Maya Lotan is the founder and CEO of Days United – a premium direct-to-consumer brand and platform that offers holiday celebration boxes, original cultural gear, digital content, and fun educational experiences to help families and communities celebrate holidays and life events, continuing the traditions of their heritage.
The brand began when the mother of three, and immigrant to the US, felt a visceral need to pass down the traditions of her culture to her children. She found herself on the phone with her mother back in Israel getting step by step instructions on holiday rituals and customs.
The Silicon Valley entrepreneur with an engineering and design background used her experience to transform these customs into a few fun and engaging activities. She invited neighborhood friends, and families to join in the celebration and from there the brand was born. Before she knew it the founder had an assembly line of grandparents, husbands, kids and even teens helping to build and pack these early culture boxes.
Maya set up a simple website, and social media account to sell her merchandise. She was flooded with orders from other families who feltlonged for the same need to preserve and celebrate their traditions.
Lotan onboarded cultural experts from her community to co-create authentic experiences. She hired a desinger with a Masters in Education from Harvard, and put her Masters degree in Interaction Design from IDII, Italy to work. She started “Days” as a Benefit Corporation, which is a pro-profit organization guided by a social mission. She reflects: “I feel so lucky to work with such a strong and dedicated team and have such a huge impact on so many families”
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