Jamie's Blog

New York Times Came a Knockin'

Just A Silicon Valley Blog Post

After the supposed end of The Silicon Valley Mom Blog I didn't give my posts much thought.  I owned them, I could re-post them and/or just let them live in the Blogosphere.  I enjoyed writing for the Silicon Valley Moms Blog a lot more than I thought I would.  I wrote about events at school, my crazy family and mostly my children. 

This June I was very fed up, frustrated and burnt out from volunteering at my children's school.  I listed all that I had done on this blog and then made a public pledge to not do it again on SV Moms Blog.  I got a lot of comments on and off line from other volunteers like myself that were done with a capital D with volunteering. 

Two weeks ago I received an email from a reporter at the New York Times  who read my post.  She asked if I would speak to her about my volunteering or lack their of.  She wanted to hear how this year was going and if I had kept up my pledge.  Without thinking I said "Hell to the Yes!", or maybe I thought that in my head and just replied very polite like in an email.  Either way I was interviewed the following day.

New York Frickin' Times Interview

Rule one when you get an interview with a very reputable news paper (or any publication) - get the  time correct.  And me being a veteran of countless interviews (okay a dozen or so) I am always prepared and I always get the time right.  Ya, not so much.   I bounced, or stumbled out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and downed two cups of coffee for my 7:00 a.m interview.  Then I waited and waited.  I waited some more. And then waited a little bit longer.  Then I drank more coffee. 

By about 7:45 a.m. I was freaking out and bouncing off the walls.  I looked at the email for the 45th time that morning and realized I had the time wrong.  Don't ask me how or why but I was under the impression the interview was at 10:00 a.m Eastern Standard Time....and uh, it was actually 10:00 a.m my time, Pacific Standard Time.   So now I was wide awake just waiting for the interview.  By the time she called (the correct agree time)  I was the babbling laughing volunteer from Hell.  I was interviewed for over 30 minutes and am pretty confident that I sounded like an insane rabid parent.  Yes, I am scared of what will be taken from the interview.

I calmed myself down by remembering some past interviews.  Having been interviewed in the past I was not even confidant my interview would even be a part of the article.  This happens more than I care to admit.  I have said it before, and will continue to say it - press is good.  All press is good (Jamie's Painting & Design never came up in this interview).  I am fine, the whole article may  not even ever be published.  I did not get my hopes up.  Then last week I got an email.  I had to be in a Photo Shoot, with my children like in a few days........ah, come again?

Ready for My Close Up

When picking out our clothes I tried not to over think it, but I wanted us to look good - so I totally over thought the whole thing.  I figured my kids should dress as casual as possible without looking like we were trying to be too causal - this is not as easy as it sounds.  The urge to dress my children in their holiday finest, get hair cuts and polish their shoes was very tempting.  Sadly I cancelled the fancy up-do, professional make-up artists/stylist and put away my formal gown, diamond tiara and fur.  We were the Lentzners, and we were going with jeans.

Last Wednesday the photographer arrived at my home.  Now, I have to preface this with the fact that the exterior of my house is a disaster.  We are in the process of having the entire house stuccoed, painted and we are replacing all of the lights.  When I answered the door I caught our photographer looking around at the plywood very skeptical.  His eyes kept darting back and forth from the plywood srewed to the house, and a bulb hanging where my light would be.  When he finally made eye contact I could have sworn I saw him sigh.  He was probably expecting Ma Kettle wearing overalls and smoking a pipe.

I took him to all the rooms, seeing which one had the best light or the best angle for him.  Even with turning on every light in the house my home for him, he was not sure about where to photograph us.  After walking back and forth for about ten minutes he still had not found a good spot.  The front yard was out of the question since it would look like we lived in an Appalachian Wooden House and the playroom ( that would be the garage) had ourdogs in it.  I was starting to get nervous.  After two tours of the Lentzner home I caught him eyeing the backyard.  This was not going to be good.

We Have Dogs & Standing Water

As he leaped out our back door and into our backyard swamp I blurted out, "We have Dogs! Watch   where you....step."  I watched him grimace as he took big then small steps while trying to examine his surroundings.  He danced around, eyeing the ground as if he were about to step on a land mind.  With the 3 solid days of rain, followed by 3 days of near freezing weather - my kids had not been out to uh, clean up after our pets. It was not a pretty sight, puddles, mud, poop and some dead plants - I was mortified.

