Meet Your Maker - IGWM’s Maryl Richards
If you’ve ever emailed In God We Must, you’ve met Maryl.
In the winter of 2014, Atlanta was ravaged by a minor snowstorm. It was chaos. The interstate highway system through the City became a 7-mile-long frozen parking lot as thousands of travelers and commuters abandoned their vehicles, sacrificing them to the gods of mild winters and poor infrastructure. People camped in their cars and even some professional baseball players had to be rescued by other professional baseball players.
I, however, was snowed in with a woman who would become my wife.
We’d known each other for a while and she’ll confess to having always had a little crush on me, but there’s no better way to really get to know someone than to be stuck in a home waiting for the world around you to thaw.
We started dating shortly after the storm had cleared. In March of that year a completely new storm blew in and I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Shortly after my diagnosis, I lost my job and with it any way to pay for my medications (If you missed that story, check it out here). It was a rough time, but Maryl was there. She had recently returned from a trip to Nicaragua and brought back some coins. She wanted a way to keep them close to her, and I, having some newly found time on my hands, resolved to make her something. After a sustained YouTube deep dive, I learned to make coin rings. I fashioned one for her from the centavo she had brought back. By now you know that sparked something in me that led directly to the creation of In God We Must.
Maryl and I would eventually move from Atlanta to South Carolina, back to Atlanta, get married, and start building a life together. She would go from doing hair full time at a high-end salon to getting burned out and managing a doggy daycare (her dream job, tbh), and finally to running IGWM’s customer service.
Maryl is the voice on the other end of the line if you’ve ever contacted us here at IGWM. She came on board around the Black Friday rush last year and has since revolutionized our customer experience. She packs and ships almost every order that goes out, and is fully dedicated to keeping us running like a well-oiled machine.
Throughout all of it, Maryl has been there. This company’s existence can be traced directly back to her. If not for her presence and support on that trip through Murphy’s Law in 2014, or her inspiring me to create those first IGWM pieces, or her constant championing of me and this dream, I don’t think we would be here. And if it weren’t for her tireless work on behalf of our friends and this Pioneer Spirit family, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today.
I may be a little biased, but I know I’m not wrong.
Until next time,
- John, Founder of IGWM
Pioneer Selects: Maryl Richards
Currently Reading: Harry Potter (“It’s for a girls’ book club, which is mostly just an excuse to hang out, but somehow I haven’t read them before.”)
Currently Listening: “I just realized how awesome Post Malone is.”
Current Inspiration: “I just started doing Yoga, and I’m hooked. Totally obsessed. It’s helped me to figure out what I’m grateful for, and to refocus on important things.”
Favorite IGWM Product: “My favorite jewelry item is the item is the Mini Silver Indian Coin Ring. My favorite apparel item is being released in a few weeks so I can't spoil that :)”