2018 has been an exciting year for us. From the time we launched EqualiTee in June, to now its been quite a journey. While our online store has given us an opportunity to share our idea and products globally, we really have enjoyed the one-on-one interactions and conversations with parents, children and other caregivers at the few on-ground events that we participated this year.
Hence, we were really excited to have been shortlisted by two of the finest Christmas fairs in Delhi but also very nervous as both the festivals coincided on the same dates. As a small team, the key challenge was setting up and managing presence at two parallel locations - the German Christmas Market and the American Embassy School and hoping that amidst glitz of festivities, we are able to get the attention and mind space of busy parents with our message of breaking gender stereotypes. We are most grateful to our friends and family who helped us put the two events together.
The last few months and these two festivals have been a great learning experience on the commercial imperatives of the brand. We started with a complete focus on the creative aspect of the story but are learning the ropes of building commercial acceptance and sustainability. It was heartening to see little boys play with the Lottie tree house and dolls with as much enthusiasm as the girls. It's a different matter how many of them were gently chided by their nanny or their grandmother for picking the 'wrong' toy. Changing attitudes and perceptions is a long journey and I learnt that we need to build different roads and pathways for people who are at different points in their journey. That's our journey for 2019.
Here are some glimpses from our outing at the two festivals. Enjoy and stay tuned for new product announcements.