Two years ago today, we opened our doors here at Fortune Favors. Birthdays are times of celebration and reflection, and we find ourselves very focused on the latter today. We have had amazing support from our community and our customers over the past two years, and our tiny company with one product to sell has grown tremendously.
We are deeply thankful for everything you have given us these 24 months, and we hope we have been a positive part of your lives too.
As we look back, we have had other realizations about our first 2 years, and about our lives as individuals in this community and this country. This first stage in our life as a company has been wonderful, but we have a different plan for the coming days, months and years.
Dr. Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
As a company and as people, we have not done the best we can - yet. We have assumed that our good intentions and personal beliefs would be enough to have the impact we want to have on our community and our world. We have been insulated by the tremendous privilege we were born with, as people and as a business. Our goal as a company has been to share extraordinary food experiences with the people we care about, and to help you do the same. That is a fine goal, and a nice sentiment, but it leaves out too much.
We intend to be a lot more clear and intentional moving forward. We believe that every person in our community and on this planet deserves the same set of basic human rights, along with love and respect from their fellow human beings.
More specifically, the people of color in our community and our country that have been let down by everyone, including us, deserve more. Black lives matter.
It is our responsibility to make choices as a company that are anti-racist in every situation and transaction. We are committed to doing the work, every day. We have not done enough up to now. That is going to change. We commit to all of you that our actions will live up to these statements, and you will be able to be proud to be our customers.
This is not abstract, and not just words. We are putting in motion a process to reevaluate and rewrite our company’s guiding principles, and are redesigning our recruiting and hiring process to make sure our team reflects these priorities.
We are expanding our charitable giving commitments and focusing on efforts toward racial justice. We currently work with the Goodman Community Center and are supporting The Urban League of Greater Madison as well. There will be more to come.
We thank you all, and hope that you will join us in this work. We can all do better.
