A Letter from our Founders, Ellie, Miri & Greg
Last week, we paused our content to create space for the conversation as our nation at large began to contend with its glaring history of racial inequity - in particular, violence towards, suppression of, and discrimination against the Black community. This pause in content, while deliberate, did not signal a pause in our caring, but rather a thoughtful redirection of attention as we took a step back as a team to think deeply, learn, listen and plan for how our company could contribute to meaningful and sustaining change.
The Landing, as a pre-launch start-up, exists in limbo between the reality of the little we have already built today and the dreams of what we intend to become tomorrow. We are in the process of laying the building blocks of our foundation as a company, from values, to policies, to processes, and know that every decision - especially at such an early stage - can have outsized effects on our future. As founders, we’ve set out to build something unique and new; we want to do things differently in the home-furnishing market, a market that is traditionally dominated by behemoth and often male- and white-owned brands. As such, we are committed to weaving the movement for reparation and equity into the fabric of our company through the decisions we make in the platform we are creating, the brands we are elevating, and the team we are building. Let us be crystal clear: we condemn systematic racism and police brutality in all forms, and are committed to taking anti-racist action in our work as we build this company.
From our earliest brainstorm sessions, our vision has been to create a way for people to find and explore new, up and coming, and independent brands and empower everyone to be their own designer. As a platform that introduces our customers to new brands, we have the ability to have an outsized impact in supporting and amplifying the reach of diverse brands. We are excited to launch with a supplier brand base that is ~25% female-owned, ~15% PoC-owned. However, we still have significant work to do. As such, we are committing to the 15% pledge of having 15% of our brands be Black-owned businesses, by the end of the year. In addition, we will be applying an intersectional lens to our existing environmental and sustainability goals, one that advocates for the protection of both people and our planet. While we are committed to actively seeking out Black-owned businesses and designers ourselves, we know that our own networks are echo-chambers of the same brands. We would love any introductions or ideas of businesses we should partner with. You can reach out to us directly at our personal e-mails, ellie@ and miri@thelandinghome.com.
As a small team, we have the opportunity to make diversity, equity and inclusion a priority from the get-go, rather than just an afterthought. Table stakes activities that we have already committed to and will continue to focus on going forward are: continually questioning and expanding our sourcing pipeline, committing resources to interviewing and assessing candidates to reduce heuristic judgements, fostering a culture of open, empathetic conversation, and encouraging the individual personal growth of every teammate. As our team grows, we commit to transparently reporting out on diversity and the make-up of our team twice a year. Through the course of recent conversations, we’ve realized another source of impact we are uniquely positioned to have as a creative and design-focused business is through the freelance talent we decide to work with. We are committed to amplifying the perspectives of Black photographers, designers, and artists by hiring them to work with us as we grow.
When we started this year, we neither imagined launching a company in the middle of a global pandemic, nor during a time we hope will lead to unprecedented national movement. However, as we reflect on the past few months, and especially on the past few weeks, we feel incredibly grateful to be building our company from the ground up during this historic time. We have a lot to learn and know that even learning is a privilege afforded to us as non-Black individuals. However, we are committed to that continuous education and grateful to be integrating these learnings into the very ethos of the company we are building. We are planting the seeds today for a radically different tomorrow - seeds that are as much those of cultural unlearning and re-learning as they are of action.
To our future teammates, partners, and customers: our goal is to be one of the leading voices in a new wave of companies that has refused to accept the status quo, and instead builds a new, more equitable, normal. At The Landing, equity and inclusion are not afterthoughts, but foundational building blocks for the success we will have and the team we will build. While this is just the beginning, we look forward to the continuous conversation around accountability, inspiration, and creating space for a more inclusive world.
- Ellie, Miri & Greg, co-founders of The Landing
