Jamie's Blog

Closing of A Business....no wait NOT Mine

November 21, 2012.

"At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal.  You will regret not spending time with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent." ~ Barbara Bush

I have had some good & bad times running Jamie's Painting & Design.   I tend to like to focus on the good times (like most everyone) instead of the bad times.  However, the bad memories, or bad times are just as much a part of my ten years in business as are the good times.  Sometimes when things get really bad I start to consider closing Jamie's Painting & Design.  Luckily, I never get past the question, "What the hell would I do?"  As I hit my ten year mark this November I just can't imagine not working on and in this company.  Next year, I may have a different take on the state of Jamie's Painting & Design, but for now  all is good.

Sadly, that is not the case for all of my counterparts, competitors and friends.  The last few years have been tough on the small business owner that makes children's products.  I would say the problems started about five years ago, but I already touched on that - and who wants to go there again?  Some companies weathered the storm, some closed, some licensed their work and some of us stuck it out.  I don't know if it would have been better to close before the storm, or weather the storm only to close after surviving it - but we did what we thought was the best for our company at the time.  Just this past week I have spoken to two other partners/friends that will most likely be closing their doors at the end of 2012 or early in 2013.  This will probably not be my last post of this nature:

Say Goodbye to My Little Dish

It is with a very heavy heart and much sadness to report as of November 9, 2012 My Little Dish has officially stopped taking orders for their very popular Personalized Prayer Plates.  Once those plates are painted and shipped to customers, the doors will be a closing and closing for good.  

This was not an easy decision for them to make, nor was it one they ever thought would actually happen.  After an incredible partnership with a large company ended, London Edwards was left with hefty obligations and wasted inventory.  Her existing sales were not going to be enough to keep My Little Dish profitable.  

London started My Little Dish late in 2001.  It was soon after the 9/11 when like many Americans were craving traditional things in their lives, so was she.  She wanted to find a way to appreciate the small things and create special memories for her children.  It all began with an idea for a dinner plate.

London’s husband. Patrick, had received a set of hand made, personalized plastic plates as a child from a very dear aunt. The plates were being used by her boys and began to show some wear and tear. London adored the idea and decided she wanted to make them their very own plates to use and pass down.  The original Prayer Plate TM was born. The hand painted adorable children's dish had a prayer inscribed around the rim.  It was meant to teach children a variety of dinner prayers.  The company’s original line proved to be a big hit among retailers and even launched a major licensing program with a national gift ware company.

Sad to See Another Business Go

I have written about London and our unique friendship in the past.  I have written about our 
numerous trips to Atlanta, when we attended for fun and when we exhibited and worked together.  I have blogged about her success as a Mompreneur and I have even discussed her incredible luck (and talent) that landed her in the most coveted catalog of the Children's Industry.....Pottery Barn Kids.  Ironically enough, that is one of my popular blog posts and every few months I still get a few random emails from small business owners asking me for the connection to get them into PBK (Connections I never had....it was London, not me with the connections).

"Sometimes when we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open." ~ Alexander Graham Bell

I started to write this post a few weeks ago, as I was in contact with London as she went through this major life transition.  I have had a hard time trying to write what I felt and how I am guessing she felt during this tough transition.  I hope I was able to help her as she set off on a new chapter of her life.  I don't think this change will alter our friendship, as in the last few years we talked less 'shop' and more life.  Our IM and texting conversations are less and our phone conversations are almost non-existant.  But that does not mean that we are no longer friends, or that I do not think of her constantly and all that she has to wrap up.

As I was writing this post I was able to go back over my posts, her posts and smile remembering happier times.  I also tried ot link to her website, but it has been pulled down already.  For some reason that made me sadder, that made it real.  So it is, one of my competitors, yet one of my best friends in the business is no longer making personalized ceramic plates with me.  We have not spoken in a few weeks but word on the street is she is good with her decision and happy with what her future has in store.  This makes me happy for her and hopeful she is satisfied with her decision.  So, when we talk again we can focus on other things....like life and gossip and where are we going to meet in 2013. 

All Wrapped Up in Warm Biscuit Bedding

November 16, 2012.

I got a call from my past yesterday, and I heard a voice on the other line that I had not heard for over a year.  The voice of a woman that I admired, respected and even idolized at one point in my career.  If there was one person I could attribute the early success of Jamie's Painting & Design (other than my husband) it would be her.  As soon as I heard her Texas drawl it brought me back to the fall of 2003 when we first met.

Meeting Vicki Bodwell

Our partnership with The Warm Biscuit Bedding Company started in the fall of 2003, but did not come to fruition until the catalog featuring our products dropped early in 2004.  But our story did not really start then, it started much earlier for me.  After leaving the work force to become a stay at home mom in the summer of 1999, I remember getting Warm Biscuit Bedding catalogs in the mail.  I would pour over them, wishing I could do something that could be sold in the catalog.  So, wishing I had a creative outlet, other than my current one - faux painting & re-painting my hallway while taking care of my infant son.

After starting Jamie's Painting & Design in the fall of 2002 I slowly quickly started picking up boutiques and on line stores.  By the summer of 2003 I thought I had enough experience and confidence in my product to send Vicki Bodwell, the owner of Warm Biscuit Bedding Company an email.  It took a lot of time, a lot of re-writes and a swift kick from my husband to actually send her the email.  Shocking to me she replied......the Vicki Bodwell I had been following for years.  And not only did she reply, she agreed to carry my products.

Looking back I know for a fact that this was by far one of the most important and altering decisions of my company's existence.  Her decision to take a risk on a small business owner changed the direction of  Jamie's Painting & Design forever.  The doors that her bedding company opened for me were many.  Her sales were nothing we had ever seen, nor would I ever see again in the following years.  It was, and still is probably the highlight of my career in the children's industry. I do not think I have ever been more excited by anything than the prospect of working with the Warm Biscuit Bedding Company.

2004 Changed Everything

I find it hard to explain the pride and the joy I felt when I first saw my signature name tiles wall letters in the WBB catalog.   I had spent time creating a few designs that I thought would compliment her bedding....and they did.  Not only were we in the the catalog, we had the back cover - this is the primereal estate spot if you ever get your product in a catalog.  At the time I did not realize how much of an honor (and risk) this was for Vicki and her team.  Lucky for me we were up for the task and we were able to meet all of the demands of her customers.

Over the years I was able to work with Vicki and her team, we were developing new designs and new products that complimented her bedding.  She started selling our ornaments, birth announcements, plates and name plaques.  We created exclusive designs to compliment most of her bedding.  We brain stormed (eek, how I missed doing that!) on the phone for hours at a time.  I even visited her in New York three times and she came and stayed with me to attend BlogHer together.  Our business relationship quickly turned into a realfriendship.

To say it was fun when we were on that drunken ride of success together, would be a huge understatement.  We were shipping hundreds and hundreds of products out weekly.  We had press, we had excitement and everyone that had a baby knew who we were.  It was like having a bar stool at Cheers for me.  It was an amazing time to own a business, especially a woman owned business.  We were in the eye of the Mompreneur Storm and we reveled in it.  Vicki was held up (correctly) as a huge successful Mompreneur with a very successful bedding company.  It was some good times we shared..... I like to say we'll always have Paris,  I mean those memories.

Everything Good Thing Must Come to an End

Sadly we amicably ended our partnership with The Warm Biscuit Bedding Company in 2009.  We had outgrown each other and found that it was best to go our separate ways.  First we had the crisis with lead in children's products in 2007, then the recession hit all of us in the industry hard in 2008.  Things would never be the same again, everything changed.  Money was tight, orders were smaller and both our business models were changing.  As much as I missed the sales and the brain storming sessions, I missed our friendship....I missed talking to her.  

So, yesterday (and an other call today because we had a whole year to catch up on y'all) wereminisced about the good old days.  I had my own little Glory Days moment with someone that was there in the trenches with me through the good and the bad times.  Sometimes we were on the same track, other times we were not - but we always talked about it.   Talking to Vicki reminded me how much I enjoy keeping my old friends around and why I refuse to replace them.  It was just comforting to talk to a friend in the business. So, when I half joking tell her, "I used to be somebody", at least she laughs and then agrees with me.

 

Just Another Dumb Email Exchange

November 9, 2012.

