We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stacy Valner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stacy, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Launching Meadow has been an 18 month journey. We finally launched our website in mid November. Meadow is a home gifting atelier experience with focus on life style and making your home feel like a sanctuary. We are focused on bringing into your home sweet feelings of time spent while you are a guest at a hotel. In digging deep into what to call our company, one day it just hit me to return to my roots and to use my maiden name as the company name. Meadow is my maiden name. It sparks feelings and memories of my youth but lately Meadow resonates with me because of time spent in Montana where our family has a vacation home. Montana has been my biggest source for creating the brand. Time spent in the meadow near our home has been my greatest inspiration.
Stacy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Meadow was founded in 2022 by entrepreneur, mother, and wife, Stacy Valner. For the past 23 years, Stacy co-founded and ran the PHASE ONE Foundation with her husband, Alberto. The Valners launched PHASE ONE, a clinical cancer research nonprofit, after Alberto’s successful battle against testicular cancer. Now, as a recent empty nester, Stacy is returning to her roots as a gift buyer and curator through the launch of Meadow, a space to activate the power of pause and appreciation through gift-giving and self-care.
Now settled into her new role, Stacy realized she wanted to use her free time to create a business that not only taps into her creative side but is also personal to her and inspiring to others. Endlessly inspired by the nonprofit work she’s done with PHASE ONE, Stacy founded Meadow to continue inspiring those around her in a meaningful and different way. The time she spent funding clinical trials was incredibly important and fulfilling, and she remains active on the board of directors, but Stacy wanted to find a way to share a different type of energy with her community. Meadow is an enormously personal endeavor she hopes will bring beauty to your lives, feel personal and be a meaningful creative outlet. Empowered from her love for life and travel with her husband and children, Stacy intends for Meadow to combine all of her favorite things about hotel life — fine paper, aromatic candles, and luxurious robes.
Launching a business the week of black Friday and cyber Monday was definitely the biggest challenge thus far. The amount of noise and high ad spend was tough to compete with, as well as moving right into the holiday season. That being said, I think I am most proud of the team I have surrounded myself with, the support my family has shown, and the quality of our products. They are well priced with exceptional luxurious finishes. Each item has beautiful packaging with unique design.
Our pre-spring collection will offer personalization on our silk pajama loungewear and our summer collection is in the works. In addition this line is all made in the USA!
Lastly, since the past 23 years of my life have been running our nonprofit, PHASE ONE FOUNDATION, we are proud to be able to donate proceeds from of our profits to the foundation as a way to combine my two passions, curing cancer and creating a brand.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Meadow manufactures all of our robes, candles, stationery, and cement trays. We wanted to produce all our own items. That may be something we should aim to promote more on our website. I had zero idea how to manufacture any of these items. My biggest joy has been learning on the go. A little trail of bread crumbs has led me down a path that we are still moving through. There have been ups and downs along the way but resilience is my biggest strength.
It all began after listening to a podcast during the pandemic two years ago, when I was feeling as if my mid life moment was about to scream “I’m here”. In the podcast, I learned about a particular business coach and was drawn to connect with her. That was the best decision made. Coaching has really helped my forge a path. Originally my intent was to open a small home store in Whitefish, Montana, where I have a home. When that didn’t pan out I pivoted to launching an E-comm business.
Deciding to produce so many different products may have been an overreach but I made it to the other side. My most interesting and exciting part of the process was having coffee with a friend regarding the robe line, that led to meeting my fabric vendor, which connected me to a pattern maker, back to the fabric vendor for leads to manufacture, and so on. We are now working with a factory that is local in Los Angeles and that introduction also came from my fabric vendor, whom I named my first robe after. I have learned so many lessons along the way, and as silly as it may sound, don’t give up. Each time I felt out of place or like to much of a rookie, I overcame that particular hurdle and climbed higher. Being kind, owning the fact I am new to the business, admitting when I need help, and leaning on friends and mostly my son and husband has proven to be a gigantic win for me and Meadow.
Manufacturing the paper line was a joy, working with both my artist and my paper source. The patience my paper source showed me, and the support and encouragement are so genuine. I am so blessed with such women in my corner. Candles have been tricky with production. All the fun was in creating the formulas, percentages, wick sizes and more. Actual production of vessels and delivery has been more of a challenge. However, I continue to breathe deep and find patience and luckily though late the candles are selling well and adored.
I am a people person, I am a connector, and these tools have helped me find the way through. As my favorite photographer put it, ‘do you want it right now, or right’?. His mantra has been my north star.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Before Stacy Valner founded Meadow, she co-founded the PHASE ONE Foundation with her husband Alberto. In 1998, Alberto and his mother were diagnosed with two different types of cancer within days of each other. Alberto, at the time, was only 36 years old and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Testicular Cancer. Months later, they grieved the loss of Alberto’s mother who lost her battle to cancer, which was so advanced there was never an official diagnosis to the type of cancer. Stacy and Alberto co-founded PHASE ONE in 2000 with the intention of supporting early cancer research to find treatments that could transform terminal illnesses into hope for a full and productive life. A Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting clinical cancer research, PHASE ONE is the inspiration behind Meadow’s commitment to giving back. Today, the PHASE ONE Foundation has funded over 40 clinical trials and raised more than $25 million. Over the past two decades, the foundation has provided 46 grants for research in 25 different types of cancer, many of which have gone on to receive additional funding from larger institutions.
Fast forward to launching Meadow today. To pivot into launching Meadow, the main reason was curiosity.
Staying curious, I love to learn. So the question to me was, can I reinvent myself yet again? I am a successful philanthropist, and the money I have raised to support clinical trials is commendable. I will never stop working for the foundation. But, I wanted to be able to create things that are feminine, beautiful and luxurious. This chapter feels special. It feels creative and fun. The people I am meeting along the way are amazing. Launching Meadow has also been a blast, and I love the support my son and three daughters are showing me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meadowmoment.com/
- Instagram: @meadowmoment
- Facebook: meadowmoment