Hey friend,
Small Business Saturday is honestly one of my favorite “made-up holidays.” The fact that it was started by American Express blows my mind a little—but hey, sometimes capitalism surprises us.
Here’s the truth, though:
I never wanted to be an entrepreneur.
I grew up in a small retail business in upstate New York. My family owned a gift shop—one of those feast-or-famine, 24/7/365 operations that never truly slept. Watching that kind of constant stress made me swear up and down that I would never, ever choose that life. I wanted something predictable. Steady. Normal.
So I became a teacher.
Predictable(-ish). Meaningful. Wonderful in its own way. But even while I was teaching, I couldn’t stop building this little jewelry world on the side. Because facts are: I’m creative to my core. I love making things. I love designing things. I see the world a little sideways. And I’ve always had a strange knack for business—even if I’ve made roughly a bajillion mistakes along the way.
No one is born knowing how to do any of this. Being human means messing up, learning, recalibrating, and trying again.
But building this business? It has been one of the greatest joys of my life.
I get to work with incredible humans. I get to meet so many of you—online, in DMs, in the shop—and hear the stories behind why you love what we make. One of my favorites is when parents tell me their kids visited the store and left thinking, “Wait… someone can do THIS for a living?” That will never stop feeling magical to me.
So on this Small Business Saturday, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for supporting this wonderfully weird little company where we ask in interviews, “Are you okay with swearing?” Thank you for cheering us on, choosing us, gifting us, wearing us, and telling your friends about us. Whether you’re swinging by the shop in the Twin Cities (yay llamas!) or shopping with us online from wherever you are—thank you.
Thank you for reading this. Thank you for being here. Thank you for letting this small business exist at all. It means more to me than you know.
With so much gratitude,
Larissa
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