So, this is not the first time I am just using an email exchange as a blog post, and I am sure it will not be the last.  In my defense I can not really do this email exchange justice in 140 characters or less on Twitter, or post it as a status update on Facebook.  Just today I got a few more emails that may turn into an amusing (or frustrating) exchange.  One such email encouraged me to purchase more hats for my hat store, another invited me to a Carpet Expo in Germany and lastly an email that asked me to blog about....diapers.

So, here is my latest email exchange that is too long for a story at a cocktail party and too ridiculous not to share:

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On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 10:00 PM

Hi Jamie,

I came across your website and wanted to notify you about a broken link on your page in case you weren't aware of it. The link on http://svmomblog.typepad.com/silicon_valley_moms_blog/2007/11/boo---halloween.html which links tohttp://www.fema.gov/areyouready is no longer working. I've included a link to a useful page on Creating an Emergency Plan that you could replace the broken link with if you're interested in updating your website. Thanks for providing a great resource!

Link: http://www.publicadministration.net/resources/creating-an-emergency-plan/

Best,
Sue Smith

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Oh wow, I have not thought about the SV Mom blog for quite some time.  I really miss                                       writing for a collaborative Mom Blog that gets tons of traffic (and awesome swag at                                       Blogher). Oh well, was a good experience and I was lucky to have been a part of it.                                                                         I will respondto this woman and try and help her out. --------------------------------------------------------------- On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 8:55 AM

Hi Sue,

Thank you for contacting me, however the link you are referencing is not in a post I wrote, and the SV Mom Blog is not my website.  It was owned by Silicon Valley Mom Blogs and I was one of hundreds of contributors.  I don't believe I ever wrote about emergency plans. I believe the correct person to contact is <A SV Mom Blogger>.

Jamie Lentzner

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On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 9:01 AM
Hi Jamie,

Thanks for getting back to me!  Would you mind if I ask you to provide me with the email address <A SV Mom Blogger>? I ask so that I might follow up with her directly.

Best,

Sue

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Now when I read this last email I was not paying much attention to detail.   Had it not                                                   been Monday, my husband out of town and only one  cup of coffee in my system I might                                             have noticed that this Sue woman (name changed to protect the crazy) was using a sort                                                of bizarre type of English.  Again, I was not really paying attention to her use or abuse                                        of the English language so I replied. --------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tues, Sep 25, 2012 at 9:05 AM

Hi Sue,

I don't have email addresses for the bloggers that used to write for the collaborative site that I mentioned earlier. Like I mentioned in my last email there were hundreds of bloggers who wrote for Silicon Valley Mom Blog.  Also, all of the links are broken in the post, it was written back in 2007 and the site is no longer an active any blog.

Jamie

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On Tues, Sep 23, 2012 at 9:28 AM

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for letting me know. Have a great day!

Best Regards,

Sue

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Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 11:03 AM

Hi Jamie,

I wanted to follow up with you and make sure you had received my email I sent a little bit ago regarding the broken link on your site.

If you are still updating your website, I have a similar resource that you can replace the broken link with if you are interested. Let me know!

Best regards,
Sue Smith

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Okay now I am thinking of that damn book I had to read my daughter, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.  It had this irritating mouse that refused to leave the little boy's home, even when he offered the mouse numerous bribes.  Who is this lady and why is she obsessed with a link from five years ago for a blog that no longer exists?  My husband told me to delete her email and mark her as SPAM, but nooooo I had to reply.

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On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 11:09 AM

Hi Sue,

Um, I responded to you and you replied back to me in numerous email exchanges a few weeks ago. Here is a more detailed answer for you to hopefully understand why I can’t fix the link you referenced in the last two emails:

Silicon Valley Mom Blog no longer exists.  The post was written in 2007. The site closed down and Technoratti took over the site.   After further investigation I have found almost all of the blogs have broken links or have been removed from the internet.  

Like I mentioned earlier, the actual blog post you contacted me about was not written by me, it was written by a woman named <A SV Mom Blogger>.  

By the way you responded to all of my emails and confirmed you got them.

Jamie Lentzner

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On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 3:08 PM

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for letting me know. Have a great day!

Best Regards,

Sue

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See, that all worked out fine.  I was being nice and helping out a woman that was just trying to do her job.  I am sure that answered all of her questions and concerns regarding the links.  I have washed my hands of the situation.  Wait did she just use the same cut and paste response to my last email?

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On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 11:29 AM

Hi Jamie,

I've reported a broken link on your site http://svmomblog.typepad.com/silicon_valley_moms_blog/2007/11/boo---halloween.htmlthat links to http://www.fema.gov/areyouready and haven't heard back, so I just wanted to verify whether you're the right person to contact? If not, could you direct me to the person maintaining the website? If you would be interested in updating your website, I have a similar resource that you are more than welcome to use to update. Let me know!

Link Replacement Option: http://www.publicadministration.net/resources/creating-an-emergency-plan/

Best,
Sue Smith

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OMG! It is not bad enough that I just lived through the longest election cycle of my lifetime and now this.  Is this really happening to me again?  I am so living my own personal Ground Hog Day moment.  Is this woman insane? Is she on drugs or drunk?  How could she not understand my detailed responses??  I may be a tad cranky after staying up last night to see the concession and acceptance speech, but….is she kidding? 

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On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 11:44 AM

Sue (if that is even your real name),

I have answered your ridiculous emails and you have replied to my responses numerous times.  You are seriously wasting my time.  I don’t know why I keep responding but I do.  So here it goes….again:

Please see below the ENTIRE stream of our conversations all pasted together and all of YOUR responses to each of my emails.  Please stop sending me repeated emails asking me to fix a link from a blog post from 2007 that, wait for it…..I DID NOT WRITE! 

Best of luck to you,

Jamie Lentzner

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She has yet to respond to my last email, but I am optimistic that Sue will not let me down.  I am confident that I will have an email waiting for me in my inbox soon....just like Ground Hog Day. 

Oh, We Did Not Steal Your Sign....Um, Okay?

October 17, 2012.

To steal from one person is theft.  To steal from many is taxation.

                                                                                                                ~Daielle’s Law (take off of Felson’s Law)

It is interesting to me how most things in my life always come full circle.  When bad things happen I am sort of not surprised – I usually see it coming.  I think we all have this sort of inane sixth sense, especially women.  I have found this helpful with almost 99% of the times my children have gotten in….ahem, trouble or had an emotional breakdown.  It is like when my husband is stressed with work, the tension and electricity in the air is different.  The calm of our household is all screwed up and I can sense it going to boil over at some point.  I do not think I am special or psychic (but don’t tell my children that), I just think that I can tell when things are not right.

It’s Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down On Friday

My husband and I decided to go out for a few drinks with some good friends this past Friday.  The local watering hole (I am being kind, it is a bar) was close by and we could leave our four children at home for a short time.  After ordering the kids a pizza we headed out.  It is not a fancy place, but the food and drinks are good and sometimes I get to see a grandmother with a tattoo on her boob do some shots and dance..…but I digress.

We were on a short time frame due to the fact that we had never left our four children alone together and we had the dreaded wonderful soccer games the following morning.  Oh, and the fact that we do not frequent bars that often, we were all watching our watches.  After an hour, a few drinks & a delicious plate of hot wings, my husband mentioned our neighbors were there.  And by neighbors I mean the Tea Party Lady who said, “I am sort of a big deal, yet can’t wear a bra” neighbor.  He (not me) sent them over drinks and they waved him over.  Here is how the conversation started and deteriorated without me (shocking I know):

“Thanks for the drinks”, Tea Party Neighbors said

Darin, “You are welcome”.

“You know when you put up that sign I said to my husband, I like our neighbors and all but how could they?  How could they dare put up that sign?  I was just shocked….” Tea Party Wife

Darin,“ You put up a Mitt Romney sign. Why can’t we put up an Obama sign?  And for the record,  I do not trust Romney.”

Tea Party Neighbor, “I don’t like Romney, but I can NOT vote for a Muslim.”

Silence……Darin smiled and walked away.  You can not fight with stupid.

And Then That (sort of) Happened Again

Darin walked back to our table and tried to explain what had just happened to him.  I was still mid-speech/sputter/laughter as he described our neighbors to our friends (and to note I have NO idea their political affiliation), and then this happened…..  from the corner of my eye I could see my neighbors approaching our table.  Being a non-paid expert on drunks, I observed my neighbor moving from side to side, while her glass of wine(that we paid for) precariously sloshing out of her glass.  When she approached our table, she thanked us for the drinks….and then this happened;

“So, thank you for the drinks….” Tea Party Neighbor slurred as she sloshed wine from side to side.

