Shelter in Place
Eighteen years ago, I was eighteen years old and living in my car and sleeping in parking lots. I did not have shelter. I did not have food. I did not have certainty about what the day would hold or how I would get through this period.
I know what it is to not feel safe. And as a collective, we are all experiencing varying shades of this now as we navigate these uncharted waters.
My life today holds a purpose that was shaped in part by the trials of my past. As I write to you, my husband sits across from me working too. Our children are playing beside us. We have food. We are sheltered. We are healthy and safe, and while I have big moments of fear, my gratitude for this moment and my faith in what the future can hold is even stronger. My purpose here continues.
I am deeply committed to your care and making sure you have all you need to feed and nourish your skin and spirits during this challenging time and beyond.
Never has my own self-care practice been more important than it is today, and my inbox full of your messages tells me you need this as vitally as I do.
We are not going anywhere.
I’ve spent the last decade pouring my heart into a business that has provided safe haven for me, and in turn, has provided comfort and care to so many of you. This company that began with just myself and my husband in our guest bedroom now provides employment and healthcare to thirty team members and their families. These individuals are my world. They are my friends. And they depend on me.
I have always been proud of how we operate, from our commitment to the sourcing of our fresh ingredients to our intimate manufacturing processes, and how we care for our team and for you, who we are here to serve.
Acting out of precaution earlier this month, we implemented a new schedule for our in-studio manufacturing and fulfillment team. Looking at each person’s living situation and their ability to fully quarantine outside of work hours helped us shape our plan.
Anyone with children stays home to care for them. Anyone who counts on public transportation to get to work stays home. Anyone who is unable to control others coming and going within their household stays home.
We streamlined our hours, rearranged our workspaces to maximize the distance between each of us, and amplified our already-robust cleaning and manufacturing protocols.
Our studio is the safest, cleanest, most-protected environment our team has access to - our own place of calm within this storm.
With California joining the “Safer at Home” emergency order, we are adjusting again.
The new constraints on movement and gathering leave us temporarily unable to convene the in-person team necessary to provide for all of our retailers across the globe. Earlier this week, I let our retail partners know that we will be pausing wholesale shipments at this time. While this important decision was difficult to make, the response was beautiful - we have received the most incredible support from our retail family as we align our efforts to focus on our fundamental mission: caring for you!
By allocating our fresh inventory to only maylindstrom.com, we can continue to keep you stocked up on all your favorites while keeping our staff safe at home, fully paid, and with health insurance in place.
We are still shipping direct to you, my loves!
Your direct support of us now will empower us to ride out this storm and make it through to the other side with the health of our team and the future of our independent family business intact.
On the other side of this is sustained health and wellness for our communities across the globe.
On the other side is a relaunch celebration of The Honey Mud and a little surprise for the body that I know you’re all going to flip out over.
On the other side is each of us, changed forever by what we have chosen to learn and what we have given energy to.
I am already finding gifts of enhanced empathy and connection that are inseparable from the realities of this new experience.
I am hopeful. I am faithful. I am doing my best.
We will continue to be in touch as we follow the recommendations of The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and our local government, as well as what we hope is simply the right thing to do here. I don’t have all the answers, but what I know is that my first priority as a wellness company must be to protect the health and safety of my team and all we serve.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to visit maylindstrom.com and the “Explore Skin Rituals” pages. There is tons of detailed information on how to address specific skin challenges and goals, step-by-step.
Our Care Bears are hunkered down at home ready to guide you into personalized routines too. Just hit reply to this email or use the chat feature on our website and we’ve got you covered!
You can also learn all about who we are, our ingredients, our freshness promise, and even find a detailed exploration of my own 7-day, am & pm personal ritual on our website too!
I’ll be hopping onto Instagram to share more on Stories and Live over this period and can’t wait to connect with all of you there. Let me know what you want to talk about!
I have never been more committed to my team and to each of you. We are going to get through this together.
Sending love, health, strength, and softness to each of you. I hold you close with gratitude.
