No, this is not a reference to the YMCA song. When I say village people it has always meant something entirely different to my sisters and I. Growing up in a household of Vietnamese refugees, my mom would always reference her childhood home: Village No. 7. Village No.7 was a small area in the Mekong Delta with villages simply numbered one through eight. She would tell us tales of mischief, celebration, collective struggle, and resilience.

Once a year, we would go to a gathering in Hayward’s marina for a convening of what my sisters and I jokingly called “the convening of the village people.” It was a summer picnic that would bring together over a hundred people who had lived in villages one through eight before emigrating to the States. As kids, we found it funny that it was disorienting to other parkgoers to try to understand what was happening. Grannies in Vietnamese pajama sets and headscarves would dote on everyones’ kids while aunties would unveil the most sumptuous foods on the picnic tables. Paris By Night concert tapes blasted Viet ballads (iykyk).

When it came time to name this new endeavor, one that aimed to bring beauty through flowers and interior design to my community, it felt obvious that the name had to be Village No.7.

And like any good village, we aim to have the best goss. Our newsletter and blog, aptly named Village Goss will share our takes on design trends. We’ll discuss how to DIY or approach home styling. Even though we sell our services, it’s a Village No.7 core principal to have people engage with beauty on their own terms. We never gatekeep from our fellow villagers.

So, with that, thanks for being here and we hope that you’ll enjoy being a village person too.