sincerely, wool&

Happy new year! We hope you’ve had a happy and healthy start to your new year. We have lots to share during this issue of sincerely, wool&, so we’ll jump right into it.

Meet the Customer Experience Team

We have an exceptional customer experience team, and wanted to do a little feature on each team member. Get to know the individuals behind the keyboard!

Rebecca, Customer Experience Manager

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I live in rural Wisconsin with my husband, son, and Italian exchange student/"daughter". I love coffee, travel, books, cooking, and wool...not necessarily in that order.

What was something memorable you did this winter?

In December, we road-tripped to northern Wisconsin, stopping first at a Christkindlmarket (an outdoor holiday market), and then to a snow-filled "Christmas in the Village" event at a pioneer village museum. It was magical night with lots of snow, a sleigh ride, carolers, and more.

Drake, Customer Experience Agent

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I currently work on the Wool&Prince CX (Customer Experience) side, but occasionally hop in the wool& CX. I like long walks on the beach and a good beer.

What was something memorable you did this winter?

This winter I just recently moved back to Portland after spending a couple months in Denver, CO. I’ve been taking my dog (Ruby) out on hikes almost every weekend so we don't miss the mountains as much. This photo is from Dog Mountain, just over the river in Washington state.

Amanda, Customer Experience Agent

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

Hi, I'm Amanda! I have lived in Alaska for nearly 12 years. Currently we live in Juneau, but we lived in Kodiak for a few years as well. I’ve been married for 14 years and have three daughters (ages 7, 6, and 5), an 11-year-old dog, and 8 chickens that keep me very busy! I've worked for wool& since June.

My love of wool and fiber started when I was about 8 when I spent the summers with my Granny, who taught me how to knit. When we lived in Kodiak, suitable outdoor clothes were required, so I re-learned to knit to keep busy and warm. I did not stop at knitting, and am self-taught in crochet, weaving, sewing, tatting, macrame, spinning and dyeing. When I’m not making a project or working the wool& help desk, I’m likely reading a book or drinking tea, or maybe even reading a book about tea! Both a plethora of books and tea have been consumed in this unusually cold winter.

What was something memorable you did this winter?

This winter has been unusually cold in Southeast Alaska, so we haven't done much outside adventuring. I’ve mostly been holed up in my newly-completed project room, complete with heated floors and my own private tea kettle, where I've completed several projects, including a wool cape, a pair of culottes, and a multi-purpose wrap made from Pendleton scrap. The snow photo is the view from my window in the project room, at about one in the afternoon. Peep the sun peering through the trees!

Marie, Customer Experience Agent

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I’m an American living on the southwest coast of Norway. In addition to having started at wool& in 2021, I spend a lot of time sewing, knitting, writing, singing, and chasing around the three cats that my Norwegian husband and I live with. I’m well known in our friends group for baking American-style pies and chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chips are not regularly available at the grocery store here, so I always bring some back when I visit home.

What was something memorable you did this winter?

This is a recent photo from one of my year-round favorite activities: having a long walk along the fjord near my home (this time cozy in my Ellie with a cup of hot tea). The body of water bordering Stavanger is called the Gandsfjord, and the area surrounding it is home to many wild ducks and seagulls, roe deer, squirrels, wild rose and crab apple, blueberries and blackberries in fall, and the majestic mute swan. The sea and mountains are beautiful year round, and the gulf stream keeps Norway’s west coast mild through much of the winter, compared to other areas of similar latitude.

Courtney, Customer Experience Agent

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

Nice to meet you! My name is Courtney and I’ve been with the wool& CX team since September 2021. When I am not working, I am a full-time babysitter to my wonderful nephews! Before I began working for wool&, I was a long-time lurker of the wool& 100 day challenge Facebook group, where many of our incredible customers inspired me to take on the challenge!

What was something memorable you did this winter?

My family visited St. Augustine, Florida, in December to see the “Nights of Lights” — an award-winning holiday lights display in historic St. Augustine. It’s a family tradition, but this year was the first time my nephews were able to see the lights. My favorite part of the night was seeing how excited they were!

Michele, Customer Experience Agent

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My name is Michele! I live in western North Carolina with my husband and two dogs, Aspen and Maple. My favorite hobbies are reading and all kinds of fiber arts. I completed my 100 day challenge in March of 2021, and have thoroughly enjoyed working for wool& since. 

What was something memorable you did this winter?

We traveled to Portland, Maine this winter! We spent our honeymoon there in 2019 and had the opportunity to go back this year with my entire family. We made so many memories and can’t wait to go back again!

What’s a dye lot?

Sometimes our customer experience team receives inquiries about why the same color can vary between garments. We wanted to provide some insight into why this happens. Learn a little about our dye process here.

Our Astoria Micro-Challenge

We love a good challenge, and so do our customers. We felt like our Astoria Throw wasn’t getting the love and spotlight it deserved, so we launched an “Astoria Micro Challenge” in early December (search for #astoriathrowchallenge on social media). Customers can order an Astoria Throw, style the throw in a unique way and post it on social with the hashtag, and receive $40/€35 off of their purchase. It’s a great way for customers to challenge themselves in a new (micro) way, and receive a little discount as a result of it. The challenge ends on January 31, 2022.

Sofie wearing the Astoria Throw in dark cool olive.

Jenn wearing the Astoria Throw in Charcoal Heather.

Christine wearing the Astoria Throw in Charcoal Heather.

BFCM recap

This year we donated 10% (up to $10,000) of every purchase between Black Friday to Cyber Monday toward a new employee lounge/break room for our Korean factory partner. Thanks to all of you who participated. We planned on updating our journal page with before and after images of our factory’s interior spaces. While the new lounge/break room isn’t ready yet, we did receive some brand new images of our Korean partners’ building. The fourth floor is for sewing production, and the third floor is the cutting and steam, pack, and fold department.

Take a look at some of the new photos here.

Job Postings

Are you entrepreneurial, analytical, with a passion for building? We’d like to talk with you. We’re hiring for a Growth Marketing Lead right now. Find more of our job opportunities on our site.

wool&coffee video series

If you haven’t yet joined our 100 Day Challenge Facebook Group, we encourage you to do so! Aside from engaging with 10,000 members in this incredibly supportive group, one of the other perks is you get to watch our CX Manager, Rebecca, in her weekly wool&coffee videos. These videos are a great way to find out about product updates, possible delays, and other insider knowledge about the company. Tune in with your coffee or tea, and it’s like you’re really hanging out! We’re thinking of testing out a virtual version of this in early 2022. Leave your comments down below with any other ideas.

milestones!

We always have new milestones to share with our community. It’s amazing to think that we had 832 members on January 1, 2021, and now have 9,742. The group is growing every day. Thank you for making it so great! We’re also nearing 3,000 completions for our 100 Day Challenge. Wow. We can’t really fathom that. We’re hoping to host another virtual celebration like we did in May 2021 for our 1,000 challenge completions. Stay tuned on that.

new product

So much new product is on our site. Pants, new tees, pajamas, new dresses…you can visit our new arrivals collection to view them all. Did you know that we carry wool rugs on our site too? Check them out. Please note that our new Foundation Slim Ponte Pant is running about one size too small. We recommend sizing up.

Thanks for reading! Sending you warmth, calm, and joy for the remainder of winter. We’ll talk to you again in the springtime.

Sincerely,

—the wool& team