June, what a month! Partnerships, projects, products, & design.
I'm sorry for being MIA.
I took the month off from writing - a lot happened.
I turned 28 and have approximately 1 grey hair at this moment.
I marked 6-months without a sip of alcohol.
I joined Firsthand as director of strategy after consulting with them since last September to help lead them through a rebrand with Parker Studio, launch new products, and head in an overall positive revenue trajectory.
Openhouse had another great month, working with the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Abner Hotel in Lichfield CT (not open yet), Corners NY, Nantucket Crisps, The Manchester in Kentucky, expanded our partnership with Soul Cycle & more. See the photo below of our products at Faraway MV.
I posted some great summer fits on Instagram. It’s currently too hot for pants here in NYC so that’s a bit upsetting.
I went birding for the first time with McGolrick Bird Club. Birding = Punk.
I ate an oyster after having vibrio summer fear of 2023.
I posted a job for a graphic designer that got 4600 applications in 72 hours.
I started keeping a list of decisions I need to make daily with a simple ticker for Y / N as I have succumbed to decision fatigue. My brand is often elsewhere other than making simple personal life decisions.
My parents still have less than a 5% understanding of what I do for work. I told them to start telling people I’m a hairdresser if “selling products” sounds too suspicious.
I found out through a friend of my girlfriends at a wedding that someone I’ve never met loves this newsletter. Let’s f’ing go.
A few things on the docket for July.
I’m doing a studio photoshoot with Maneken led by my great friend Marvin at the Molly design studio office in Greenpoint to bring their mock-up software to the Openhouse signature product line.
Firsthand partnered with the new Urban Cowboy Hotels in Denver - I’ll be finding a photographer to shoot assets for our partnership ASAP.
Openhouse is launching a collection with the Annex Hotel & pro-golfer Matt Kang.
Openhouse is making products with the new wellness players in town, Othership from Canada. Going tonight for the first time to their 90-person sauna, the largest in NYC - pumped.
Openhouse x Soul Cycle is going to be big.
Hiring: I’m looking to bring on a wholesale sales associate or 2 to my team at Firsthand as we come out of this rebrand swinging for new retailers, hospitality accounts, and pro channel/salon accounts.
I’m installing a new Kohler medicine cabinet in my apartment. SO excited.
I’m in the market for a used car with character and an old house upstate NY with cows.
A few things are on my mind about consumer products. My admiration for all product businesses out there growing & scaling is immense. As an operator - so much energy goes into designing, creating, distributing, and selling physical products. All it takes is a warehouse, a stable supply chain, product design, formulation, quality control, marketing, UGC content, influencers, PDP content, email marketing, forecasts, inventory planning, fundraising, and the list goes on. I’ll talk more about all of this in a future post…
Till next time!
I know more than 5% about you do - BTW😉