2026 New Years Update

Dear Vanguard,

This year has been something else for small businesses. Many will go under between the end of the year and when their tax bill comes due. In Q4 we aim to make enough to hold us through the cold dreary months. That's our chance to stock up, like some kind of hibernating bear eating itself full and cozy, trying to accumulate fat for the lean months. 

We are being brave. We are becoming the company that we've always wanted to be. We are growing our events team because it's the right thing to do strategically and also it's scary because it's been years since that strategy fully worked. We are making a capsule collection because it's a better version of fulfilling our mission and it creates operational efficiencies. It also means that we're putting all our eggs in that basket, by design. It’s a little exhilarating and a little scary. 

Because the landscape in gaming and tech is so volatile, it’s really tough to be partnered up with licensors right now. They simply lay off half of their staff, they simply announce that they'll make 30% profit next year. I wonder if they will? If they do, it'll surely cost them in the next few years, they might make 30% profit by not having any people at the end of the year. But how long will that last for? I wish we could say, no, we cannot live with your destructive and short sighted behaviors. This is true for our past collaborations, but it is also an ever-present concern when considering new collaborations for the future. I want to be the architect of my own fate. Most people can understand this rather American urge. At the same time, I feel that Volante is an impossibly small piece on the board. 

For example, recently I was on a call with a licensor- where they are laying people off in droves. They don't have any sense of when they'll rehire those people and in the meantime they can't approve anything we design and they can't help us by sharing our content. They might never be able to do that again. They wonder if we want to work on a new IP of theirs- they can tell us that in 2027 there will be a new movie. It’s hard for us to find that offer appealing.

I want to tell our own story. Are we enough on our own? Our original work sells well, but we acquire a lot of new customers when we start a new license. We have seen the influx of them from those places. But maybe there's another way to do this.

What would it be like if we were just an independent fashion brand run by nerds? It's a bit like trying to make it as an Actor, except that there's a whole team. We have 11 people. Between us all, we have children, pets, homes, families and it's not ok to not know when the next paycheck is going to come home. We aren’t up for being starving artists anymore. 

Do we need investors? All my friends who have had investors also have horror stories. Are there really angel investors? How does one get one? How do we become profitable and sustainable without licenses? 

Do we dare to leap? It keeps me up at night. What would it look like to leap? Would it look like a comic? A movie? A mini-series? Our own videogame? With paid artists, with soul? A story for a community that I love? Would we write it? Would it work? Am I good enough? 

There's only one way to find out. Are you ready?

Stay badass,
Willow Volante