Rec Room is a company founded on the friendship between a black woman and a white woman. The events of the past few weeks have brought exhaustion and sadness on a deeply personal level.
Today we are announcing a homegrown initiative, 1% for Racial Justice, our commitment to contribute 1% of gross sales on an ongoing basis to organizations working to eradicate systems of racial injustice in the United States.
In the past year, both of our founders welcomed babies. We both worry about how we'll raise children aware of their privilege so they commit to using it towards building a more fair society. But only one of us has to carry the additional worry of how she’ll explain the small acts of meanness and larger systems of injustice—including medical, educational and legal—that could follow her child through life.
As a women- and woman-of-color-founded company, we made inclusivity the core tenant upon which we built Rec Room, and over half of our team identify as people of color. It’s clear inclusivity isn’t enough. We are a small company of limited resources, and we don’t kid ourselves that giving 1% is enough. But it’s a first step, and one we take proudly today. We will also continue to encourage our team to make their voices heard by joining protests, volunteering, and giving, with the full support of the company.
We will donate our first year of 1% for Racial Justice proceeds to
Equal Justice Initiative → which is working to end mass incarceration, racial inequality and excessive punishment
The Loveland Foundation → which is bringing opportunity and healing to Black women and girls, through therapy and other programming
We urge other founders, particularly those at companies bigger and better-resourced than ours, to commit to making a sustaining monetary contribution to organizations working to end racial injustice and systemic white supremacy.
Rec Room is also committed to environmental causes—on Earth Day of this year, we announced our participation in One Percent for the Planet, a global movement inspiring businesses to support environmental solutions through funds and everyday actions. We know climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and recent events have highlighted again how equally urgent the issue of racial justice is to our nation. There cannot be environmental justice without social justice.
We believe that One Percent for Racial Justice could evolve into the global movement that One Percent for the Planet is today. Addressing racism demands urgent action.
With purpose,
Dre Taylor Lindsay & Val Young
Co-founders, Rec Room
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Terms & Conditions
Rec Room's Refer-a-Friend Program Terms & Conditions
As a Refer-a-Friend member (a “Referrer”), you are subject to Rec Room's Terms of Use and Rec Room's Privacy Policy (both available on our website), as well as the following additional Terms & Conditions for Rec Room's Refer-a-Friend program:
**UPDATE: our factory re-opened in early June and production is underway on the pre-order items. we expect items to ship in early August**
i know good things are worth the wait, but what's the pre-sale about?
like so many other small businesses, we've seen the impact of COVID-19 on our operations. when the novel coronavirus became widespread, our northern california factory was temporarily closed, halting a production run of new Rec Room products we are excited to launch. while we are disappointed with the delay, we support the safer-at-home guidelines, and have implemented them as a company, along with other measures to help flatten the curve & support public health.
but, after hearing from so many of you that you're craving new Rec Room product as much as we are, we decided to do something we don't usually do, and offer pre-orders on the new Rec Room styles we'd otherwise be launching right now were it not for COVID-19.
the benefit of pre-ordering product? You'll get the item in the first production run (we expect the pre-sale items to sell out). and you get the warm and fuzzies for helping to support Rec Room during this challenging time, while also allowing us to give our factory a guaranteed order, helping them recover more quickly, too.
how does it work?
each week, we'll launch 1 brand new item. if you're on our email list, you'll get first dibs + additional discount, and the following day we'll release the launch to the public. those who purchase first will have access to the biggest discount on the original price, which diminishes as we get closer to production date. you will pay & execute your order as you usually do on rec-room.com (payment is due at the time of purchase, and you will receive a shipping notification once the order is on its way to you)
as soon as our factory re-opens (when safer-at-home is relaxed for northern california), we'll resume the production on the pre-sale items. we expect 4-6 weeks for production, so you will get your apparel shortly after that. if production is speedier, you'll get your items faster as well, but it's likely if our factory re-opens in early may, you will get your items in late june.
we promise to keep you regularly updated on the status of the factory re-opening and production timelines.
when will i get my items?
we estimate the pre-sale items will be available 4-6 weeks after our factory can safely re-open & resume production. that means if the factory re-opens in early may, you would likely get your items in late june. however, sometimes things happen that are beyond our control, so we cannot guarantee this timeline. good things are worth the wait, and we promise your Rec Room is worth it. as soon as the items are ready from the factory, we'll get them shipped out to you asap!
wait, why don't i see the usual models & photos of all sizes?
desperate times call for desperate measures... hence why our co-founders, val & dre, are the models for this pre-sale :) but in all seriousness, we didn't feel it was safe to bring together our usual team for a photoshoot, and so we won't have the full size run photographed until shelter-in-place restrictions lift in Los Angeles. If you have questions about fit, please email us at hello@rec-room.com, and we can provide fit guidance.
anything else i should know?
yes! if you're on our email list, you're the first to know about new product drops, and you get access to a rare discount. plus we share other great content, like 36 hour travel guides and access to great stuff with partner brands, so sign up, & be a friend by telling a friend!
what do i do if i have more questions?
