2023 Year in Review & What’s Ahead
Wow, what a year it’s been for Doo Dah Apparel! 2023 has been our first year in business. We created our Shopify domain on January 11th, and our EIN with the IRS shortly after. From obtaining Seller’s Permits, City and State licenses and DBA’s, to designing and stocking our website, advertising on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, and planning our own brand, it’s been one heck of a whirlwind year for us!
Amber Ortiz at Techavela here in Los Angeles joined our design team in March. Amber has contributed to our entire project by creating our initial website design and logo. She has a talent for advertising and social media, so she’ll be managing our Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and Etsy accounts. She’s also doing a great job putting together our weekly newsletter and promotions!
Alec Matulka joined our team in April after graduating from Pepperdine University. As a 1994 Pepperdine Alum, it’s been an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to work with a fellow graduate. Alec worked as an editor at the Pepperdine Graphic, the school’s news editorial. Alec has fit in quite well with Doo Dah Apparel’s socially and environmentally responsible approach to business. He’s helped to write our narrative, he’s edited our website, and he’s written many of our brand narratives with a sense of humor. We value his contributions, and we hope to continue to work with him as we grow our company.
Patricia Connor and the website design team at Crown Design Lane in Northern California started working on our website in July. They’ve worked on the nitty gritty tech issues of the website to make it an attractive, functional design that will resonate with consumers. Patricia has been an absolute pleasure to work with. She communicates well, and she makes a concerted effort to incorporate all my concerns and feedback. Patricia is particularly skilled at navigating my inability to understand anything having to do with computers, an invaluable trait, as far as I’m concerned.
After nearly 10 months of planning, designing and stocking, Doo Dah Apparel finally opened for business in October. We are pleased with where we’re at. One of our goals from the start has been to avoid relying on debt, to pay for our expenses as we go. We are proud to say we’ve done that. Debt is very likely the single greatest cause most businesses are forced to close their doors. We figure as long as we’re able to pay our bills there’s no reason we won’t be able to make this business work.
We plan to continue to build our company in 2024, including designing an eco-friendly brand of apparel and accessories for men using our own name, Doo Dah Apparel. We will work with socially responsible materials and American labor to create practical designs that will help eliminate holes in pockets and the loss of important personal items like keys or wallets. We look forward to creating a brand our customers will want to wear year after year.
Oh, and we want to have fun doing it. Yeah, that’s right, we actually want to enjoy our work. So that’s what we’re gonna do. So much so that maybe those sassy ladies over at The Reformation will notice us, and, who knows, might want to go out with us sometime!
We look forward to making your lives a little more fun and bright in 2024! Have a wonderful holiday, and an even better New Year!
Brett Bridgman
