The last two years have been very exciting for me both in business and on a personal level.
Some of the best ideas are born out of personal experience and the thought 'This can't be all there is!'
And this is where my story begins:
With trying to buy a dress, a t-shirt or anything wearable with an astronaut for my then 3-year-old daughter. She was fascinated with planets, the moon and spaceships from an early age and wanted a cool t-shirt.
So off I went to the clothing store. Unfortunately, there were no astronauts, planets and spaceships in the girls' department. Then I went to the boys' department - and I found what I was looking for. Well, at least I found a t-shirt is and remains a t-shirt - it being in the girls or the boys section (so I thought). The other problem remains that our society obviously still thinks that girls and planets don't belong together.
My daughter was thrilled with the rocket and the astronaut monkey and did not want to take it off. Unfortunately, another child explained to her at daycare that the t-shirt is a t-shirt for boys. Thus, it became very quickly uncool and I was again looking for a solution. And there I was again with two problems: 1. girls clothes come only in pink and pastel shades with princesses and 2. my daughter wanted now even more a girl-planet-t-shirt.
Instead of giving up, I decided to do something about it. Against both problems. That's why with Mint Girls I make clothes that show girls that they can become astronauts if they want to.
Once I decided to do that, there were the less glorious things that any new company has to fight through. On top of that, I had no experience in the textile industry, or in the logistics of products, let alone Kickstarter campaigns.
That meant learning, learning, learning. And not with books (even though I did read one or two books on the subject), but from others who have experience as well as through trial and error.
It was worth it. In the summer, six months after my founding in February '21, I already knew a lot more and was also able to list my first successes:
Switzerland is an island and customs and logistics challenges are even more complex than thought (read more here)
successful Kickstarter campaign with over 12'000 CHF
first collection in pre-production
over 1'000 followers on Instagram
135 loyal newsletter subscribers
1 podcast, 1 blog article and many supporters on Linkedin
first orders in the online store, even if so far only pre-orders are possible.
A little later than hoped and with some custom difficulties (who knew that you need the document EUR1? 🤯), the first collection arrived in November (almost a year after the founding!) here in Switzerland and could be shipped.
The 2nd collection was already in planning and came in April '22 on the market. Until then, many marketing and PR activities were underway, so that more and more girls learn about Mint Girls.
Then came my private highlight of the last two years: the birth of my third daughter. How I enjoyed this time - the big sisters were absolutely super and very loving from day one. During the summer we spent a lot of time together in the swimming pool, at the playground and just at home.
Unfortunately, I did not manage to plan and commission the fall collection in time. These setbacks are of course very difficult, especially for a small, young company.
Every collection needs about 6 months of preparation time. The design needs to be created, the garments need to be specified, then print and garment samples are made. Depending on how many rounds of improvement there are, it takes about 3 months. As soon as everything looks perfect, production can start - that means making fabrics, printing, cutting, sewing clothes, packing and then sending them to us in Switzerland. This again takes about 3 months.
And there was not enough time for that. After a few demotivating days, however, I made the decision to look ahead again and stop thinking about what I can no longer change.
The last 4 months of the year were completely under the motto - Christmas business. Many stores make the biggest sales of the year during that period and that is no different for us. For example, we were together with Kaleio at the Gwand festival (👋 Laura, I had a lot of fun with you!).
Wie geht es weiter?
Definitely exciting! The spring '23 collection is already in production and the autumn '23 collection is also in planning. I can only say: YOU CAN BE EXCITED!
We have taken your wishes into account and it will be really great!
A hint: Who follows our Instagram channel and has voted, might be able to guess the theme.😉
Who is Mint Girls?
Mint Girls makes clothes for girls who think astronauts, trucks and dragons are great. We want to empower our girls and give them the opportunity to have alternatives to princesses and unicorns.