Friends, it’s been a big week!  Jay and I made Brass official – yes, Facebook official.  We took the plunge and announced on our individual Facebook walls that we are starting a business, and we couldn’t have predicted the results.  We received an outpouring of support from coworkers, old friends, teachers, family and other long lost connections.  We even received a “Girl Power!” from one of our Aunts.  Yes, “Girl Power!”  Mel B and the rest of the Spice Girls would have been proud.  We sincerely thank you for the support!

Making this kind of announcement on Facebook can be daunting.  You are basically making yourself accountable for the commitment you’ve made to yourself and now the world…or at least your social network. But, it also makes Brass more real, and making Brass a reality is what gets us up in the morning.

Now that Brass is real to our friends and followers, we wanted to share some of the most important pieces of our business: our mission and values.  While we consider this a work-in-progress (choosing the perfect words to describe the business we’re building is a serious commitment!), we like what we have going on, and would love to hear your feedback.  Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Mission Statement:

Our mission is to bring inspired styles, designer-quality production and all-round versatility together to produce outstanding garments.  

Values:

1. Produce Outstanding Garments

The quality of our clothing is everything.  We strive to work with the best factories and surround ourselves with manufacturing experts who are only willing to produce the highest quality product.  We have instilled these types of standards in our young business and will rely on them as we continue to grow.  After all, we can have the fanciest website, wittiest emails and a million Facebook fans, but that won’t mean anything without a beautiful, quality garment.   

2. Provide Value

We admit, we had a tough time defining “value.“ We absolutely want our customers to feel like they got a gorgeous dress at a great value.  But, we’re not the kind of company that uses phrases like “unbeatable prices” or “blowout deal.”  No offense to the businesses that do.  It’s just not us.  How do we distill into a few words that Brass was created for women who love clothing? For women who love looking and feeling good, but don’t want to sacrifice saving for a down-payment on a house or paying down their student loan to buy a dress?  Well, we are still figuring out how to phrase it exactly.  But at the end of the day, we want customers to know that we believe their disposable income is better off paying down those students loans.  And they shouldn’t have to make financial sacrifices to look good.  We’ve made it our responsibility to be better.  Be efficient.  Be lean.  Cut out the middle man.  And let customers have garments made from the best factories in the world at a reasonable price.  To us, that’s value.  

3. Inspire Confidence and Make Customers Feel Beautiful

There is something amazing about the way a beautiful garment can make you feel.  The right piece makes you stand up a little taller, smile a little brighter and feel self assured because you know you look good.  Why should we wait for holidays and occasions to break out our best stuff?  We want Brass customers to feel gorgeous every day.    

4. Be Available.  Facilitate Community.

It’s important  that people see the human side of Brass.  Just because we’re separated by screens doesn’t mean we can’t be friends!  We want customers to know we’re here and available.  If Brass is our house, we want to be the best hosts possible.  We want to engage in conversation, share photos and stories, make you feel like you’re at home.  And we hope you’ll share back with us!

5. Provide a Consistent Aesthetic and Experience

Boutiques and retailers have the benefit of appealing to their customers’ different senses.  The arrangement of a display, the scent of a room, the background music, and smile at the door are all important because they inspire they way a customer interprets a brand and feels about the product and experience of shopping.  Online businesses face certain limitations when it comes to appealing to the senses.  But we’ll use the tools we do have available to convey the Brass aesthetic and mood.  We put careful thought into the photos we take, words we choose and messages we send. We hope to translate this experience across all of the different conversation channels so that customers know and recognize the Brass brand.

As mentioned, the way we phrase our mission and core values is a work in progress. But the foundation is concrete and we hope to build from here.  Please let us know your thoughts!