“You are welcome.  We are neighbors.” Darin said

Her husband stood behind her and she looked me in the eye and said, “You know I can’t vote for a Muslim, but I can vote for a Mormon.  Oh, I did not steal your sign by the way.”

I am not sure if I am proud or sad, but I was speechless.  I said nothing.  I mean, ask my High School friends, I am not one to be in a fight with – I say something sarcastic then duck when punches are thrown.  Her lack of education and the fact that President Obama is an a African American & a Christian is probably not going to change her mind. And, if I may - I would vote for him even if he was Muslim.....crazy woman please!  As her husband dragged/pushed her out of the bar without uttering a word I just stared at them.  But I also started to add up my own statistics on the 2012 Election.

If My Campaign was Dictated by Facts:

• I never told my neighbor our sign was stolen
• We replaced it within 12 hours
• I will never let my husband buy possibly hostile neighbors cocktails again
• President Obama is NOT a Muslim, he is a Christian….but if he was Muslim it would not matter
• I need a “I am Kind of Big Deal” T-Shirt

Never Trust a Woman who Doesn’t Wear A Bra

At the end of the day I am super (as is my husband) proud that I did not say anything to this woman.  For once I am thinking that silence is the best enemy.  I mean, she pretty much became the punch line of every story I told all weekend, and every day until Election day approaches, the story I will keep telling.  

She will continue to be the butt of all my jokes as October turns into November.  I would like to know when the Freedom of Speech became a joke or reason to ridicule neighbors or individuals that live near you acceptable?  Did I miss something in History? Was I asleep in Civics?  I was a straight A student in English & History, unless there was some Math test snuck in.  When did it NOT become OK to put up a political sign? 

Now as I write this the Lentzner Militia is in full effect.  My children have trained the dogs to sit by the front door and bark if someone as much as looks at our house.  Our front light is left on all night day long.  We expect our new (Bigger) sign to be stolen, but if it is, we won’t go down not trying to catch the thief.  In fact, just today my daughter overheard a heated discussion on the junior high playground that made her pause and listen;

“I would vote Romney.” So said a girl

“Not me, I am voting for Obama.” Said, a boy.

“Obama is going to LOSE!” Said, a random boy & a girl.

Abby was quite upset by the conversation, but smart enough to realize these children were NOT old enough to vote (she is sort of smart like that).  Not the conversation by content, but by the fact that she felt she could not volunteer her opinion.  She was silenced, by her fear of what her oppinion would have done to the conversation.  She kept the fact that her family had an Obama sign to herself and walked away - which is sad in so many ways.  It is 2012 for Christ's Sake!   To the haters I have my own quote, my kids and I put it all together on our own;

The thought that every vote counts is not always true.   To our and neighbor who thinks our President is a Muslim….get an Education and stop letting your bigotry dictate your uneducated vote - he is Christian.  You are angry because the world you once lived in has changed. Deal with it.  Don’t lash out at those that have nothing to do with your hatred.  The world is changing.  Stealing a Political sign does nothing to push your agenda forward – it pushes it backwards.  Your hatred angers the opposition and especially their children.  Be careful what you do, our my children are watching.

                                                                                            ~ Jamie Risdon Lentzner (I’m kind of a big deal….)

So, Then That Happened

October 10, 2012

The night of the first 2012 presidential debate my Obama for President was stolen from my front yard, and by yard I mean right in front of my front door.  I really do not care what your political affiliation is, but stealing is stealing.....um wrong and illegal.  I was told it is a federal offense in some states....but not in California.   Not to throw stones while living in a glass house, but my two neighbors with Romney Signs, those were not stolen.

The Tea Party Exists in California

To give this post some background I must note that the few interactions I have had with my one neighbor.  She was a plenty with information when we first moved into El Dorado Hills.  I was forced to look past her hatred of braziers when we spoke, something my husband could not do.  That all changed this past Summer when she accosted confronted approached me on my front porch to discuss local politics.  The conversation was one sided as I nodded and listened to her discuss what was wrong with our city, school district and home owners association's rules.  After we exhausted those topics things went from bad to worse.  

Apparently the high school we were going to send our children to was awful, horrible and terrible.  Her daughter was leaving and going to the nearby town's school because it was SO much better.  My school of choice was the worst, she said, the worst.  But, take away was this line (and I quote);

"I am in the Tea Party and I am kind of a big deal (Hey? that is my line I thought).  I went to a  meeting last night and did you know they are putting Section 8 housing in Serrano (a huge number of different gated communities in El Dorado Hills)?  It's true.  I heard it at the meeting."

I was pretty much taken aback by so many things that I could not respond.  A real Tea Partier....next door?  I was starting to realize how Conservative my neighborhood was.  I blinked a few times and nodded my head.  At least at this encounter she was wearing a bra.  As the weeks and months got us closer to the election I started to notice a weekly Tea Party sign posted at different parts of our neighborhood.  I started to see bummer stickers that border lined on racist/mysogonist and downright offensive to this Bay Area (proud of it) native.  We were not in Kansas, Foster City any more.

The irony is a friend (who used to live in the Bay Area) came over for a glass (or two...don't judge) of wine the week before and she commented on my sign.  She walked in my front door and announced she was so happy to be hanging with a Democrat and then told a disturbing story of a one-sided fight she had with a neighbor that disagreed with her political stance.  I asked if she thought I would lose friends over the sign, her response.;

"Probably"

A Fallen Hero

This is a small town and a tight town.  Things here happen and everyone finds out.  It the good parts of being so close knit that make me happy to live here.  Sadly, two teachers that teach at a junior high lost their son in the Afganistan war about a month ago.  The community ralied around them to support the family and to help them through this most awful time.  It was amazing and humbling to see most of El Dorado Hills line up on a main road as the procession drove to his funeral.  We had schools, parents, teachers, teams, and then there was my neighbor.  She felt it totally appropriate to wear her t-shirt that said, "I am a Tea Party Patriot".  

So, a few days later when I noticed she placed her Romney sign in her yard with the American flag (because nothing says I am a true Amerian than a house with a flag), I decided I could let my neighbors know my political affiliation.  I ordered the political sign one night (first one I have EVER ordered) and sat on it for a few days once it arrived.  I really did not want any controversy, or maybe I did...finally my kids were the ones who convinced me to put it up.

Rise Above the Frey

As a wiser friend has said, this was a teachable moment for my children.  It has also been sort of amusing, for this sarcastic Mom that enjoys pranks, April Fools and even the TP'ed home.  My daughter and I drove to get our second sign (oh yes WE CAN and it is bigger), when  I told her it would have been funnier if it had been replaced with a Romney sign.  That would have been funny, but I paid for my sign(s).  

Here a few things that were not lost on me and my children, who wanted the sign more than I did :

• This act of theft does not change who I am planning on voting for 
• It would be funny if I had not paid for both signs
• Stealing is so....1984 (translate that to Juvenile) 
• It just makes me want to buy bigger signs
• It reminds me that we do not live in a free country and my voice is not always heard
• The discussion of "Booby Trap" has never been a topic of dinner conversation....until now
• 100% electoral votes are going for Obama....ya there is that.

I still love where I live, I love my children's friends and the schools they go to.  I am forever thankful for my new and old friends I have made here.  However, it has put a little bit of bitter taste in my mouth for my neighbors/teenagers/anyone who could have stolen the sign.  And for the record I do not know who stole my sign.  I don't care what their political affiliation is - they stole something that was mine and that is the message I am trying to reiterate to my children.   Sadly, for this person who felt the need to silence my freedom of speech, it has only re-energized my children's distaste for the other party, so mission accomplished angry Republican/Tea Party Activist/Deer....in about five years my side just got two more Democrats.

Red Solo....Balloon

September 17, 2012.

A couple of months ago my daughter turned ten and I had (what I thought was) a great idea to have a "Wipe Out" Birthday Party.  For the first time ever we had a pool and how fun would it be watch ten year old girls hurl themselves at big red balls in my pool?  If you are not familiar with the Wipe Out TV Game show it is basically an obstacle course where grown adults make complete fools of themselves jumping into a Rube Goldberg Machines.  My kids love watching the show, I cringe and cover my eyes worrying about things like health care, hospital visits, broken bones & dental surgeries.

