Just born, my brand baby!

Hi y’all - I just landed in Austin Texas for the ACL music fest! Sometimes when I fly I feel a need to write so I decided to write my first blog post! I’m not sure who will read this, if anyone, or if its supposed to be about candles only but I think I’m going to write for me and hope for the best. I was editor of my high school yearbook so I’ve got that goin’ for me ;) So I’m visiting some dear friends and heading to ACL music festival for music, BBQ and fun this weekend BUT also brought along some product (Crystal Ritual Oils) to give away to some shining happy people that might like it. I’m brand new and trying to navigate organically growing a brand without having a PR budget. I think if I stay true to my mission and spend time reaching out to people I feel would love it rather than using paid influencers with no connection to the misson or goods themselves, it will grow roots and flourish by authenticity. TBD. I just hate the idea you can have a shi**y brand but deep pockets and pay someone to promote your ‘crap’ and become a big brand by that alone. I intend to grow because I have brand integrity and spend actual time connecting to my people. My tribe. I don’t have deep pockets but I do have a deep heart full of love for what I’m creating. That has to resonate and go far in a world full where the word ‘fake’ is a household term now.

Some backstory to the name. Tiny Bandit as a name has been around since 2009 but I used to only do pop up shops and events that married deals on fashion with DJ’s food and drinks. Sounds familiar? I’m sure it is now but the term pop up was a brand new concept in 2009 when I launched it. Over the years that pop up business model become saturated and I grew less interested in pursuing the level of intense work it took to promote other brands to get traffic to the events and became more interested in promoting my own brand. I realized that Tiny Bandit wasn’t really a brand at all - it was a company name that only existed because it hosted other brands. If those hosted brands weren’t good, Tiny Bandit wasn’t good so I let it dwindle down from 5 or 6 pop ups a year to 3 to just once a year…and I thought. Ok, I think were done with that. I took a year to be reflective and let life happen and see what new ideas would pop up (pun intended) so I could reinvent what I thought was a great brand name into an actual brand. I’ve been in the fashion and home goods world for years and with my private label candle business flourishing I thought, its time I launch my own collection. In 2017 I started laying down the foundation and in September 2018, we’re here and ready for the world! Its my brand baby and I can’t wait for you to meet her! We will go deep and talk crystals and all that as we go, there is plenty of time ahead of us so I think thats it for now. Mel is yelling at me to get ready, so let the weekend begin! Have a great one everybody! x