North Texas Daily

“Intention.” That is marketing junior Haylee Song’s word of 2021.

Song started her business, Morning Rose Co., this year, and she hopes to inspire others to be creative and live with intention, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A lot of people have lost motivation to be creative and to create anything,” Song said. “I feel like everybody has a sense of creativity, like even my sister, who says she can’t be creative at all. But she still has that creativity. I see her make decorations for birthday parties and stuff like that.”

The style of the business and its products, including stationery, jewelry and clothing, are minimalistic and has a simple, natural aesthetic.

“It’s based on the style that I like, which is single-line, minimalistic looks and designs,” Song said. “I like simplicity. Kind of like Ashley Nicole on Instagram [@ashnicole_xo].”

Morning Rose Co. started in January of this year. It first began as an idea, but after being inspired by other female entrepreneurs on social media and Yes Theory, a digital media brand that uses YouTube to encourage people to embrace opportunities, Song worked to make it a reality.

“I just decided, ‘Let’s go for it. Let’s try it out. You’re not going to lose anything,’” Song said. “So, I made the decision one night. I spent an all-nighter just diving deep into the purpose and the mission of the company and brainstorming everything.”

Song introduced Morning Rose Co. with a pre-launch sale on her website  March 19, selling the “Intention Tote Bag.” The tote bag sold out within the first day of sales.

“It was crazy that her first launch with the tote bags sold out so quickly, but I know she’s put in a lot of time and effort into this small business, so it’s really great seeing how many people support her,” Mckenzie Vu, biology sophomore and Song’s “ading,” or younger sibling within the Filipino Student Association family system, said. “I know she’s been wanting to put something like this together for a while, but now she’s finally able to bring her dream to life.”

Fifty percent of Song’s profits went to a COVID-19 relief fund called Compassion International, which is a Christian child sponsorship organization.

“Compassion International, especially, has a big place in my heart because my family has a sponsor child there,” Song said. “I also sponsor a child there with my friends.”

To get ready for the release, Song has received help from friends and family.

Susie Lee, Song’s aunt, helped produce logo stickers for packaging using Song’s design, which consists of the business’s initials and a rose encased within a circle. After much trial and error of the lines coming out too thick and redesigning the logo, Lee surprised Song with clean, clear stickers of her original logo.

“She didn’t think it was going to work in the beginning,” Lee said. “She was so accommodating and was willing to change [the design] for me, but I knew in my heart I didn’t want to change it. I didn’t want to change who she was and what Morning Rose was. I thought, ‘You know what, I just got to find the solution. I got to get these stickers to be exactly what she had imagined.’”

Sucharitha Sainathuni, entrepreneurship and enterprise management sophomore and Song’s friend, helped model the tote bag.

“I was super excited because it’s something new,” Sainathuni said. “I was kind of nervous too because I didn’t know what the outcome would be and what we were looking for, but I just made sure to put my love for [Song’s] passion and just went with whatever flow [Song] gave me.”

The official launch of Morning Rose Co. will be in April 2021, which will include bullet journals and handmade resin jewelry.

“Morning Rose is an inspiring outlet,” Sainathuni said. “I know that she is putting out journals as her main product, but I feel like her purpose of putting out Morning Rose is to inspire others. Personally, I was kind of lost with what I was doing right now, like, a sense of purpose. And with everything she puts out on her channel, I think it’s definitely a source of inspiration.”

The bullet journals were designed by Song and are made to be durable with thick pages that prevent ink bleeding. Each bullet journal design comes with a personal story from Song.

“I don’t want to give too much away because I am keeping the design a secret, but all I will say is that the first edition journal has a name that is significant to my Korean background,” Song said. “So, it’ll relate to a little bit of that and it will also relate to friendships.”

Song hopes to grow Morning Rose Co. and create a community around it. She also hopes to be able to spread awareness about issues important to her through this platform

“[I’m] seeing wherever life takes it because I know that [my business has] already been a learning experience and it’s already allowed me to learn a lot about marketing too, for my major, which is great,” Song said. “So, no matter where it goes, I’m excited and I’m going to work super hard to make things as best as possible.”

Courtesy Morning Rose Co.