So as the party grew closer a few things were very apparent:

1. Most of her friends were on vacation 
2. I had no idea how to turn my pool/backyard into a Wipe Out worthy obstacle course
3. My daughter had no desire to help me with the planning of the party

The Awesome Idea

We already had a number of large colored beach & yoga balls to jump on in the pool and I figured we could use those, rafts, noodles and such for an obstacle course.   However I was totally stumped how to make it "look" like the Wipe Out Game Show.  I was talking to a creative friend and she suggested getting big red round balloons and tying them to rocks and putting them in the center of the pool.  Three big red ones - like the TV show.  Abby even liked the idea - we would just tie them an anchor and put them in the pool....ya, great idea.

I had waited too long to order them online so I headed to Party City (you remember Party City right?  The company that used my home for a commercial in 2011).  Of course the red balloons were not in one package - no problem, I just purchased the 3 packages of 9 36 inch balloons....ya balloons that would/could be 3 feet in circumfrance when blown up to capacity.  Then, I made the amazing stupid decision to get 9 of them (3 red of course, 3 blue & 3 yellow) filled with helium.  

I assumed (wrongly) they would never fill them up that big.  I aslo told the cashier I had never purchased these before.  He said nothing, made no indicuation that these balloons would be overly extra humungous.  Nothing.  He just took my money and off we went.

The Dreaded Party Day

The day of the party came and we had a sort of loose idea of what the obstacle course would look like.  My daughter and I headed to Party City to collect our balloons.   I asked the woman behind the counter where were our balloons and handed her my receipt. She asked me if I saw them anywhere, I looked around and said  no.  Then Abby turned around and pointed to the ceiling.  This is what we saw:

My first sign that this may not turn out well should have been when the cashier started laughing hysterically  when she saw the size of my car - it is a medium sized SUV at best.  She then started babbling about how people (not me) would rent vans, trucks or even special vehicles to transport these super large over sized balloons to parties.  Me, with no laughing or sene of humor at this point asked why no one mentioned this to me.  Her response was to just giggle and ask if I had a convertible....ya, no.

Red Balloon Experiment #1

We were able to place shove one of the monstrocity of balloons in the back of my SUV, then while trying to put shove another one in, it popped (synch my ten year old starts to do a very quiet whimper).  We then left the store with just one balloon and told the woman  I would be back for the others.  I first tried to see if a friend could pick up the other baloons, but realized she did not own a van, semi or a motor home so that would not work.  About half way home I had the brilliant idiotic idea that since I had a sun room we could drive home with the  balloons out the top of the sun roof.

Red Balloon Experiment #2

I left my daughter in the car and marched into Party City to get my other (seven, minus the one I popped) balloons.  I grabbed 3 small floats and marched out the door, first knocking over a display of candy and almsot taking out a guy in a wife beater tank top (yeah me).  Right out the front door the first balloon popped for no reason other than....it was FILLED WITH MOST LIKELY TOO MUCH HELIUM.  I then tried not to fly away as I brought the balloons over to my daughter.  She took the remaining two and I went back in the store for two more. 

As I struggled with two more balloons I noticed that Abby had only one balloon ( if you are doing the math that is 3 balloons down) and she was crying...and she wasd crying hard.  The closer I got to the car I realized she was not only crying but she was yelling, "NOOOOO more!"  "No more balloons!".  I tried to calm her down and give her the two balloons I had - she would have nothing of it.  "NOOOOOOOOO  MOOOORE BALLLOOONSSS!" She yelled between tears, snot and hiccups.  I had a little tantrum of my own and sort of forced her to hold the last two balloons and we headed home.

So, now we have three 3 foot x 3 foot balloons poking out the roof of my SUV....sort of looking like the house from Up, had the old cranky guy owned a car - I am clearly playing the old cranky guy at this point.  Abby is holding on to these three balloons and I am sweating.  I slowly pulled out of our parking spot and the first balloon popped (that would be 4th balloon down).  At this point Abby started crying and screaming, "My birthday is ruined!  My birthday is ruined!".  I being the cool minded and totally in control Mom start (not proud) yelling as I realize we are not going to get home with any...BANG!....another balloon popped.  The tears and the yelling (Abby not me) are at the point of no return...she starts hyperventalating about the damn balloons (mind you we are not even out of the parking lot yet).  I keep driving slowly around the corner and as I drive over a speed bump, BANG! the third balloon pops.

Red Solo Balloon

I am not a mathemetician but I am doing the math in my head and realize that we have one balloon in he car, we have popped 4 and the chances of this one balloon making it to the party are slim at best.  Abby has stopped crying but is seriously hiccupping and moaning about how her party is ruined.  I try as best as I can to calm her as I clutch the steering wheel, freaking out about my "obstacle course" that will not be.

We pulled into the driveway and I opened the back of my SUV.  I slowly started to pull the one red balloon out of the back of my car.  If I did not mention before it is like a 10o degrees and I am sweating.  I slowly pull the one lone balloon out of my car and.......wait for it....BANG! it pops.

Balloons 5 - Mom 0.  Epic fail on my part.

 

 

 

To Trade Show or To Not

July 23, 2012.

I have had no motivation to blog lately.  I have been overwhelmed with....well life.  I have been spending my summer swimming, playing, staying up late, going to camp, having sleep overs, playing xbox....oh wait, no that is what my kids have been doing.  I  have been entertaining them.  And, as I have mentioned multiple times I was not sure I had anything else left to blog about.  Then out of nowhere I got this email today:

Hi There,

I found your blog about Gift Shows and wanted to ask you a question. What are the good gift shows on the West Coast? I just moved from Oregon to Los Angeles and my business has really been taking off over the last couple of years. I'm now thinking about doing a gift show and would love to know what you think. Also, I'd love to visit the LA gift show (I want to "walk" a show to see what's what!)

Thanks for any thoughts you can share!

:) Sarah Jane

Life is Rosey

Trade Shows in General

In no way do I consider myself an expert in attending and exhibiting at Trade Shows.  However, I have been doing it (and by it I mean running a business) for ten....ya, ten years this November.  A little background for ya, I have walked shows in San Francisco, Surtex, NY Stationary Show,  Los Angeles, Atlanta, Long Beach & New York multiple times and multiple years.  I have had my products in Show Rooms in Los Angeles, Minneapolis & Texas.  I have exhibited at the ABC Kids Expo and the Atlanta Gift show multiple times.

If I was asked to do a word association about Trade Shows, I would blurt out....expensive.  And to then to answer your question about if there were any good Gift Shows,  I would yell out, "NOOOOOOOOOONNNE!"  just like the guy that yells "GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!" after a soccer player scores.  Harsh? Yes.  Do I speak from experience? Yes.  

I would love to sugar coat this post and say that Trade Shows are good, but I can't.  I loathe them. They are a total suck of money and they are unnecessary.  In this day of Facebook, Pinterest, Etsy, the Internet, Groupon, Plum District and Oprah - no one has to do a Trade Show.  The waste of money is one thing, but the waste of time is painful.  Sitting in a booth day after day for 10 hours a day, away from your family and writing itsy bitsy orders - the opposite of priceless, it sucks.

The Cost Can Be More Than Expected

You need cash to exhibit, and lots of it.  Think of just flights, hotels & food.  That does not even include the renting of the booth, the samples of your products, the employees that will help you man the booth, printing of catalogs, postcards, order forms, giveaways, the possible advertisements in Trade Rags and then the super fun (sarcasm here) hidden costs.  Shipping your products, unloading your products by union workers, boxing up your products....it is kind of like when some contractor says, "Wanna do a remodel?  Take your budget and then double it!"

When Jamie's Painting & Design exhibited at the ABC Kid's Expo years ago we spent $10,000.00.  The two shows I did in Atlanta cost, um a lot of money too.  For the record my average wholesale price of one of my products is $17.50 to $22.00.  Do the math on how many products I have to sell to make up a $10,000.00 bill.

