The Annie

Every brand remembers its first sale. I want to tell you about my first stranger.

In the early months of CB Grey, everyone who bought a scarf arrived with a connection — friends, family, someone's neighbor who'd heard about "the scarf thing." I was grateful for every one of them. But when the people who love you are the ones buying, a quiet little question lives in the back of your mind: is this real, or are they just being nice to me?

Then Annie slid into my DMs. She was part of a boutique called Harper Pointe, she'd found CB Grey on Instagram, and she wanted to carry my pieces in the store. She didn't know me. She didn't owe me anything. She just liked the work.

I should have been thrilled. I was mostly terrified. I had zero retail experience, and the word "wholesale" made me want to hide under a rock. Annie invited me to bring my pieces in person — so I loaded up the scarves and, because life is committed to comedy, I also loaded up my sixteen-month-old. Grey, reading the room perfectly, chose the meeting to begin his descent toward a full meltdown.

And then Annie and her business partner did the thing I will never forget. They welcomed us — both of us — like we were exactly who they'd been waiting for, and handed Grey a bowl of acrylic bracelets to play with.

Crisis averted. Meeting saved. Scarves shown. And for the first time, I let myself think: maybe I'm actually onto something. My friends believed in me because they loved me. Annie believed in me for no reason at all. That's the one that changes you.

Six months later, Annie left to chase her own dream and open her boutique, The Blake. First she believed in me. Then she believed in herself. Apparently believing in people is just what Annie does.

When it came time to design The Annie, I didn't have to go searching for symbols. The flowers are her family — every bloom one of the people she loves most. And running around the border is a tiny repeating code — a G, a greater-than sign, an up arrow, a down arrow — that says, to anyone who can read it: God is greater than the ups and the downs. You'd only crack it if you know her. That's not decoration. That's just Annie, printed on silk.

People sometimes ask what got me over my fear of wholesale. The honest answer is a bowl of acrylic bracelets.