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A Production Update from North Carolina

As most of you know, part of sharing our journey with the world has been sharing things as they come — no censor, no security, no sure-things.  So we’ve shared what’s gone right, and we’ve also shared what’s gone wrong.

Lately, a lot has been going right — the launch of our new site, a window display for Create Denver, and successful planning for our summer tour.

But this weekend, we got some bad news. Our sew shop is taking longer than originally estimated. It’s taking them about 20 minutes to make each Versalette, and they’ve had to add two more employees to the line. They’ve suggested sending us smaller shipments by color, with everything to be completed in the last half of June and the first half of July.

We’ve been given estimations before — and passed them along to you — and yet, we are all still waiting. But because they have actually started the process of cutting fabric, prepping, and sewing for test times, we do believe that this is going to be our final date of completion.

We share every bit of news — that’s our ‘thing.’ Maybe sometimes we shouldn’t. Maybe we shouldn’t have sent out estimations or opened pre-sales. Maybe we should have looked for a different sew shop a long time ago. Maybe we should have waited to Kickstart until we were further along in the production process — but as anyone in the entrepreneurial world advises, we opted to just do it. Take the leap of faith. And figure out the details later.  

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. We made the best decisions we could at these times, with the information that was available to us.

This is what a new business looks like – trials, successes, errors, an insane learning curve — and we have chosen to live that experience in a ‘public’ way through our writing. So while this is a tough post to write, the most important thing for us is to keep everyone up-to-date and to share the things that are happening in real-time, just like we’ve always done.

We’ll be sending out an e-mail to all Kickstarter backers and pre-sales buyers to make sure no one is waiting by their mailbox ; )

At the end of the day, we are all still supporting a process we believe in. Despite ongoing setbacks, we know this makes a difference — and that’s what it’s all about. {r}

  • May 28, 2012
  • entrepreneurship, our project, the Versalette, {r}evolution apparel news
  • 2

Discussion22 Comments

  1. Ashleigh Cote says:
    May 29, 2012 at 9:27 AM

    Good things come to those who wait ;)
    thanks for the update!

    -a new loyal customer

    Reply
    • kristin says:
      May 29, 2012 at 11:44 AM

      Thanks, Ashleigh – updates will keep coming as we get the order in. Really appreciate you : )

      Reply
  2. Anne @ Unique Gifter says:
    May 29, 2012 at 9:44 AM

    Bummer – you must be so frustrated!!
    Don’t worry about me though… I have no dream trips planned, just waiting on an awesome product when it comes :-)

    Reply
    • kristin says:
      May 29, 2012 at 11:47 AM

      Anne, we are definitely ready to get these out the door, but are glad for the people who will be happy to receive when they come. Thanks for your (incredible) patience. : )

      Reply
  3. Michael Kurt says:
    May 29, 2012 at 10:56 AM

    You are both simply awesome. I appreciate the regular updates and am confident you are both doing your best. I find myself more concerned about the stress the two of you are enduring. Relax…take a deep breath and continue to do what you’ve been doing all along as you deal with these surprises and delays. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’ll happily wait as long as it takes and am rooting for you all the way.

    Reply
    • shannon says:
      May 29, 2012 at 11:48 AM

      Wow, Michael, thank you. This is exactly what we’ve needed to hear right now, and we really appreciate you taking the time to write us. We are doing our best to relax and take deep breaths, and it’s great to get the reminder from others. Again, thank you, we can’t say it enough.

      Reply
  4. Erin says:
    May 29, 2012 at 11:28 AM

    Well, we’re not called “supporters” for nothin! :-)

    Reply
    • shannon says:
      May 29, 2012 at 11:48 AM

      And thank goodness we have you!

      Reply
  5. my honest answer says:
    May 29, 2012 at 12:11 PM

    Sorry about the delays – but don’t worry, as long as you are upfront about it, people are very understanding.

    Reply
    • shannon says:
      May 29, 2012 at 8:12 PM

      For the most part, you’re certainly right!

      Reply
  6. AuroraLee says:
    May 29, 2012 at 2:42 PM

    The updates are always appreciated. I don’t mind delays when there is good communication. I am not a kickstarter backer (um, I forgot about the deadline, oops!) But I’m eagerly awaiting my presale Versalette!

    I was going to get all anxious and worry about it getting here before my trip but then I decided… I don’t care! I’ll have it for the next trip :D

    Again, thanks for the excellent communication!

    Reply
    • kristin says:
      June 8, 2012 at 3:51 PM

      Thanks, AuroraLee — means a lot. We’ll be so happy to see how you wear it on your next trip!

      Reply
  7. Gen says:
    May 29, 2012 at 3:32 PM

    It’s refreshing to be given such honesty from a company. Thank you for respecting us by filling us in on the details, good and bad.

    Reply
    • shannon says:
      May 31, 2012 at 10:20 AM

      Thank you for appreciating it!

      Reply
  8. Gretchen says:
    May 29, 2012 at 8:14 PM

    I love that you guys are taking us along for every step of the ride. Starting a business is never easy, but you ladies have handled each bump in the road with grace & integrity, qualities sorely lacking in much of the business world. Thanks for the update – hasn’t lessened my excitement in the least!

    Reply
    • kristin says:
      June 8, 2012 at 3:51 PM

      We’re realizing how common this all is, and just taking in the letdowns and replacing with lessons. So glad to hear that you’re still as pumped as we are :)

      Reply
  9. Victoria says:
    May 30, 2012 at 12:06 PM

    Add me to the list of people who finds the communication refreshing! While the delays are disappointing (how coudln’t they be?) I am still SO excited to get my Versalette when the time comes! I do have to ask, though…I will be moving in the late June/early July time frame…how do I get you the change of address for my pre-order Versalette?

    Reply
    • shannon says:
      May 30, 2012 at 8:25 PM

      Victoria, thank you so much for joining the “awesome” list : ) Go ahead and email your new address to hello@revolutionapparel.is and we’ll make a note of the change! Thanks so much!

      Reply
  10. Dayna says:
    May 30, 2012 at 12:20 PM

    Thanks for the continued updates and honesty!!! Hopefully you ladies are partaking in some yoga! Also, way to stay true to your values, especially with all your obstacles, can’t wait to rock my versalette :)

    Reply
    • shannon says:
      May 31, 2012 at 10:20 AM

      Yoga, meditation and long runs are definitely on the to-do list! Thanks for checking in Dayna : ) Hope you’re well!

      Reply
  11. Cookie says:
    June 3, 2012 at 10:00 AM

    I totally sympathize with you guys. I have been here…. My experience with factories has been a lot of “say whatever it takes to get the order” and sometimes that puts you, the business owner in a very precarious predicament :-/!

    People can surprise you with how understanding they can be though! We featured your product on our blog last week (http://www.envynde.com/2012/05/revolution-apparel-versalette.html#.T8uJmxxG7Zc) and it has gotten so man hits, so whatever you are doing is cleartly worth waiting for.

    Your supporters will stick it out. After all, perfection takes time…

    Reply
    • kristin says:
      June 8, 2012 at 3:54 PM

      Thanks, Cookie! Appreciate the blog post, too — it looks amazing! Good luck with your endeavors and thanks for the motivation!

      Reply
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