Happy Birthday, Kula Cloth
*What I've learned in the last 6 years
Dear Kula Diaries,
At exactly noon on July 20th, 2018 I did something that, at the time, seemed like the scariest thing that I had ever done in my life: I pressed GO LIVE on my Kula Cloth website.
I remember thinking, “Well, people will either think that I’m brilliant… or a complete fool… but either way, I’ll go out in a blaze of glory.”
At 12:08 PM, after announcing my new company, Kula Cloth, on my personal Facebook page… I had my first pre-order for the very first intentionally designed pee cloth that had ever hit the ‘mainstream’ outdoor gear market.
I sat in my room when I saw that order come in… and I sobbed. And I’m not talking about the pretty type of sobbing where I was gently dabbing away tears from the corner of my eyes and feeling sentimental. I’m talking about the type of sobbing where your whole body shakes so hard that it hurts. I cried… and I cried… and I cried some more. It had nothing to do with the pee cloth… and everything to do with the journey I had taken to get to that exact moment in time. It was, perhaps, one of the first times that I had ever said YES to myself — after a lifetime of saying NO.
Just over a year prior to hitting the ‘GO’ button on Kula Cloth, I had almost lost my life in a freak incident while driving home from Steven’s Pass. That incident served as the wake up call that I needed: a call that I could choose to answer… or ignore. I closed my eyes one day, shortly after my near death incident, and I felt my heart beating… I noticed that my lungs were breathing themselves. I felt a deep and profound gratitude for the gift of life — it was a feeling that, until that moment, I had never truly experienced. I decided to answer the call. Less than six months later, I quit my job as a railroad police officer and decided to leap into the great unknown — an unknown which felt, at times, like the Fire Swamp from The Princess Bride. Every fear… every worry… every doubt that I had ever experienced about myself came out to ‘play’ — and one by one, I learned to side-step each and every one of them. From a place deep within my heart, I had to learn how to trust that the life I wanted to create was just on the other side of those fears. And so, instead of running away from them… I kept walking.
Six years later, I am still walking. Sometimes I feel like I’m walking on hot coals… other times, I feel like I’m dancing through the air … still, other times, I feel like I’m being sucked into an abyss. The past six years of running Kula Cloth have, without a doubt, been the most challenging thing that I’ve ever done. I don’t have training in ‘how to be a CEO’ — and I’ve never taken a business class in my life. I’m a pre-med Latin major turned Park Ranger and Railroad Police officer… who, somehow, got the chance of a lifetime to bring something very special into the world.
To celebrate Kula’s 6th birthday, I thought it would be fun to share SIX ‘behind the scenes’ stories that are a combination of funny, ridiculous, and special. I hope you enjoy hearing about them — as much as I (mostly) enjoyed living them. It’s taken an incomprehensible amount of work to get Kula to the place where it is right now — and it hasn’t been easy, but I feel very grateful that these stories are mine to tell.
Peddling Kulas from my backpack at Outdoor Retailer
As the violinist for The Musical Mountaineers and a gear tester for Backpacker Magazine, I was magically gifted a free ticket to Outdoor Retailer, which is a very large trade show for outdoor brands. Little did they know that I wasn’t coming empty handed. I had been working on Kula Cloth for months, and I had finally managed to sew some rough prototypes of my ‘new-fangled’ product. Before the event, I sewed about 100 Kula Cloths — my husband Aaron was cutting the fabric on our kitchen table, and I was frantically sewing the samples in our guest bedroom. I stuffed all of them into my backpack, and I headed to the show — figuring that I’d find people to give them to.
Prior to the show, in a fit of inspiration, I had sent a ‘random’ e-mail to a 'fledgling’ company called Garage Grown Gear to tell them about my brand new product. To my utter shock, Lloyd, the co-founder, wrote back to me and told me that he’d meet me at Outdoor Retailer to see the product. On my second day at the show, I waited outside at the Blue Bear statue to meet Lloyd. When he arrived, I opened my little green backpack and pulled out my handmade samples of Kula Cloths to show him.
As I think about that moment now, I can feel the realness of sitting on those stairs, waiting for Lloyd to arrive. I had quit my job and put every ounce of my soul into creating a piece of cloth designed to absorb urine — which, honestly, felt a little ridiculous when I said it out loud. Would other people understand the product? Or would they just laugh me out of the industry? I was afraid to move forward — but I was more afraid not to learn the answer to that question. I had so much tenacity, grit, determination and hope.
