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WE'RE FIVE! A REFLECTION ON OUR FIFTH BIRTHDAY
Dear lovely humans,
As you may know, we love ourselves a celebration; it's a fundamental part of the team DNA. Whether it's a major milestone or just a really good day, we will take any opportunity to buy ourselves some cupcakes and pop a bottle of champagne. Obviously, birthdays are a really big deal to us, and so we've celebrated in several different ways over the last five years, from huge parties (shout out third bday!) to more intimate, quiet celebrations (which maybe were only out of necessity because money or COVID or whatever else puts a damper on a big party... but we digress). In any of these cases, it's always been of the utmost importance to include everyone who made you what you are. While the celebration this year looked a little different than we hoped, we had to take this opportunity to share our appreciation for you.
All month, we've been sharing birthday vibes. Packages have a little extra flair, goodies are a little extra special, and there's something a little more sentimental about each kind word shared between us and you. Because five is a big number.
In business circles, five years is typically when a "startup" is considered to have the longevity that makes it an established company. In child development, five years is when a baby graduates from toddlerhood to big kid status. Sometimes we can feel the growing pains. We've had to make hard decisions to keep our independence and we're constantly challenging our own creativity to continue to flourish, but as we step into your fifth year, we look back on the growth of the past four with so much love and pride (and just a little bit of heartache that comes with the passage of time).
By this point, there have been so many incredible milestones for the team, both professionally and personally, that it can be hard to see them individually instead of as the beautiful quilt that made Sunday Forever. But, we've tried to do some reflection for such a big birthday. In 2016, when Ashli launched her first Japanese-inspired robe, she was taking the first step towards making her dream life a reality. The first sale, made in September of that year from her kitchen table in her Union Square apartment marked the beginning of something that would become bigger than herself.
After that, the team slowly and steadily worked together to build a business that we feel is worthwhile. Sometimes there were dips and detours (a candle glass incident that resulted in a big loss early on), sometimes there were unexpected growth spurts (a surprise feature of our Le' Coco Lip Balm on the Today Show), but through it all, the Sunday Forever mission to do good and the community that has accepted these good vibes and spread them throughout the world has remained.
That's why we were so excited for the chance to use our fifth birthday as an opportunity to give back to those who need it (and of course, share treats with all of you). We were able to surpass our donation goal of $1000 by hundreds of dollars, which we split between donations to the Hudson Valley SPCA - a no-kill animal shelter that gives all animals a second chance at life - and Turning Point of Lehigh Valley - a shelter which helps survivors of domestic violence get back on their feet. It's always been a dream to reach a point where Sunday Forever could be used to help others and it feels amazing to already be able to do that on our fifth birthday.
So we want to finish this love note with a thank you. Thank you to Sunday Forever, the business, for the moments of growth, the hard moments, the moments of laughter, the moments of connection, and the moments of pure unadulterated joy. And thank you to Sunday Forever, the community, whether you've liked a post, bought a bracelet, shared a kind word, or spread the message of positivity with the people in your life, you are the foundation of what we are and you are why we'll continue this crazy journey for as long as we can.
xx,
Ashli, Olivia, AG, Dana, Ted, Wyatt, and Kevin