Renee and Robert of Here I Am: Bucking the Trend

We could have made national headlines: “Couple from Texas reverses the trend by moving to California, then starts new business.” Robert and I moved to Long Beach, California from Austin, Texas because we couldn’t take the heat anymore. After living in Central Texas for 21 years, it was time to pack up our van, say goodbye to our loved ones, and head west. We were seeking better weather and a little adventure. We ended up with a new home and a new business.

Renee Trepagnier and Robert Dugan, co-founders of Here I Am Box

Changing Tides

We moved to California with our jobs intact because many companies were still allowing employees to work from home at that point in the pandemic. The funny thing about corporate work is that things aren’t always as secure as you might think. Before long, Robert and I found ourselves without those jobs, and a lot of free time on our hands instead.

At first, I spent most of that time staring at the Pacific Ocean, watching the ships make their way into the port, thinking about how brief and beautiful our lives can be and how much time women waste worried about someone else's opinions about "beauty" and never feeling like we can say "no" when someone needs our help. I thought about power and control and free will. I thought about how everything is connected and how the universe might be conducting one large-scale, long-running experiment to find the best version of us as a species.

The Early Days

I grew up in an upper-middle-class suburb in Houston, Texas, with a hard-working professional father and a stay-at-home mother. By the time I was a young woman, other women had won important victories that I had benefited from, including the right to vote and a fundamental right to privacy regarding my own body. Without understanding what a significant privilege it is to attend a university, I meandered through my years in college with a carefree weightlessness that few people will ever have a chance to experience. I lived in a bubble and thought the whole world was right there with me.

My auspicious journey continued when I started working for a startup company in the early 1990s as the Big Bang of the World Wide Web saw the birth of Amazon, PayPal, and a global explosion of e-commerce. I worked at companies side by side with engineers and entrepreneurs, and we were wildly successful. I loved it. Everything was better on the Internet. We were changing the world, one online shopping cart at a time. 

Cracks in the Facade

It was around this time when the bubble I was living in started to feel small and uncomfortable. I noticed there were far more men than women in leadership roles and very few people of color in high-paying roles at my company. I wondered why. Weren’t we all equal? Weren't there laws against discrimination?

I didn’t like it but didn’t know how to change it. I continued working in a complex power structure that usually denied, but always maintained, the disparity. With a long history of maintaining this status quo, it was not hard to gaslight those of us without the power: Women just need to lean in. Women don't have what it takes. Women can't lead the company and take care of raising the children.

What could I do? I had been successful, but surely I wasn’t contributing to this disparity, was I? I didn't think about walking away, or refusing to play by their rules. It didn’t occur to me that I could start my own thing, with my own rules. 

The Wall Came Down

And then here I was, staring at the Pacific Ocean. I didn’t want to keep doing things the same way I’d always done them. I no longer wanted to work for someone else or start a relationship with a new boss who followed the old rules. I was tired of the status quo. I needed something different.

Now We are In Charge

Robert had experience launching new businesses in the past. He knew we’d be happier if we were in charge of our destiny. We had talked about it before but never had any ideas that seemed plausible. Robert knew that we could do anything we wanted with hard work and determination. I started to come around to this idea. And now, with a lot of time and a little money, what better opportunity would there be? We decided to take the chance. 

So, we started Here I Am, where we curate boxes with self-care products that are sustainably made by small, women-owned brands. We work with people, mostly women, who run small businesses building wealth for themselves while contributing to their local economies. We work with people who respect their environment and one another. Together, we support and participate in a global network of businesses that values uniquely crafted products.

Small is Beautiful

Here I Am values community over profits. We believe that as a community, we can change the way business is conducted. We do not strive to drive prices down in order to maximize profits. We seek to pay a fair price and promote our brands as part of our own. We work to create a shared value for our businesses while delivering the best products to you. 

Why do we focus on small businesses? We believe in supporting those who have overcome barriers to build their brands, celebrating their hard work and creativity. It gives bold expression to our lived experiences. It creates space for thinking about more than ourselves, space to be curious and live freely. 

We hope that each Here I Am box gives you some respite from the challenges of the world, stirs your passions, and satisfies a craving you didn’t know existed. It’s a celebration of your beauty and curiosity.