Oprah’s Favorite Things

It's the season of "Oprah's Favorite Things", which has caused mass hysteria for the last 27 years. Twenty. Seven. Years. Can you believe it??!

Starting at a much smaller scale in 1996, it used to be one of my favorite episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show to watch. I distinctly remember my mom, aunt and grandma hoping to get studio audience tickets to those random surprise shows each year (it was filmed in Chicago, which was near my hometown). It was so heart-warming to see people being treated to fabulous gifts that many of them wouldn't be able to afford otherwise – deserving people from teachers, volunteers, etc.

In more recent years, the gift guide hasn't been on my radar, but for some reason, I was curious as to what Oprah and her editors curated for 2022... It was disappointing to see, but this year's big presentation is "presented by Amazon". WHAT?! They don't need any more sales -- these sales should be going directly to those small companies! 👎🏼

I don't want to get preachy, I just want to open some eyes. I love knowing that my hard-earned money goes to a small business...not to the online retail monopoly. When I saw that the Oprah Daily account shared that they are "celebrating small business" with the items they chose this year, I had to laugh a bit. Yes, maybe the businesses are in fact small, but the sponsor and presenter, Amazon, sure as heck is NOT in true support of small business growth!

In fact, they are the opposite.

Here are two articles I hope you’ll read (they’re not too long):
https://perfectunion.us/insider-describes-how-amazon-is-strangling-small-businesses/
https://www.adzooma.com/blog/amazon-small-businesses/#Whats_the_catch_of_FBA

Please SHOP SMALL this holiday season and beyond!

🎁 Businesses are people's livelihoods, their dreams, their way to make a living.
🎁 Support your local economy or a brand / product you really believe in.
🎁 Don't always take the "easy way out" with the one-click shopping.

Oprah, if you read this: I still admire you, but please don't partner with Amazon next year! Truly keep it SMALL.

xo
~Rachel

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