S1 E.2 How the Nice Girl Gang Started
In this EpisodeIt’s been a long road getting Little Words Project to where it is today. The business has been running for almost 9 years, and while we’d like to say it was all smooth sailing, we know that most times in life, that is almost never true.
Even though we pride LWP on being a community of nice girls, and we try to cultivate that same kindness in our work environment, Adriana and Mariah haven’t always been able to escape the cruelty of “girl world” in the office. In fact, that’s what this episode is all about. While we intended for this episode to be a story of how the company came to be, it instead turned into a conversation about how the entire brand’s mission came to be.
Adriana, as you might know, started LWP in her parent’s basement, and for three years, it was just her, her then-boyfriend (now-husband <3) Bill, and her parents. She had hired an employee, who we call Sarah throughout the episode. As time went on, she realized that she’d need more than just one girl to help her grow the brand… enter Mariah. Fresh out of college, Mariah started her job hunt and landed at LWP with Adriana and Sarah. Amidst a teeny bit of judgment from her family and friends (“Wouldn’t you rather a structured corporate job?” “You’re going to be beading bracelets for a living?!” etc. etc.), Mariah knew from the second that she met Adriana that there was something special about both her and the company that she was building. Mariah had found a place that she felt she could make an impact.
But, not all stories can be fairy tales, and for the first couple of months of Mariah’s employment, her job was certainly not all fun and games. In the tight and cramped Hoboken office, Mariah often felt ostracized by Sarah. The energy around the beading table was off for everyone involved, and Mariah found herself in a classic situation of girl-on-girl cruelty. She constantly felt unwelcomed by Sarah, and like she had to walk on eggshells in the office, even though Adriana had made her feel like she could be completely herself.
The negative energy on Mariah’s first day alone made her almost quit – but she kept coming back. Adriana’s cousin, Alex, who had been helping out with the company as well, made Mariah feel accepted enough that she was able to go back for a second day, but Mariah also believed so fully in Adriana and what she was building that she knew she couldn’t walk away.
Tension in the Hoboken office continued until Adriana went on vacation one summer, and came back with reality flipped on its head. Mariah and Sarah had actually become friendly with each other. Unfortunately, though, it still wasn’t quite the friendship that LWP’s community strives to achieve. Instead, it was more of a two-against-one situation, and Adriana had been pushed to the outskirts of her own company – something she’d dealt with growing up during her bullying journey, and now something she’d have to deal with when it was exactly what she was trying to avoid.
Everything came to a head when one Friday night, alone in the office, Adriana had gone to print something off of Sarah’s computer. sShe found texts between her two employees… sh*t talking her. Sarah had been texting Mariah a lot of negative things about Adriana, and Mariah’s responses were usually in agreement with her. Adriana was hit with a wave of emotion, wondering how she’d once again ended up wrapped up in the world of girl-on-girl bullying.
The following Monday, Adriana confronted Sarah. She ended up quitting that day, and Adriana had the same conversation with Mariah. She told her that if she really agreed with Sarah, she could walk away. Mariah struggled with disappointment in herself for siding with Sarah, embarrassment, and confusion. But ultimately, the belief in Adriana and the brand had been so strong that she decided to apologize, prove her worth, and stay with the company (and thank goodness she did).
This pivotal moment in LWP’s history also led to the formation of the Nice Girl Gang. Adriana and Mariah came up with the idea, perhaps because of this incident, that they wanted to take back the idea that being a “nice girl” was a frilly thing to be, and instead form it into something empowering, and something to be proud of. We’re nice people, and all women - and people, for that matter - should be treated with kindness.
With all that said, this isn’t a story about bashing another girl, and it’s not a story about being bullied or feeling bad for someone who was ostracized. It’s meant to show us that not everything is going to be perfect, and that this kind of stuff happens everywhere – even at the company whose entire goal is to avoid this exact scenario. It’s meant to show us that nobody is perfect, that we can all get caught up in things that may not be nice, or that may not be representative of who we are as people, but in situations like these, we have to grow.
We hope that this story has shown that even our brand that is built on the simple concept of kindness was once in a very toxic area, but it has grown into something beautiful because of it.
Important Times0:45 - An intro from Adriana
1:46 - How LWP started & Mariah’s first impression of the brand
3:33 - Sarah’s role in the beginning stages
4:43 - The first year with Mariah
10:55 - Why Mariah kept coming back
16:35 - Adriana’s perspective on the tension
19:32 - What happened when Adriana went on vacation…
23:41 - When it all came to a head
28:01 - The confrontation between Sarah and Adriana
30:15 - The reason we wanted to share this story
32:17 - Inception of the Nice Girl Gang
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Welcome bestie.
We’re so glad you’re here.
We’re Adriana and Mariah. Co-hosts, entrepreneurs, BFFs, and girls just like you trying to figure it out as we go.
