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A good year

By Lina Perez and Victoria Vasile, Chocolate Milk, Miami -- Kids Today, 9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Victoria and I would like to take this opportunity to say Shana Tova to all of our friends celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this month.

For those who are not Jewish, Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year" or "first of the year," so Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. It's a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the New Year. Honest self-examination, communication with one's Maker, commitment to become a better person — all these are encouraged throughout the year.

We are not of the Jewish faith, but that does not mean that we should not appreciate what a wonderful time it is to rejoice in what is going on during these High Holy Days. Because we are in such a Jewish community, you can practically feel the vibrations of prayer resonate throughout. Because we are not Jewish does not mean that we, too, should not use the time to reflect upon on our lives, our business, our mistakes and plan for change in the New Year.

During our time of reflection, we discovered we have somewhat lost our way as so many do when they are young in a business. It seems we have stopped being true to who we are, the two women who originally opened Chocolate Milk.

It's easy to get caught up in keeping up with the Jones in this very competitive business. We are more focused on not wanting to lose a sale because we don't have what our customer wants or what she has become accustomed to seeing on the Internet or other local stores. Little by little we have started wanting to be all things to all people. WHAT? This is exactly what we did NOT want when we dreamed of and planned our store. We wanted a specialty boutique, special being the key word.

We are so glad that we have decided to stop, reflect, and yes, pray that we can still find our way toward who we have always wanted to be. For Chocolate Milk, it has become crucial to stay true to who we were when we opened because those are our roots, our basics and our dreams. To do this, we must take a hard look at what and where we are today.

We recently found a rather small shop off the beaten path and walked around and found ourselves saying "we haven't been that inspired in a long time, it was totally fun, and we spent money." It was a great wake-up call. It brought back memories of what we always said we wanted Chocolate Milk to convey.

We have decided to start looking at our purchases for the store through different eyes, shopping much more emotionally, spiritually and environmentally consciously. Shopping the way we are living. No more shopping just because it's what's in, or the newest trend or what everybody else is buying.

So, the High Holidays came just in time and we are looking at this opportunity as one more growth spurt, another pencil mark on the wall so we may look back next year and see how tall we have grown.

Happy New Year to all, Lina & Victoria Chocolate Milk

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