🎂More Than Plush: How This Past Year Shaped My Heart, Life, and Brand

Not just a year older—a year stitched stronger.

Lex poses gingerly weeks after c-section at the Entreprenista Convention, 2024.

Last year, for my birthday, I was still recovering from my emergency C-section. I hadn’t even made it back into my bed yet — I was sleeping in the recliner because my abdomen still ached and stung if I tried to lie down.
Right on my birthday, I had my work journal with me, and I sent my spouse an image of some font choices. Each one read “Cozy Friends.” (Two days later, I’d refine it to Cozykins Plushies!)

Over the past year, since my last birthday, I’ve built an entire brand from scratch, myself. I’ve watched my baby go from a newborn to running around — just days after taking his first steps! All while his siblings show him the ropes.
In a year, I bet on myself, pulled the funds together, found a wonderful artist (Socket Tumi — go check her out!), and launched a line of toys being manufactured right here in the USA.

I stocked my very first product ever — weatherproof vinyl stickers of my first three designs — and a stranger I connected with in the wild became my first customer. (If you ever see this, friend: thank you! I hope you're doing wonderfully!)

I built my website, started the Cozy Blog, and reevaluated how the Takari Tribe would move forward — rolling back into our custom system after trying out Amtgard and Dagorhir for a season. Turns out: people preferred what I created, and it feels amazing to know I built something that people genuinely love! Takari Tribe will celebrate 10 years in 2027. That realization alone leaves me in awe!
Could I have ever imagined such splendor?~

I experimented with hosting a smaller social group, but (as tends to happen with anything I create) it exploded in size almost immediately. While burnout eventually hit, I’m grateful for everything I learned after arranging weekly events for over half a year: rock and canvas painting, hiking, coffee hangouts, puppy playdates, Friendsgiving, jacuzzi and game nights, Soup Night, surprise birthdays—including one “Gotcha Day”— and more!

My spouse and I also seized an opportunity to warm up a large space for lease at the Sunrise Shopping Center. I kept building Cozy, despite $0 ad and marketing spend, and was blessed with a chance to expand my horizon into Wyo Artisan Hub, a permanent vendor village project!
In the background, I watched my partner shift gears and take on more clients, while still being the legendary partner and father our family treasures. I witnessed my close friends growing both personally and in their own businesses, as well!

I got to travel and experience new things — like attending Entreprenista at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, and finally taking a Colorado vacation without stressing about the bank account every morning. Breaking free from the scarcity mindset changed everything — highly recommend!

I took the sad alongside the good:
I grieved through the first anniversary of my Pekingese, Paris, and my younger brother, Vincent, passing.
I didn't get to open preorders for Cozykins this year, because my manufacturer — a family-owned business — experienced a beautiful family birth.
I endured my own first brushes with brand harassment.
I helped a non-profit that I learned too late was doing more harm than good.
I made the tough choice to step away from the people and things I don’t align with.

And yet — nothing truly knocked me off course.

Living with Autism and ADHD didn't magically become easier this year... but I stayed standing. I kept building. And this is where I landed.
Honestly, I’ve been so busy accomplishing goals lately that I kept forgetting my own birthday was coming up — until it was here! How lucky I am: to celebrate surrounded by my family, to take the day off from building Cozykins, to look back and feel proud.

This next year will be a big one. Preorders will open! Plushies will arrive! Cozy friends will find homes. Takari Tribe will expand its events and community spaces. My first PRIDE and Cozy events, all finding their way onto event calendars!
My hope is that, next year, when I sit down to reflect again, I can say I did it all.
That I still sleep deeply and easily at night — not because it was easy, but because I stayed true and real. Because no matter who tried to pull me off my path, or what storms hit, I remained myself.
Because I kept building something real, and people found their way to Cozy with open hearts.
Because I honored my dreams, my integrity, and my family — blood and chosen — every step of the way.
And because even when it hurt, even when it was hard, I kept choosing to stitch something beautiful out of it all!
What a year.

Thanks for sitting with me here today. Thank you for the birthday wishes. Thank you for walking this messy, joyful, imperfect, stitched-together journey with me!
Keep following along on Facebook — the adventure is just beginning. 🧵✨