As we kick off 2016, we have been thinking through what we want this year to be about. This past year has been a pretty great one – our team, collections, and artisan relationships have all grown leaps and bounds. And our hope is that the next eleven months continue to build on that momentum.

Our business definitely isn’t an easy one to run. In fact, we like to joke that taking a more considered approach to design, supply chain, and production with smaller-scale artisans all over the world has “complex mess” written all over it. But making sense of this “complex mess” is the real beauty of what we’re building.

We’re embracing this complexity, figuring it out, and setting new standards for business practices along the way. As we work to scale the business, many decisions at this stage are about making tasks easier to execute. After all, we’re still just a team of seven so we’ve got to work smart.

In the midst of operationalizing and creating processes to keep growing, Rachel and I wanted to take a step back, remember why we decided to take the leap, and commit to continuing to fight for what made us special in the beginning.

With those thoughts in mind, we give you our 2016 mantra…

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BE BOLD.

People will continue to tell us the next step is impossible, and we’re going to continue not to listen. No hurdle is too big. No problem is too difficult to figure out. Continue to be scrappy, dare greatly, and conquer “the impossible,” because we’re brazen enough to believe we can.

STAY INSPIRED.

We’re going to listen to music, see art, get outside the office, and surround ourselves with other people who dream, make, and do. As the challenges come, we’re going to approach them with excitement. Every problem is an opportunity for a creative solution. It’s an opportunity to do things differently, to bring some beauty to the chaos. After all, staying inspired through the storms is the only way to make something truly original.

MAKE SOMETHING THAT MATTERS.

We built The Citizenry to put a dent in the universe.

As we grow, it’s tempting to do something the easier way or the way it’s been done many times before. There’s certainly a time and a place for that type of decision-making, but in 2016 we’re going to push boundaries. We’re not going to play small or settle. We’re going to continue to take the road less traveled, quite literally.

Care to join us? Download our desktop wallpaper with this mantra HERE.

Want to take a look back to this time last year? SEE OUR 2015 MANTRA.

A lot can happen in a year – here’s to our best one yet.

xx

Carly & Rachel