I met with Lloyd that day, and he took some Kula Cloths with him to give to his co-founder, Amy. A few weeks later, I received an e-mail. “When you make your first batch of them, we’ll be your first wholesale customer.”
To this day, Garage Grown Gear is one of Kula’s best customers — and Lloyd is still a dear friend. I cannot begin to express the ways in which our relationship with GGG has forever changed the course of Kula’s history. They are, indeed, a very important part of our small story!
Shipping Kulas from Pahrump, Nevada
When I first started Kula, we didn’t have many orders per week — so Aaron and I would pack all of our inventory (which, realistically, was two boxes of Kulas) in the back of my Honda Fit, and we’d head out on a backpacking vacation. Along the way, we’d stop at places with WiFi so that we could print shipping labels and get orders in the mail while we were on vacation. At one point, we were sitting outside of a Denny’s restaurant in Pahrump, Nevada during a backpacking trip to Death Valley. We went on a few overnight trips and then drove to Pahrump in the middle of our vacation so that we could steal WiFi to print orders. I still remember getting a message from a customer that said, “This shipped from Nevada? I could have sworn you were based in Washington!” I can’t possibly begin to count the amount of orders that I shipped out of my tiny Honda Fit. Some of you probably received your Kulas while I was on vacation — and it was always so exciting for me to come back from a trip and to have to ship out 10 Kulas to new customers.
For the record, we no longer ship Kulas out of the back of a Honda Fit. Currently, we have a few dozen Kula designs on our website … and we’ve added new products like the Kula Pocket, Pyka Pants and Rapunzel Gaiter. I’m currently in the process of finalizing the design of our first pair of SHORTS (thank you Kula Diaries gear testers!!) … and I’m working on some other ‘secret’ products. I also started a small motorcycle apparel company called Milk Run Moto… which stores its products in the Kula Warehouse. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, my NOW Watches live at the Kula Warehouse … plus our Hiker Trash Apothecary soaps and hair care. Needless to say — our inventory will NOT fit in my car anymore. We now operate out of a very small warehouse — where we ship MANY more Kulas and orders each week.
280 Kulas? No problem… errrr…
One day, my sister called me… and all I could hear on the other end of the phone was… screaming. Once she calmed down, she was able to collect herself enough that she could explain to me that we had received THE E-MAIL: an e-mail from REI, inquiring about selling Kula Cloth in their stores. This was both exciting AND absolutely TERRIFYING for me. On one hand, it was really thrilling to grow — on the other hand, I had no idea how we were going to be able to get a lot of Kula Cloths made. Could we handle this?
Ultimately, I ended up working with Liberty Mountain, the nation’s largest outdoor gear distributor, to set up the REI order. As I anxiously awaited their first order, I was really worried that we wouldn’t be able to handle the volume. Finally, I received an e-mail from REI that said something to the effect of, ‘2 SKUs and 140 doors’. Keep in mind that I was still very new to this game, and that I probably had to google the acronym ‘SKU’, just to figure out what they were talking about (for the record, it’s ‘stock keeping unit’). I remember looking at the e-mail and thinking… “they want 280 Kulas? Wow! This is going to be a piece of cake!”
I was feeling super confident by the time my Liberty Mountain rep called me, “Congrats on a great opening order from REI," he said to me. I smiled and replied back confidently, “We can totally fulfill this order immediately - 280 Kulas is absolutely no problem.” There was some awkward silence on the phone as he, likely, tried to figure out what the heck I was talking about. “It’s not 280 Kulas, Anastasia,” he said calmly, “It’s two Kulas in 140 stores.” My stomach dropped. OH. NO. OH. NO. OH. NO. WHAT. WAS. I. GOING. TO. DO.
And do you know what? I figured it out. We got those Kulas made… and here we are… four years later, still shipping Kulas to REI… and Kula Cloth continues to be one of their best selling products. I’m really proud of that — and proud of the relationship we’ve developed with all of our wholesale clients. I often call stores that sell Kula, just for fun — to say hello and to make a connection with the humans out there that are helping us grow. I’ve developed some really meaningful relationships this way, and I love watching their businesses grow too!
