TARA'S FIRST EVER BLOG!!!! And A Tribute To My Sisters
It was a Saturday morning. We sat around my desk in my home office anxiously awaiting that first order, that came in from one of (inside joke) my best friends Holly-Rae Van Hoof. We had spent 3 months prepping and planning our launch and nervously wondered how this new venture would go. We got 20 orders in that day all from friends and family who graciously supported us on launch day. We packaged them at my kitchen table and chatted about how excited we were and I remember saying how fun it would be to wake up to orders in the queue already. My how times have changed.
- Then there were 3 of us, now there are 45.
- Then we were all working full time for another company, now were all full time with RR.
- Then we working out of my home office and packaging around my desk, now were moving into a 12,000 square foot office space
- Then we were doing less than 100 orders a month, now were doing 250-300 a day.
- Then we were filling up barely one Thirty-One utility tote bag, now were filling about 10 postal bags per day
- Then we only had Instagram as a sales channel, now we have Facebook, IG, website, Twitter, Email, Google and You Tube
- Then we had Squarespace for a website, now we have Shopify
- Then we had Shipstation for a shipping program, now we have Shiphero
- Then we didn't have an inventory management program, now we do
- Then we didn't even have cubbies to store the inventory, now we have a whole department to handle the organization of inventory.
- Then we did photoshoots once a quarter, now we do them twice a week.
- Then we used to dream about what today would look like, now were here!
On a wing and a prayer and $10,000 from my dad, we made this dream a reality. It's surreal to sit here this morning and reflect back on that first day. Have we made mistakes? Sure! Would I go back and change them? No. What we've learned in three years of business will help us in the next 50. So all that to say, never stop believing in your dreams!
-Tara
Hi, Whitney here. I wanted to say a little something to my sisters on this third birthday of ours.
Tara, you are the driving force behind this business, and we all know that R+R wouldn't be here without you making it come true. You decided to start a business, and made it happen like it was no big deal. I have said this before but I'm going to say it again, I love that you run this business unapologetically and honestly. What you see is what you get, and I admire that so much. It's easy to hide the hard times and act like everything is perfect, but that's not real life and that's what makes this brand a REAL brand. It's perfectly imperfect. You are honest, you are kind, you are quick to forgive, you have patience when mine runs thin super fast, you have a commanding presence and people revere you but you are respected because you're so great. I would love to be more like you and hope it rubs off on me someday.
Kait, I made the mistake, twice, of not agreeing with your ideas... I will never make that mistake again. I've learned SO much from you and your marketing brain. You are so creative and strategic that it blows me away. I feel like I re-learned who you are and I'm constantly in awe of you. The way you engage everyone, from our own employees to our customers, is remarkable, but what's even more remarkable is your complete LOVE of all of these people. It's not a "sales job", it's a relationship dream for you and I absolutely love that. People love you and love to be around you, and it's because you genuinely love them back. And it's really saying something when you've surpassed dad's (best salesman alive) all time high sales record.
I love you both SO much. Happy Birthday to us! We made it 3 years!
