Five years online!
Yes, it’s really true, the end of July marks our fifth year in business…
By the end of July I had everything in place and was ready to start doing business out of a bedroom sized office that held not only my desk & computer but all of our stock.
August 3, 2000 the site went live with only 19 pages and 12 styles.
And I did it all by myself during some really trying times. I took all the pictures, built the site (my first, with no formal training or experience), bought all the socks from the two suppliers I could find on my own, packaged them up as they were ordered, at first just one or two every couple of days which I would drop off at the post office on my way to work my full time job. Oh I did take 10 months off to get the business started, but between the time I gave Trader Joe’s notice that I was leaving for awhile and the actual date I was to stop my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Inoperable small cell lung cancer, in its fourth stage. I spent most of those months making sure my mom got to all of her appointments and treatments and had all of her meds and tried my best to know which ones she was to take and when, we even moved into the tiny apartment downstairs from them to be sure I could help anytime I was needed. Needless to say things were not going as planned and it would not be the last challenge to be thrown in my direction. My mom survived two rounds of cancer, chemo & radiation and we stayed in that apartment for the next four years, one by one giving up the rooms to the business, moving what we could into other rooms or outside. By the second year there was beginning to be more than I could do alone, and Bsti quickly took notice and took it upon himself to start packing up the orders and handling shipping. Two years ago we moved into a much larger house with an entire section devoted to the business and last year we had our first major redesign of the site thanks to the talented miss Olivia. Now there are nearly too many pages to count (almost 500 just on the main site alone!) and we are once again looking to move. When we find that perfect place we will really be able to accomplish some amazing sockie things, this is only the beginning!!!
August 4th, 2005 at 1:31 am
congrats on your 5th year and I wish you many more successful years!! I know I’ll always be back even if the mail through Vancouver takes 3 weeks to get here lol!
August 1st, 2005 at 6:28 pm
Kelly that is just toooo cute!!!! Sockology… I love it!!
August 1st, 2005 at 7:06 pm
Congratulations! Thank you also for giving us this peek into your life. It’s awesome to see someone working at something she really loves. Please pass on our appreciation to all the people who have helped you get to this milestone!
August 1st, 2005 at 9:08 pm
Congrats and happy 5th!!! Glad to see you are doing well in the “sock world”. So if you practice “sockology”…….then you all MUST be “Sockologists” eh? Glad to hear your mom surrived the battle. So did my dad!! But lost to another. Well here’s to you and another 5 years!!! And don’t forget to “Sock it to ‘em”!!!!
August 1st, 2005 at 7:05 am
You should be so proud of starting your own successful business (as I’m sure you are). What an example to the rest of us! Thanks for the years of great service. I always love ordering from you.
August 1st, 2005 at 8:05 am
Happy Anniversary!!!! :D We love you, Niqkita, and how thoughtful and fun you’ve made this place of yours. :)
August 1st, 2005 at 10:30 am
oh yeah! and here’s to naked bums that accentuate the socks OH So well!!! You (and your gams, and the occasional glimpse of tush) are super inspiring.
August 1st, 2005 at 12:48 pm
I am inspired by you and what you have created every day in many ways….this- what you have made is so very good….your light is bright….thank you for sharing with the world
August 1st, 2005 at 5:54 am
You’re a thoughtful, kind, terrific kind of person who gives us much hope in humanity. Congratulations and lots of success and happiness.
July 31st, 2005 at 9:42 pm
HAPPY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! THANK YOU FOR KEEPING MY TOES WARM, FOR BEING SUCH A GOOD FRIEND, AND FOR LETTING ME BE A PART OF YOUR SOCK WORLD. I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT FIVE YEARS .. AND THE FIVE AFTER THAT.. AND THE FIVE AFTER THAT… AND SO ON… :o)
June 29th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Monika, I’m so glad I found this and so glad you put it all down….the hard times in the beginning. I’m forever amazed at you!