 The Cost of Exhibiting at a Trade Show

The expression, "Do as I say, Not as I did" should be the actual title of this post.  If I knew then, what I knew now - I would not have exhibited.  Instead I will list what I found on the LA Gift Fair's website and these are the minimum costs if I were to go to the show:

 Los Angeles Trade Show

• Shipping or Unloading Products (changes with each venue, taxes, Union Workers) : N/A
• Displays : ( $500 to $5000 depending on sophistication of booth) : $500.00
• Booth 10 x 10 Booth $20.00/sq. ft. (this includes 1 trash can, 1 chair and black curtain & rod) : $2000.00
• Hotel (4 nights for show + 1 to set up booth)  $139.00 to $189.00 a night (tax $20.85 a night) : $799.25
• Hotel Parking $20.00 daily parking : $100.00
• Car Rental is $50.00 a day : $250.00
• Food $55.00 to $70.00 a day (cost of food is expensive at the show) : $275.00
• Flight on Alaskan Airlines : $160.00

Total Cost before I even ship my products, print brochures or write ONE order : $2,284.25

From what I have heard the Los Angeles Show is not what it used to be.  With the San Francisco Gift Show gone, it may attract more buyers - but talk on the street is not good.  When I was at the Gift Mart years ago I was not impressed, nor did I get many sales when I was in a show room there.  It could have been my product or the show room - but it was not very profitable for the cost I spent (you have to pay sales reps a % of your sales, plus you may pay a fee to have your products in their showroom).

Even if you are super convinced to do a Trade Show, you have to do a reality check first and ask yourself a number of questions:

• How much money can you afford to lose? 
• What is your budget?
• How many other vendors with similar (or the exact) product will be at the show?
• Does your product appeal to a large demographics across the country? 
• Can you find out who exhibited last year?  
• Have you done research on blogs to see if the show was worth it?  
• Do you enjoy "selling" your product and yourself?

You Still Want to Do A Trade Show

If you are thinking of exhibiting a Trade Show I highly recommend walking the show first, heck even consider walking it with the idea of finding sales.  I once made an appointment with 4 different stores in the New Jersey/New York area and met up with them (accidentally) in front of a competitor's booth.  If she was not such a nasty person, I would not mention this - because again, it was by accident.  

Walking a show (you can do this free if you talk your way in and tell them you are a buyer) can be lonely and even boring.  It is hard to get people to talk when they are there to sell.   Be brave, be friendly and talk yourself up something special.  Also, travel with a friend, it makes you braver and gives you someone to laugh with when things do not work out as expected.   Trade Show attendance and exhibition has been going down for years, especially since that super fun Recession of 2008.  

What to Do Instead

There are other ways to get your product to market without spending a ton of money on a Trade Show.  Search out stores, catalogs and websites on line.  Sending emails is the best form these days, but back in the day I would send a catalog via snail mail.  If you cannot find the contact information from an average Google search, try Linked In.  

Another thing to consider doing a smaller more intimate show locally instead of a large Trade Show. An Art & Wine festival, a mini-boutique at a school or a Holiday Boutique or Craft Fair are exellent "starter" shows for you.   The difference is you need inventory for these, vs. just take orders at a Trade Show.  You will find out real quick if you enjoy sitting in a booth and talking to potential customers. Plan on going in with a very, very thick skin, because people will may some cruel things about your products.  

Be patient and persistent, it takes a long time to get established.  Take every small and large accomplishment with strides.  It took me years to get into hundreds of stores, websites and catalogs and sadly with the Recession only a few months for tons of them to go bankrupt. Whatever you do don't give up, keep trying and searching for accounts.  A quote I heard at a funeral earlier this seems fitting way to just to end this post, "Just keep keeping on". 

Places to Research Trade Shows

Las Vegas Market

ABC Kids Expo

Atlanta Gift Show

New York Gift Show

Surtex

New York Stationary Show

LA Gift Show

Posts Where I go On & On About Trade Shows

The Atlanta Gift Show

Preparing to Walk the Atlanta Gift Show

What Not to Do at Trade Show

Craft Boutique Ettiquette

First Trade Show - ABC Kids Expo

Surtex & Stationary Show in New York

Post #2 About Surtex & Stationary Show New York

What other Companies said about the ABC Kids Expo 2008

1st Time Exhibiting in Atlanta 2007

Another 2007 Atlanta Post

Setting up Booth for Trade Show

Trade Show Lingo

Summer 2007 Atlanta Gift Show

Last Days of the Last time I will EVER exhibit at a Trade Show

Regrets from Atlanta Gift Show 

Advertising in print for a Trade Show

Preparing for a Trade Show

 

I Don't Care

May 10, 2012.

I was reading all over the web everyone all a flutter this morning regarding the whole Mom breast
feeding her....I don't know 9  year old son (okay he is almost four.....but still) on the cover of Time Magazine.  I read a lot of comments for and against the photo.  Mother's saying it was beautiful, others saying it was gross - and so goes another ridiculous worthless argument about who is a better mother.  

I even started to get involved in the dialogue and started imagining my post on this attrocity to society.  Ya, but not for or against breast feeding toddlers, because I am more concerned with the poor boy and what he may will go through as he grows older.  I mean, was anyone thinking of that four year old boy being a ten year old, a fourteen year old or a seventeen year old trying to date a girl?  I am sure the "Boob Man" jokes will be making a big pressence tonight on Late Night TV.  That poor kid, he will most likely be ridiculed forever, even when he  just orders a chicken breast.  I seriously was gonna dedicate a whole post to it, and ask my soon to be thirteen year old what he thought.....and then I sighed and said to myself, "I don't care."

Not to sound insensitive or crash - but I don't care.  I don't need to spew my own over-inflated opinion out there (even though the irony that I just did is not lost on me).  I don't need to tweet how for/against/agast I am at the provcative pose she is making on the cover.  It's her life and it is her bed (and her son's bed) that she has to lie in....no pun intended since the story is about that type of parenting.

I Don't Care Anymore

I loved being a part of the Mommy Blogosphere for a few years (even though I detest that word).  It was fun to write for an awesome website that got tons of comments and I liked writing about controversial subjects.  Going to Blogher was amazing, meeting some of my heroes in person was amazing.  Getting all the free food, drinks & silly crap they gave away - all Amazing.  I was all about linking, commenting, blogging and staying up on the stupid Twitter feed.  

Now-a-days, I really have no desire to spend countless hours doing all that any longer.  I still love me some Facebook (and now Pinterest) but I don't want to dedicate that much time to the craft of blogging.  The end result (for me) was not as rewarding as one would have thought.   I loved it at the time.....now, ah I am going to say it, "I don't care".

It's not that I dislike or am jealous of the other bloggers out there - it just does not interest me any longer.  Sort of like battling over breast vs. bottle - those days are long gone and I don't care what anyone (or how) they feed their kids.   Everyone seems so damn sensitive these days if other people do not conform to their ridulous standards.  As long as it does not affect me and my children, "I don't care."

Now, don't get me wrong, I still love to blog/write and I will probably do it till I die, but eh.......not religously, not daily and not for profit.  Unless of course some editor comes a callin' and asks me to write a book or my super duper ever exciting memoir...then okay - I will do it.  But until that fantasy comes to life........I just don't care.

I Used to Care, But Now I Don't

I used to go after press for Jamie's Painting & Design and more importantly Jamie with a vengence.  I was a rapid Mama Grizzly Bear on a mission and I was actually quite good at it.  Maybe not so much good - but I had a good story and most times were at the right place at the right time.  Other than getting into People Magazine and on the Oprah Winfrey Show or in her magazine, I accomplished everything I ever imagined for my business in the eyes of the press corps.  

Also, I am not proud to admit this, but I used to turn green with jealousy when other entrepreneurs in my industry (or just close to it) got awesome press.  I assumed they were showered with sales, celebrity clients and calls from......Oprah of course after they were featured in some magazine.  I would obsess over it and would waste countless hours courting that very magazine that just ran a story similar to mine.....ya, not proud of that.  Eventually it would work out and I would get the press from that magazine, a newspaper, TV show - whatever, it came at some point.  

Again, sticking with the theme of this post, I just don't care anymore.  I mean if it happens that would be great - but I am not in the mood to go out and try to get it with my mouth frothing while I repeat my story for the 45th time to some reporter.  I am more a 'Been There, Done That' kind of girl.  The reason being is most of the press did not put $$$ in my pocket, or even equal sales.  Press did equal more press (which is a whole other post about people only want to write about you if some other reporter already did) but it rarely equaled sales.  I loved me some press, but I could not and can not pay for college bragging about being on Dr. Phil.  So......don't care.

