NEW YEAR, SAME ME...

It’s that glorious time of the year when we see an influx of “New Year, New Me” blogs and social media posts but, you know what? I’m here to say I’m not buying into it this year! Whaaaat?!

While I love goal setting and have big dreams for West Indies Wear in 2023, I like to think that my VALUES and MISSION remains the same: to create comfortable, vibrant, island-style clothing that makes YOU feel great as you wear it!

        

   

    

I can’t really be bothered with New Year’s resolutions this year if I’m honest. Being an “adult” means always having a list of to-do’s that we’ll possibly never get to, right? So, why add the pressure of extra resolutions, especially when coming out of a super busy holiday/vacation period?!

Life just seems to go so fast and it’s crazy to think that we have entered a new year already, isn’t it? Perhaps I should just make my resolution to SLOW DOWN, BE STILL, SMELL THE OCEAN-SCENTED CANDLE? 🧘‍♀️🕯❤️

   

As I head into 2023 without a vision board filled with NY’s resolutions, I thought I’d share a few things I learned in 2022, instead… What worked, what didn't aaaaaaaand what I’m excited for in 2023 - here goes:

   

With the world opening up after COVID and getting back to some sense of “normal” (whatever that means haha), I felt like I was not able to find enough time to interact in Our Island Family Facebook group. I had so much more time to stay consistent and form relationships with all of you during the lockdown and this year, I felt like I fell behind with this. I think that the bright side of this “negative”, is that I have seen so much more interaction in the group between you all. I’ve watched from the sidelines as you nurture relationships with each other, even meeting up in “real life”! How cool is it that we can have genuine friendships with other like-minded island girls from across the globe?! 🌎🤗

On the same page as my previous point, I do get a little overwhelmed with customer service. I know you sometimes have to prompt me on FB to check and respond to emails, which is less than ideal!! I want you to know that customer service is of the utmost of importance to me, and the reason it takes me so long to get back to you is that I want to compose mindful responses from ME (not a bot) and since I am just one gal, sometimes the inbox piles up! As I head into a busy 2023 I am hoping to implement systems & processes to help me keep up with this is and provide the BEST customer service possible.

I KNOW in my heart that I need to hire more help but the idea overwhelms me so much that this has stayed in the “too hard” basket throughout 2022 😂

In 2022 we added 61 new boutique retailers, which was SUPER exciting for me! While I love online shopping and I love being able to provide a beautiful online store for you all, nothing beats being able to feel the fabric, interact with helpful store assistance and try things on your body 🙌 As we move into 2023, I would absolutely LOVE to find more beautiful beach boutiques that would be a great fit for West Indies Wear. I want you to have the experience of trying before you buy and also support more small businesses in their journey! Do you have any suggestions? I would love to hear where you would like to see my designs… Comment below 👇😍