It's April 11th, 2017! Already! It's been 6 years since we started this little "project" of ours. Six Years!
Here's 6 things that you may not yet know about us, but really should...
It's been 6 years since we started this little "project" of ours. 6 years of organic, 6 years of fairtrade, 6 years of working with cotton farmers, 6 years of getting to know all of you (btw, have we told you lately that we love you?)!
But we can't help wonder - after 6 years, do you really know us?
Here are 6 things that you probably didn't know about physicoolsports:
That's right - we're #1! When we started out, there were several fairtrade producers (farmers & factories) in India but we were the first to get a Fairtrade License as a brand selling in India.
We've been 100% organic and fair trade since day 1 (April 11th, 2011) - 6 years and counting!
We are a lean, mean, motley crew of 4 people. Yep, you heard right - just 4!
We are a family-owned, couple-run business with Apu & Shweta at the helm.
ps: We are actively looking for a 5th crew member to head up our Marketing & Social Media digital madness so if you know someone who'd be a good fit, please ask them to email us at [email protected].
We miss everyone who's been part of our journey so far (special shoutout to Diti, Ruth, Amrita, Felix, Anushka, Nilofer, Christina, Vishal, Maeve, Ruta, Asja, Yashika, Chris, Jayanth...oh boy, this list is long and they're already cueing the play-off music to get me off-stage...)
We want to create a movement for ethical fashion to help put a stop to farmer suicides in India.
That's our raison d'etre; our mission; our purpose!
And we need more people to join us to achieve this. Together, we can.
Here are a few things we've done to help grow this movement:
Did you know we started and run a non-profit project too?
Did you know that it's kinda, sorta, really super-duper awesome??
It works with women from the cotton farming community of Maharashtra, India (from the regions that have the highest number of farmer suicides) to give them a reliable, secondary income AND create awareness of the agrarian crisis in their region. It's working!
It's called Once Upon A Doug.
Recently, we shifted our base to the lovely beach town of Goa (it's lovely but...) and we love being local + global. Being online means we've reached all corners of the planet - literally! Don't believe us? Here's a list of countries that we've shipped to in 6 years:
That's 45 countries that have received some physicoolsports loving, and we love that! Though our focus has always been to kickstart a consumer movement in India for ethical fashion, it's humbling (and quite a high!) to know that we're catching people's attention around the world.
We're not here for the money (though it helps); we're not here for the fame (it's fleeting); we're not here for anything but happiness. Happiness for us and for our farmers and factory workers and supporters and customers - all of us.
We believe happiness comes from Purpose.
Sure, pleasure & passion are sweet too but it's purpose that is the wind in our sails.
We've drafted our mission accordingly. Here it is, scribbled on a whiteboard many moons ago but still standing tall in our office as a daily reminder of why we do what we do. (click the image to open our Instagram account).
ps: a big shoutout to the folks at Happy Startup School that have inspired us & shaped a lot of our thinking. If you haven't yet, do yourself a favour and check them out!
We'd like to leave you today with these 3 things to ponder on:
Join us, won't you?
]]>What we do, why we do it, and how we do it (Hint: in style, baby!)
]]>Even though we're a business, profits are the last thing on our mind. We're passion-filled & purpose-driven, making fantastic products in the belief that profits will eventually follow. We employ people we love working with, and have a simple recruitment motto of hiring "adults" - responsible, motivated people who will do the right thing. We're happiness-focused, with our fabulous team working from wherever gives them joy. physicoolsports HQ recently shifted from Bombay to Goa for a more peaceful, happy life of enjoying the simple things. (Sunset ocean swims beat rush-hour on the Mumbai Western Line, for sure!)
physicoolsports is an incredible experience to work with passionate people all trying to make a difference. It's a hard journey, but a happy & satisfying one. Look good. Feel good. And do physicoolsports.