A Thanksgiving Note From Christina

Hey there,

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we all know all too well this holiday looks really different for a lot of us this year. Personally, that means I’ll be eating pie via Facetime with my family this year. I hope you’ll be celebrating in a safe festive way, too. I know it might be hard to feel any type of festive this holiday season with everything going on in the world right now, but I’m writing today to give thanks. Because regardless of the year, that has always felt like the best way to celebrate an already complicated holiday like Thanksgiving. And because, despite everything that’s happened this year, I still have a lot to be thankful for. 

I have a (most definite type A personality) tradition of making a goal list every January 1st. For the past six of them, I’ve been fortunate enough to make them while in the most beautiful place in the world (IMHO) - the beach near my home in northern California. Along with making a new list each year, I also spend time reviewing the previous one to either give myself a high five or a gentle scolding based on my success rate. Thankfully, with age, I’ve gotten much better at not beating myself up too much because the score is usually a dismal 50-60%. 

Last week, on a particularly emotionally charged and challenging day (or should I say night because I was definitely up late wrestling with an overactive brain that just wouldn’t turn off), I thought of my 2020 list and, for some reason, felt the need to review it that very second. As I was sorting through the notes folder on my phone to find it, I remembered back to when I drafted it 11 months ago, and how it felt like years had passed since then. I remembered how frustrated I was both personally and professionally with my life that day. It’s funny to say that now because, looking back, to think that I was frustrated at the beginning of this wildly bumpy year, both pre-COVID and pre-this “will they, won’t they” sort of economic downturn uncertainty, is laughable. I had literally no idea how many miles of bad road there were ahead of me. 

Anyway, I found the list and the moment I saw it, I was fully expecting to burst out laughing - you know, a laughing-while-crying sort of situation - as I read over the goals I’d made for myself before we fell into a global pandemic. But instead? I found a lot of to-do’s that somehow had turned into things I could now cross off that list. And since I’m being thankful I don’t want to gloss over this last part. When I say “somehow” it makes it sound like magic elves swooped in from somewhere and put things right even when it felt like most of the world was falling apart. But there were no elves. Instead, I have an incredible team of hardworking people who put their heads down and got to work (and kept working) even and especially when things got really hard. But back to finding that list - I won’t make this email longer by adding each and every detail of how we got here, but suffice it to say that with some of the major goals I put on that list, I was pretty blown away that I’d crossed off all but one. In ten long years, this was a first. And something I still can’t quite believe and am so incredibly grateful for.

I’ve talked a lot about how this year has been one personal or professional struggle after another for me. From giving Farmgirl a 10% chance of making it through the pandemic this past March to having to completely reconfigure our distribution model after shutting down our San Francisco facility with 12 hours' notice, to catching the neverending case of COVID-19 (and that’s the Reader’s Digest version) -  it’s been a year. But what amazes me is that, through it all, we’re still here. And that’s not just because of me - one person most definitely does not make a company. It’s because of so many who have been on this journey with us and supported us through it all. It’s because of my incredibly hard-working team who are so passionate about what they do that I often have to ask them to work less so they don’t get burnt out. Seriously. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. It’s because of our farm partners who have pivoted (and pivoted yet again) with us as we navigated the next normal post-COVID. And, most importantly, it’s because of you all who continued to support us as we figured out how to build a distribution model that would mean we can get all of you your orders all while dealing with government restrictions, transportation and supply chain issues, safety concerns, natural disasters and about a zillion other challenges along the way. We wouldn’t be anything without you - our dedicated, patient, and wonderful customer community.

So - thank you. It means so much to me that when you couldn’t be with your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, best friends, or coworkers in these unprecedented, uncertain, and downright scary times - you sent them Farmgirl Flowers. The messages of love, hope, and better days to come you sent with your flowers were not and never will be, lost on me or my team during what was undoubtedly the most challenging and unpredictable time we faced as a company. I also want to give an extra big thank you to those of you who had important deliveries delayed or complicated by COVID-related issues in our shipping partners’ operations, wildfires, hurricanes, and what feels like just about every other “act of God” 2020 could throw at us. Thank you for all your messages, calls, and DMs. I know things didn’t work out exactly as you planned, but I’m so grateful that you gave us the opportunity to make things right. I know reaching out to customer support isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do, but that’s why we prioritize our support team at Farmgirl. They’re an extra wonderful, extra hard-working team that hopefully makes a less-than-fun thing to do a little bit easier.

So thank you, thank you, thank you and before I go I have one more bit of exciting news (hint: it starts with promo and ends with code)! 

We’re running a Black Friday-ish sale, which is really good timing because our Holiday Shop is now live. You can use BLACKFRIDAYISH for 20% off everything in our webshop from now until Saturday, 12/5. Why is the sale going on for over a week? We thought you might ask. There are a couple of reasons and you can watch the video below for a full explanation from me (because per our usual, this email is already far too long).

We hope you enjoy and are keeping safe and healthy out there. And that you have a wonderful, gratitude, and pie-filled Thanksgiving!

xx, 

Christina