A Year in Review
July-September
Our initial few months of business remained pretty dedicated to… You guessed it! Learning the day-to-day needs for running a business.
Starting out, we knew we had plenty to learn, but we had no real way of predicting what all would be required of us, especially on an everyday basis. Being a strictly routine person, this bit intimidated me a little. We decided to take it one day at a time, and so far, it’s worked out well!
Isabella and I thoroughly enjoyed the process of packaging orders during this time. Immediately, we felt a passion towards minimal waste and avoiding the use of plastic for shipments. Prioritizing biodegradable, environmentally conscious products in this area remains an incredibly important value of ours, and something we deemed as nonnegotiable from the start.
Shipping costs were a HUGE trial and error throughout this period, and honestly, still continue to be. Rates often change and it can be challenging to predict accurately. We’ve definitely adjusted a bit along the way, but I’ll continue to label this as our biggest “hitch” in our overall experience this last year. Currently, we’re making more creations that happen to be lower weight, so that’s working to our advantage right now.
October-December
These months represent an extremely turbulent period for us in the business. We had already laid out concrete plans for the entire holiday season when our grandmother Joan, who we shared the deep joy and pleasure of caretaking for, unexpectedly passed at the start of October. With only a week in between her funeral and our very first pop-up event, we agreed Joan, who wholeheartedly believed in our business ventures, would want us to stick to our commitments throughout this time.
Our first (well, not exactly first) business investment occurred at this point — Our tent! Thanks to our lovely 10x10 beauty, we spent our holiday season between three pop-up events alongside our usual online orders. It was a beautiful “soft paw” into the event world, and we were excited to go ahead and endure the unavoidable trials and tribulations involved in making these beginning shows smooth running. By November, we had released our Christmas line, and so it was particularly refreshing to specialize our tent with the holidays in mind.
As to be expected, this season was definitely our most fast-paced, consistent time. We did receive our largest bulk of profit towards our ongoing donation to the Hope For Fertility Foundation during this period, which was a beautiful perk to our exhaustion. It was also noted at the end of the year how special it felt to see Christmas trees specifically decorated with our work!
January-March
This was a major period of rest for the two of us. With the holidays behind us, we felt it was important to process through our grief and focus on personal creations for a bit. I have continually feared burnout throughout this journey, and although it’s remained overall avoided, we knew we needed to be proactive in changing how we operated during this specific time.
Mid-January, we ran a charity event in honor of Megan Maryanski to help support her family in the immediate aftermath of their unimaginable loss. Despite all the support we’d been given throughout the holidays just weeks before, our community was quick to offer support and a donation was submitted to the Maryasnki family immediately following the closing of our event. This is when I experienced my deepest appreciation for the Creative Co. and what we’ve been able to do.
During this period, our love for collaging took a rather personal turn, delving into creative journaling. I found this to be a highly cathartic way of processing what was going on inside my head without the pressure of needing the use of words. At this time, we invested in a photo scanner, spending countless nights making prints straight from our journal pages. To this day, this is our favorite way to spend girls nights.
April-June
Coming out of our hibernation, this is when we began refining our ideas for summer. Both of us were aware at this point of what processes were and weren’t working for us individually, so we started fine-tuning. Throughout this journey, it’s been important to remember that we carry all creative freedom ourselves, and so if something doesn’t appear to be working for us, changes can be made almost immediately. That has seemed to lessen the overall angst associated with trying new things or approaching something we don’t initially feel 100% confident about.
The fast approaching warm weather had us missing our time at outdoor markets, so we noted that perhaps a few summer pop-ups were in order. Plantchella, an event catering to fellow plant and flower lovers, is a market we were especially excited to get signed on for. It’ll represent our first pop-up on the road, taking us over to Augusta, so we’re particularly stoked for the roadtrip that’ll come along with it!
Our first year of business has involved so much change and transformation. Starting out, there were uncertainties tied up in just about everything we did. Moving forward, although the learning never stops, I know we’ll be operating with much more ease and comfortability. With a few more changes on the way, we’re genuinely excited for the direction we’re headed in this upcoming year! We thank you deeply for being a part of it!
