HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRĒDA!
OH HAPPY DAY,
12 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY AND FRĒDA.
It is hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since we started FRĒDA. We are two best friends with a love for footwear and a mission to build community from the ground up. To celebrate our birthday we wanted to take a minute to reflect on what we love most about FRĒDA.
CRIS + MEGAN ASK EACH OTHER:
CAN YOU NAME YOUR FAVORITE FREDA MOMENT?
FROM CRIS: I have so many!!! It’s hard to pick just one! The early days were so great. When we were naive and clueless and didn’t really have guardrails up - nothing limited our creativity. We would sit for countless hours putting together our business plan and designing our launch collection. Once we had samples, we packed suitcases and got on a plane to NYC. We visited showrooms and press offices together and I remember feeling like we were in a movie and asking myself if this was real life? Each stage of FRĒDA since then has been amazing (we are so lucky!) but I always look back at those early days and think about how FRĒDA was born!
FROM MEGAN: All of my favorite FRĒDA moments revolve around community events and connecting with people IRL, but I would say my favorite was getting to road trip to Marfa with Cris. We dragged our trailer Diego there to sell shoes at the Trans Pecos Festival at El Cosmico. The actual road trip was literally the best. We stopped at every vintage and antique store along the way, White Sands National Park, Prada Marfa (where we set up Diego like a shop to get a picture and actually sold a pair of shoes lol….is that even ok?!) listened to music and podcasts, and just day dreamed about FRĒDA. We met the most incredible people on this trip and it really solidified the importance and need (even just to personally fullfill ourselves) to do fun things together and with our community. At the end of the day that’s what it's all about.
WHAT ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIP DO YOU LOVE THE MOST?
FROM CRIS: Gosh, again there are so many things. I can give the business response and say that we share the same ambition, passion and values and that we manage our partnership with mutual respect and honesty - which is all true by the way - but I think it goes beyond that for me. I always tell others you are “my person.” Our partnership is more than our relationship at FRĒDA. We have been through so much together. We celebrate life’s highs, push through the lows, lift each other up when the other is down. There is no ego or individual wins or losses. In the end, we have each others backs - professionally and personally. We trust each other and support each other in the deepest form. We do not always agree on things but because we respect each other so much we seek to understand the other’s POV, so when one of us is passionate about an idea, the other meets them.
FROM MEGAN: Cris can literally do anything. I have never met anyone like her with such grit and determination except my husband and it’s funny because we both say we married the male versions of each other. Her husband Greg is me and my husband Michael is her. I think ultimately what I love the most about our partnership is the fact that we both put FRĒDA and each other first. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses like the back of our hands and we support each other. We are free to be ourselves because together we have this incredible strength. We started the brand as friends and for 12 years we have given FRĒDA our all. Through the various ups and downs we have experienced together we are now family and the closeness we have is in the DNA of FRĒDA. Our team is like family, our factories are like family, and our community at large is family. I truly believe FREDA will be a household name one day and what we will be known for is community, friendship and women supporting women and at the core of this and what started it all is Cris and my relationship!