Happily ever after in OKC

Brett Kolomyjec, co-founder and CEO of Oklahoma City-based Happily

Brett Kolomyjec wants couples who subscribe to his company’s unique date night subscription service to live Happily ever after. 

Kolomyjec is co-founder and CEO of Oklahoma City-based Happily, an e-commerce venture –thehappily.co -- that is dedicated to creating moments for couples to connect.

Happily does that by providing by subscription a monthly “Datebox” filled with fun date night activities for couples. It also markets relationship classes, online experiences and love notes.

“We see ourselves as a fun and approachable way to create the best relationship that you can have,” Kolomyjec said. “It’s just a fun way to try new things together.”

Happily wasn’t always Happily, and it wasn’t launched in Oklahoma City. The company debuted as Seattle-based Datebox in 2015 before relocating to Oklahoma the following year.

Kolomyjec is a Seattle native who happened to be living in Texas with his wife, Devon, when he launched the venture.

But it had Oklahoma City connections from the start, including co-founders and investors.

Seated in a local coffee shop, Brett filled in the details about the relocation from the Great Northwest.

“A couple of our first financial backers were here in the city, and they said ‘there are some great programs here and we think it would be a great idea for you to come here, and you could get more funding to continue to grow the business,’ ” he said. “That turned out to be true for us.”

i2E, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation the provides investment capital and business advisory services, was an early investor in the company after it relocated, leading a $2.6 million seed round that also included local Angel investors.

“Secondly, the middle of the country, real estate for anything that is distribution heavy is really economical, and the economics of our business really worked when we moved our shipping operations from Seattle to Oklahoma City,” Kolomyjec said. The cost of freight and actually shipping the boxes to all of our subscribers went down significantly.”

The company has shipped approximately 850,000 date night experiences since it was founded, Kolomyjec said. Monthly subscriptions are roughly $30 per month, although couples can sample the date night experience on a month-to-month basis for about $10 more.

Happily employs approximately 60 people who fulfill date night orders from a 45,000 square foot building located south of I-40 along McArthur Blvd. Its administrative and marketing staff all work remotely.

Obviously, Happily meets a pent-up demand for date night and relationship experiences.

The company has its roots in the personal experience of the Kolomyjecs through a small group at their church.

“There were six couples in the group, and we picked date night as the way we were going to invest in our marriages and be more intentional about our marriages,” he said. “The couples in the group would take turns planning date night for all the other couples in the group. You could get as creative as you wanted, but the goal was to make it simple to spend time together.”

That experience sparked an idea that a regular date box filled with creative things for couples to do on a date night might find an audience. So, with co-founders Marcus Morrison, Ashton Owens, Chase Layman, and Jeff Cherry, the company was launched as Datebox.

Datebox found subscribers through what Kolomyjec describes as a network of social media “influencers” who sampled the box and shared their reaction with their online followers.

Today, Happily continues to do online marketing through influencers and with ads on Facebook and Instagram.

The company was featured in Forbes magazine during the COVID-19 pandemic for its creative activities that engaged couples who were stuck at home as communities around the country locked down for extended periods of time.

Happily employs a team of people who dream up creative experiences that couples in the 25 to 35-year-old age range can share on their date night. It could be a fun cooking recipe, a new board game or even an indoor “camping” experience.

The company is also launching a mobile app it describes as an “all-in-one date night concierge.”

Happily competes for subscribers in an often crowded date night space filled with would-be competitors. A dozen or more subscription date night services have come and gone since the company launched in 2015.

Datebox transitioned into Happily because Kolomyjec and his team saw opportunity beyond just a subscription date night service.

“We realized there are a lot of things that couples are trying to do are not the easiest for them to do,” he said. “When we moved from Datebox to Happily, it was to create an environment where we could help our customers with those other things: date nights out in their city, gifts, giveaways, all sorts of things.”

Since relocating to Oklahoma City, the Kolomyjecs have added daughter, Annie, to the family and embraced the city for all that it offers a young couple. 

“I think Oklahoma City has a very underrated social scene,” he said. “It’s not something that we predicted when we moved here. There are tons of cool thing to do.”

That includes dining out experiences.

“I feel like you could live here for five years and not try every great restaurant that is popping up,” Kolomyjec added.

Oklahoma City also has benefited Kolomyjec’s business beyond its geographic advantages.

The OKC location brought investment in the company from a variety of sources. In addition to i2E, Oklahoma City investors also include Tribune Capital, Square Deal Capital, SeedStep Angels and other Angel investors.

“The investors who are in town have been very supportive and accessible,” he said. “I feel that more than in any other city I’ve lived in, people here want to see Oklahoma City succeed and continue to grow and thrive. I think that’s really unique.”

Today, Happily operates as a high growth, e-commerce company that is expanding its product menu. And it’s not located on the East or West coasts.

Kolomyjec isn’t hesitant to evangelize on behalf of his adopted hometown.

“If you are at a growth stage like we are and looking to turn this into something that could become a massive company, there are people here that can help,” Kolomyjec said. “If you have an idea on a napkin, and you’re like ‘I don’t know what to do with this,' there are people here who can help with that, too.”

"There's funding proximity, cost of living, distribution. Those are massive advantages here. It’s a great state for any startup founder.”

Now, that’s a Happily-ever-after ending.