Community Call to Action
We need your help shaping the future direction of Magnolia League! If you don't ready any further, please take 5-10 minutes to complete this form.
Reflections on Two Years in Business
Let’s back up for a second. For those who don’t know me personally, or know how Magnolia League operates, let me give you a quick background.
My name is Paul Landon. I live in Atlanta, GA. I’m a husband and father. I started and have been running all aspects of Magnolia League for the past 2 years (plus about a year finding the right supplier, building our e-commerce site, developing our brand, designing creative assets, and preparing to launch)...while maintaining my full-time job in Creative Strategy at Salesforce.
No capital. No angels. Just me spending mornings, evenings, and weekends working on this business for the past 3 years. I believe in what I’m doing. I believe our product can make your life a little better. I believe in crafting authentic content and newsletters that can entertain, inform, or turn you on to something interesting. I believe in the values our brand stands for.
We’re not in Target or Publix. Shit, we’re not even profitable. But I’m proud of what I built. I’ve seen the community and customer base grow to a loyal following. I’ve heard people from all walks of life tell me how much they love getting our newsletter or how much a blog post resonated with them. Or how our sunscreen, cleanser, etc. is better than anything else on the market…how it helped them look and feel a little better – to play that extra round, enjoy more compliments, and feel better in their own skin.
It’s fantastic seeing our products and brand recognized by publications like Southern Living, CNN, and many others. And being picked up by retailers from Columbus, OH to Ponce Market in Atlanta, to the locker rooms of Georgia's most famous golf club (whose name I’m not at liberty to say ;)
But, like Ray Dalio said: “Meaningful work and meaningful relationships were and still are my primary goals and everything I did was for them.” What’s mattered most are the ways this business has nurtured relationships with those I care deeply about, and built new ones.
These connected in different ways to help build the company. Our first mention in the press came from an Alabama friend now running a media company. A college friend in New York helped our digital marketing efforts. My childhood best friend inspired our push into golf, and facilitated connections to leading clubs. Good friends from Michigan to Mississippi to Los Angeles became some of our best customers and advocates.
Running this business helped me appreciate the interconnectivity of life. We don’t accomplish great things on our own.
I also gained clarity on a higher mission. Growing up, sports and social connection gave me the foundation to overcome a childhood of poverty, addiction, and trauma. Inspired by an amazing volunteer experience, coaching lacrosse to disadvantaged youth in Chicago, we committed to donating our time and money to nonprofits that open the playing field to opportunity (such as OWLS Lacrosse and Evans Scholars). Our passion for protecting the natural world we love, and distaste for “green washing” that’s all talk and no action, led to our membership in 1% for the Planet.
To those reading this: I want to express genuine gratitude, without you none of this would be possible. You saw something in our brand, our products, or believed in me enough to put your hard-earned dollars towards a small business in a crowded market. You spent your limited time reading our newsletter, blog, and sharing your feedback with us.
Now I need your help to shape where we go from here. Why? Well, in the last six months, everything has changed. Here’s a quick summary:
- June 25: My son, Harrison Clay Landon, was born.
- July: My entire team of 70+ people was laid off at Salesforce.
- August: Me and a business partner start a new media venture, focused on hyper-local content and connecting local communities.
- September: Hurricane Helene flooding destroys our home and everything we own, including most of our inventory.
- December: Our family has recovered and we’ve begun the long rebuilding process, but Magnolia League is at a crossroads…
For now, we decided to focus solely on our hybrid mineral sunscreen product…while continuing to produce newsletters and content. For the month of January, our store will remain open and you can still expect the newsletter in your inbox on Monday morning, but we will take a break to determine our future strategy.
Based on your ad-hoc feedback, the sunscreen and content seem the most loved. So we’re focusing on those aspects for now. But we need additional feedback to connect the dots and gain clarity on a future vision that’s best for our community.
We may bring back some of the other products if there’s enough interest. Perhaps we’ll focus solely on creating content and producing newsletters, or keep going with our current focus on sunscreen. As much as I hate to say it, we’re considering closing our doors.
If we’ve positively impacted your life in any way, please complete this form or send me an email and let us know what you think. What do you love the most? How could we improve? What should we do more of? Less of? Which products or types of content do you want to see? How have we impacted your life?
It’s been a wild ride these past two years and thanks for being a part of it – without you, there would be no Magnolia League.
With Love & Gratitude,
Paul Landon