Building a business is a big journey.
It’s interesting/hilarious/mildly uncomfortable to look back at all the changes we’ve made since we first began forming the foundation for Two Drunk Witches in late 2016. So much of what has led us to this point in time has been a painstaking process of trial and error, a series of small, incremental steps towards fine-tuning our vision.
Business card, version 1.0.
There was a time when our products were poured into a haphazard assembly of jars, when making bath bombs was a gruelling affair of crossed fingers and worried anticipation and when hours were spent meticulously cutting home-printed labels and “sealing” them with squares of clear contact paper.
We didn’t decide to start over one day with the goal to make everything look better and more professional. Rather, we’ve slowly discovered ways to improve what we’re doing. When it came to our packaging, for example, the choice to switch to amber bottles and jars was a no brainer, not only because it suited the vintage apothecary vibe we’re drawn to, but because amber packaging also filters out blue and ultraviolet light, better preserving the jar’s contents.
Some of the very first salves we created!
Even now, as the business continues to grow and we marvel in awe over the positive feedback we receive and the fact that ACTUAL STRANGERS are using our products (!!!), we are still heavily immersed in the process of learning. Navigating Quickbooks (gahhh!), keeping track of inventory (sigh) and making time for markets and events (eep!) – the learning literally never stops.
Fortunately, we are lucky to be able to lean on each others’ strengths. No joke, our texts to one another are teeming with sentiments like, "You got this, sista!,” “You're amazing, lady!" and “You are seriously the best.” (It's quite possible we hold the world record for number of heart-themed emojis exchanged between two people.)
That's not to say a partnership doesn't come with its own unique challenges. One half thrives on fast-paced excitement, the other relishes predictability. One half is an adventurous risk-taker, the other prefers to toe the line. One half savours the pressure of looming deadlines, the other is neurotically setting calendar reminders at regularly-scheduled intervals. It's true, we sometimes struggle to understand each others' differences, but we also recognize how these differences support our success!
We basic!
Working with a partner means an endless stream of love and encouragement, of creativity and imagination. Over the past year and a half, we've discovered a groove that works for us, that allows each of us to focus on the bits that fuel our passions but still feel as though we're contributing to the business in equal parts. And what we’ve learned is that a business partnership is not unlike any other relationship: it will always come down to communicating freely with one another, being sensitive to each others’ feelings and perspectives and being able to trust one another to the fullest extent.
As Two Drunk Witches continues to grow, it's important we define what direction we see the business going. The two of us agree: our story – who we are, and why we do what we do – is something we remain passionately dedicated to. There’s something really special about connecting with the heart of a business and knowing exactly what their cause is, and that’s something we aim to convey in our own business. Being able to attend markets and in-store demos is a way for us to meaningfully connect with the people who are interested in our products, and to be able to communicate in person why we love doing what we do. And that’s pretty darn neat.
Two Drunk Witches at Shades of Green in Parksville!
If you’ve been following along with us since the beginning, then we want to share a heartfelt thank you. The amount of support we’ve received in this crazy journey of ours has been incredible, and we cannot express our gratitude enough (especially to those of you who still rave about the prototype versions of our products, haphazard labels and all!).
Since about last summer, something really spectacular has been happening: we’re starting to see our products on shelves, like, in actual stores! We feel so extremely thankful for the fantastic retailers who have given us their trust and support and make us constantly say, what is this life! And to all the people who have supported us by purchasing our product at these retailers: thank you, thank you, thank you!
We’re looking forward to lots of excitement this summer, so be sure to watch our Facebook page for news on upcoming markets and events!
In the meantime, thanks for being awesome, friends. We truly adore you!