Our first event: PCT Days 2021
In 2021, I decided that we should attend our first event as a brand, and I thought that PCT Days would be a great start. I had NO idea what to expect, so I decided to casually attend the event with my husband. We tried to order a custom tent, but we were a little bit too late with that decision, so we ended up borrowing a pop up tent from a friend’s parents.
When I showed up at PCT Days in 2021, I have never felt like such an imposter in my life. As we drove into the venue, I quickly noticed all of the unbelievably gorgeous, professionally branded tents that were adorning the festival grounds. Sheepishly, Aaron and I set up our used, un-branded, sunbaked tent. Compared to all of the other booths, the Kula Cloth booth looked like a derelict campsite that had somehow managed to sneak into the event. I had purchased a banner for the tent, but it didn’t fit, so we ended up zip-tying it to the back.
As it turns out, the festival-goers at PCT days were very forgiving. They managed to overlook our meager accommodations — and they saw the true heart of Kula Cloth, which is something that can’t possibly be captured by an expensive tent. Over the course of the 2 day event, I think that I took — at most — 5 minutes of bathroom breaks. The Kula Cloth booth was, consistently, the most PACKED booth at the entire venue… with a line that sometimes extended out into the middle of the exhibitors field. That weekend was the moment when I was really able to see and feel the effect that Kula Cloth was having in the world. People who came to the booth were excited about the product — but they were excited about MORE than the product… they wanted to talk about dancing… or about meditation… or they just wanted to give me a hug in person. It was an overwhelming and emotional experience, and it reminded me that, no matter what you are making in this world, you must prioritize the connection with other humans — and the love and good that you can bring into every single thing you do.
When we were packing up the tent at the end of the event, Aaron accidentally stabbed it with a knife while cutting off one of the zip ties. We ended up purchasing a new tent for my friend’s parents… and, later that year, we purchased a sparkly new branded tent for Kula Cloth.
We still go to PCT Days every single year, and we ‘fit in’ a little bit more now — with our fancy branded tent… but I think we do bring something a bit more special with us. People stop by to purchase a Kula Cloth, but they also stop by for laughs… and for hugs… and just to say hello. Each year, I’m amazed and in awe of the incredible community of Kula folks that exist in this world — and it reminds me how honored I am to be a part of this wonderful little company.
Last year, a visitor to our booth looked at me and said, “Oh! You work for Kula Cloth?! That’s SO COOL!” I didn’t tell her I was the founder — because, honestly, it doesn’t matter much — I just looked back and said, “You know what? You’re right. It IS pretty cool.”
My husband Aaron aka ‘CHADWICK’
When you tell your husband that you want to leave your very well paying job to, ‘start a career in the outdoor industry’ … with absolutely no proof that you can do it… well, let’s just say that it takes a pretty extraordinary person to be open to an idea like that.
My husband, Aaron, is that type of an extraordinary person.
I don’t know what I did in a past life to have the opportunity to be paired with such an incredible human — but over the past 12 years of our relationship (coming up on 9 years of marriage!), he has modeled understanding, compassion, forgiveness, support, kindness and love in ways that I could not possibly describe. He has made me laugh on days when I did not think that laughing was possible — and he has happily adjusted to our 'new life’ as business owners — which is very different from the life that we were living when we met.
I met Aaron by accident … we both worked for BNSF Railway (he was a Trainmaster, I was a Railroad Police Officer) and he had gotten called into work on a day off. He always tells me that he was NOT happy to be at work that day… until I walked into his office to ask for directions to a remote part of the railyard.
When I left my job at the railroad, he stayed behind — so that we could make ends meet while I was trying to ‘figure it out’. Never once… not ONE TIME… in the four years that he worked 14 hour shifts through the middle of the night… did he EVER complain that I wasn’t making progress quickly enough. He never put pressure on me… never made me feel guilty… and absolutely never stopped believing in me.
On my darkest days — in the very early stages of Kula… when I had spent every single penny I had on fabric… and had nothing to show for it… he was the one who sat with me on the couch while I cried and worried that I had made a huge mistake. In those low moments, he never freaked out and told me to go back to work — instead, he gently reminded me that, no matter what happened, it was going to work out.
Aaron is the type of person who, over the past 6 years, has worn a Bigfoot costume for videos on multiple occasions… has dressed up as a fictional character named ‘Chadwick’ and ‘used’ a Kula Cloth as a pocket square while holding an impossibly large wine glass… dressed up as a dragon… and, at one point, was working 14 hour days at the railroad… and then coming home to help package Kulas into bags.
