Hello 2018! Hello 33!

Wow! I don’t even know where to begin with my excitement about this past year and what we look forward to in 2018! And with my birthday following quickly behind the turn of the New Year, it’s always the perfect time to reflect on the past year and set goals for the upcoming one. And I wish I was able to compile a full end-of-the year review of 2017 to capture it in some way—especially with the thrill of everything that came with launching our first product—the MINNIDIP! But this year, I’m just SO SO busy (which is also why I've been MIA on the blog since our launch this summer) that I can’t just yet. I actually need all of January to focus on preparing the one of our company’s biggest milestones… and it’s just a few weeks away! So it’s basically heads down over here until then. But I can’t wait to share once it’s here and we can give a little sneak peek of what we've been working on for MINNIDIP for this coming season. 

But I will briefly share one piece of BIG news for us over here as 2018 introduces itself! This past Saturday I celebrated my 33rd birthday! And it was super special one because TODAY—just 3 days later—I am officially getting to make our company my priority... by finally quitting my full-time day job!!! I’m insanely grateful for everything I’ve learned over the past 5 years working as an Associate Creative Director in advertising at the biggest design agency in Chicago. I’ve been working full-time at agencies for over 10yrs now, where I have gained invaluable experience in marketing, branding and packaging for some of the biggest brands in the world. Still my husband and I dreamed of making this a reality for years because my end goal has always been to focus on my entrepreneur side—but it just wasn't possible... until now. I’m not totally saying goodbye to agency life... I’ll be freelancing at agencies from time to time as my schedule and opportunities allow. But it has come to a point that I need flexibility to focus on LA VACA and MINNIDIP this coming year; and working a full-time job was starting to make it impossible to give enough attention to our company and products—especially as we start to prep for this coming year.

I’m so proud of everything I accomplished with MINNIDIP while still working a full-time job in advertising... waking up at 4am to work before going into the office, working late nights after, and every weekend in-between for the past two years to make it a real product. And I am so grateful that all of that work, fueled by insane amounts of coffee, did help me achieve my biggest goal for 2017: launching my own product and having it sold on retail shelves this year!! I still can’t believe how much can happen in just one year… and I can’t wait to see what is to come before adding another candle to the birthday cake in January 2019!