Hello,

This has been such a surprising journey for me.

I never imagined that one day I would build a website to sell things I designed myself. But on September 10th, I opened my computer and typed: “How to build a website.”

I knew almost nothing about building websites. I started learning step by step, figuring things out little by little. After a long process, it finally became real.

I know this new website and brand still have a lot to improve, and I will continue working on them and making them better.

And now… OMG. I’m so excited that my hands are almost shaking while I’m typing this.

When I asked ChatGPT what I should write here, it gave me many suggestions. It told me I needed four paragraphs, that I needed to introduce the brand and let people understand what Softly Odd is.

I spent a long time thinking about how to write this. I rewrote it many times. In the end, I decided that instead of writing a perfect brand introduction, I wanted to write a letter and simply have a conversation with you.

The name Softly Odd is connected to me personally.

I often talk with ChatGPT about my thoughts, ideas, and all kinds of questions. One day, I asked it what kind of person it thought I was, and it described me with the words “Irregular Gentleness” — a kind of gentle feeling that is not perfect or ordinary, but still feels warm and real.

At first, I wanted to use “Irregular Gentleness” as the brand name. But I soon realized it was too long and not very suitable as a brand name.

So, inspired by that feeling, I suddenly came up with Softly Odd.

Yes, there is no complicated philosophy behind this name. It is simply a small idea that appeared in my mind.

Starting Softly Odd was completely unexpected.

At first, I just wanted to sell something. While exploring different platforms where people could sell products, I discovered that building my own website was another possibility.

After learning more about it, I saw a sentence:

“You have 100% freedom and control.”

Wow.

At that moment, I immediately knew: I wanted to build my own website.

When I started thinking about Softly Odd as a brand, I asked myself: What does it need? A slogan? A philosophy? Products?

Okay… I needed to figure these things out.

I came up with many slogans and ideas, but eventually I gave them all up. They felt like little things floating in the sky — beautiful, but somehow disconnected from Softly Odd.

Softly Odd gives me a feeling of something real. Those words didn’t.

Products… now that is the big part.

So many interesting ideas have appeared in my mind. They make me excited, and sometimes I can’t wait to create all of them at once.

But I know this is a process that takes time.

I believe that along the way, I will be inspired by many unexpected things, and new ideas will appear. Wow, isn’t that a little bit like magic?

Anyway, I want to slowly bring each interesting idea to life and let the magic happen.

I have taken my first clumsy step.

Soon, I will take my second step, my third step… maybe many more steps after that.

But honestly, I don’t know where this journey will finally lead.

Just like Softly Odd itself — a brand that appeared unexpectedly — I don’t know exactly what will happen next.

But I will keep going.

Softly Odd feels real to me, and I hope I can keep this sense of reality.

So I decided to put aside all the beautiful and profound answers ChatGPT gave me, and write these words with my own excited mind and my slightly trembling hands.

Thank you for reading until here and being part of the very first step of Softly Odd.

I hope we can walk many more steps together.

———— Lisa Li
Founder of Softly Odd