We’re 3! Hi 👋 Melody here, founder of Mala, here to share our third birthday reflections....This year has been a wild rollercoaster for Mala. With our third birthday, I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about how far mala has come since I started this small business out of my parents basement in Oct of 2019. First off, SO much fun stuff has happened since just last year- we’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with soooo many awesome humans: @samara , @evocarshare @veritree @girlboss to name a few, introduced our brand new packaging and new products, been a part of so many fun pop ups and met so many of you!! , and just have soo much goodness planned already for 2023. 😉 On the flip side.. This year has been incredibly difficult in more ways than one. Small businesses have been put through the wringer. Like many others, we’ve been tackling inflation where our raw materials have more than doubled in price, shipping has gone up exponentially, and marketing costs keep going up but are less effective than ever before.🥹 Although our lil business has grown significantly over the years, as the sole founder I am still very much involved in the day to day of managing production, bookkeeping, marketing, sales, PR, etc the list goes on and on.... And if im being straight up- it’s been hard and honestly overwhelming! (This is where I start rambling...read on if you wish😂) If we’re getting personal... This past year was arguably the best year of my life. I got married to my best friend, took 3 weeks off for my honeymoon (the longest I have ever gone for a vacation since starting this business), watched my high-school best friend marry her best friend, and got happy news that I’ll be a new auntie to not one but two more little ones. But if I’m being honest... This past year was arguably also one of the hardest years yet, to name a few.. This recession hit Mala hard, many internal changes happened, and we’ve had to pivot time and time again. In my personal life, I had a “non-invasive” heart surgery in the summer and am experiencing complications, of which I still have no answers for. Continued in comments... 👇