I Want to Protect People Like Her

I want to write about my colleague Jennifer.

We've been friends for over ten years. Fresh out of college, we worked at the same company — and later, we became partners, building something together.

She is full of energy, every single day. She laughs easily. She loves sports. When you're around her, the air itself feels fresher, happier — like life is flowing, and everything around you turns gentle and alive.

Five years ago, when Lyfairs began, there were only three of us — me, my husband, and Jennifer. Jennifer is in charge of Lyfairs customer service. Over the years, so many of our customers have been moved by her sincerity, her kindness, the way she takes everything to heart. Many of them became her friends.

I remember a customer named Eric. He bought $60,000 worth of lighting from us, and recommended his friends, too. Whenever he saw Jennifer working late into the night, he would tell her to rest — that staying up was bad for her health. Later, Eric filmed videos of his two homes with our lights installed, with words of thanks and praise for Jennifer. He said he hoped it might help her work.

Jennifer loves children. Not only her own — other people's children too. When I look at her, I think of Michael Jackson — both of them, somehow, spending their lives protecting a kind of innocence and goodness. Sometimes she becomes a child herself, slipping right into the middle of the children to play. And she's funny.

Once, during the Chinese New Year, when the factory was about to close, a few of our lamps had a flaw in the plating. Through our oversight, they were shipped to customers.

When Jennifer found out, she was heartbroken — and angry. She felt she had failed the people who trusted her. That night, one by one, she contacted every customer, to apologize, and to make it right.

Jennifer, thank you. Because of you, I'm becoming a more responsible boss — becoming a better version of myself.

Even when it's a shipping problem, a piece damaged in transit, something we couldn't deliver perfectly — it still makes her sad.

I am so lucky. How did I come to deserve a colleague like you — to meet someone this kind, this good.

I want to protect people like her.

— Marie, Founder of Lyfairs