What a difference a year makes!
I can hardly believe it's been a year since the surreal night that I watched myself on Shark Tank. That night changed my life.
On the afternoon of March 29, 2013, my mom and I, our 2 part-time employees, and 2 interns were sitting in our one room office jarring scrub. We had 100 cases ready to go to our fulfillment center and we were SO proud of ourselves! Little did we know that those 100 cases would sell out approximately 5 minutes after I started my pitch to The Sharks.
The craziness that followed now seems like a dream as well. In a matter of 3 days we had to move into a bigger space (which we outgrew that same week!), hire and train 20 people, establish a supply chain and figure out how to produce and ship 30 times the number of orders we had filled in the previous 6 years that we'd been in business. When I look back now, it's kind of amazing that we were able to do it. Yes, it took months to fill those 30,000 orders, but in the end every single order was filled without any compromises to the quality of the product. I am very proud of that.
Thinking about those 18 hour days when it felt like I barely left the office getting home at 2:30 am to eat frozen raviolis for "dinner" with my mom before grabbing 5 hours of sleep so we could start all over again reminds me that nothing is impossible. Those days, though beyond exhausting, are some of the best memories of my life. I will never, ever forget those days.
It's hard to say what the best part of this past year has been. All of the incredible emails/posts/tweets from all over the world especially from those of you that have told me that my product has changed your life mean very much to me. Creating a workplace where visitors tell us they can feel the happiness when they walk in means very much to me. Being able to actually create jobs here in the USA that people love means very much to me. But I have to say, that seeing my vision for Simple Sugars as a product and as a company coming to fruition is the most fulfilling of all.
I will work as hard as I can to make sure that Simple Sugars continues to provide the best all-natural products and the best customer experience out there. I will continue to strive to make Simple Sugars an awesome place to work. I will keep telling my story in the hopes that people will be inspired and recognize that there are alternative paths to success and they are no less legit.
I appreciate every one of you that has supported Simple Sugars by being a loyal customer and telling your friends and family about our products. I am honored and humbled by your loyalty and I am committed to earning it over and over again.
Thank you for being a part of this incredible experience.
As always,
Stay Smooth~
Lani