I Could Care Less

I have mentioned many, many times how I kept up on my competition pretty closely for many years.  There are many reasons why I did this and I stand by my choices for doing it.  I really think you (me) need to know what is going on in your industry so that you can stay ahead.  This is especially important when you are a young company and a newbie to your industry.  You can not lay on your laurels - because frankly you don't have any.  

Fast forward to what is coming on our ten year mark this November and well, I guess I will take a peek once in a great while at other companies.  Honestly, most of my competition is gone - that is not me bragging, they just are.  Many, many small companies went away in the Recession or they licensed their work to larger companies.  

Also, the trends in the Children industry have sort of hit a lull in my humble opinion.  There are not exciting color combinations and amazing designs coming out these days.  I remember reading that in a Recession (or Depression) people go back to comfort foods, calm & safe colors and designs.  It makes sense and it made for a boring few years of designing new products.  So, now a days I will keep an eye on some othe companies but I am pretty sure if they develop a new design before I do, it won't be the end fo my company or the world.  I tend not to care if they do or if they don't.

What I Do Care About

I know this post sounded very negative and I yes I am singing that 80's song in my head as I write it, but stay with me.  As much as I enjoyed carying soooo much too much about these distractions in the past, I am glad I don't any longer.  I can focus on my business and my family.  I can spend my time caring about getting out good products and getting them on time to our customers.  I still want our customers to love our products and I still care about making them.

I still get excited about new designs.  Even though it has been two long years since I came out with new designs for my company I have worked on designs for sports teams, schools and various licensing companies.  I care about new partnerships, relationships and promotions with other companies.  I care about new customers (and old ones) instead of my competiton and my presence in the press.     I care about me and my happiness, instead of bending over backwards working 24 hours straight to please a channel partner that won't even pay me on time.  I care about my family and our quality of live instead of my blogs popularity and the number of readers I had last week.

So while the rest of the internet blows up over the latest boobie sighting, I will not be joining the conversation.   I am pretty sure my son's email is blowing up right now with this one photo being shared amongst all teenagers around the country.   I am going to spend the evening with my family and most likely explaining to my son about the dangers of a controversial photo and how it can haunt you....forever.  

February um....Where Did You Go? And can You find March?

March 20, 2012.

I swear I have no idea even where February went, and now March is more than half over.  I feel like Rip Van Winkle and I just woke up from a long winters nap.    I mean, I know what I have been doing and spending all my waking hours on, but it is like Spring already!  How can that possibly be when I am pretty sure that I missed Winter, you know while I was sleeping and all.  But in all seriousness this is a list of sorts of what I have been doing:

Traveling The Globe....actually just the State

I swear I have never traveled this much in such a short time in my life.  I feel like I have been living out of my suit case since around October, with trips back and forth to the Bay Area to trips around the state.  I am not complaining, I just keep singing the OneRepublic song Good Life:

To my friends in New York, I say hello 
My friends in L.A. they don't know 
Where I've been for the past few years or so 
Paris to China to Col-or-ado 

It has not been all fun and exciting jaunts around the country, many trips have been soccer tournaments and a business trip (oh wait...that WAS all fun!).  I have found just packing alone takes a lot of time, and some of it has been time away from my family.  So, with that...blogging took quite a back seat.

Lots of Research & Little Remodeling

We have lived in our  home for a little over seven months, long enough for me to know what I like, what I don't like and what I "OH MY GAWD I can't live with for one more day!".  I won't bore you with the laundry list of remodeling projects, but it has turned into an overwhelmingly long list.  The hiring takes time, the purchasing takes time and more time is invested in convincing my husband to PLEASE help takes even more time.  

But most of my time has been doing research on what, when who and how we will do all these projects.  Not shocking to anyone, but the getting bids alone takes a small village to coordinate with schedules.  I am not one that enjoys that much research.  I kind of, no wait I KNOW what I like and that is all there is.  I am enjoying poking around Pinterest for ideas, but really the site is just a plain time suck until I decide to make a cupcake tower made to look like a Disney Princess.

The other problem I have is I am....wait for it...very impatient.  Everything takes twice as long as expected.  Everything. I have a soft spot for little Ms. Verruca Salt in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factor, "I want a pony NOW Daddy!"  No, seriously the worst part is waiting and then waiting some more.  I am trying not to get too impatient though....that would be the old me, the one who just started tearing down parts of my house without a plan or a prayer (true story).  

Licensing Art.....Best Part of Being Busy

Most of my time has been spent on this larger than life....well not that big, but still big project.  I mentioned earlier that I met a wonderful woman in Atlanta and came to find out we could collaborate on a project together.  A five minute conversation on the bus to the Atlanta Convention Center has resulted in her signing me to create a large number of product lines for her company.

I designed a line of products for her company, frames, mirrors, wall art, clocks - all new and all very very tough for someone who has beeen working on 6 x8 tiles for the last 9 years.  I think in terms of "Jane's Room" and how can I wrap my designs around the tile.  It took a leap of faith for the company to take a chance on me, but I am super excited too see the final results.  Samples are being made in Shanghai as we speak and I am soon starting another line of products.

Of course with licensing (like I know what I am talking about) these won't be available till 2013, so as excited as I am I need to just sit back and wait and see what happens.  I am optimisitc, but more realistic.  I have listed or blogged more than once things that never came to fruition and almost amazing opportunities.  I have a really good feeling about this opportunity, which means either I am getting less pessamistic or I am too old to worry about it. 

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. 

                                                                                                                                                        ~Glenn Turner

Atlanta Gift Show 2012 - Take One

January 24, 2011

It has been over a week since I traveled across the country to walk the 2012 Atlanta Gift Show.  It was overwhelming and exciting to walk the show just for the pure excuse of finding inspiration for new Jamie's Painting & Design Products.  I stayed with three other very talented artists; Shelly Kennedy, Kelly Rightsell and London Edwards.  The laughing and the sharing of stories was enough for me, but we did even more.  

We attended a seminar that discussed the 6 top design trends in the Children Industry.  After  that event we were spoiled with drinks and appetizers while we attended a seminar about social media and blogging.  I took more notes on paper and on my iphone than I have ever taken at any event.  I also took many a photos (even if all are not for sharing or viewing....or even focused).

I do plan on listing my many stories and lessons about the show, but thought I would just list a few highlights from the event first:

Things I Learned at The 2012 Atlanta Gift Show

1. Flying first class is the best!  Did you know they let you watch TV & movies for free, eat a meal and even drinks are free?
2. If you bring  a dog on a plane it will bark at take off
3. The artist behind Loalita (Tracy Healy) is fab-u-lous!
4. Sleeping in the hallways of AmericaMart is....frowned apon
5. It is perfectly okay to walk around with a bag on your head that is shaped to look like a hat if and only if you paint it and attach a big flower to it
6. The best showroom was Glitterville
7. Christiane Lemieux of Dwell Studio is adorable and seems brilliant
8. If you are wearing a Buyer badge you can get people to pretty much give you anything (see #5)
9. Shelly Kennedy has the best (and most popular) accesories 
10. Pinterest is the most fabulous research tool EVER!
11. The security guard at our hotel is also the same person that brings up sheets
12. 6 pillow cases is not the same as sheets for a pull out couch
13. Occupy Atlanta or Tent City is pretty damn scary to walk through at night
14. The guy at the bar that offered me a cigarette (I declined) then asked my height (5'4") and THEN asked if I wanted a smoke should not pet my hair unless he wants to get arrested
15. Knomes are big in Atlanta
16. Random people do a conga line/mardi gras/marching band type of thing through the event center at least once during the show.
17. No one really leaves the Alanta Gift Show....it's like Hotel California
18. Freaker USA looks like the coolest company ever....and we are pretty sure they had the best time ever at the show.
19. Women will threaten to "cut you" if you get in between them and some costume jewelry at the Cash & Carry section of the Atlanta Gift Show
20. Meeting someone on a shuttle to the Atlanta Gift Show can be rewarding & exciting....maybe priceless.

I promise to expand on many (or some) of these stories.  I am sure I am missing a ton, but I am working on a project wtih a pretty short timeline so I don't have hours (actually) days to put all my thoughts down.

 

 

Expecting (or hoping) to find at Atlanta Gift Show 2012

January 11, 2011.

