Sunday tunes.

Sunday, March 18th, 2012

Hi everyone!

Jodie has been holding it down on the blog for a couple of months while I was underwater with work & travel & pneumonia, but just wanted to pop my head up and say hi!

Lots going on…. last week we were on Fab.com and this week you can spot us over at the mini social. We have lots of exciting press and announcements on tap for this week and next week. I have been on important calls and making real life legit decisions and giving talks and having meetings, etc. This probably sounds pretty normal to all of you in the context of running a company, but its really not the norm over here at barley & birch. We have always said that we would never turn into a real “corpo-ish” company and I have always said that I would never act like “a suit.” But lately we have been and I have been.

I was jolted out of this attitude by an e-mail from Jodie. We have been at high intensity work mode lately, with lots of e-mails about lots of projects. But this e-mail said something along the lines of…. “These people have been texting me. I told them repeatedly they have the wrong number. They say ‘oh okay.’ Then today I get texts about someone going into labor and I am getting labor updates from them. Can we send them a discount code as a congrats?”

I cracked up loudly, and then was like “YEP, already activated it. Go.”

And it made me realize that we hadn’t been half as weird and goofy and un-corpo-like as we used to be and said we always would be.

To make up for it, I am cranking up, and sharing, one of my fav fun & goofy jam-out tunes. If you are wondering how I will spend my day, its working like mad, and then, periodically, when this song comes on, having an office-wide dance party, where all typing stops and one hand is in the air and the other is holding a cup of coffee. We are officially making an effort to bring the quirk back to b&b.

Step 1: Here is the code for the random person that was texting Jodie. Help yourself to 15% off this week: RANDOM12.

Step 2: Jam out!  Perfect way to start your week

Love,
Kyle

Posted in All, Kyle, Tunes | 1 Comment »

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Even though she keeps swearing she’s postponing it until next week, TODAY is Kyle’s birthday. If she wasn’t so far away today, I would have baked her a pretty decent cake. But I’ll have to owe her.

So even though Kyle isn’t celebrating her birthday today, I’m going to…and since this bad boy is so obviously the cake I would have attempted to make her, I’m going to do something in true Kyle-fashion, and purchase this hippo cake and hand it off to the next shopper I see (that doesn’t think I’m too insane).

In honor of Kyle’s birthday, I vote that you all go out and do some random, ridiculous act of kindness in her name. Maybe we can get Jan 25th turned into National Kyle Smitley Act-of-Kindness Day in the next 50 years. Kids will have the day off from school, it will be awesome.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Love,
Jodie

Posted in All, Assorted Thoughts, Jodie, Kyle | 3 Comments »

Want to hang out tonight?

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

So a few weeks ago I was asked to give a little talk/webinar for the Powder Puff Guide to Starting a Business. Naturally, I was so honored and thrilled! So tonight from 8pm-9pm Eastern time I will be chatting about my story and aswering lots of questions.

You all get to read my goofiness here on the blog, so feel free to join in tonight to hear it for yourselves.  You can call in or join via computer. I would love to hear your voices and/or read your questions as well!!

This will be fun! You sign up here and they then e-mail you all the login information.

I can’t wait!

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Oh, the Places You’ll Go! {GIVEAWAY!}

Monday, January 16th, 2012

A friend sent me this video this weekend. The subject of the e-mail was, “Wow. You. In a nutshell.”

I then watched it in utter grin-y enchantment.

This video very oddly captures the vibe behind the scenes of barley & birch.

Everyone involved with barley & birch is a (slightly larger) child. Not a single person behind the scenes is a real adult. We are all easily enchanted and inspired and we believe in magic and fun-having. We love happiness and laughing and funny things and cute things. We love story books and speaking in jokes and rhymes and funny photos for the day.

We also all have tattoos and gravitate toward the gritty and the weird… because we’ve found that those things and people that the rest of the world believes to be weird are really just the things that are the most alive and fun and exciting. The weird things in this world make life full and worth living. I’ll post more about Burning Man sometime, but this video captures the whimsy that makes the people there inspire us. Some might see them as strange, we just see them as childlike. (:

“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” is a favorite here. Its… perfect.

A copy of the book was given to me when I graduated from high school, then again when I graduated from college, and again when I graduated from law school. I know it by heart. Its words have encouraged me on to places (literally and figuratively) when most that I have ever known have stayed settled and safe.

