I feel like I am taking a deep breath, holding my nose, jumping off a tall cliff and hoping that the blue waters below are as refreshing as they look. We know there will be some rough patches but we plan to ride the waves instead of fight them. And, all in all, it will hopefully be an invigorating swim.
Four months and five days ago, my husband unexpectedly lost his job. I wrote about it in this post and hinted at a new venture. Well, this is it. Today we launched our new company, U.S. of Awesome. Last summer, we had the idea to invigorate patriotism and update Americana with some fresh design. And in doing so, we want to help people celebrate all that is awesome about our country. If you have been reading, you know that my husband is half Dutch, half Greek and a new American citizen. We believe in a respectful global community but we also appreciate and enjoy all that the American experience offers.
To learn more about our idea and the company, you can read Our Story on our new website. As a start, we are selling American made t-shirts featuring our original graphics. In the future, we hope to expand to other items, probably American made flags and other paraphernalia with an Americana flair.
The past months have been full of hard work. But, working hard toward a cause you believe in is rewarding. Both Mini Whipped (age 4) and Baby Whipped (age 16 months) have done their part to forward the family business from stamping envelopes to providing artwork for the office walls. And, until we have a modeling budget, we have all been sporting our new wares :)
My husband (formerly known as Mr. Whipped and now debuting as Mr. U.S. of Awesome) has been working over time to help care for our kids while I ramped up my marketing consulting business. He also had to learn all he needed to know to launch an online store. And, that was a lot since it is quite different than investment banking! At breakfast today, after we made the website live, he commented how amazing this country is that someone could completely reinvent themselves and what they do in a matter of months.
We feel proud of all that we have learned. Our lives were shaken drastically with a huge loss of income and a complete change to our routine. And, instead of wallowing in the darkness, we saw a speck of light and we ran toward it. No matter what the future holds for U.S. of Awesome, we will never regret trying something new and working hard to create change.
For the next two days, we are offering free upgraded shipping to ensure deliver by the 4th of July. And, if you keep track of U.S. of Awesome, you will find new surprises in time for the Olympics and for election season.
You can find us online many places…
Website: www.usofawesome.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ItsUSofAwesome
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/usofawesome
Twitter: @ItsUSofAwesome
And finally, I’ll also be blogging here.
Phew! Okay, I will get back to the kitchen and food talk soon. Hopefully less scrambled eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my near future! Thank you for reading and for those who have been so supportive, your energy has been invaluable to us. Truly… thank you.