What is a Wreath Really?

It’s Friday! Let’s dive in!

Wait, Why Wreaths?

But first we should baseline. So far the company has:

✅ Product
❌ Manufacturer
❌ Name
❌ Brand
❌ Site
❌ Customers

🎄Days until Christmas: 75
💰Sales: 0

Have I always been filled with the holiday spirit?

Coyote spirit, yes. Holiday? Not as much. This isn’t exactly the origin. I do love handmade crafts and cool businesses. But no, I’m not overflowing with holiday cheer. I have the appropriate amount.

The real story began while I was working in on-demand tech at the startup Handy. The company was raising millions of dollars to “revolutionize home cleaning,” and I was the San Diego guy (and Vegas too). I had a desk next to a few new friends at a coworking space. I would spend all day grinding out calls, interviewing home cleaners (riveting conversations), and they would work on a startup. Then one of them would disappear for a few months in the winter.

I’d ask his office partner, “Where’d he go?” Washington, wreath farm. Wait, what? He’s a farmer?

Then he’d be back in January and hang around again, working on startups until the following season. Dude, you’re a farmer? Not exactly, but may as well have been. I knew nothing about wreaths.

Eventually, his San Diego-based startup took off, and he quit, leaving to head up north for the winters. No more seasonal business.

It took me years to realize how cool seasonal businesses were. It’s like compressing an entire year’s worth of work into a tiny 2- or 3-month window. Pure insanity.

There’s a baked-in tradition, everyone is happy, and you’ve gotta F’ing hustle. I like that stuff. It reminds me of the days unloading 1,000 scooters from multiple semis at once. All had arrived unscheduled, they were pissed about waiting, and we had the entire street blocked. Adrenaline.

Anyway, once I realized what went into it, how the product was made, and how the operations worked, I wanted in.

This is how every season went:

Me: “We starting a wreath company this year?”

Him “Nope,” he’d say

I’d try again:

Me: “Yeah?!”

Him: “Nope”

But this year was different:

Me: “Yeeeeah?!”

Him: “It’s time for wreaths”

HOWL YEAH!

Not your mom’s wreath company

The vision is for a modern wreath business. Hold the farm, red tractor, and reindeer branding. I had some spare time (remember last week’s edition? Crash and Burn).

There are plenty of companies wrapped around nostalgia with red bows and ornaments. Not us.

I’m eagerly waiting to write the branding update, but we need a little more time to put a bow on it (puns are always intended).


We’re making wreaths! Wait, what’s a wreath?

Short answer: a festive circle that we adorn on our doorways. That smell of pine every time we enter our home. A natural tradition that screams holiday.

When I told my dad I was doing this business, he said “wow son, thought we needed to plant more trees, not cut them down.”

Facts, Dad.

He didn’t actually say those words, but his hesitation did. They are made from natural materials. It was growing at some point, right?

But there is no logging required. A natural wreath is made from the first one to 1 to 2 feet of growth on maturing trees. Think tip of your finger to your elbow. Growing trees are pruned and left to continue their growth.

In fact, large branches don’t really work (think #2 pencil max). They can’t bend into a circle, and the log wreath hasn’t quite caught on yet.

These elbow lengths of pine or cedar are gathered into bundles and arranged around a metal frame. What a beautiful festive circle.

Tradition says that you put a red bow on it. Google says so too. But traditions can bend and we think the bow is not always required. They’re beautiful in their natural state.


Less Cranberries

Tradition also says that we need more red. MORE RED! Does fruit belong on a wreath? Not unless you want ants.

Turns out most decorations are spray-painted styrofoam. Nice on the eyes, but do not eat!

Natural and Modern

Natural materials, natural smells, maybe even a pinecone.

You can decorate them yourself if you like. I won’t be upset.

Actually, we have a whole box of decorations that no longer fit on our Charlie Brown tree. I might do a little experimentation.

Plastic Is Out

You can get a plastic wreath, just not from us. There is an advantage—no branches were harmed in the process. The unfortunate reality is that it requires 7-10 years to make a carbon-neutral impact.

If you have the storage and the trends never change, you’re in luck! Get a plastic one.

The smell? More of a warm winter plastic.

Here are some I found at Home Depot.

So who’s gonna make em?

I went deep:

You need a paper wreath? I can teach you.

What about a pumpkin wreath? I got you.

Need to start a branch harvesting side hustle in the PNW? I have all the resources.

More importantly, in all my research, I learned the process, understood where the materials come from, and what a very nice wreath looks like. Artisans make it look easy. My hands make them look… want a discounted one?

We did have a lead on a small farmer in Washington. He was a family friend of my coworking space friend.

His wreaths are phenomenal, pure craftsmanship, and we’re in talks about teaming up for the season. We better move quick. There’s only a month (maybe two) until our wreaths need to be hanging on doors for the season.

The real questions on our minds are:

• Will we get everything done in time?

• How many can he make for us?

• Who’s going to ship them?
  

Let’s baseline:

✅ a product concept
✅ a manufacturer
❌ no name
❌ no brand
❌ no site
❌ Customers

🎄Days until Christmas: 75
💰Sales: 0

If you want to join us as we build a wreath company and get the updates, join us here.

Happy Holidays!

Jonah