Outlaw Soaps has been around for many years, and over that time, I've pretty much been the only person maintaining the website, writing the product descriptions, updating the photos, and, possibly most importantly, making all the design decisions in the company.
In the past year, we've brought on some new folks. Specifically, Jennalee has been helping me keep the website updated with new images and whatnot, Elysia has created a few product listings, and Ruben (customer and friend) even chipped in and wrote a few blog posts!
Lots of people have asked us not to change our small-time values, and I'd venture to say that if anything, we're becoming more of who we are truly meant to be, not less. This site (and this company) was never meant to be a solo effort, we were just too broke to do much about it!
I had been struggling to keep the site updated, struggling to get back to customers, and generally struggling to even have the time to talk about my struggling (which is, as you know, part of writing this blog!). So we hired some folks to help out. And when we hired them, we were super clear: You gotta live and die by the Magnificent Seven Outlaw Values, you gotta not be an ass ("Don't be an ass" is in our employee handbook, now!), and you gotta keep us true to our Outlaw spirit. (and also, you gotta do your job)
I mean, hardly anyone knew us when it was just me and Russ, with me in the fulfillment room, and I think we'd all agree that adding Ruth, and later Elysia, was a solidly great move.
Now, things are changing on the website!
Over the past couple months, we've been working with a web design company to actually improve our darn site. It's not going to steer away from who we are, it's going to steer into that swerve!
You may have noticed I disabled our old Shopify comments and enabled Disqus comments. This is because it absolutely killed me that if someone commented on a post, I couldn't comment back to them. Seriously, they'd write a great comment, and they'd never know if I responded or if I just let it hang like a cold fart in the air.
And you know me, I just want to chat with everyone.
So we got some fancified new comments on the blog. Hoorah.
Today, I had a fricken' RAD conversation Holly from our web design company, where she told me that we're about two weeks out from OUR NEW WEBSITE.
The new website is so amazing. It helps us share our passion for our craft, our dedication to high-quality ingredients, our devotion to ethical production methods (cruelty free!), and, of course, it highlights our beautiful products in the way they deserve to be highlighted.
We're really excited to be on the verge of this incredible launch. The process was so collaborative, in part because I have such a clear vision of who you are and what you find special about us. I think our new site really honors the relationship that you, our treasured and cherished customer, has built with us over the years.
I'm so proud of what we've built together.
Not just us as a company, but us as a company and our customers. You have been an instrumental part of the foundation of this company, and I am so grateful.
And we're going to be showing that gratitude with a new loyalty program, because loyalty goes both ways around here.
Thanks, as always, for being in the gang.
Sincerely,
Danielle