From the very beginning of Kula, my biggest dream was to get to a point where he could leave his job at the railroad. In 2022, we made that dream come true. For years, I had imagined the day when he’d walk out of his job for the last time — and then, it just happened. I dropped Aaron off at work that morning… and picked him up in the evening… knowing that he’d never have to go back again… never work another night shift… and that we’d be able to rebuild what we had neglected during those many years spent apart. Aaron spent a year making stained glass and de-stressing from his railroad career before deciding to work with Kula full time. Now, he’s the one managing most of the raw materials purchasing and keeping track of inventory — which is much easier said than done.
I don’t know if there are many couples that work together for a living — and people have asked me if it’s difficult to work with my husband — and I have an easy response for that: It was difficult to be away from him. It was difficult to see him for less than 1.5 hours per day. It was difficult to not be able to share the exciting things that I was doing with the one person that I wanted to share them with. Those things were difficult. Being with him everyday? Honestly, it’s wonderful. When we are working… we are working as both co-workers and friends — but, on the weekends and in our free time at home, we excitedly spend time together doing the things we love — paddleboarding with our cats, riding motorcycles and hiking.
When Aaron started working for Kula, my biggest fear was that I was forcing my own dreams on him — I mean, really, who has a dream of doing logistics for a pee cloth company? But a few years ago, Aaron told me a story that I had never heard before. About 15 years ago, he went to a leadership class when he was still working for the railroad. During the class, the instructor asked everybody one question: Where do you see yourself in 15 years? The students in the class started to go around the room answering the question — most of them replied very predictably with answers about the various promotions they wanted to achieve as they climbed the ‘corporate ladder’ within BNSF. But then, Aaron answered the question: “I see myself in a cabin on a lake.” The instructor was stunned — it was obviously not the answer that he was looking for.
But do you know what? Maybe dreams have a funny way of working out… because a few years later, Aaron met this girl police officer who loved backpacking and who had a silly idea for a pee cloth… and, against all the odds, he believed that she was nuts enough to actually go for it. Somewhere along the way, after she started her company… they sold their house and moved to a little cabin on a lake.
A few years ago, Aaron told me that his dream as a kid had always been to be a commercial pilot. He got his pilot’s license in college, but also discovered that he was colorblind, which prevented him from pursuing a career in commercial aviation. When he started working for Kula, I was worried he might not enjoy it — because, really, I wasn’t going to kid myself that he had a dream of working for a pee cloth company. But then I think back to the days when he was working for the railroad — the days when we barely saw each other and days when he was so tired and stressed out that he could barely function… and then I look at our simple routine now. He’s definitely a lot happier, and so am I. A few days ago, we woke up… went for a walk… meditated… ate breakfast together and then rode our motorcycles to work. It was, without a doubt, a morning that I could have never fathomed nearly a decade ago. Aaron has taught me so many things about love and about life — and he’s helped me see that sometimes the most important thing isn’t what you are doing… but who you are doing it with.
The time I wasn’t on How I Built This or Shark Tank
In January of 2019, I applied to be on the How I Built This Podcast — they have a tiny segment after their normal episode where they feature ‘up and coming’ entrepreneurs. And guess what? They called me!
I was SO EXCITED — I mean, freaking out excited. The How I Built This Podcast was/is a huge source of inspiration for me, so the chance to be featured felt like a dream come true. The employee who called me scheduled a brief phone interview with me — and asked me what time might work for me on a specific day. I told her that I had a planned climb of Mt. Saint Helens with a friend on that morning, but that I’d likely be back to cell service around 1pm.
About 45 minutes before sunrise, we summitted Mt. Saint Helens in gale force winds, and we waited at the top to watch the sunrise. We descended the mountain… quickly drove back to cell service… and I excitedly waited for my phone call from How I Built This.
My phone never rang.
A few hours later, I received an e-mail from the woman saying that they had decided, ‘to go in a different direction.’ My heart sunk — and I felt a deep sense of disappointment and sadness. I had been so excited, and now it felt like the rug had been ripped out from underneath my feet. What had I done wrong? Why had they changed their mind?