The part I love most of all:

“…Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!”

In honor of a day celebrating the visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we want to give away two copies of ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ to you and your future world changers. Two winners. One with a note from me in it and one with a note from Jodie.

To win:

1. Comment here or on Facebook to tell us what weird, ridiculous, fun, or strange childlike thing you do or will do to make your life even more fun than it is already. Or your favorite part from the story. Or your favorite character in the video.

Extra entry: Tweet about the giveaway using @barleyandbirch and then comment here letting us know that you did.

(Giveaway closes midnight PDT on Friday, January 27th.)

Posted in All, Kyle, Our Inspiration | 2 Comments »

Two years.

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

You’ve likely heard that today marks the 2nd anniversary since the earthquake in Haiti that killed over 300,000 people. We’ve received a slew of e-mails over the past few days, asking us how we feel, what our own plans are to fix Haiti, and how I (Kyle) think its going at the moment and for the past two years.

Oddly, I have no real, firm thoughts and opinions here. It’s a tough one to consider and answer if you have been to Haiti and arguably incomprehensible if you haven’t.

I think it takes a long long time to clear rubble. (Seriously, fill a few wheelbarrows full of cement/brick and tell me it is an easy and fast task.) I think that throwing money/aid at Haiti in this second year would be a mistake. I think aid organizations need to come up with an economically feasible and responsible exit strategy. Doctors should train Haitian locals. Food-givers should turn toward developing farms and re-working import chains. People should look at the education system. Oh… wait… there isn’t one.

I believe (note that I don’t say ‘know for certain’) that fostering trade and assisting the development of an education system (I was serious), rather than pumping in aid, is the best and most responsible way of moving forward with Haiti.

And that is really all I think about it all.

Oh, and this:

This is one of my most beloved photos of our kids. Wide eyed, hungry to learn, happy to have a home and school and a new family (larger than they know) that loves them to pieces.

And that is really all I know and, tonight, all I really care about.

Haiti, as always, is in my thoughts this evening. I encourage you all to take a moment tonight to think about how you would rebuild a country that is very much still struggling. And then just keep thinking about it for a while.

Posted in All, Changing the World, Kyle | No Comments »

Whoa whoa whoa, we have a birthday in the family. {GIVEAWAY}

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

There are few people we are indebted to the way we are indebted to our friend Amanda. She has created our website and email graphics for years and has recently started dealing with all the design work that comes along with starting a foundation. Her work, LITERALLY, by virtue of her taste and skill, has improved the lives of thousands of kids.

So we wanted to have a little giveaway on Twitter to help her celebrate. AND we recently hit 4,000 followers and have been meaning to do a Twitter giveaway!

Let’s see how this goes. (:

The rule:

1. Tweet the following at her. “@studioame happy birthday! you are so {insert any adjective, make them different for every tweet & the funnier/weirder the better!}”. For example, when I finish this post I will tweet “@studioame happy birthday! you are so good at dancing!”

THE AWESOME BONUS: every. single. tweet. gives you $3 to our store. (At midnight we will DM you a code for your value per the tweets.)

(Max 10 tweets each, max 20 winners.)

So are you hearing this?!  The first 20 people to tweet some funny birthday wishes to a fun girl just walk away with some free barley & birch threads.

THAT is how we celebrate the day of birth of someone in the barley & birch family. (:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMANDA! You are so…. NEW YORK! (:

Posted in All, Kyle, Our Friends | 8 Comments »

Sunday tunes & some Kyle rambling.

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

Well, I had no idea how homesick I was…. until one of my most favorite songs came on while I worked away.

Sigh.

I have been working on and planning some really incredible things lately, from planning how to make our children’s home in Haiti more cozy and homey for our kids to starting research on our very first project in the United States. I’ve been meeting with people (celebrities, international heroes, you name it) who are way cooler than I am and I am smiling and back-patting my way into planning incredible partnerships and press that is set to really redefine responsible business and what you can achieve and change as a totally normal person (like me.) I have been speaking all over the country, travelling 90% of the time, and am having to be ‘on’ every single moment of the day as I make new connections and get great new ideas.

So… things are hectic. I’m pushing myself harder than ever before because suddenly I have an incredible platform and perspective and audience to truly make a difference in the world.

