Well, di’lishiNATION, we’re already almost halfway through the first month of the new year and I hope that your 2014 has started off in the most di’lishi of ways! We took a blogging break after our Ironman, Lance Rogerson, completed his series of guest-posts and now we’re ready to get back in the saddle and continue these wonderful online conversations that always lead to great feedback from you. As always, if you have comments or something on your mind, please write to me at [email protected]. Nothing means more to me than staying connected with the citizens of our fair nation and hearing what you’re thinking. After all, we wouldn’t be here without you … and we wouldn’t want to be.
As I look back over 2013, I think I would have to call it our “proactive” year. After opening the flagship bar in 2011 to an overwhelming response from our community, I went into total fro-yo survival mode. I honestly didn’t think it was possible to chop that many strawberries on so little sleep! LOL I’ve often said it was like opening the doors to a wall of water and that is the best way to describe it. It was seriously the most infectiously delicious time of my life. I will never be able to thank our community enough for their support. Then 2012 rolled around a few months later and I call that our “reactive” year. That is the year we became a franchise and started selling stores to the people who believed in what we were doing to the point they wanted to join the di’lishi family and open their own locations. We began all the processes to make that possible and truly, we spent the whole year working towards that goal, while of course, loving on our own flagship bar here at home and making it the best it could be.
That brought us to 2013, to which I’ve already told you, I have dubbed our “proactive” year. I say this because as 2012 came to a close I knew that I needed to turn my attention towards nurturing the company I had created in order to develop company sustainability. With my fearless staff beside me every step of the way, we spent 2013 working on fortifying and developing all of the essential bedrocks that will allow us to support our existing stores while expanding our brand with consistency and confidence. Like I’ve always said, my desire has not been to grow fast … but to grow strong. Getting out in front of that foundational work in a proactive way allowed us to be purposed in the trajectory of the company and late in the year, we felt we were ready to move forward with more growth.
That brings us to this new year - and I don’t have a name for 2014 yet, although, if I had to name it right now, I think I would call it the “goactive” year. (Actually, I think I just made up a new word.) I would call it this new word because after all the hard work of the past months I feel like we’re crouched and ready to pounce on this new year with all our might. I am SO excited I can hardly stand it! We know we have a solid foundation to work from and with the help of a new comrade we have working with us (more about him in coming posts), we are ready to GO and ready to GROW! I feel so much anticipation about the days ahead and I pray it will be a year of much success for our existing stores, much success for our future growth, and for everyone and everything in-between … I hope it’s just completely di’lishi. I am so thankful that you are a part of our story – and I value every step you take with us. Until next time, di’lishiNATION …
xoxo