In Case You Were Wondering…

It’s been a while.  A lot has changed in the Violet Riot world in the past six months or so.  All good, all part of the journey.  It is truly amazing where life takes you when you let it drive instead of driving it.

Last May, myself (Brandy) and my family moved to Denver, Colorado.  We were looking for the simpler life including being able to afford a house and not shelling out over a million dollars for a tear down in Santa Monica.  Denver has welcomed us with open arms and I know in my bones that this is where we’re supposed to be.  I get daily validations such as this: I was in my car, stopped at a light the other day and this woman pulls up next to me and motions for me to roll down my window.  The LA in me is thinking that I was going to take a verbal lashing for something that I unknowingly did a mile back, so I admit I was hesitant to comply with her request.  But I did and she says to me, “Your son is so cute back there reading his little book!”  And that was it – a smile and a nod and then it was her turn to turn right.

Although I am planting roots here in Denver and am eating up being so close to family, one of the few downsides to this move was leaving behind my amazing, talented, fun (among many other things), business partner, Beth.  No more pedicures while talking the biz (that only happened once, but we swore the minute we hit the jackpot it was going to be a regular thing.)  When I moved, we decided to take a bit of a break from doing Violet Riot full force to sort of see where it organically landed when the dust settled.

You know how sometimes when you’re working so hard at something, you forget to look up from it to even ask yourself if you should keep working at it?  Moving to Colorado, taking a step back and de-stressing helped me get a really clear picture of what my intentions for Violet Riot and myself were.  My and Beth’s intentions for Violet Riot were to make really cute, comfy, unique clothing without sacrificing our ideals all the while keeping it affordable (which by the way, is basically impossibly, just FYI).  There are (at least) two flaws in that plan – two people who are stay-at-home-moms only have so much time to drive downtown to American Apparel, take pictures of EACH piece for the website, upload it, market it, fulfill orders, keep the books, cut the designs (and that bird is intricate!), sew the shirts, sew the tags, keep inventory, spend all weekend long at festivals and boutiques… the list just goes on and on and my neck muscles just tightened up thinking of it all.  Talk about running yourself ragged – and we didn’t even have a normal eight hour work day to devote to it – we had naptime (rather, Beth did, that lucky duck), after bedtime and the few mornings our kids were at preschool – and that left no time for having any downtime or grocery shopping or house cleaning or (gasp) yoga.  It would be one thing if we were charging an amount that would make all of that worthwhile – or even allow us to hire people to help.  But, that wasn’t the kind of company we wanted to be and truly, even with help, we still didn’t have the time or energy to run all the operations and micromanage the ten-thousand parts of making homemade t-shirt.

It just so happened that around the time that this was all becoming crystal clear to me (and I was realizing and dealing with how totally exhausted I was from trying to run a business and be a full-time parent), new opportunities were opening up in my and Beth’s lives.  Beth’s mom, Ann Ryan, had started an all-natural ice cream company in Malibu about a year earlier and things were exploding for her and Beth was met with an opportunity to play a big role with Beachy Cream.

For me, I was feeling a calling to be doing work relating to supporting women and mothers (which I realize now, is what was really at the core of Violet Riot – it just manifested in t-shirt form) and so I followed my heart and began my journey to become a certified “Birthing From Within” childbirth mentor/educator.  I also have plans to facilitate parent support groups with a very open, accepting, compassionate vibe that help moms (and dads) explore who they are now that they’re parents – or as I like to call it “getting turned inside out.”  Like with moving to Denver, my bones are beyond content with this new career shift and I enjoy not having a humpback from slouching over the sewing machine for hours at a time.

So where does that leave Violet Riot?  Our website is still up and will continue to be up as long as there is stock for sale – and who knows, Beth or I could have a craving for the whirring of the sewing machine and come up with a bunch of new stuff on a whim!  So, it’s not like it’s gone, but Beth and I are diverting our energy to our new endeavors.

Violet Riot has been my baby, from the first poorly-sewn onesie I made for my son.  I will never stop sewing and coming up with ideas and making them happen – hence the rollerskating shirt at his 4th birthday at a rollerskating rink…

Awesome face.

It’s in my blood (sewing AND rollerskating, of course).  And I told myself that even though Violet Riot is being put on the back burner, if an opportunity organically arose that didn’t seem overwhelming, I would consider it.

Enter Nourish Family Center.  For you Los Angelenos, it’s like a Pump Station – lactation consulting, pump rental, parenting classes, a boutique (unlike the Pump Station – it is NOT insanely overpriced), etc.  I had contacted Nourish a few months back in regards to talking with them about my birthing classes.  I gave them a link to the Violet Riot website so they could learn more about me and where I was coming from.  I was totally caught off guard when the owner told me she not only wanted to meet with me about birthing class possibilities, but she wanted to carry our line in the boutique!  So to all our Denver peeps (all three of you), you can now shop for Violet Riot at Nourish, in Centennial!  The women there are beyond sweet and knowledgeable and their boutique features locally-made goods from many mama-owned businesses.

So again, we are not gone.  And Ona Barnett, I will always make you whatever you and your imaginative little kids want!  And that goes for the rest of you too.  We are beyond happy to do custom orders and always feel free to send us an email if we can be of service – hello@violetriot.com

I have had the time and mental clairty to discover many things since leaving the wonderful, but frenetic city of Los Angeles and one of those things (rather simple) is that life is fluid.  It does not stay put.  Beliefs, dreams, passions, your address – they all shift – and that’s a good thing.  When we stand firm and refuse to change or try new things, like sticks in the mud, we are liable to snap at the powerful wind of life.  But if we bend, like a pliable blade of grass, and allow life’s wind to move us with each new breeze – even to places we weren’t sure we wanted to go – we will never ever break, just bend.

And no, I’m not sniffing glue over here.

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