Best of 2016

Before looking forward and setting goals for the year, it's important to look back. Here, we're reflecting on our team's 2016 highlights—both personal and professional.

Justine had a baby. Kendall bought a house. Caroline got married. Monica got engaged. Marina completed her degree. New jobs, and lots of travel. For Poppy Barley, 2016 was good. Here are the special moments we'll be carrying with us into 2017, and for some, into forever.

Justine, Co-founder & Co-CEO

Personal Moment

Becoming a mother. I've always wanted to be one and in 2016 my dream came true. Raising Jude from peanut to almost-toddler with my husband Connor has been one of the great experiences of my life.

Poppy Barley Moment

Seeing the risk we took with our holiday accessories buy pay-off—to the point that our entire team had to step up in December to help with packing orders!

Baby Jude!

Kendall, Co-founder & Co-CEO

Personal Moment

Buying a house. I squatted my way into my last home. When I met Ross, he already owned this great townhouse. So on Saturdays, while he went to work, I just slowly moved myself in. We always talked about buying a place together, but life happened. He started two optometry clinics and I started Poppy Barley. We chose to funnel ALL our money into our businesses instead of buying a house. Eight years later, after searching for a year, we purchased our first home together.

Poppy Barley Moment

Justine and I took baby Jude to Mexico with us in the summer to finalize the holiday collection and meet with new suppliers. Standing in the factories, I felt overwhelmingly proud of what we’re building at Poppy Barley. And the business practices of Mexico inspired me to change my approach to strategic thinking.

Kendall, Justine and Jude in Mexico

Monica, Director of Design & User Experience

Personal Moment

Getting engaged! After an adventurous year of traveling with Kevin (which included our 2-month road trip to the states), we sneaked in one final trip to New York in December and he proposed on top of the Empire State Building.

Poppy Barley Moment

Going to Mexico with Justine to see Poppy Barley factories and final meet Laura in person. Such an amazing trip—loved seeing the vibrant city and culture, and walk through the process of how our shoes are made. It has really revealed the TRUE Poppy Barley and an amazing side of the company that I always knew was there, but never got to experience first hand.

Monica and Kevin get engaged in New York atop the Empire State Building (she said yes!)

Jane, Marketing Retail Manager

Personal Moment

2016 marked the beginning of me teaching rowing classes at Hive Fit Co. Hive has given me the opportunity to merge together my love for working out and a healthy lifestyle, with meeting new people and building a community. Come kick start those New Years Resolutions with me Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Hive!

Poppy Barley Moment

Taking Poppy Barley on the Road: 2016 was filled with Poppy Barley pop-up shops in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Banff... (the list goes on!). Having the opportunity to meet all of our amazing customers across the country and traveling with the PB team was definitely a highlight! Who knows where 2017 will take us...

Jane leads her new rowing class at Hive Fit Co.

Daelan, Director of Technology

Personal Moment

My trip to Iceland & Amsterdam was probably the highlight of my 2016.

Poppy Barley Moment

Relaunching our website on a new platform. It was great to see 5 months of work and planning finally see the light of day.

Daelan (far left) in Iceland with friends

Esther, Operations Manager—Canada

Personal Moment

My trip to Spain and Iceland this summer. From amazing food, to breathtaking beaches and historic monuments, Spain has just so much to offer. Being originally from there, this trip was even more special as I got to see family and friends. On our way back we had a stopover in Iceland, where we had a 1200km road trip around the south-west part of the country. That was a perfect cherry-on-top for an amazing adventure!

Poppy Barley Moment

Growth in West Canada. Being an Edmonton-based company, we have always taken great pride in our Albertan roots. This year, we have focused on growing our market in West Canada, especially in Calgary and Vancouver too. The support that we have received means the world to us and it is what pushes to deliver a better product and service everyday!

Esther in Iceland (and very happy about it!)

Marina, Customer Support

Personal Moment

Finishing my bachelor's degree in April!

Poppy Barley Moment

Starting work at Poppy Barley this year and being here to celebrate Poppy Barley's 4th Birthday!

From left, Poppy Barley's Pop-up and Concierge Team: Marina, Jane, Jessica and Esther

Jessica, Customer Experience Coordinator

Personal Moment

My personal highlight is definitely starting here at Poppy Barley! Starting off as part time help, and then interviewing and coming into a full-time position for a dream job! I've loved seeing all of the growth and success of PB in such a short time.

Poppy Barley Moment

It would have to be our Jillian Harris collaboration, and also our Instagram growth to 20K in 2016! Im just a little obsessed with Jillian... (ask Jane about the time we went to Kelowna. It wasn't ok.)

Jillian Harris in Poppy Barley's Two Point Five Ankle Boot

Caroline, Director of Content & Community

Personal Moment

After 10 years of dating, turning my boyfriend into my husband and getting married to Mike! We had the the most amazing, heartfelt, hilarious and fun wedding celebration in Edmonton last summer, and then took the overnight train through the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver, ending up in a luxury, cozy cabin on a cliff in Tofino for our honeymoon. Plus, I had VERY custom Poppy Barley shoes made for the wedding day, thanks to the team in Mexico! Undoubtedly, last summer wasn't just the highlight of the year, it was a highlight of my life.

Poppy Barley Moment

Working with Tina Chang on Poppy Barley's Fall/Winter 2016 campaign shoots. Tina is a master of fashion photography and watching her work alongside our amazing team of stylists, and Hilary, our model, was an absolute dream.

Caroline and Mike get married (finally!)