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Hello! a few things i'd like to share as we head into this long holiday weekend. I was a young, single, teenage parent, one year out of high school. I have worked from the moment my daughter was born. Worked to make a life for me and a life for her. Together, we have endured a lot of labor, a lot of education, a lot of heartache and a lot of love. We have worked as individuals and as a team. And, for many years, we worked as a team of three. When that team stopped working for all of us, we were all overcome by so much sadness. Over the last year, the three of us have ventured out on our own paths in hopes of finding a way that makes sense for each of us individually. I have watched from afar as my partner of the ten years prior has rebuilt some of what he missed and hoped for as a future. It makes me truly happy to see. I have watched from up close what my daughter has found in herself to build her own future. One of the most fulfilling things as a parent. And, I have been able to see a change in myself that has resulted in a desire to be happier, and to work better, and to spend more time so I may build the future I envision for myself. This past year I took on several experiments. One of which was a major shift in everything I had built from the time I started Moop. I learned so much from that experience…more than I can put into words in this space. It humbled me in ways I did not realize it would. It made me see how important the work that I personally do is to the business I have built. It reminded me that Moop began as an extension of my studio practice as an artist. It taught me that there is value in an individual way of doing something…in being small. in staying small. It introduced me to some incredible people who I greatly admire. It also showed me that Moop bags should be made in my studio. They do not follow traditional practices of manufacturing. And, they don’t need to. In exchange for that, I have been able to build a team of people around me who I can teach, on a day to day basis, how to do what I do. And, in doing so, build friendships that mean so much more to me than building a massive empire. I feel so lucky to get to spend my days with the people that I do. We work a lot and I love that it gets to be with them. We made a huge space change a few weeks ago and while it seemed very sudden, it was an important move in the overall happiness of me, those who work with me and the company we make happen every day. We are now, so happily, located on a quiet street, in a busy neighborhood, in a cozy, bright blue building. In making that move, we unearthed quite a few bags with flaws or errors from all of our learnings and experiments of the last year. So, to celebrate this weekend - Labor Day Weekend - we are having a seconds sale and making the fruits of our messed up labor available to you! AND! We are taking some time off! You can find the seconds sale by clicking here. We’ll leave it running until everything sells out….or, until I drag myself out of Labor Day vacation mode to check on how it all goes…whichever comes first. Thank you all for helping me build bags that mean so much more than simply a vessel for carrying things. Thank you for sharing your stories of adventure with me and thank you a million times over for bringing a Moop bag along for the journey. It means so much to know that the bags my small team and I make, get to make the lives of those who carry them just a teeny bit better. Hope y’all are getting to take a break this weekend, spending it with those you love. I’m taking a few of my favorite people to see a couple of my other favorite people and hoping to see the seaside while doing so…and answering seconds sale questions via computer phone while traveling in a car… a million x’s and o’s and tons of hearts and stars and thousands of fun adventures, Wendy. |
