Besotted Brand

Besotted

Be*sot”ted\, a. 1. Drunk with love;� 2. Crazy infatuated;� 3. Our new company.

I met Tristan years ago on an online forum for creative business owners.� I still remember her first post!� She introduced herself as a stationery designer/fashion publicist and offered her “scout’s eye” to anyone who was interested.� I watched her post for a couple of days to see who would reply.� I normally never contact someone I don’t know, and especially not for an opinion of my work.� I am far too sensitive, too much of a perfectionist, to risk rejection!� But, oddly, I couldn’t stop thinking about her offer.� Something inside me said I had to email her, a complete stranger, and ask for her opinion on my old shop, The Poem Company (I wrote custom wording for event stationery).� So I did, and while I waited ate 2 Rolaids.

She replied almost immediately and–shock of all shocks–loved the concept.� And so began a friendship between two people who have never met.

Along the way, we discovered we had a few things in common.

• We are both Latin,
• and the daughters of immigrants.
• We love books, office supplies
• and old fashioned words people rarely ever use
• We love animals,
• especially elephants
• We save cuss words for special occasions
• and blush easily
• Our families are crazy,
• but not quite as much as us
• We are very picky
• Maybe too picky
• We value quality
• We don’t always understand how to work our computers
• We love paper

We emailed back and forth for years.� I would ask for advice on a writing job, or just to chat.� She would ask about something business related, or just to chat.� One day she emailed me and asked me if I would like to partner up with her.� I rubbed my eyes, reread the email, and replied {YES!} before she changed her mind.

We debated names for months.� I told you we were picky!� We decided� upon Besotted Brand because it’s perfect. It has that old fashioned feel we both love.� Besotted also describes our passion and what we want to achieve: products you will love truly, madly, deeply–just like we do.� Oh, and even better?� The first four letters of the word spell “Beso,” which is Spanish for kiss.� We love that.

Tristan, as many of you know, is the owner/designer behind The Bella Bella Co. We will slowly wind that shop down and continue to offer many of the tops sellers through Besotted Brand.� But, it’s the new stuff that has us in a tizzy.� I can’t wait to show you!� It will be fabulous, I promise.� Think paper and lovely accouterments.

So that is what I have been doing since October.� Now we are plowing full steam ahead towards launching this company we have both poured our hearts and souls into.� AND!� Guess what?� I am now helping Tristan over at The Bright Side Project.� Holy moly, is it busy over there!� I’m helping her behind the scenes and writing many of the posts.� Stop by and play!� There are some lovely designers featured every day, and I would love to read comments from people I know.

I’ve gone on enough, yes?� Yes.� Have a great day!

xx,

Jules