When I started Wunderkin Co. in 2015, I did so on the wave of a personal awakening. After a few months in an incubator of podcasts, books, good business friends and a personal development seminar, I decided to take a leap into the unknown and pursue a creative outlet from my kitchen table. I had a strong “why” - creating a life I loved with my family, one that was marked by presence, travel and adventure.
In the first few years of growing the business, I was on cloud nine and operating out of my sweet spot. Not only did we develop and launch some of our core products, but we also developed an amazing community of customers and interviewed other small businesses to examine the conversation of what it looks like to “create a life you love.”
In the last 18 months, the business has grown from being easy to manage as a creative, to a size and scale that requires strong executive functioning. While this is natural in the growth of a company, I’ve realized that by trying to do it all, I’m moving further away from my initial goals.
So, when I reflect back on the journey, I am drawing inspiration from the very roots of Wunderkin and asking myself what it looks like to be brave.
We’ve decided to re-focus, as that’s the best thing to do for the company.
So what will this look like?
Clips: This year, we will continue to focus on our clip presence and develop new designs. We will be launching four seasonal collections (spring, summer, fall and holiday), all inspired by travel and new locations. We will also be releasing brand new Liberty of London fabric coated clips.
Sunnies: We will release three new sunny colors in May, along with a huge replenishment of inventory of our favorite colors.
Bows: This is where you will see the most change, but it’s not goodbye forever. We will keep our current Flocked of the Month program alive, have a limited selection of core customer favorite bows, launch a small Easter Capsule and a final Liberty of London favorites capsule. Additionally we will launch three very small and curated capsules over the remainder of 2020, including summer flocked fruits, an Americana Fourth of July capsule and Halloween. These are some of our favorite custom fabrics we have been working on for months, so they won’t disappoint.
What’s on the other side? I look forward to emerging with a strong, scalable solution for handmade bows that maintains the integrity of our designs, while keeping our 100% quality guarantee.
This community has been magical. Many of you have been with us since the beginning on Etsy. Our Free Babes days! You have seen the ins and outs and the successes and failures. I’m so grateful for the relationships built, and the many friendships that have sprung from this community of wonderful mothers. I hope you will find community and stay up to date in our Wunderkin Insiders Facebook group. I also encourage you to join the Wunderkin Co. BST Facebook page, where you can buy, sell and trade older Wunderkin Co. bows no longer in circulation. And of course, we will be active and having daily conversations on instagram: @wunderkin_co. We have updated a FAQ section on the website, so please visit that for answers to any questions. We also welcome you to email us at hello@wunderkinco.com
One of our core values has always been to live a life true to yourself. As we re-focus here, I hope that each of you takes a moment to grapple with your own “why”. It’s never too late to take a step into the unknown, pivot or make a change. Taking refuge in this quote, that started it all:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do that. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman
Thank you and be brave!
Hillary