The 2018 Story.
Grab a brew! We have 6 months to update you on!
This first part of this year has been a roller coaster (although isn’t every month of every small business a roller coaster!?). But the first half of this year has been pretty special and we’re pleased to finally block out some time to update you on our journey, which many of you have been on it with us since the very beginning.
Let’s wind the clock all the way back to January, post Christmas holidays. It wasn’t long after our return to work that we had a notification email to tell us we had been short-listed for an award, finalists for FSB Wales’ ‘Ethical and Green Business of the Year’! As a very small team this mean’t the absolute world to us and we literally jumped into full swing happy dancing and were bursting with pride! More about this later.
Later in January also marked a massive milestone for us. Many of you will know that one of our main goals is to address the inequalities faced by young women and girls. With most recent statistics by UNESCO suggesting there are approximately 130 million young women and girls not receiving their fundamental right to education, there is an incomprehensible amount of work to be done. So, when we were able to release the news that we had invested into our first girl we were on cloud nine. A concept likes ours doesn’t come without major challenges, at times it can feel like we’re trying to push a Boeing 747 up a hill, so these achievements are hugely rewarding and make all the hard work worth while (There may have been happy tears).
But this milestone wasn’t really about us, it’s about Irma, that very girl. Irma is 14 and lives in rural Guatemala. Fast forward to just a few weeks ago and we received her first quarter school report. She is doing phenomenally well and is excelling in all subjects, her best being Maths and Art!
February was the month of the pre-mentioned award ceremony. We were looking forward to putting on our finest and enjoying the moment of being able to share our story with others. Whilst we believe wholeheartedly in our mission, would the judges? Would they value it as much as we do? Would they appreciate the challenges and obstacles we’ve overcome? Acknowledge our achievements? This we could never be sure of. But they did. They called out our name as winners of our category, FSB Wales’ ‘Ethical and Green Business of the Year’ and we felt an overwhelming sense of pride and excitement, especially knowing we’re only in the introduction chapter of our sustainable fashion story.
March brought a very unexpected but blooming fantastic (and literally freezing) opportunity. We’re a company based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Every year, on 1st March, Wales celebrates St David’s Day but this year via the #WalesCreates campaign, Wales was also celebrating creative businesses that are coming out of the country. As part of this campaign we were invited with 5 other businesses, to stand on a fifth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. We waved our wares merrily, not just because we were having so much fun but also because this day was the start of the cold weather snap, infamously named; ‘The Beast from the East!’. Do good and have fun whilst you’re doing it, right?
April delivered us press in Cosmopolitan Magazine! The aftermath saw boomerang dance after boomerang dance on our Instagram page in our inability to contain ourselves. We’re only human and it’s not everyday you get national press.
May consisted of our planning and preparation of our collaboration with House of Fraser (Howells) in Cardiff. We launched a two day pop-up and we were stoked to be able to meet loads of amazing people, share our story and get such good feedback about our product in real life. Running an online business has its pros and cons but one of the main cons for us is not being able to connect, talk and share stories with people face-to-face. We’re “people people” and whilst digital is great there is a disconnect. You can’t beat real conversations, so we’re grateful for the people who came in to see us and for those people who stopped and wanted to find out more. It’s nice for people to see that we’re real human beings not just a website!
May was also the month we headed to the National Finals of the FSB Awards! We were invited to Nationals in London after winning our regional in February. Could we win the UK’s ‘Ethical and Green Business of the Year’? It was another evening to celebrate small businesses from all across the UK, and it was fantastic to be in a room with so much talent. We didn’t win this night, but honestly and as cliché as this sounds, whilst it would have been fantastic to walk away with another award, we were just pleased to be there.
And last but not least June! We’ve been planning our Autumn range for some time but June was where we made most of our final decisions. If you follow our social you’ll know we really value your opinions. Sometimes we can deliver on them, sometimes we can’t and sometimes we can but we need you to give us a little more time. As a micro business we’re not always able to do things quickly, sometimes things are not financially viable straight away or even achievable for our artisans BUT we are always listening. We’ve had a large number of you asking for Men’s products and whilst it’s a very small range we’re pleased to share we have some Men’s products landing very soon! As well as some other fab pieces that we can’t wait to arrive. So, stay tuned we’re motoring away.
Thank you to everyone who is continuing to follow our journey, it’s a bumpy ride but we’re loving ever minute and we’re so grateful for all of you.
Our next stop is the Autumn/Winter season, a big season for us. We’re ready for the task in hand and looking forward to getting back on the road and meeting more of you!
Heidi
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