A Galaxy of Gratitude from CEO Emily

I have written this post in my head a thousand times over but procrastinated actually putting it online. Every time I put fingers to keyboard, the words fail me. The ones I keep coming back to are simple, maybe even trite, but somehow still ring the most true: THANK YOU! 

July 1 marked the one-year anniversary of the public launch of our online shop, and just over eight years since Summer & I first started planning our unnamed space-fashion blog. As much as I never would have predicted the success of the blog during those first few years, the amazing things that have happened this past year are even more fantastic to me, in the sense of “unbelievable”, almost literally!

From the beginning, STARtorialist has been driven by our audience, from the first few viral posts on the blog to our colleagues at research conferences who wanted us to take their money, to colleagues who became collaborators by saying “I can help you…”, first for the BOOTHtique, then the online shop - you know them as Debbie and Kelle! 

We also couldn’t have gotten this far without the amazing community of designers who have entrusted us with their creations. Of course we pay them for their work, but even that takes a great deal of trust. The designs I'm most proud of are collaborative ones, requiring careful communication, flexibility, expertise, creativity, plus time and energy from talented people who are already over-committed and, in the last 16 months, stressed by a global pandemic. I am eternally appreciative of every neuron firing that has been dedicated to this shop.

The seeming serendipity of our success reinforces my gratitude, because I never expected this, or really even planned for it (prepared, yes, but not always consciously). It has always been a side project, something to do during commutes or lunches at my desk, an add on to research conferences and outreach presentations. Now it's a passion project, keeping me going when times are tough (see above re: global pandemic), and hopefully inspiring others to do the same.

Thank you for reading my ramblings, and for joining STARtorialist on this journey through spacetime!