As we continue to live through a pandemic that is more than a year old, it can be difficult to find the positive in a lot of things. But it certainly didn’t stop a couple of women from West Michigan who are interested in only good days when it comes to their business.
“We wanted to inspire and motivate and bring positive energy into the world right at the time, because it was such a scary time in the world”, said Liz Vanhoven, co-owner of The Good Days Apparel Company. "And what better way than to bring it through positive messaging in clothing? So our brand is mostly street wear that is trendy and comfortable, and with a positive message behind it."
“We actually put the definition on some sleeves so that people when they wear it, they can look at it and say you know, I'm going to wear this today, I choose to have a good day, I'm going to reflect what this brand stands behind," added Chelsey Eldridge, Liz’s business partner. "And when you wear it out, outside, you're standing in line, people can read that as well and be like, that's a cool message. And it just really kind of unites us in a crazy chaos world right now.”
The pair started their business back in April of 2020, just after the coronovirus pandemic began.
“I had lost my job during the pandemic, Liz still had her full time job, and I kind of just started going downhill a lot, my routine was off," said Eldridge. "I was just kind of losing myself. We started working out, changing our lifestyle a little bit, and that's when we started posting stuff about good days, and the feedback we got from it was so amazing. We're like, we need to like start a business.”
They did just that, but it wasn’t easy.
“We literally had to YouTube and Google everything," said Vanhoven. "How to do every single step, every single step we had to learn. And we taught ourselves how to do everything; trial and error, sure."
While they figured out how to get their business up and running, initially they wanted to keep it quiet. “Honestly, we kind of kept a lot of it to ourselves, because we didn't want to hear any negative or opinion or outtake on what they thought we should be doing or to sway us a different way or not do it."
So Vanhoven and Eldridge got to work on their clothing line, from a safari collection to their Good Energy is a Chain Reaction gear.
They're being creative with a willingness to help others, like with their Workin’ on Me collection for Mental Health Awareness Month.
Liz and Chelsey also reached out to people who really know how to get their brand some recognition. “We have a few of our really close friends that are really big influencers. And they we've definitely learned that social media marketing is a whole other level that I had, we had no idea. Like, how does one get TicTok famous? Yeah, we have yet to do that. But we're trying.”
Trying to make each and every day, a good one.
“I feel like we are just getting going, like we have seen such a huge impact that we've already created,” said Vanhoven. "And it's just the beginning for us. So we definitely have big aspirations and dreams."