first, check out our FAQs page, as our policies about returns, exchanges, and pre-order items are there. if you still don't see what you're looking for or just want to share some thoughts, email us at hello@rec-room.com or text us at 720-507-9180—we love hearing from you!
shop the pre-sale | new item dropped weekly →
xo, val & dre
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mk: i'm a master instructor at soulcycle, cofounder of the she's thriving podcast, and cofounder of the sf-based chorus meditation studio. i came to the bay area to attend college at stanford and have been here ever since! i married the love of my life in november 2019. i think joy, connection, and gratitude are the most powerful tools we can cultivate.
molli: i'm a dancer, former techie, senior soulcycle instructor and co-founder of she's thriving, a company dedicated to helping individuals thrive in their personal lives, professional lives and communities.
mk: hanging with my husband and friends. reading anything and everything. at a concert, musical, or comedy show. outside enjoying the sunshine.
molli: mostly in the kitchen cooking or hanging with my friends! i try to hop in dance classes as much as possible and 2020 I have dubbed the year of the hike!
mk: athleisure-centric. loves a jumpsuit, overall, and bodysuit.
molli: j lo meets lululemon, lol.
mk: lol the strap! i live a pretty full life, bouncing from soulcycle to chorus to meetings to nights out. and the strap fits in to all the aspects of my life in such a chic way. it's the perfect one piece outfit to dress up or down. it feels good to throw on after a sweat sesh, to dress up with a jacket, and everything in between. plus, you never forget your first love. [ed. note: mk bought one of our very first versions of the strap before when we were in soft launch mode. it turned her into our first evangelist!]
molli: also a huge fan of the strap because you can dress it up or down. and i live for a little skin moment, so love the open back too.
mk: omg i love this question! molli is one of my best friends and has been one of my greatest teachers. first & foremost, we love each other, and so everything starts from that place. we also have created a working environment where honesty is the best policy, and a dynamic where we feel empowered to be vulnerable.
molli: i totally agree and am so grateful for the connection that mk & i share. we met 5 years ago and the connection was instant. we often joke that our relationship has turned into a marriage of sorts, and like any great partnership, vulnerability, honesty, communication & passion are key. we laugh a lot! we also try to make sure our individual cups are full so we can bring our full selves to our relationship.
mk: she's thriving is a space for us to talk about the shit that matters! we started st to help people thrive personally, professionally and in their communities. simply put, we wanted to create a space to talk about the stuff that matters: honest, open, and fun conversations that help us all learn, grow & heal.
molli: st started because mk and i were learning how to thrive in our own lives and wanted to share and discuss the experience in community. i had just come back from being in new york for a year and a half, and i moved in with mk while i was looking for a new place. the little seed of our idea grew into a panel discussion which turned into us launching the podcast and our she's thriving events. it was a very natural evolution over time and we've just been following the "big magic" along the way (btw, big magic, by liz gilbert, is one of our all-time favorite reads!)
mk: amsterdam.
molli: tulum, mexico is absolutely one of the most magical places on earth.
mk: bali for my honeymoon!
molli: i would love to visit australia! i'm very much a water & wide open spaces kind of girl, maybe because i'm an air sign (shout out to my fellow libras!), but i just love the expansiveness of a coastline.
mk: legitimately, my Rec Room strap dress. I pretty much never travel without it because it goes with anything. and sunscreen. always sunscreen.
molli: books! Reading is my jam, and I love a traditional book where I can turn the pages, take notes, use a highlighter, dog ear pages, and then go back and read it again a couple years later and it always seems to resonate with me even more deeply the second time around.
mk: get a large travel bag that fits under the seat in front of you and slides over the handle of your roller bag. it's basically 2 carry-ons for the hassle of 1! my go-to carry on luggage is the away suitcase with my stella and dot crush it carry on
molli: i always enjoy my trips most when i feel good, so my biggest tip is to just bring all the things you love about your day-to-day life—workouts, meditation, eating delicious and also healthy food—with you wherever you go!
mk: traveling can be one of the most stressful experiences any of us encounter. nothing like a delayed flight, lengthy security line, or missed connection to get your heart rate up, your cortisol going, and your mood plummeting. I utilize the power of my breath when I'm traveling all the time. a really simple way to help calm your nervous system when you're experiencing travel related anxiety or stress is to engage in a practice called box breathing. start by exhaling all the breath out of your lungs, then slowly inhale through your nose as you count to 4 in your head. hold at the top of that inhale and again count slowly to 4. then slowly exhale out through your mouth, counting to 4 as you do. And then holding for another slow 4 count. repeat this pattern until you feel yourself begin to calm, which can happen after about 4 rounds.
molli: yes! keeping my wellness & self-care routine up while traveling is a must because it truly grounds me and makes me feel my best. when traveling, i'm most excited to check out local classes. so whether that's a quick trip to LA or a trip to mexico, i love to pop into a yoga class or any other class that sounds interesting or fun! i also travel with booty bands and i have a couple of apps that I love: tone it up and the nike training club app.
mk: shake ya tailfeather by nelly, good as hell by lizzo, stronger by britney spearss
molli: anything lizzo, keep it moving by alex newell, anything j lo, all the lovers by kylie minogue, good things by kehlani, me & my girls by selena gomez, nice for what by drake
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