On that day I learned that you don’t need to know the answers to every question — and that wallowing in self-doubt didn’t help me. I learned to trust that, even when things didn’t make sense to me, I had to believe that they were working out for me — even if I couldn’t see how. Staying angry and disappointed indefinitely wouldn’t help.
As a business owner, you must quickly learn that nobody else is your ticket to what you want to create… except for you. It’s really easy to get your hopes up for a ‘big break’ — and it’s just as easy to spiral into self-doubt, when things don’t work out like you thought they might. How I Built This might have decided not to feature Kula Cloth — but I still had the chance to feature myself. I still had the chance to believe that everything was possible — and that nothing was dependent on anybody else… but me.
A few months later… I decided to apply Shark Tank. Why? Well, Whenever you start a business and have a great idea, people encourage you to apply for Shark Tank — so, naturally, I did.
And do you know what? They called me too! I was so excited when they called me that I nearly fell off my seat. I had to fill out a MASSIVE amount of paperwork, and I had to submit an application video to be considered. Just before I submitted the application video, the Shark Tank employee told me very specifically, “BE ENTHUSIASTIC! Show your personality and really WOW us!”.
Well, the universe had other plans for me — because I developed the worst case of laryngitis that I had ever experienced in my life. I hiked deep into the mountains to film my Shark Tank application video with the help of my friend Marie, but I could barely talk. I had a fever when I was filming the video, and I felt like death warmed over.
Needless to say — I never made it on Shark Tank… but do you know what? That’s OK. I’ve learned that finding acceptance for whatever happens on your journey is a lot of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. If you spend time trying to change the past — you miss out on what you can be doing right now to create something even more amazing.
There are far too many memories that I’ve collected over the past six years, and I can’t possibly begin to recall all of them. I can also say that there is no possible way that I could have predicted anything or everything that has unfolded over the course of this incredible adventure. I’ve never planned anything out — I’ve always just tried to stay open to the infinite ways in which things could happen — which has been completely ridiculous, fun and exciting. I never imagined that we’d have a Creepy Cat as a mascot… and I certainly never imagined that I would dance for over 1,300 days in a row.
Before I started Kula Cloth, I felt like a shell of a human. I constantly wondered: Why do I feel so empty? As I looked back over the map of my life, I could see that I had done everything that I was supposed to do. So, why wasn’t I happy? Why didn’t I feel fulfilled? Where had I gone wrong? I was struggling with PTSD from handling traumatic incidents as a railroad police officer — and, after one particularly horrific incident, I had started to question whether there was really any chance that I could ever find anything to be happy about, ever again.
I never imagined that a little six inch by six inch square piece of fabric with two snaps and a strap would help to pull me out of the hole that I had crawled into. It didn’t happen overnight — it happened one breath, one heartbeat at a time. As I began to remind myself about the love that was always around me — even in the difficult moments — I started to see that I could take that love… and create something important with it.
Kula Cloth started as a tiny idea that was gifted to me one day while I was backpacking high on the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range. I wasn’t trying to come up with a million dollar idea when it happened — I was just taking a photograph of my blue pee cloth as a joke. In that moment of blissful happiness and presence, I needed nothing to change. I was surrounded by mountains… accompanied by my best friend in the whole world (my husband Aaron)… and I had food, a tent, and a billion dollar view. Indeed, I felt like the richest person on earth. And, it was in that one tiny moment, that my heart opened up to receive the thing that it wasn’t expecting: an idea for a piece of gear that seemed like it could be something cool to make.
I’m so glad that Kula has given me a chance to ride the rollercoaster of emotions and experiences that I’ve had over the past six years. I don’t recognize the woman who spent most of her time complaining — instead, I wake up early and savor the breath that fills up my lungs each day. I know that each breath, each moment is an unpromised gift — and I have been given the unique chance to express myself in a way that feels meaningful and special.
Kula Cloth is not mine alone — in fact, it’s all of yours. There is absolutely NO WAY that I could have possibly started this company by myself. From the very beginning, I have been surrounded by folks who have scooped Kula under their wing and taught it how to fly — much further than I ever could have done on my own. Aaron, my mom, Mare, Allison, Amanda, Sheraden, Chizuko, Jared… all of the staff who work tirelessly to make Kulas… our reps at Liberty Mountain… and all of the folks out in the world who have loyally and genuinely championed this little product — Kula only exists because of all of you. A dream is only a dream unless there are people to breathe life into it — and all of YOU are the life that exists within Kula.
