What Went Right in 2020

Every January I write a post to look back on the past year before with gratitude.  No surprise, 2020 was a year that stretched Erin's Faces to the max but some really wonderful things happened too:

We started the year out defining leadership - "optimistic", "growth mindset" and "self aware" were just the top three on the list - little did we know how much each of us would be needing all of them!  

After hand sanitizers sold out in early March, and so did ingredients to make your own, I polled you and you said "make it!"  So we launched our Cleansing Gel for Hands with Alcohol.  It sold out in 10 minutes.  And then the next batch sold out in 3.  As quickly as we could make it, it got scooped up.  It was incredibly challenging to source alcohol, aloe vera gel, bottles and even caps during a worldwide shortage but we were able to do it and I'm so grateful.  

Our Matcha Mascara was supposed to launch in April but I wasn't sure it was appropriate to be marketing mascara during a pandemic.  Again, I turned to you and you said "I've been waiting 9 years for this - let's go!!"  So we launched it and the response has been amazing.  It was our #1 product for the year which is awesome, but I'm honestly the most happy that folks like it as much as I do!

It became clear that a refill/larger size of our Cleansing Gel for Hands with Alcohol would be helpful and so we brought one out at the end of April.

In June we got to launch our podcast, Beauty Full Stories with Erin's Faces, whose focus is dismantling beauty standards and shining a light on women's voices (it's super good and you should totally check it out!).  Erin's Faces was started from a desire to have more purpose in my life and this podcast is a really special extension of that for me.  The feedback from a variety of ages and races of women has been so positive which has been really neat!

In July our Mineral SPF 32 for Body was put on the EWG Best Beach & Sport Sunscreen list (something we've been trying to do a few years now!) so it was exciting for us!

August was a toughie - in the midst of a pandemic a hurricane came to NJ and knocked our power/wifi out at the office (yay for generators!).  So we returned to our roots, printed postage/packing slips at my house (which still had power/wifi) on the deck in the rain in order to socially distance properly and then headed to the office to pack orders and answered client emails on our phones.  It has been a humbling year y'all 😅.

September was HUGE for us - we shifted to entirely recyclable/compostable shipping materials (aren't they pretty?!) and FREE SHIPPING*!  We had been working on this for about a year so it was really fun to get to implement it.  

Later in September we heeded the call of the ladies emailing us about wanting the Matcha Mascara in Brown - done!

In November we launched our new Makeup Brushes and I am obsessed!  It was such fun figuring out all of their particulars and our new Powder, Foundation, Double Concealer and Eye Liner Brushes are welcome additions to the line.

We had a wonderful holiday season and my team did an amazing job of balancing social distancing/clean hands with cheery dispositions as each box was packed with care and shipped off.

Our staff also had a monthly bookclub and discussed monthly podcasts covering entrepreneurialism, leadership, colorism, the life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and more - it gave us a lot to talk about and we're diving into Brene Brown's "Dare to Lead" again this quarter (which was gifted to me by friend and client Trelawny Shepherd!).

All in all it's a tremendous amount to be grateful for and YOU are the thread that runs through it all.  Honest to goodness, we have an amazing community of clients and we literally couldn't have done any of this without you.  Thank you so much for supporting us.  

Here's to a great 2021!