A Renewed Sense of Optimism
It is finally that time of year when the clocks reset, the timeline is renewed, and for one moment, however brief, there can be optimism and energy.
I have committed time to this company for a few months; I want to bring a quality workwear brand to the most important people in our country. I have doubts and struggles with how this all comes together, but as I sit here on this first day in January, thinking and planning for a successful 2025 and how my vision makes the hero of this brand YOU!
Mexican Hat - Oljato
You are what matters and makes this country great, everything from the tradesmen working the job site to the fields, the ranchers, and the grocery store stockers. The people who move their bodies and work with their hands are the real heroes in this and every other society in the world, and we have slowly forgotten them in this drift to door-to-door shipping and ordering from our phones.
To build great things and have the luxuries we enjoy daily, like electricity and water, apples and milk, we must not forget the ones that make it possible. Even when we order from our phones and get that package on our doorstep, all the men and women have made that convenience possible. The entrepreneur, the warehouse worker, the packer, the trucker, the delivery person, and all those folks in between deserve respect and praise. The transformation of industry throughout our country has been fast and furious. Still, there has been a gradual change to off-shoring, automation, and computer programs. We want those and need them, but tech cannot do it all, and there is a swell of consciousness for the working class to rise from this diminished state and rebuild our country from the inside out.
As it has gone away slowly, we will once again bring back the American spirit and an American way of life that has been forgotten and dismissed. We can't blame this generation or any generation after our own because they have not been told the stories or taught as all that came before them. The knowledge and the time taken to provide context into what an honest day's work and the struggles that came before have not been accurately passed on to those who have come after our own story; that is how traditions begin. The American values passed down through generations have also been lost in translation. I want to highlight all the folks working out in the field, in the warehouse, in manufacturing plants, and especially those who have partnered with us here to make American goods for hardworking American people like yourself so that we can learn their stories. Learn their importance in our daily lives and reflect on what it takes to bring you goods made in America.
This newsletter/blog is not just for me to write and tell but to highlight the stories of an American company doing what few but more are finally coming to see, which is that the American worker needs to have options to support their fellow American worker and that we all can close the circle of dependence on each other. When you support American-made American brands, whatever they may be, you are providing a paycheck and the possibility of the American dream to each one of those people in that chain of supplies who brought you that good.
Neighbors helping neighbors, Americans helping Americans, and that in and of itself is the American dream.