There are some moments in business that you know you'll remember forever. The kind that makes you stop, take a breath, look around at your team and think, Wow. Did we really just do that?
This is one of those moments.
For over a year, we have been holding onto one of the biggest and most exciting secrets in Wild Abandon history. We watched it unfold behind the scenes, poured our hearts into making it happen, and then had to sit quietly while everyone else discovered it before we could finally say, “That's us!”
Now the secret is finally out.
And I am so excited to tell you how we got here.
It Started With a Pair of Earrings
The story begins in Vancouver.
Jillian Harris happened upon our Heart of Stone Studs at the FlyOver Canada store and fell in love with them. At the time, we had absolutely no idea that this little discovery would lead to something so much bigger.
In May 2025, our Sales Manager, Marika, received an email from The Jilly Box team. She immediately forwarded it to me. And our first reaction?
“This has to be fake.”
Not because we didn't know The Jilly Box. Of course we knew The Jilly Box. We knew what an incredible platform it was for Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs. It was just one of those emails you never expect to land in your inbox. Marika and I were sitting there thinking, What do we even do with this?
So we replied.
From there, we got onto The Jilly Box market, and eventually came the news that Wild Abandon had been chosen to be part of the box. It was one of those moments where you read the news, read it again, and think, Wait…this is actually happening.
It was. Wild Abandon was going to be in The Jilly Box!
And what I love most about the beginning of this story is how unexpected it was. It wasn't some perfectly-planned marketing strategy or something we'd been working toward for years. It was simply Jillian discovering a pair of earrings that she loved. As a small business owner, you put your products out into the world and hope they find the right people. But you never really know who is going to see them, who is going to connect with them, or what might come from that one little moment.
You just never know.
Then Came the Big Number
Once everything was official, our team got to work. The Jilly Box team supplied us with their fall palette, and our Heart of Stone Studs were selected in two beautiful stones: Mother of Pearl and Labradorite. We loved the combination, and we were so excited to see these pieces become part of the box.
Then came the number: 20,000 pairs.
Twenty thousand pairs of earrings. Our team of 10 women went completely all-hands-on-deck. We knew this was a huge opportunity, and we wanted to make sure every single pair leaving Wild Abandon was something we were incredibly proud of. There were many steps: production, quality control, packaging and presentation.
There were long days and plenty of moving pieces, but there was also a sense of excitement. We had fun with it. A lot of fun. In fact, we had so much fun that we ended up creating our own Jilly Box song, “The Silly Jillies.” Yes, we actually made a song. Do not ask us to sing it!
It became our unofficial soundtrack throughout the process, and honestly, it made some of those long days a whole lot more enjoyable, mixing laughter in with all the hard work. I think that laughter is something I'll remember just as much as the production itself.
Ten Women, One Very Big Goal
One of the things that made this opportunity particularly special to us was what The Jilly Box represents. We love women supporting women. We love the way The Jilly Box supports small Canadian businesses, and especially how it creates a platform for women in business. Wild Abandon is a women-owned business, and our team is made up of 10 incredible women who bring so much to what we do, every day.
There was something pretty special about knowing that all of those individual efforts were eventually going to become 20,000 pairs of Wild Abandon earrings sitting inside The Jilly Boxes sent across Canada. It was about an opportunity to put our work in front of so many new people and to have our small, Canadian, women-owned business become part of something we genuinely believe in.
The Journey to Vernon
By June 2026, the production was complete. Our 58 boxes were ready to make their way to The Jilly Box warehouse in Vernon. We didn't have to deliver them ourselves, but we really wanted to make this part of the journey!
There was something about this opportunity that made me want to be part of the entire experience, from start to finish. After putting so much into the project, it felt important to be part of that final step. I wanted to see those boxes leave Wild Abandon and make their way to the warehouse with my own eyes. So Marika, Hailey and I decided to make the trip. Hailey came along to capture the trip from beginning to end because we knew it was something we would want to remember.
And then, because no Wild Abandon adventure would be complete without a little hiccup, we realized on the day we were leaving that the van we'd rented didn't actually accommodate all 58 boxes. Of course it didn't. But that wasn't going to stop us. I kept calm, we shifted gears, and we immediately ordered a second U-Haul. We loaded everything up, got the two trucks on the road and headed for Vernon.
Two trucks, three women and positive attitudes. And wow, what a trip it was. The scenery was stunning, and there was something really special about being on the road together knowing exactly what we were carrying. Those boxes represented months of work by our team and a huge opportunity for Wild Abandon.
When we finally arrived in Vernon and safely delivered everything to the warehouse, there was an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. We unloaded everything, cleared out those trucks and knew the pieces were exactly where they needed to be.
We did it.
There was relief, excitement, pride and probably a little disbelief mixed in there too.
Then We Had to Keep Quiet
After the drop-off, we were dying to share the journey. We had photos, videos and stories, and we wanted so badly to tell everyone what had been happening behind the scenes. But we couldn't.
Not long after, the VIP Jilly Box members received their boxes first, and suddenly our feeds started filling up with their posts and stories. We were seeing the tags, the unboxings, the excitement and people discovering their Heart of Stone Studs. And we were absolutely thrilled.
But we were also struggling because we couldn't say anything. Every time we saw someone post their earrings, we wanted to reshare! But we had to behave. So we watched and waited.
It was such a strange experience to be so excited about something and not be able to talk about it. We knew what was inside those boxes. We knew how much work had gone into them. We knew the story behind them.
And we just had to wait for the right moment!
August 13th
Then it finally happened. August 13th arrived. Jillian's live unboxing.
It's go-time, baby. The secret was finally out.
There is honestly no way to fully describe what it felt like seeing the responses come in. Our whole team got emotional watching the enthusiasm, the cheering, the comments, the new followers, the tags, the messages and the love for our contribution to the box.
After everything we had put into this project, watching people discover the Heart of Stone Studs and get excited about them was such an incredible feeling. It made the long days worth it. It made the countless little details worth obsessing over. It made the production, packaging, road trip and months of waiting all feel worth it.
Because when you're a small business, there is so much work happening behind the scenes that people never see. They don't see the late nights, the production meetings, the quality checks or the moments when you're figuring things out as you go. They don't see 10 women coming together and giving everything they have to make something happen.
But we know.
And this experience reminded us just how much can happen when you believe in what you're building and surround yourself with people who believe in it too.
What an Honour
I couldn't be happier or more thankful to Jillian and the entire Jilly Box team for believing in Wild Abandon and giving us this phenomenal opportunity. What an honour it has been to have our Heart of Stone Studs included in the box. What an honour to see them land in the hands of so many amazing women. And what an honour to experience this alongside our fantastic Wild Abandon team.
We love what The Jilly Box stands for: supporting Canadian businesses, celebrating entrepreneurs and creating opportunities for women to grow. Being part of that is something we will never take for granted.
This experience has reminded me of something I have always believed, but now believe even more strongly:
Anything is possible.
If you have a dream, go for it. Put your work out into the world. Take the chance. Say yes. Because you truly never know who is going to stumble across your product. You never know who is going to fall in love with something you've created. And you never know when an unexpected opportunity might take your business somewhere you never imagined.
To Jillian, The Jilly Box team, our fabulous Wild Abandon team, and every single person who welcomed Wild Abandon into their box, THANK YOU.
Thank you for supporting small Canadian businesses.
Thank you for supporting women in business.
Thank you for cheering us on.
And thank you for letting us be part of this incredible journey.
We are so, so grateful.
XO Amanda
