Puppy Binders

I guess in the end, it's natural to think about the beginning. 

5 years ago today, I opened the Voxn flagship in downtown Boise. I still remember my very first customer--It was my neighbor's wife and her friend. I remember exactly what was bought. I remember what we talked about. I remember her ice cream earrings. I remember how red my face got because I was overthinking how to look natural and what to do with my hands. I was an official entrepreneur. 

I remember meeting one of my first team members at a coffee shop when Voxn was chicken scratches on notebook paper and napkins inside some puppy binders. I bought the puppy binders because I thought that they were cute, they were on sale and I was ready for my idea to be taken seriously. I'm pretty sure we both thought I was crazy, but she was in.

We rallied those in the community who were as excited about fashion as we were. Our first fashion show was a shot in the dark. We had no idea what we were really doing, but we survived and spent HOURS cleaning up after.

When Covid hit it was a whole chapter in itself. To read more on that, click the link.

Voxn manufacturing was born out of the unfortunate circumstances of covid. I worked tirelessly on developing training curriculum, power points and finding teaching tools. Eventually the State of Idaho caught wind of my efforts and endorsed our mission--taking it to new heights. More on this to come.

In those five years, Voxn Retail, Voxn Brand and Voxn Manufacturing all became my brain children and it has been an absolute dream to nurture them to independence. It will always be my favorite puzzle to create and solve as I go. Always.

The thing is, so much more than Voxn has happened in the last 5 years.

When I was 23 years old, I moved from California with a small founding group of scientists and innovators for the development of a biotech company. There were 5 of us in the office and powered coffee creamer. In 5 years, I got to watch my partner become the inventor of a product and grow the company from 5 to 60 full-time people and receive a 75 million dollar buy-out offer. 

In the last five years, I met my best friend (who started as my boss) and chased what we called the "White Buffalo" project. After many meetings over coffee, strategizing and flying to Paris, we developed a plan on how to design and build the best Olympic track for the remodel of the iconic Hayward Field--Where Nike was born.

In the last five years, I got to see my siblings open their restaurant, real estate construction, hot yoga chain, buy a house and absolutely kill it all while being the best baseball coach, dance mom and loudest cheerleaders.

In the last five years, I got to see my best friends graduate with degrees they always talked about, graduate from medical school, get executive promotions, have children and move to another state to the cities they talked about all of their lives. 

In the last five years, I got to see old and new friends work through their trauma, taking more time for themselves and make the commitment to work towards being a better person.

That shit. That's beautiful. 

I like to joke that in the last 5 years I got a bachelor's degree in Life. I have had the opportunity to live life to the fullest and see others around me do it too. 

Cheers to five years! Cheers to Us!