The last two times I walked shows (San Francisco Gift  Show, New York Gift Show, Stationary Show & Surtex) I did it alone....with a capital A for the most part.  I hated it.  I mean not the show or the walking (though my feet were killing me because I wore heels), I hated just being alone.  I hated eating alone.  I hated walking alone.  I remember walking up to a booth that licensed children's art and trying to talk to them....I was so green I thought they were the actual artists who created the art.  The looks and eye rolls I got from the Blonde Marketing Gals in Skirts would have been humorous if I were not....alone.  I slinked away and licked my wounds all the way back to the hotel.

This Time It Will Be Different

This will be my third trip to the Atlanta Gift Show.  The other two times I was exhibiting at the Gift Show.  This time I am just walking the floor and attending some seminars.  I am beyond excited to be staying with three great like-minded artists/entrepreneurs also.  Shelly Kennedy, London Edwards & Kelly Rightsell will be in my wolf pack this coming weekend....hope things don't go all "Girls Gone Wild" or anything.  I don't know, but having only traveled with London in the past I know how crazy thinks can get when everyone is punch drunk tired.....

What I Hope To See at the Atlanta Gift Show

• I would love to meet or see other business owners & artisans I have worked with in the industry.  It would be great to meet face to face with some of the business owners that have sold my products for the past nine years.  It would be refreshing to also possibly meet up with artisans and manufacturers that I actually exhibited next to or talked with at previous shows.  
• I really want to see the trends and not just read about what the next color or new gimmick everyone is hawking for 2012.  Reading about polka dots and vintage patterns is one thing, but to see it used in bedding, ceramics, wood or even decopauged on actual products is exciting.  I hope to get tons of inspiration on new color combinations and Industry trends.
• To be able to walk the Children's Section, The Home, The Textiles, The Garden, The temporaries & the Permanent Show Rooms will be fun.  Exhausting and pretty much impossible to see everything, but good to do.   For the first time I won't be hiding my badge or taking a quick trip to the restroom before going back to stand for 8  hours straight in a booth.
• Since I won't be wearing the exhibitor badge I won't get the evil eyes from competitors, or catch competitors sneaking into our booth after I left.  The buyers are treated like kings and queens at Trade Shows.  Buyers get schmoozed at the permanent shows, catalogs shoved in their faces in the temporaries and they get free food and cocktails with just a snap of a finger.
• Seeing what (if any attend) my competition is doing.  NO one wants to admit it, but that is something you do at a Trade Show.  It is smart, it is good business and it is what other business owners do.  I won't be taking photographs from smart phone or stealing samples, but I want to take it all in.
• I would love to meet other artists, or like minded people that are crazy....like me.  Some shows I have met some great people, others....not so much.  I am going to enjoy just going under the radar and taking in the sites and the products.

Almost in Atlanta Baby

So, in a nutshell I have a very, very long list of things I would like to accomplish while in Atlanta.  I am so hoping that it all goes smoothly and there is no drama or....wait I so want me some drama!  That makes great blogging, great reality TV and fabulous stories to relive over cocktails, and snorting while laughing.  I can't wait to feel inspired again.....and I hope my inspiration is coming from Atlanta.

 

 

 

 

Word for 2011....was Change

January 5, 2011.

I am not sure if I am happy or sad to see 2011 come to an end.  It has been an amazing year with lots of changes and new experiences, in my personal life and at  Jamie's Painting & Design.  For most of the year I have tried to keep a positive outlook and stiff upper lip and my sense of humor in order.  Not to say some heated discussions, arguments and tears have not found there way into a few of my days, but I am still standing, so all must be good.  

I have bragged for years about how good change is, how I never look back, hate to regret...blah, blah, blah.  Truth is change is hard, change is tough, but change is what I think makes us grow.   No time in my life has the word change been more appropriate than in 2011.  I may not have totally embraced all of the changes of 2011,  I  do remember them:

Downsizing to Success

Five years ago when we moved the business out of my home and into a new location I was beyond stressed to the point of getting sick, heart palpations and my weight below 100 pounds.  The unknown and the employees that were not making the move with us was a lot for me to handle.  Moving the business this time....was much easier.

The stress of paying for all the warehouse and office space was a huge stresser for me.  The fact is that rental space in Northern California (Recession or not) is extremly high and hard on this small business.  Small is the new big these days and I enjoyed it.  I missed seeing my employees as much as I used to, but I learned to use the phone, email and the dreaded texting to communicate.  I also learned the working from home and staying in your robe and slippers during a bad winter storm can be pretty fantastic.

House for Sale Became House Sold 

We sold our first home in 2001 right at the time that the market in the Bay Area became saturated with home sales and the dot com bubble was a popping.  We had to lower our asking price, all of this was going on while my sister was getting married, and we had to deal with a probate sale....again, stress and the dreaded losing of weight.  Selling our home this time was stressful yes......but much easier.

I honestly never thought we would leave our house, I was thinking I would die in that house.  I still wake up every once in awhile looking around my room and singing a verse from Talking Heads song, Once in a Lifetime; You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife and you may ask yourself, well how did I get here? As much as I complained about the parts of the home I thought needed fixing or were not perfect, I did love my last home.  Seeing pictures now allows me to see it for what it was and how others might have percieved my home.

And for the second time in 2011we  moved the business again, this time half of it came with us 2 1/2 hours away and the other parts stayed in the Bay Area.  Not the best situation to have manufacturing and shipping separate - but it worked.  Leaner and meaner I say, or I just accepted it and moved on.  Getting the new studio situated and decorated here has been.....challenging.  Moving a home was one thing, moving a business at the same time was tough.

We Moved to Far, Far & Away

The farthest move I ever did was a junior in college to the SJSU dorms.  A mere 45 minutes away is not what I would call really living far away from home.  Heck, I came home every weekend for a good meal and to wash clothes.  This last move made it a little harder to run home for some comfort food.

Okay so 2.5 hours away and a new zip code is not that far away, but it might has well have been.  It felt like we moved to a different planet as far as I was concerned.   Just navigating myself out of our neighborhood was a challenge.  Finding new doctors, dentists, a vet, all exhausting excursions for this gal.  I hate to admit it, but I did take a few dips into my own pity party pool this past fall.  I am done with that though and am not going swimming for a long time.

Made New Friends But Ket the Old 

I was an old kindergartner, having been born right at the cut off I was almost six when I started, and I was ready for school.  The first day of school I marched up to a tall girl with a pageboy hair cut and a dress and said, "Do you want to be my friend?"  Luckily she said yes, and even if we don't see each other as often, we are still friends.  I wish making friends this time around was that easy.

I made some great friends and look forward to making more.  However, my olden-golden friends have gotten me through some super tough times and I will NEVER forget them.  I tried my damn-dest to keep in touch with all of them in 2011 and see them as much as possible.  I read a study last year that talked about what made men and women live longer.  For a man it said to get married, for a woman - have lots of friends.  Ya, I got that. 

Raising a Twelve Year Old Boy

 I remember twelve years old being one of the worst years of my life.  I was a sixth grader and I was miserable.  My hairstyle alone brings back horrible memories from that year.  I can remember not knowing where I fit in or who I was supposed to be or act like.  I was not a cool stoner that smoked cigarettes in the girl's bathroom, wore a leather jacket and kissed boys.  I was tiny, bookish and very uncomfortable in my own skin.  I try and remember this when dealing with my own twelve year old. 

Oh.My.Gawd...the changes we have had to deal with.  My sweet, soft spoken well read almost always polite son has changed.  He is a surley, back talking, eye rolling, video game playing skinny jean wearing stinky BOY.  The best part was when I was talking to my mother on the phone about how bad his back talking was and I claimed to NEVER recall acting like that.  She laughed so hard she dropped the phone and had to be practically revived to finish our conversation.

Typing texting and Carpel Tunnel....Oh my!  

I had that dull ache in both of my wrists for the second half of 2011 .   I used my hands to type, to paint, to to ribbon, to move boxes, to gift wrap, cooking....you name it, I was using my wrists.  I don't ever remember having my wrists hurt so bad for so long. I had to totally change my work habits, my work days and the way I work.  I was even put on "Don't Use Your Wrists" lock down by my husband (he even made me get off Facebook).

2011 Gone but Not Forgotten

So there you go 2011 is over.   It was not as exciting or eventful as some years, but it will go down as a very memorable one.  One year that had some pretty huge life changes for me.  I am sure it won't be the last time my world is turned upside down, but I am hoping 2012 will be calmer and more stable.  Considering we rang in the new year with old friends and new friends and laughter  I am most positive 2012 will be good!