And of course he decided to photograph outside.....yep, even though I was casual I was still rocking my cute suede boots.  Boots I did not want covered in dog excrement.  The children to were told to play soccer and look natural.  After they fought over which ball to bring outside we all dodged dog poop and mud for 10 to 15 minutes.  I am sure the look on my face was part disgust and part shock while I was being photographed.  Nothing says "Working Mom" like a mother and her children playing soccer in a mud/poop swamp.

We then took photos in our kitchen, in my office and me looking out the window at my dinning room table.  I still don't know if I was supposed to look happy, sad, confused or dignified.  I just hope the pictures came out decent.  The article is scheduled to be published Thursday, December 3, 201o.  I am hopeful that we/me sound and look decent and normal and sane.  It could happen.

Big Bedding Companies Should Take Advice from the Little Guys

I don't enjoy failing or falling on my face.  First off it hurts my pride, second of all it hurts my darn face.  I hate to have people to know I have failed -I like to succeed.  I don't know what the big deal is - everyone fails, it makes us who are....blah, blah I get the positive spin on it.  I don't  know who says it but I do believe that as awful as failure is, it is part of growing , changing and learning from my mistakes.  That being said, even though I failed....I turned this failure into an opposite of failure?  A success after a failed attempt?  Oh hell, I made lemonade out of lemons.  Read on;

Submitted Products to Pottery Barn Kids

In January of 2010 I took the advice of a dear friend and I sent 4 product samples to Pottery Barn Kids.  I spent an entire weekend on 6 or 8 designs, painting, researching and looking at trends.  I spent a great deal of time on their site, trying to figure out what their designers wanted, comparing my ideas to their bedding and pretty much immersing my self in Pottery Barn Kids 101.  I wanted to design Nursery & Kid's Room Decor products that complimented their products.  I really felt I had one chance to make a good impression and I wanted to make a great one.

Of the 8 designs I created, I felt that four of them were good, no not good - really good.  I got feedback from friend's in the industry, I made the tiles and shipped them off.  I spent the next two weeks checking my email and voicemail almost every 5 minutes to see if they loved my stuff....I knew they would love it.  After no response I sucked it up and I called them.  The Head Buyer lady said they would review Jamie's Painting & Design at their next Design meeting, and I would hear from them.  I never heard from them. 

Rejection.....Sucks

I waited for weeks that soon turned into a month and I did not "hear from them".  After countless phone calls and emails I finally got the Buyer on the phone.  When I re-introduced myself and asked if they had made a decision on my products  her reply was, "We are not interested."  Ouch!  She did not let me down easily, she did not sugar-coat it.  Pottery Barn Kids did not give a reason and they did not apologize for their (her) short and to the point answer.  I was so shocked I did not even rebuke her or ask what they did not like my products.  I am usually pretty good about asking the right questions and where do we go from here...this time, not so much.

I spent the next few days, okay weeks feeling very bad.  I could not believe I had it so wrong - I always got it right.  Well, not right, but the chances of 1 our of 4 of my designs being what they wanted, or liked - I had done my damn research!  Most times after tons of research I got the design factor down.  I felt I was like Austin Powers and I had just lost my mojo (is that even how you spell it?).  I know it was not the end of the world, but I just felt crummy about the designs and my ability to make good products.

Making it Work

By summer I decided fu.........um, I mean screw it they were still my designs.  I really liked, dare I say loved the four designs that would forever be known as PBK rejects in my mind.  I dusted them off sucked in my pride and I added them to my 2010 line of new products.  I figured they did not own me, they did not own my designs....I did.  I did not hold up much hope of them being best sellers, but I thought maybe somebody somewhere would like them.

Within 24 hours of the Butterfly & Flower Birth Announcement going live on numerous websites we sold 3.  This may not seem like such a huge deal, but it takes awhile for Google to crawl sites, it takes customers a while to purchase new designs.....this was odd.  The Zoo Animals Birth Announcement has also had the same success, we sold 10 and it has only been out there for a short time.  The Butterfly Garden Name Plaque & The Space Name Plaque  sold for the first time last week a few times for both.  A few of my other designs have had limited success, but right the gate these four, the PBK Four as I have re-named them seem to have some legs.  Week after week these four designs are selling.

With new designs and even with old designs sometimes we don't sell a design till it has been on the market for 6 months to a year.  It may take a good customer review, press or just word of mouth.  We have been ahead of the game on designs and then when a bedding design has come out our product has sold like crazy.  We have been known to go week after week selling one design over and over, for months sometimes years and then see the sales stop all together. 

