1. Becoming Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and National Organic Program (NOP) certified. This is a moment I will never forget. It took an enormous amount of work to complete the process, and we became one of the first companies in the US to be GOTS certified. It was a great honor for Under the Nile to help pioneer the standard.
2. When our blanket was featured in Esquire magazine proclaiming it to be the “Best Blanket in the World.” The day the magazine hit the stands, our office phone was ringing off the hook as readers of Esquire called to order blankets. Being a baby company, most of our customers were women, so our customer service representatives were tickled to be receiving phone calls from men all day long.
3. Receiving the call from Elena Matyas and Doug Forbes telling me how much our Scrappy Cat made their daughter happy before she passed. Their story touched me deeply, and I have carried it with me. I love knowing that our products have brought joy to so many babies and children throughout the years.
4. That “Aha!” moment when we decided to upcycle the leftover fabric from our clothing production to make our Scrappy collection of toys. While working at our factory facilities in Egypt one year, I was in the cutting department and noticed that there were spaces left in between the pattern pieces that would end up being discarded. Our toy patterns were very small pieces and would fit perfectly into these spaces. We started with our baby buddy pattern, which worked out beautifully— and the rest is history.
5. (Spoiler: this one is personal) When my two daughters told me how proud of me they were, and how Under the Nile taught them that they can achieve anything they want with hard work and persistence.