43North’s Kim Speier interviewed Erin for their “Founder Friday blog series”. If you want to know anything about our roots, clock that link above.
Thank you, 43North for being there unconditionally, partnering for Ignite, and giving us a shot!
Expression is Survival: Art + Friends
On September 7th, we had the opportunity to spend the day with the goodDYEyoung team at the Art + Friends festival in Nashville, TN. This day was so special in so many ways.
We made the drive down to stay with some longtime, hometown friends. After settling in, we took advantage of all that Nashville has to offer. People in that city are much like Buffalonians; They really make you feel at home. The city is spilling over with music + art everywhere. It’s hard not to leave completely in awe of that place.
This festival meant everything to the creators and artists involved. It was the last show of Paramore’s After Laughter album cycle, and they wanted to do it big. They did not disappoint. The line-up of music also included Nightingale, Liza Anne, Coin, Bully, Canon Blue, and a cameo by Halfnoise. (You guys probably hear all these artists on regular rotation in the shop.) There were lots of little pop-ups sprinkled in among interactive art installations. The Epic Girl photo booth was super fun, and Congrats! Records sold out of just about everything, to name a few memorable moments.
Here’s where we get involved… Shortly before we were going on this adventure, we were asked if we wanted to do some demos at the GDY pop-up within the festival. That’s what we truly love: merging art + music. With a massive re-brand just launched, as well as some launches that have happened since, GDY had so much to show off. We’re honored to be part of the artistry team.
When we arrived at the aud, we met up with Megan, who we worked with at the Parahoy! GDY event. She introduced us to the rest of the crew we hadn’t yet met, and also reunited with Local Honey talent Kazia + Madi. The shop Megan designed looked incredible! GDY has such a unique aesthetic. This day also truly kicked off the mindset of EXPRESSION IS SURVIVAL.
This day was extra great because we got to catch up with lots of people we know within the GDY community. It’s so rad seeing a literal community spring up because of the brand’s philosophy. Since GDY launched, we’ve made so many friends all over the world. To get to catch up in person + nerd out over hair, expression, music, hearing people’s stories, hair dreams, beauty questions, travel stories, etc etc etc = wow.
And the day wouldn’t have been complete without a lil drop-in by the creators.
We remember when Hayley + Brian just had a dream. Then they had a plan. They made it happen. And we’re so proud. GDY is so much more than hair color. It’s an ice-breaker for personal expression, a doorway to conversation, a safe way to be you. We can’t put it better than H herself in the STRANDS blog, so be sure to read that. To be able to shake the hands of those who created something bigger than they know is truly great. We get to create our art with the most high quality, healthy product every day. Thank you for welcoming us into the GDY family. We’re truly grateful, can’t wait to see where GDY goes, and hope to be a part of more creative collabs in the future.
photos by Chris Ferguson.
#gdytillwedie
Sh*tty in the USA
On August 18th, 2018, we held our second official fundraiser for the Pride Center of WNY in partnership with Lockhouse Distillery. We had another amazing turn-out, even on the night Beyonce was in town! A total of $1696 was donated to further the work of PCWNY.
The night was so special. Going with the 1970’s beach party theme, we featured Buffalo’s own Deadwolf + DJ CropTop (Alison Pieroni) to keep everybody moving. Veronica Lace mc’d again, judging the party’s most exciting moment- the winners of the dance contest! Our Qween + King absolutely killed it out there on the dance floor, complete with a costume change!
The magical good vibes continued all the way into the cobblestone street, where the BuffaLove Bus had set up camp to capture all the moments we wanted to remember forever. (If you need a wow-factor for any event, look no further!)
We couldn’t have done it without our wonderful partners in fundraising, Lockhouse Distillery! Reann Nye once again created a stunning poster for this event. Even Second Chic and BKind City as well as one of our hair care brands, Surface, made generous donations in the form of party favors, costume needs, and contest prizes.
Now, let the nostalgia begin…
Community Preservation Corporation features 500 Seneca
It's awesome to have known the Savarinos for so long, and to see their dream happen. They let OURS happen, too. Check out the story of 500 Seneca! We're happy to be featured in this video.
Ignite Buffalo
This may be the most crazy opportunity such a young business has had. We didn't know what we were in for, but we took home one of the prizes that will help us grow our business! Ignite Buffalo is a grant provided by Facebook, 43North, M&T Bank, Amazon Web Services, Woo Commerce + more.
Out of 477 applicants, we made the Top 50. That gave us the opportunity to pitch to some very important people in the business world as well as our community. Hours after pitching our culture + needs to the panel, we received a phone call that we made the Top 27! No words can describe that feeling. Twenty-seven Small Businesses left that theater on Wednesday night taking with us a Million $. Facebook Business streamed the event live, giving Buffalo a global platform to show that we are cleaning up this rust belt we love so much.
Making the Top 27 was based on the criteria of being different from your pack, creating new jobs, growing existing company culture and infrastructure, continuing education for the team, and giving back to the community in which we thrive.
In short, our lives are forever changed by this experience and the $25k gift we have been granted. We have many ideas, and are so incredibly lucky to have had this jump-start as such a young business!
Some of our friends like Barrel + Brine and Oxford Pennant took home $50k + $100k prizes- Bravo! Our buddies Spoke & Dagger and BreadHive also took home a $25k prize. We cannot wait to see what all of the other 26 businesses make of their grants.
In addition to our grant, we will receive a year of business mentoring, which is actually priceless.
Below is a quick recap of the evening's outcome (Channel & anchor Jeff gets his hair cut in the shop!), some links to news coverage, and a few pics from the night...
