We post these blogs on Thursday, and since this Thursday is Thanksgiving, we figured it would be apropos to post a blog on gratitude.
I’ll freely admit that this is a bit of a stretch. Not because we don’t have anything to be thankful for, but because we’re a small company trying to make your studio sound and look amazing, and on further reflection, I guess that’s probably a good place to start–I’m thankful we’re able to do this.
It’s been no secret that it’s been a challenge the past few years doing any kind of manufacturing. Since launching Platform as part of Output a few years ago, we’ve had to rebuild our supply chain pretty much from scratch four times due to things outside of our control, and the challenges don’t end there, because we’re probably looking at a pretty significant adjustment next year.
I’m not saying this to get political, but regardless of where final assembly of a product you buy is, if it has any inputs from overseas, which is pretty much everything, since even in a country as large as the US it doesn’t make sense to make absolutely every widget here, costs are going up with tariffs. They did with the last round, and they will again. However, we’re still here! We will continue to be here if you keep buying our stuff, and that right there is reason to be thankful. We’ll do everything in our power to mitigate those extenuating circumstances.
We’re also thankful we’re involved in a creative endeavor. Not only do we at De-Fi get to flex our creativity by changing paradigms in the products we design and make, we create products to help our customers' creativity. It’s rare to be in an industry where you aid in healthy catharsis, and we’re truly thankful for that. Any time one of our users shares a work that they created on or with our gear, even though we realize that we only had a small part and don’t want to take too much credit, we still take great enjoyment in our customer’s music, no matter how small our contribution. I’m not saying if you win an Oscar with a soundtrack you composed on Platform we deserve a chunk of it, but I will say that we’ll be proud we improved your ergonomic life while you did it, and yes, send us a chunk of your Oscar if you win one.
In general we’re proud and thankful we’ve been given the opportunity to reinvent the industrial design of the largest things you put in your studio. We wanted to create great looking, organic spaces that sounded as good as they look, and through a lot of hard work and support from our customers, we’ve pulled it off, and that’s something truly to be thankful for. A lot of great ideas die on the drawing board, but ours didn't.
We’re hoping that you too have a lot to be thankful for. If you’re here, you’re likely involved in creative endeavors, and we’re thankful for everyone who uses their energy to create, and in both big and small ways, improve the lives of those around them by having the courage to put their art into the world. I’m not naive that there aren’t headwinds, but for one day at least, as we enter the season of unmitigated consumption, may we be thankful we have the tools and skills to explore our creative passions.
And if you’re reading this after Thanksgiving, all I want for Christmas is you (to buy gear). Cheers!
