We created IDYLHOUR as a solution.
Everywhere we looked, people were over-scheduled and overextended. We were at our limit, and kept putting off the habits we knew would help.
IDYLHOUR is the gift we’d give our best friends, our family members, ourselves. There’s no greater gift we can imagine than rest, relaxation and a reprieve from impossible standards of productivity.
We’re a small business invested in improving the quality of peoples’ lives. We source our tea and spa products responsibly from other small businesses because we value passion, teamwork and possibility over profit margins. We believe that time is an invisible ingredient, and so the vast majority of what makes an IDYLHOUR box is carefully handmade.
The Founders
Alexis Koran (she/her/they/them)
I’m Alexis and I have spent most of my adult life exploring different healing modalities and mindfulness techniques. After a move out to the Pacific Northwest, I became a certified yoga teacher and co-founded Big Queer Yoga because I knew that we needed more spaces for people (especially queer folks) to relax, be in their bodies and cultivate a sense of peace with movement and breath.
IDYLHOUR is my dream project -- a direct extension of my lifelong desire to bring more rest, calm and joy into people’s lives. I noticed that self-care often had subtle undertones (and sometimes not subtle) of making us sexier, skinnier or better. That’s baloney! We aren’t products needing improvement and I don’t believe that adding those expectations to our plates is doing our emotional health any favors. I want us all to experience restoration and indulgence with no end goal in sight. It’s all about feeling good.
Mona Koran (she/her)
Hi, I’m Mona. I have two children and if it weren’t for the lock on the bathroom door, I wouldn't get a minute to myself all day. Two years ago, I left a busy career in the finance industry to raise my kids. Weekends in my 20’s were all about me time, and now I feel guilty for arranging for childcare to do anything besides a workout or a home improvement project. To be honest, the ‘self-care’ I was practicing in my 20’s wasn’t exactly rejuvenating, either -- have you ever watched an entire season of Lost in one day? At this stage in my life, I am looking for more profound ways of finding moments of peace and calm to be a better parent and a better person.
Along with my business background, I’m the resident label watcher at IDYLHOUR because clean products are a priority for me. I’m also thrilled to be able to spotlight and support small businesses, a particular passion of mine.