Raymond Hill, the owner of New Jersey-based Sequin City, claims his business is the only one of its kind in America. Hill started his business after he was let go from a Fortune 500 company for apparently being too good at the task of selling fabrics. Over the past decade, Sequin City has become the go-to destination for various industries looking to purchase the small, shiny fashion decorations.
Originally from South Carolina, Hill picked cotton as a boy with his sharecropping parents and family. Once he learned the value of hard work, Hill ventured North in search of greater opportunities.
In a 2014 profile in Black Enterprise, Hill explained how he rose to a top sales position at the his previous employer. The owner promised Hill that all sales over $1 million entitled him to a large commission, a number he reached several times over. The owner, perhaps annoyed at the ease in which Hill reached his goals which meant he had to pay the commissions, fired him from his Vice President of Sales post. Instead of self-pity, Hill regrouped and used the firing as motivation to create Sequin City.
Hill used his wits and contacts to start his business. When his buyers found out he was no longer with the fashion company, they instead elected to work with Hill in his new venture. Sequin City became so successful that Hill was able to hire employees and secure a loan from the state of New Jersey’s Small Business Fund.
In a bit of irony, Hill purchased the building of the company that fired him. He selected the location because it housed equipment and the space he needed to continue manufacturing sequins. As noted in the profile, Sequin City employs 14 people and Hill hasn’t laid off anyone in over 12 years.
Hill says that customers from around the globe come to Sequin City for his wares. The industries include amusement parks, shoe designers and shoe designers among others.
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