🎉2024 Time Capsule: Redefining what it means to be a clothing business.

So it goes in TK tradition, as the year comes to an end it’s time to take a look back at all that transpired throughout the last 12 months. As usual, our time capsule is full of ups and downs, new conundrums to solve, and of course - new Basewear!

As we go into 2025 the plan is to turn the corner into a totally new direction for this business: the Golden Age of TK. We’re leaving behind everything that doesn’t work, and inviting in new strategies that are better aligned with our values.

We’ve figured out three keys to do this, and they might not be what you’re expecting. Read on to find out.

When I (Hi, it’s me - BK) launched the TK Supporter Membership last year, I quickly realized this could be the key to solving our business’s two biggest challenges: production funding, and being able to predict our revenue. However, as we went into our first member funded pre-order it quickly became clear that if we wanted this to be enough to truly sustain our business long term - we’d have to grow our memberships… a lot.

Recruiting new TK supporters is key to our success. We set a goal of growing our TK members by around 25%. It’s on track and continues to grow! 

For every new member who signs up we place a pin on our map in the office! We also save all the kind notes and cards you send us for inspo as we pack your orders. ❤️

This year, we were able to design an entire new collection: AURORA, and the new TOURA Boxer. These designs add more coverage and compression, expanding Basewear to work better for a new range of body types and activities. 

*Our fit testers, product designer Jen, and members wear testing our newest design: AURORA! This design is not available to the public yet. We were only able to produce enough for our TK Supporters. To make sure you get in on our latest Basewear - become a supporter.

All new Basewear is designed to solve all new problems. Our product designer Jen created three new Basewear top designs, and three new bottoms designs to introduce more compression, support, and comfort. While your TOURA Basewear feels like nothing is there and is great for low impact activities, add AURORA tops in your drawer for times where you want something a bit more snug and secure. Where TOURA bottoms stay put, AURORA bottoms are ultra soft, and comfortable.

This year we aimed high: hoping to be able to create one new Basewear design each quarter, funded by our TK members.

While we had high hopes… production delays had other plans.

AURORA arrived over 4 months late, causing a cascade of new problems for us to solve, and delaying our member pre-order schedule for most of the year. This is a repeat of our oldest issue that has come back to bite us yet again. Because of this we’re still dealing with the fallout and trying to get things back on track.

Our quest to stay small and grassroots, avoid over production, create quality Basewear, maintain ethics and sustainability is important but it has made the road a lot trickier.

Sometimes, it's easy to point the finger of blame, but often this is totally out of our control. Our production partners are usually doing their best to get things done on time, but unexpected issues like changes in the supply chain, or production issues can cause delays. 

To create more stability for the business, and stay true to our aligned values, we are considering producing in the U.S. again as a secondary back-up option to our main production. Our last attempts at U.S. production were... rough... to say the least. So, time we’ll be going into it with higher standards and firmer boundaries.

So, keep an eye out for our next micro pre-order… it could be made in the USA again!

Wait.. did you read that right? Yep - while Basewear has been our main product for years, selling physical products has also been our biggest challenge.

The problem goes like this: our production gets delayed, we run out of inventory, our sales dip and we can’t scale the business. When this happens it asks us to produce more than we can handle, or scale up. It compromises our own boundaries and values to stay small, sustainable, and grassroots… and frankly - it hasn’t worked.

We live in a day and age where we don’t really need new physical goods. Our world is flooded with too much production, convenience, and physical abundance that exceeds the resources available on our planet.

Making Basewear is an absolute joy - it brings confidence, comfort, and connection to our customers. We don’t want to stop creating that magic. But, we want to create it on our terms: small, and sustainable.

So, this year we’re taking a radically new approach to establish new forms of revenue that aren’t linked to inventory. We’re breaking the cycle. We’re moving away from the idea of having to create more physical products, so we can continue to create physical products at a scale that doesn’t compromise our values. 

The journey of creating TK has been a wild ride, and one thing is for sure: we’ve learned everything a person could possibly need to know about creating clothing and organizing a grassroots operation. The future is calling us to rise to the challenge of figuring out how to create, without wrecking the planet, and we’re answering it with the TK ReMaker portal. We’re building a digital community and curriculum on how to create, sustainably.

Our first ReMaker curriculum will focus on the two things we know like the back of our hand: how to sew, and how to transform your mindset in order to run a business.

The ReMaker curriculum is in its initial stages of being put out into the world! We’ve built the lessons, videos, and how-tos needed to get started with our launch. 

Who? Jen's sewing curriculum is for anyone who is interested in learning how to mend, sew, and repair their own clothing.

What: In the curriculum you'll learn:

• Foundations: Basic Sewing Skills
• Repair: Fixing & Patching
• Master Class: Working with Stretch Fabric
• and more!

Why? Empower yourself with sewing and repair knowledge so you can revamp beloved clothing that fell apart and avoid throwing things away. No need to try to teach yourself to sew using youtube, getting frustrated, and leaving projects unfinished. We've put together everything you need to know, along with group question sessions with our ReMake Master Jen.

Join the ReMaker Community

Who: BK's business mindset coaching and curriculum is for anyone who is currently running, or thinking of starting their own entrepreneurial endeavor. 

What: In the curriculum you'll:

• Visualize to clearly define your future project and what aligned purpose and success means to you.
• Observe, Identify, & Reprogram any personal tendencies you may have that are taking you away from that aligned goal
• Build & Maintain your business or project with specific strategy and clarity on what to move forward with, and how.
• Expand into other opportunities and celebrate your success!

Why? Running your own entrepreneurial endeavor can be daunting, and confusing at best and isolating, and stressful at its worst. All the weight of decision making is on you and the pressure to figure it all out never ends. Your to do list could be infinite if you let it. Reprogramming your brain to handle this kind of lifestyle and refine your path to the future is necessary to get to a place of happy and aligned success that doesn't burn you out!

Join the ReMaker Community

Throughout the past year, I (BK) have been re-configuring TK to become autonomous: a business that functions largely without me. In its most authentic expression, TK is meant to be a team effort, not an individual burden.

We’ve been able to find this dynamic in many ways - but there’s one final piece of the puzzle that remains to be filled: sales and marketing.

This year, I’m looking for someone with the same passion, energy, and authentic love for TK that I had when I first started the business. I know that with the help of others who are truly meant to be a part of TK we can reach new heights that wouldn’t be possible with my insight alone. 

This is the first year I wasn't present for any of our product photoshoots* (yay)! I know that sounds like a small thing, but for me it was a big step for TK being an independent lady that doesn't need me around as much. *Well, I was there for a video shoot, but after that all the magic was created BK-free.

After 8 years, I still love running TK but my energy gets quickly drained by covering the roles I was never meant to fill. I’m ready to shift this dynamic and lean into focusing my energy only on the roles I was meant to do, and thrive in: overseeing our eCommerce operations, and directing the overall vision of the company. It makes my work purposeful, meaningful, easeful, and lets me unleash the highest expression of my true creative gifts.

TK is like a diamond in the rough: we have an amazing product, dedicated members, and our mission has brought so much happiness to our customers. All that said, we’ve never truly reached the authentic expression needed to launch TK into the world. We need someone with the experience in sales and marketing to visualize the highest expression of how TK could be presented to the world in a larger way, and the passion to make it happen.

If TK was a sword in a stone, we need the perfect partner to pull the sword out so we can reach true success in sales and marketing.

I’m putting this out into the universe and I can’t wait to see who shows up!

TK deserves it.

Much ❤️ BK