I am so so thrilled about all of this, but have been feeling a lot of pressure lately. Pressure to do something huge, pressure to show people how they can make a difference, pressure to still be a normal fun 26-year-old not-quite-a-lawyer, pressure to grow up and ‘get a real job’ (parents, sigh), pressure to inspire others with my talks, pressure to fix an entire nation, and on and on. Going against the grain on everything ever is exhausting sometimes!

And this song came on… and I felt more like my old self again and just thought, “Man… I wish I was in Ohio.”

Anyway, thanks for listening. Your comments and daily e-mails are so so appreciated. They are the fuel to my/our world changing. (:

Two versions of Country Roads below, both my favorites and staples on my playlist.

Love,
Kyle

Toots and the Maytals:

Osborne Brothers:

Posted in All, Assorted Thoughts, Kyle | No Comments »

My hero!

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Funny how the world works. I thought today would be a pretty normal, hectic day.

Today I get this e-mail in my inbox. Just an e-mail from a local Patagonia store, telling me about some upcoming events that they thought “might be of interest to me.”  Like… seriously?

THAT is how I find out about this event?

You might recall my posts gushing about Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia. When I was interviewed for the Huffington Post, who do I gush about? Yvon.

I give talks to crowds of hundreds, from Ivy League MBA students to middle schoolers, and in the Q&A portion I ALWAYS hear, “Kyle, you are changing the world and are really inspiring to us, but who inspires you?” And its at that portion of my talk that I lose the facade of cool (okay okay, who am I kidding, that is gone in the first 30 seconds). After they ask, I pause, usually let out a very swoony, smily sigh reminiscent of a 14-year-old girl when asked about Justin Beiber or something, and I say, “Yvon Choinard. He is my hero. I just…. love him.”

Now, I’ve said this enough times, in magazines ranging from Fortune to Inc. to Entreprenuer, that some incredibly kind soul reached out to him and told him that he has a huge fan over here. And he sent me this.

Yes, a signed copy of my most favorite book. I cried.

And when it came time to make small plaque dedications at my childrens home? He was the first name to be stamped into metal as an inspiration. (I will tell you all more about this soon.)

And then today I get that e-mail. From the store. Just like… a normal customer. And my heart starts racing, I check the date, I call the Palo Alto store, speak to a nice guy named Aaron, “HI…. UH… YVON IS SPEAKING?! IS THIS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC?!” I ask. “Yes,” he responds calmly, “it is.” “OH MY GOSH! OKAY!!!! THANK YOU!” I scream. Poor guy. And just like that, tonight, for the first time ever, I get to hear Yvon Chouinard speak. I am already emotional. So excited.

And yes, I have a million other blog posts that I owe you all, but I just had to share this moment as soon as I found out.

Tonight I get to see my hero in person speaking about responsible business. I can’t even tell you all when this means to me. And I am overcome with excitement. Like a 14 year old with Bieber.

My friend suggested I introduce myself after Yvon’s talk tonight, I about melted with discomfort. “No no no no no,” I said, “I will just sink in my chair and soak up his air and brilliance and walk out hyperventilating and wanting to change the whole world.” I’ve met Presidents and movie stars and icons and heroes of the world. I can keep it together like a champ. But the thought of speaking to my hero? I disintegrate.

I can’t wait to tell you all about this event.

Some Yvon for you all today. GUSH GUSH GUSH.

Posted in Kyle, Our Inspiration | No Comments »

Happy weekend.

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

Our weekend at b&b will be spent frantically working on blog posts and getting caught up and ahead in time for the holiday season.

Also– Jodie and I will be giving you a tour of our home offices next week. Here is a sneak peak of mine, as I am spending the weekend rewriting my lists. Yes, my walls are chalkboard.

Posted in All, Kyle | No Comments »

Happy weekend!

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Happy weekend everyone! I (Kyle) am in Washington, D.C. preparing to speak to a group of really awesome people about barley & birch, the barley & birch foundation, and how I think we can all fix the world.

I will be addressing some incredible young entrepreneurs as well as the CEOs of Whole Foods, Seventh Generation, etc.

I am speaking tomorrow at the opening ceremonies and pretty humbled and honored. I can’t wait to tell you about the event and how it goes!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Love,
Kyle

(P.S. I always think that this view of the White House is the most beautiful. You can see the path and it feels so quiet and calm from this spot on the premises. And how neat are the pumpkins?)

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