Today we are celebrating bk&leo’s second birthday. The last two years have been filled with incredible experiences, learning opportunities, milestones and firsts. To think about it all is dizzying: We worked with an amazing developer and learned how to manage and operate an e-commerce website. We’ve experienced many aspects of launching and running a business, from financial modeling to legal, privacy to SEO. We’ve been able to donate to animal welfare organizations we believe in and whose work we deeply support, and have profiled some amazing people and rescue advocates through the blog’s Sunday Spotlight feature. We’ve met a wonderful and supportive network of fashion start-up founders, have spent many hours in the studio and made lots of jewelry for some of life’s biggest moments. We landed our first print feature (thank you People Stylewatch!). We’ve experienced the struggles of balancing work and life, to the highs of entrepreneurial inspiration and dreaming about how far this can go. The to-do list never stops growing and we are grateful for all of it and the purpose it brings.
On our two year anniversary, we want to explain the meaning behind the name bk&leo. It stands for be kind and love each other, and the name is open for interpretation. We love our most recent Sunday Spotlight Marisa’s take on it; to her, it’s about being compassionate towards everyone around you, whether it’s a person or an animal.
The phrase “be kind” signifies our belief that at the end of the day, how you treat others is everything. Love is an important part of the name too – it’s not just about an emotional attachment to an important piece of jewelry, or the beautiful weddings and celebrations they are created for, but it’s also an ask to treat others (especially the underdogs) with love and respect. It’s being part of the fight against the animal cruelty epidemic, which we unfortunately see too often these days. Our hope is that our jewelry serves as a tangible reminder of all of this.
As some of you know, one of the main reasons why this company exists is it is our way of helping to support animal welfare organizations and promote rescue and rehabilitation for animals in need. No matter who you are, and whether or not you’re a dog person, we feel it benefits all of us to be aware of and support amazing organizations who are dedicated to promoting kindness and bringing dignity to living beings who haven’t had the luckiest lot in life. Treating others with love and respect is paramount and doing this is achievable for everybody and anybody.
We recently read a post from Mr. Bones & Co. that hit us hard (as they often do). The post was about a One Lucky Pup rescue named Bruce and despite Elli, Marisa and their team’s greatest efforts, it didn’t have a happy ending. Like so many animal welfare organizations, these women are incredibly courageous and generous with the amount of kindness and love they give to each rescue case. We don’t have the guts to do what they do, but bk&leo is our small way of supporting them and their very important work. If you wear a piece of bk&leo jewelry, even if you don’t know it, but you are helping to support them too (and other rescue organizations as well)!
We wanted to take this opportunity on our second birthday to say thank you to all of bk&leo’s supporters, followers and clients – we could not exist without you, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to share our thoughts and our jewelry with you.