Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present to You...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present to You...

They’re ready! After many months, I am relieved to announce that we have inventory of all products. I have been struggling with finding a way to print, cut, and sew these special masks for 4 years. While this appears to be nearly an eternity, it is typical for a startup with a unique, labor-intensive product, and for an independent designer, self-funded and brand new to the industry. While this is far from the end of the process, I have finally nailed down an American manufacturer who can make my designs with my fabric, my artwork, and my specs into excellent quality products at a price I can get behind. Covid really pulled a number on me. After dozens of factory rejections in 2018 and 2019, we had a small round of production done in NYC last fall. I had some photography done and the website up before the holidays. I sold at one Christmas market and started a new job on January 2nd to help make ends meet. While I was learning those ropes, I started to hear about the virus in China. I tuned in as much as I could while pushing my production manager to put the pedal to the metal. We went through several rounds of negotiations with this factory in NYC. Then when NYC went into lockdown, they decided to close the factory. I looked nationally and internationally and was rejected by dozens of manufacturers who simply said they were closed down, severely understaffed, focused solely on making government mandated products, and only picked up the phone calls by huge corporations who had 100s of thousands of dollars and full-time teams to make masks. I was simply wiped out of my own industry. People responded to my phone queries with, “Try us again later in the summer.” That was it. Overseas, industries in other countries were hit just as hard by overrun production schedules and significantly reduced staff. Global shipping was a nightmare as airlines went off the radar and flights were not welcomed into the US. Mostly, they would only work with the corporate clients that could bring huge budgets.

I stayed persistent. It was many months of tears, stress, seeking more funding, and holding my breath for a stroke of luck. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, finally, Happyface.

I welcome all letters and feedback. We will continue to learn and grow. I believe in this brand with all my heart. Thank you for being a believer.

Wishing you all kinds of wellness,

Stacey Malo

Founder & CEO
Happyface

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