05/15/2020
This is incredibly difficult to write, and even more so to post. So I am going to get right to it, Olivia + Ocean is going out of business. Due to a long list of supply chain challenges involved in producing our swimsuits locally being further complicated by recent factory closures, coupled with the change in demand we have seen during what are traditionally our busiest months of the sales year and the seasonality of our product offering, we do not have a viable path forward. Those are the specifics from a business logistics standpoint. Here are the personal specifics that weigh the heaviest. Most of you have seen the meme circulated that reads, “When you make a purchase from a small business, an actual person does a happy dance.” Well what we are experiencing now is the opposite of that, if you can imagine. Olivia + Ocean has always been personal. I founded this business, together with my brother, almost 5 years ago after being laid off from my full time tech job. Olivia was 9 months old and I was processing the fact I had missed so many moments during those 9 months working for someone else. Moments I would never get back. The Mom guilt was real. Before I founded this business, a new 27-year old Mom living in Los Angeles, I had close to zero friends with kids. I had a foot in both worlds and was trying to find my place. Through this business I have made almost every Mom friend I have today. Through events, partnerships, customers, photoshoots, etc. Those mothers have taught me so much without even knowing it. They helped me find my footing. Today Olivia is 5 and to be honest I don’t know who I am as a mother without this part of me. I am scared of how I will be perceived moving forward. I am worried I won’t make the type of connections I have made in the past that have been such an important part of my personal support system. Most of all, I am scared of standing out on my own and admitting failure. (Statement continues in the comments) @ Austin, Texas