

Here then is a breakout of the Top 20 Utah firms on the Inc. 5000 ranking for 2022:

• No. 14:  Baltic Born; 18,162%; American Fork; Retail; Description (Online women's apparel company specializing in attire for special occasions).
• No. 28:  Xevant; 11,853%; Lehi; Software; Description (Pharmacy benefits platform streamlining data analysis for health plans, brokers, and consultants).
• No. 118:  PCF Insurance Services; 3,830%; Lehi; Insurance; Description (Full-service consultant and insurance brokerage firm offering a range of risk management and insurance solutions).
• No. 119:  HydroJug; 3,819%; Ogden; Consumer Products; Description (Reusable water bottle company that revolves around the flagship HydroJug product).
• No. 238:  IMAGE Studios; 2,205%; Salt Lake City; Retail; Description (Nationwide salon suite franchisor offering various beauty entrepreneurs turnkey co-working spaces).
• No. 272:  Massive; 2,006%; Park City; Advertising; Description (Marketing firm specializing in dedicated email acquisition campaigns for brand growth).
• No. 299:  Cozy Earth Holdings; 1,906%; Bluffdale; Consumer Products; Description (Luxury home goods retailer offering sustainable bedding, bath, and apparel products).
• No. 440:  JKR Windows; 1,415%; St. George; Consumer Products; Description (Company that installs the highest-quality, high-performance energy-efficient windows).
• No. 467:  Izzard Ink Publishing; 1,337%; Salt Lake City; Media; Description (Collaborative publisher connecting self-publishing authors with publishing world experts).
• No. 479:  Evobox; 1,307%; American Fork; Logistics & Transportation; Description (Shipping business to get your company moving in the right direction).
• No. 483:  Simplify Home Loans; 1,284%; American Fork; Financial Services; Description (Mortgage broker specializing in VA loans to improve customers' financial situations).  NOTE: Also ranked No. 192 in 2021.
• No. 492:  Ivy City Co.; 1,256%; Salt Lake City; Industry; Retail (A women-owned and operated e-commerce apparel company with more than 20 sizes available).
• No. 529:  Summit Recommerce Group; 1,180%; North Salt Lake; Retail; Description (Resale clothing stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia helping families dress their children affordably and sustainably).
• No. 606:  Escapod Trailers; 1,051%; Coalville; Manufacturing; Description (Manufacturer of off-road camping trailers offering a way to navigate rugged terrain and variable weather conditions while incorporating convenience).
• No. 620:  Tannerites, Corp; 1,024%; St. George; Media; Description (Family-friendly content creation company that focuses on creation, connection and adding value to the industry without compromising family values).
• No. 643:  Ocavu; 976%; Lehi; Software; Description (End-to-end, immersive infrastructure platform powering next layer of the internet, delivering 3D experiences cross-platform through intuitive augmented reality solutions).
• No. 645:  Crumbl Cookies; 976%; Orem; Food & Beverage; Description (Gourmet cookie company and restaurant franchise featuring a rotating weekly menu).
• No. 666:  LoanPro Software; 947%; Farmington; Software; Description (Core lending software empowering tech-forward lenders through automation, data visibility, powerful integrations and unification of the loan life cycle). NOTE: Also ranked No. 258 in 2021.
• No. 674:  Filevine; 929%; Salt Lake City; Software; Description (Platform serving law practitioners and their clients by making legal work more mobile, collaborative, productive and efficient). NOTE: Also ranked No. 376 in 2021.
• No. 686:  Agility; 913%; Draper; Advertising & Marketing; Description (Digital advertising company working across all online formats and devices to create a comprehensive advertising platform). NOTE: Also ranked No. 266 in 2020.