Am I Gloating?  Why, Yes....Yes I Am

So, even though I am disappointed that Pottery Barn Kids did not select my products I sort of feel vintigated with my artistic talent.  I am Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.  The scene where she walks back into the exclusive Beverly Hills Boutique that refused to sell her clothes with bags and bags of clothes and she is dressed up in her new fancy shmancy outfit and she asks the woman if she remembers her, tells her what a big mistake she made.  Ya that is me.

[Jamie, smartly dressed and carrying many tiles, stops into Pottery Barn Kids Corporate Office.]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100405/Jamie: Do you remember me?
Pottery Barn Kids Buyer: No, I'm sorry.
Jamie: I sent you plaques and birth announcement designs. You didn't like them?
Pottery Barn Kids Buyer: Oh.
Jamie: You work on commission, right?
Pottery Barn Kids Buyer: Ah, yes.
Jamie: Big mistake. Big. Huge! [turns away] I have to go make tiles now!

Business Is Going

"No matter where you go.....there you are." ~Buckaroo Banzai 

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai was a movie I watched in the late eighties - it was campy, funny and the special effects were awful.  I am not even sure you could use the word effects.  As bad as the movie was I loved it, and thought it was hysterical.  The music was awesome too, so awesome I sat with my recorder and recorded the songs right off the TV.  That was about as technical as I was in my mid-teens.  I don't recall much about the movie  now, but I do remember this quote - and it about sums up me and my business these days.

Going Down, Down, Down

As 2010 comes to a close and the Economy seeming to just sit still, I get asked; 

"How's Jamie's Painting & Design doing?"  

Just like I got it asked in 2009 and the end of 2008.  Everyone wants to know how my business is doing.  And as much as I enjoy sharing about what I do for a living, I inwardly sigh when I am asked this.  I tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  My response:

"Bad.  Times are tough and sales are down."

I have spoken to many people in retail, and lots of other Entrepreneurs and they all agree - people's spending habits have changed.  I know the boom time bathing in money days are over, but I feel they I am optimistic that things will turn around.  History repeats itself and things will get better.

Most times, people just agree, we commiserate and we go on to other topics.  Topics like how our children are doing in school, the weather or what the latest is on Facebook.  But in the last two weeks these were a few zingers I got from some industry peeps, partners and friends:

"Oh, you mean it started when Obama was elected?"

"Oh sales are down because of the Democrats?"

"It is because you are all crazy in California, you voted in some awful people."

"Won't people start spending when the Republicans gain power?"

"It is all Obama's fault, someone should tell that man."

My response everytime goes a little something like this;

"Uh............okay no I do not agree, I actually strongly disagree with you.  I don't really care whether you are a Republican, a Democrat or a Tea Bagger...er Partier.  I don't.  I don't blame either party entirely.  My sales started going down slowly in 2007....did you hear me 2007?  They really fell off a cliff on September 30, 2008 - the day of the Financial Meltdown thingie (before Obama was elected).  I just would like someone to fix the Economy.  Fix it I say!  I don't care how, I just want people to start spending money again....money on my products!"

What People Mean

I know that people mean well, and they think they are saying the right thing.  I also know it is really much easier to just play 'The Blame Game' when faced with adversity or possible financial ruin.  I get it.  I just don't agree with it.  Politics and business do not mix well, nor do politics and people that do not have the same political views I have.  I am not saying anything brilliant, but I am just saying.....why must we blame one person and one political party?  Does anyone recall who was president when the country fell of a cliff?  I mean - could it be both their faults?  Could it then be both their responsibility to fix it.  With unemployment at about 10% I can see why people are not spending like crazy on gifts and wall decor for their children.  I just can't wait for them to start.

Moving Away from Honesty

To help me with these uncomfortable and often right sided conversations I think I need to change my response.  Maybe honesty is not the best policy, maybe they don't really want to know how I am doing.  It could be that they are just making small talk and I should do the same.  I think moving forward I am going to change my response to one of the following:

"Fine"

"I am keeping myself busy."

"It is what it is"

"What on earth did you do with your hair? I LOOOOVE it!"

"Why do you want to know?"

"None of your business."

"I don't want to talk about (sobbing and tears soon to follow) it"

"Have you ever heard of Buckaroo Banzai?"

Yes, instead of killing them with kindness, honesty and real tangible information I will be rude, deffensive and possibly dillusional.  If all else fails my last resort will be showing them a dog swimming with a dophin youtube video on my new phone.  That will change the subject I am sure.