Why it matters:
- Almond Wind Founder Brooke Sharpton left a lucrative Wall Street career to break into the furniture category with a brand that offers high-end craftsmanship and design at a mid-luxury price point.
- Since its launch earlier this year, Almond Wind has cultivated an online direct-to-consumer model while also landing B2B clients such as interior designers, hotels, and Airbnb hosts
- While many furniture brands focus on marketing comfort and durability with no direct emotional tie-in, Almond Wind differentiates itself with the story of Sharpton’s journey, which is resonating with devotees.
Brooke Sharpton, Founder of startup furniture brand Almond Wind, spent 12 years in finance, most recently as a vice president at J.P. Morgan managing wealth for high-net-worth individuals. That’s until furnishing her home led to a whole new career.
“In 2020, I became more intentional about my own home space and finding the right sofa,” Sharpton recalled. “Most sofas in a similar price range all looked the same. There was no storytelling. It was all about stain resistance and comfort, but there was no emotional tie-in.”
Though she was not a designer, Sharpton has a love of fashion and knows it’s the brand story that resonates with her first before she becomes passionate about an actual piece. Inspiration struck, and she began to contemplate a brand steeped in intentionality for the piece of furniture you arguably spend the most time on.
The right manufacturer ‘believes in what you’re doing even when you’re not their biggest client’
Seeing her brainstorm come to fruition meant learning a whole new industry. Sharpton spent the next few years digging deep into the details of how sofas are made and sketching designs while hiring someone to bring her ideas to life. “I’m more of a visionary than an artist, but I can get across the artistic feeling I want to convey,” she said.
Once the designs were set, finding the right materials was the next learning curve. Sharpton attended trade shows and gleaned guidance from contacts in interior design. “They were not doing exactly what I needed, but they helped me understand what I was looking for,” she said.
Sharpton began to pore over samples sent from manufacturers in China. “You need to find the right manufacturer, meaning someone who believes in what you’re doing even when you’re not their biggest client. You want to find the right fit and not just be at the back of the line,” she added.
By 2025, Almond Wind became a reality, carrying the Halo, Bayshore, and Valicia collections, which range in price from $1,500 to $5,500. Sales are done online, and Sharpton has warehouses in Miami and San Francisco for shipping. While direct-to-consumer retail accounts for 90% of sales, Almond Wind’s B2B business includes wholesale accounts like interior designers, hotels, and Airbnbs.
Last July, Sharpton quit her job at J.P. Morgan to focus on the new company full-time. “I knew I had to give it a real chance,” she said.
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Almond Wind leans into Sharpton’s brand story about betting on yourself in an unconventional way
The Almond Wind line offers a sleeker designer look than what you might find with a $20,000 sofa, but at a lower price point, said Sharpton, who classifies the sofas as mid-luxury. “It’s for a seasoned professional, or maybe an adult who is starting over. [Or maybe] it’s your first time buying a couch. That’s the Almond Wind customer.”
The sofas check all the sofa boxes: They are family- and pet-friendly with high-performance fabrics; easy to put together (“Even I can assemble it in 15 minutes,” Sharpton said, laughing); and reflect a blend of function and style. But the differentiator is the intentionality of the design and storytelling.
'I became more intentional about my own home space ... ' Sharpton recalled. 'Most sofas in a similar price range all looked the same. There was no storytelling. It was all about stain resistance and comfort, but there was no emotional tie-in.'Brooke Sharpton, Founder of Almond Wind
Sharpton’s story as one of only a few Black-owned and woman-owned furniture brands has garnered Almond Wind consumer attention that’s become critical to its marketing. Women, especially, are drawn to the details of how she walked away from a high-paying career to bet on herself in an untraditional way, she said. Social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram, has played a significant role in spreading her story.
The company name itself reflects Sharpton’s story as well as the product’s design. “Almonds are brown, and wind is silent but strong and freeing,” Sharpton explained. “I was trying to [evoke] that you can be soft but strong and fluid. You don’t have to be hard.”
The fabrics Sharpton chooses are soft, even when textured, like boucle or vegan mohair. And soon, the designs will reflect her background even more deeply. While her family has been in the United States for over 100 years, Sharpton’s background is Nigerian. Almond Wind currently is in production with a collection of Nigerian-print sofas that are slated for release by the end of 2025. The line will start with three prints, with the goal of expanding to six to 10.
Sharpton wanted to reflect the cultural aspect of her line and offer differentiation in the sofa space. She was inspired after visiting Ghana in 2024 and now sources the collection’s material from there and Nigeria.
“There are not a lot of sofas with a Nigerian print. Maybe pillows, but not sofas,” she said. “You can imagine it in your home to reflect your [own] experience.” What’s more, “People like to appreciate other cultures and experiences and bring them into their homes,” Sharpton said.
‘If you believe in your product and you have a strategic plan, go ahead and try’
Beyond the new collection, Sharpton envisions a future where Almond Wind is about more than sofas, perhaps adding pillows and other pieces to the mix. But the rollout will be slow and deliberate. “Entering the furniture field as a new brand is hard, and I’m cognizant of getting big too quickly,” she said, adding that everything needs to line up with supply chain availability and tariff uncertainty.
Despite her caution, Sharpton emphasizes that she believes in taking chances, a notion she wanted to impart to her 8-year-old daughter with the Almond Wind launch. “I believe in reinventing yourself at any stage, and it’s good for her to see me do that. She’s watching me do some scary things.”
Sharpton has similar advice for startup companies in the furniture space and beyond. “Don’t listen to all the reasons why you can’t do something. For me, there were 100 reasons why it wouldn’t work,” she said. “If you believe in your product and you have a strategic plan, go ahead and try.”
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