1587 Sneakers

Why I quit UPS- zero integrity I define integrity as following through with your agreement, and doing it in a good faith way. 4 months ago UPS delivered this hot mess to my door- water damaged goods, missing sneakers, and I have not been able to get a penny out of them in my claims process. They have literally worn me down with their claims process- 10+ phone calls, 2+ hours of online forms (that seemingly always get lost and I have to resubmit by email), 3 in person meetings with drivers, and lots of cold calls that don't provide a way to contact back if you miss them. They are absolutely awful. Losing $1k in product extremely painful for a small business like me- both cost and time/energy to replace it. The most ridiculous request from UPS is the constant ask for photos of the missing/stolen product. It was stolen and not delivered to me... They eventually settled for a photo of my hand holding nothing. So I've decided to go exclusively with USPS- they have the same error rate as UPS, are 20% cheaper, and you can claim insurance when issues occur. UPS has best in class insurance, but this is worthless if you can never collect it. On the flip side, UPS is relentless with calls if you owe them money, and their system to collect is always seamless online. Farewell UPS and good riddance!

New Years Resolution: Not to get sucked into the highs and lows of start up life, and be more even keeled. December was the perfect example: one day we were celebrating hitting $50k in sales, and the next we were dealing with a theft/robbery of inventory! High- When we first launched and were figuring things out, we had sales of $3k. It was depressing and I wondered if I was a fool and should have listened to everyone that said an AA brand would never make it. Fast forward to December when we hit $50k in revenue, and were working around the clock to fulfill orders before Christmas (see image). Literally opening shipments from factory and shipping to the customer the same day. It was such a high- the validation, celebrating a community that is so dear to me, and being able to tell everyone that supported us (family, investors), "it is happening :)!!!!" Lows- Fast forward a couple days later, empty shipment boxes arrive from the factory and having to write emails to our customers saying they won't get items to put under the tree. The knowledge I failed someone and that pit in my stomach that came with each email was awful. Lots of grumpiness (sorry family) and crushing Trader Joes cookies. (also Fu*% Y&@ to the grinch who stole all those sneakers in Germany) Conclusion: I should not have been that high and happy when we hit $50k, and not so moody and depressed on the theft (and how awful UPS is if you ever have to do a claim. It is near impossible to get paid). I want feel my experiences at work, but leave them there when I get home. Because my patient wife and fun kids deserve it :). Happy LNY everyone!