Raise your hand if you were personally victimized by the neck photos we used to post on social media *everyone who has followed us since 2018 should be raising their hand*
For those of you lucky enough to not know what I am referring to, let me catch you up.
During spring break of 2018, we came up with a small business proposition for our parents: beaded chokers with words. Considering how low risk investing in string and plastic beads was, they agreed but said if we were going to do this we were going to go all out. This meant filing paperwork, buying and designing a website, the whole 9 yards. (I'll do a whole other post about all the paperwork and boring stuff that goes into starting a business, but all you need to know is we have been legit since day 1).
Now the name: Once upon a time, both of our friend groups, though 4 years and 700+ miles apart, were using the phrase "big mood" to describe just about every aspect of our lives. Failed your biology test: big mood. That frat boy forgot your name after talking to you for an hour: BIG mood. And obviously the only thing that can accompany a mood is a vibe, hence Moodz & Vibez was born.
It didn't take us long to expand our product lines, we quickly added bracelets (natural progression from chokers) and then summer of 2018 we bought our first button press. If you are unfamiliar with southern college culture, pin-back buttons are BIG specifically on game days. Our first round of buttons were Vine references because 2018, don't worry I still have the files saved for when we start having 2010s themed parties. Then we designed our own fanny packs staying true to the "Designs" part of our name; you already know we ordered them in our then signature neon pink and turquoise.
Fast forward to the beginning 2020 when we got our very first Panhellenic sorority license: Kappa Alpha Theta. I was a member of PC 17 in the Epsilon Zeta chapter and little did we know that Cait would be in PC 21 at Delta Omicron making it extra special that KAΘ was our first official sorority product line. Today we are licensed for over 20 different organizations!
A global pandemic gives you a lot of time to think and daydream. As we were ramping up to start our socially distant senior years, we had another business proposition for our parents...this one a little bigger than string and beads. So we opened our laptops and started Googling "How to buy clothes wholesale", "Can I do this without going to apparel market", "Is it hard to start an online boutique". The answers are: all you need is a business sales tax ID number, yes there are all sorts of online marketplace options, and honestly it was easier than expected.
Our first collection launched at the end of September in 2020, it was mainly pink and white to match our new branding. We had our first photoshoot together at the old IBM campus up in North Austin, which proves you never need a fancy photo location. We slowly kept adding a few pieces every few week to build up our inventory. Pro tip: you don't have to start with million different styles or dozens of each item, you can start small.
And the rest is history... just kidding! We are still learning how to run a clothing boutique, refining the brand and growing in small ways every day. Whether you've been here from the beginning or just found us, we are so thankful y'all are along for the ride!
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