In 2009, Whipps Industries started as just a guy with an idea, and just a month later was thrown into complete chaos.
For those that don’t know the story, my wife and I decided to start the company in October of 2009, when she was six months pregnant. She was gainfully employed at the time, and since she had health insurance, we knew that we were covered no matter what. I began in earnest on October 3rd, with minimal pressures and a bright outlook.
On October 30, my wife was laid off. No one was going to hire a woman who was seven months pregnant, and all of a sudden I had to earn enough money to pay for not just the two of us, but our first child, and we had no idea how much that was going to cost.
But it worked, and my wife stayed home for the following 20 months so that we could both be at home with our newborn. It worked out pretty well, and although she’s back to work today, we do have plans to have another child so this could all repeat again in the future.
As for Whipps Industries, in the remaining months of 2009 and into 2010, things went pretty well, exceeding my expectations pretty early on. In 2011 the company went even further, and has even spurned some new projects that could be very cool here in the near future. But what about 2012? What’s going to happen next year?
In the next few months, Project No. 1 will be coming out, with the help of my good friend and colleague, Marie Look. Shortly thereafter, I’m hoping to work with Marie on another project, but that’s Project No. 2 and that’s still very much in the planning stages, so it’s way too early to announce anything. Then, Project No. 3, well that’s a real passion project for me, and something I really want to get going. In 2012, that will happen, even if it’s just planting the seeds.
Now I hate being cryptic about all this, but there are big things planned for this coming year, and I want all of you in on it. Feel free to follow us on twitter @whippsind, and check us out on Facebook as well.
Thanks for all of your support these past few years. Here’s to many more.