Many years ago, somebody asked me what words I wanted people to think about when they heard the name ‘Kula Cloth’ — and I think that I probably rattled off a bunch of words that had to do with the outdoors: adventure, courage, excitement, fun, exploration, etc… But, I’ve thought a lot about that question — because Kula is a weird piece of gear. When most people think of Kula Cloth, oddly enough — they don’t think of PEEING, which is incredible — because it’s literally a pee cloth. People usually tell me that they think of laughter … and kindness.. and creativity… and creepy cats… and dancing. What I really know and believe in my heart is that the true nature of Kula Cloth is one thing — and one thing only — it’s just love! That’s the secret ingredient to EVERYTHING that you could ever do. It’s the secret to learning how to find peace with yourself and peace with others… it’s the secret to discovering the joy in your heart… and it’s the secret to creating something that actually makes a difference in the world.
And so, as Kula celebrates its 6th birthday — I’m here to say that my goal as the Founder of this company remains unchanged: to bring more love into the world in everything that we do. The product will sell itself — but it’s how we sell the product… how we interact with other humans along the way … how we treat each other with kindness that really matters.
The next time that you snap a Kula Cloth to your pack and head out on an adventure, my greatest wish is that you will remember how much love went into that product from the very beginning… and how much love still goes into it, each and every single day. Being the Founder of a company is an entirely un-glamorous job that requires me to put more of myself into every single day than I even knew that I had. It’s exhausting, unrelenting… and just when you think you’re getting your head above water… you get pushed back down a bit. But do you know what? Six years later — I’m still here… and I’m pretty sure that we are doing something very special.
Last weekend, I went to the Kula Campout near Mt. Baker and as we all sat around the fire on the second night, each person told their own 'Kula Story' -- the way that they ended up discovering Kula. It was SO SPECIAL for me to hear those stories... the incredible way that the universe works to bring people together. I'm mostly at a loss for words when I try to accurately describe what YOU mean to me and what Kula means to me … but if I were to imagine that we are all sitting around a virtual campfire right now… I’d probably say something like this…
I didn’t find Kula. Kula found me. Once upon a time, I didn’t believe in myself. I looked at other people, and I wondered how they had gotten so lucky — I felt stuck, and I didn’t know how to change my life. And then, one day, everything was nearly gone — forever. But, in a miracle that I can’t explain, I got another chance at something that I had never quite taken the time to appreciate. Suddenly, I noticed that I was alive… which seemed so obvious… and yet… I had never taken the time to notice the preciousness of life. I saw, very deeply, that each person on this planet mattered very much. I felt my heart beating and noticed that my lungs were breathing — and I sensed a deep gratitude for the chance to wake up and watch the sunrise each day. I knew — truly — that there was nothing about me that needed to be fixed or changed… and, guided by that feeling, I remembered an idea that had come to me one day while I was high in the mountains on a backpacking trip. I had hidden that idea away — because I didn’t think that I was good enough to make it real. I dusted it off… and thought about it for a moment… and I decided to give it a try. I was pretty sure I knew somebody who had a sewing machine. If I don’t try, I’ll never know, I thought, let’s just see what happens.
It’s been six years now — and as I look around me, I know what happened. More than anything — I hope that Kula’s story… the very real grassroots story of our little company… can be an inspiration to YOU. Your ideas matter… you matter… and, truly, all things are possible. You don’t need to know all the answers right now — but you can trust yourself… and see what happens. You can try — and trust that in an infinite universe … things might just work out. Six years from now, you could be surprised at where you end up.
I want to genuinely and sincerely thank ALL of you for being a part of the Kula Community. Words cannot possibly express my gratitude. I’m looking forward to the next six years… and just seeing what happens.
Congratulations!! And as always, always, always…I’m so proud of you.
I always wish I could go back in time and figure out how I found Kula (and Kind Apparel). I know they were around the same time, but I don't know what order it happened in. I feel like I started following Gretchen (PowersProvisions) around the same time? I did look it up before I read this post and saw that my first purchase was July 2019, just before your first birthday. I think that means I can call myself a "ground floor-er"? lolol Very rarely am I on to something cool before other people.
Thank you for everything you've done, all the hard work you've put in. I love that my favorite piece of gear is a pee cloth!