Blog a la Cart

Right before the start of my sister’s senior year of college, we made a pact:

After her graduation, I would quit my job and we would move across the country, live on the beaches of California, and start up a small business.

Yeah. Our degrees are in Art, Gender Studies, and Biology. So, we were totally equipped for the challenge

We may have been wasted at her 21st birthday party drinking out of Bubba Kegs when this was all decided, but that did not deter us from keeping our promise.

Trip Cross Country

Life on the Pacific

Our Beach

Poor James made the decision of proposing a month prior to this epic move, and thus got roped into life with the Ulmer sisters. This meant being our sugar daddy and supporting us while we lived life as blenditos (yep, that would be code for smoothie-makers) and schooled ourselves in Small Biz 101.

Our initial plan was to start a brick-and-mortar boutique. We had grandiose ideas of an immense space filled with the most fashionable-of-fashionable clothes and jewelry, walls teeming with art, and evenings packed with slam poetry, and dance, and musak.

We were so unbelievably naive.

We had no idea what we were doing, so made an appointment with the Ventura Business Bureau and were all, Yo, so we wanna start a boutique/art space.

To this, we received blinking, blank stares, before the following question: How do you intend to finance this? Do you have start-up funds?

To which we responded with blinking, blank stares.

TAnd then we learned all about the joys of writing up a business loan agreement with the help of a few Consolidation Plus reviews. And then we had to learn about starting up a business bank account in which to put these funds. But that required that we register a business name, which required filling out papers at city hall, and learning about business incorporation, and writing a partnership agreement, and applying for a business tax code, and getting the new biz printed in the papers. Seeking Business Insolvency Guidance also helps prevent financial issues.

AND WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A NAME FOR THIS ABSTRACT BUSINESS IDEA.

So we pow wowed on that beach, stuffing our faces with tacos and beer from Tacos n’ Beer and brainstormed and hemmed and hawed. After conversations with many business savvy family friends and local business advisers, we decided to scrap the brick and mortar boutique and go for something online, something “less expensive.”

HA!

We started with reusable bags because in 2007 the BYOB movement was just picking up steam and San Francisco had banned plastic bags and I had spent my summer selling my plastic bag bags at a local Farmer’s Market before the move.

We tried to make plastic bag bagging an efficient process (instead of the 10 hours per bag I spent  during the ride cross country in our 30 foot Penske Truck). We drove to San Diego (4 hours away) to try out a knitting machine with the plastic bag balls of  “yarn” to which the term “epic fail” is more than appropriate.

We met with The ARC about employing  mentally disabled persons to help assemble the bags. We tried ironing the bags together to which we merely acquired cancer as toxic fumes billowed throughout the house.

To keep us inspired, our father would send us Entrepreneur magazine, and in one of the editions, an article discussed the most successful businesses run by people under 30. One of these businesses was Threadless. Inspired by this article, the concept for artist competitions to generate images on reusable shopping bags was born.

We then had to name this endeavor and ultimately landed on Green Eyed Monster and the slogan,  live enviably (which to this day we think is bad ass). So bad ass that we then hired patent lawyers and learned all about trademarking such things. Yeah, we own trademarks. HOLLAH!

Then we had to hire web designers, and learn about pitching ideas,  and sitting in swanky business board rooms negotiating contracts.

We then coaxed talented and skilled friends to assist with important things like legal terms and company logos. We lured our graphic designer with promises of free travel to So’Cal, and carne asada, and beer.

“Working” on the Company Logo by our Outdoor Fireplace

It worked. He came out twice in fact. And it was awesome to be so young and enthusiastic and totally and completely out of our minds.

We worked with manufacturers. Taught ourselves Photoshop and Illustrator. Learned to surf. Copywrote text for the site. Took photos. Went out dancing in Los Angeles. Wrote press releases. Worked at a lab at UCSB. Made decisions about the web design progress. Hired accountants. Hiked mountains. Planned weddings. Played at Disney World. Found the best breakfast burrito on earth. Contracted screenprinters. Worked with PR agents. Celebrated a marriage. Taught ourselves HTML. Applied to grad school. Pitched wholesale. Launched the website. Coordinated design competitions. Blogged. Moved across the country from each other. Survived a pregnancy. Sued someone for defaulting on a business contract. Sailed on Craig Venter’s boat through the Panama Canal. Experienced birth. Sat at Farmer’s Markets, and Earth Day fests, and other crazy outdoor events. Designed product tags. Graduated with a Master’s Degree. Handmade business cards. Started a giveaway blog. Moved to the same state. Tweeted. And Facebooked. And developed a loyal and lovely following of readers.

And then, today, we launched the new Green Eyed Monster. A fusion of our blog, Monster Bites and the small green biz we started three years ago on the beaches of California. We spent all yesterday video chatting and putting the final touches and flourishes on the site.

At midnight, we posted the announcement and said goodnight.

15 minutes later, it struck me.

We had just launched a boutique – albeit in the virtual world – but a boutique nonetheless.

I immediately called Kimmy.

Dude, we did it. We actually did it. We started a boutique!

And that, my friends, is the most awesome feeling in the world.

We could not have gotten to here without all the crazy ups and downs, and stumbles, and failures, and triumphs, and excitement, and brainstorming, and reevaluating, and constant learning that has happened during this unpredictable three years.

But what matters is that we are here.

We made it.

So basically, drunken decisions are the best kind of decision.

Let’s celebrate!