I Can Do Anything (well almost) Better Than You

December 6, 2011

Growing up my sister and I were suckers for Musicals,but only those that were on TV that is.  A little Shirley Temple on Sunday morning, Wizard of Oz at Easter, Musicals on Sundays and every single Christmas Cartoon, Movie or Claymation/Stop motion ever made during the month of December.   And if I liked the Musical, then I had to memorize the darn songs.  So, late last Thursday when a RUSH order came in this song was a playing in my ear:

Anything you could do, I could do better
I can do anything better than you!
No you can't!
Yes I can!
No you can't!
Yes I can!
No you can't!

Yes I can!
Yes I can!

These are the only lines I know of the song from Annie Get Your Gun, but pretty much I think that is all I need to know.  I think the rest is about shootin' varmints or doing cowboy-like things all the live long day.  Anyway, so I was singing this song because there are things my company, my manufacturing canand pretty much I  do better than any of my competitors.  I hate sounding like a braggart or an egomaniac, but there is one thing I can do better: I can always win on turn around times for my products.

Handpainted is Great But....

I used to hand paint all of my ceramic products, after a few months I realized it was very time consuming, messy and exhausting.  I hired one artist and then soon many more to help me paint my large number of products I sold.  After the now infamous Gooey Messy Glaze Gone Wrong Christmas Season of 2003 I caved (okay my husband helped me come to the conclusion).  In 2003 I was spending all of my time and money painting instead of growing my business.  I even wrote some lists of what sucked, or was a time suck when I hand painted every single frickin' product:

1. Each item was unique, meaning no two products looked the same. 
2. When a customer sees an image on a website or in a cataloge they want to get something that looks JUST like that image.  
3. Colors can vary when hand painting items (mixing of paint is not an exact science).
4. Taking the time to hand paint something over and over takes countless hours.
5. The turn around time is 3 to 4 times as long as a non-painted product.
6. Artists are expensive to train and charge a lot of money (As an artist I know they totally deserve that, but as a business woman - ouch).

Hand painting (in my opinion) was not a scalable model.  I spent all my time and money on painting products and paying artists to paint my products.  It was great in the beginning, when I was trying to figure out if these products would sell, but after a year it was, again not a scalable model.  We quickly slowly changed our manufacturing process and stopped all hand painting.  By the end of 2004 the paints were used for developing new designs and a new era in production was born.  Turn around times were greatly decreased, errors went down, customers were happier and all was good in the world.

Hand painting Takes Time 

A few years ago I realized that a number of my competitors were also using the same manufacturing process for some of their ceramic products.  What I once touted as an ancient secret or a proprietary manufacturing method, soon became the norm for other ceramic artists.    However they don't maufacture their plates like I do, the companies that I compete with hand paint their plates.  

I manufacture everything the same way, my competitors - not so much.  After doing some online research I found out the difference with my plates vs. their plates:

Competiton: Average turn around for a ceramic hand painted 8 or 10 inch plate is 2 to 4 weeks, possibly six weeks during the holiday season.

Jamie's Painting & Design: Average turn around time for a ten inch plate 1 to 2 weeks.  Never a problem with holiday season.

Competition: To RUSH a plate you pay an extra $10.00, plus possible expedited shipping.

Jamie's Painting & Design:  Each order was taken on a case by case basis, however there is seldom a RUSH fee needed because the turnaround time requests are within my normal service level. 

Competition: A plate that is RUSHED ships in 10 days

Jamie's Painting & Design: We can get a plate shipped in less than 24 hours if needed. 

What Can I Do For Our Customers

So, back to my sing fest....last Thursday night, I got a phone call that one of my sales channels needed a plate made for a first birthday gift.  The customer needed it by December 14th.  Could we get this to the customer in time?  Could we RUSH this order?  The answer was yes and yes.  I was able to make the plate within an hour, it was produced last night.   Turn around time 2 to 5 business days.  

I know for a fact that not one of my competitors could compete with my turn around time.   In fact sometimes we compare notes because we are all sold in many of the same channels and we get the same requests....sales channels sometimes try to find who can do what, how fast and sometimes which of us artisans will give a discount.  We share notes, we talk.  Whether or not the plate was shopped around or not, I was able to get it done and done quickly.  And this time quick equals a very, very happy customer and sales channel.

Take it to the Next Level

To any other like minded Entrepreneurs I say figure out what you do best and do it.  Do your research, know what you are up against.  Can you beat the competition on pricing?  Can you make a better product?  Can you beat them on quality or packaging?  Figure out what makes your product better and do that.

But most importantly brag a little about how you can win the customers business.  It helps you and your business build a good reputation, and that is very important.  So, brag a little, stick your chest out and pound it.....I think every company deserves a little pat on the back once in awhile....or just sing a silly song around the house until your family goes a little batty.

Just a piece of Pottery Barn

October 20, 2011

I wrote over almost a year ago about submitting my products to Pottery Barn Kids, and admited that my products did not get accepted.  I have to admit getting rejected sucked, it was one of the last feathers I wanted in my JPD cap.  I also blogged about a good friend that was much luckier than I was, she actually got contacted by them and they carry her products as we speak.  

Just when I was not totally focusing on not getting in (kidding), I received this nice email in my inbox:

Jamie,

I stumbled across your blog one day and found it entertaining and informative.  I have some business questions for you when you have time.  In one of your posts you talked about submitting your artwork to Pottery Barn, how did you do that?  How did you present to them?

Debbie

Even though I did not get in, I can honestly say this has worked for other catalogs, websites and physical stores.  Take it with a grain of salt, this may not be the correct way but 9 times out of ten it has worked for me.

So....without further ado I will give more details on my submission to Pottery Barn Kids or any other company with buyers, decision makers and leaders in the Chidlren's Industry.

Getting The Contact

Finding the right person at a company is key to getting your products into the correct

hands.  Make sure you are not just sending them to the secretary that gets the mail or worse the shipping clerk.  You need to do your homework either on the company website, Linked In, Industry contacts, Facebook or just Google.  Linked In is a great place to start and I am betting you can find almost anyone in a place of power on that site.*

You can send an email asking for permission to send products or you can just send them to the buyer.  It is also a good idea to find out when they are meeting to review new products and what they are specifically looking for.  Sending products during the Christmas Rush (August though December) if not requested is usually a waste of time.  

This is what I do/did/dione in the past:

1. Find the buyer and send an email asking if I can submit products. 

2. If I do not hear back with in a week or two, I call the main office and try to speak to the buyer in person.  I will leave one voice message and then if I do not hear back within 3 days I will continue to call but I don't leave another message.  You do not want to annoy them. Also do not get mad or angry or take it personally.  These people are very busy and probably get bombarded with submissions from vendors.  Be patient.

3. If I get permission, I put together a package with my best products....and with Pottery Barn I made exclusive designs.  I did my homework (even though it did no good) and I looked at what was best selling on their site.  Do note that they are already onto the next year's products and what you send is probably NOT going to end up anywhere - but it let's them see what you can do and possibly the items can be tweaked to work with upcoming designs.

4. The package contains a very nice well written letter to the buyer and list what I am sending, what I can do and my prices.  If you have any catalogs, postcards or publicity...include it.  Be careful to not overwhelm them with your entire line (45 pices of pottery) and only send what you want them to consider.  Again, do not waste their time with discontinued pieces or...um, crap.  

5. I try to be patient but I do follow up within about two weeks.  I mark it in my calendar every week or so to check in, again I don't send daily emails or bombard them with phone calls.....  Do your homework and if you do not get a response...be patient. Or better yet when you have initial conversation, ask how they would like to be contacted and when.

6. My biggest regret is when PBK said no I did not ask why, if I had it would have answered lots and lots of unanswered questions.**  If the answer is no....ask why. Take notes, be humble and learn from success and failure.  It is good to know what they liked and what they did not.  They may not tell you, but it is worth a shot.

                                                                                           There Are Always Other Options

If you get rejected, and you probably will....sorry but most companies that send their items to big companies get rejected. Don't be upset, do not give up!  Try again, maybe a new line, a new color combination or better yet a new product.  Keep up on industry news - anywhere you can find information about the company you are trying to get into.

You can also attend or exhibit at a trade show that the buyers are attending.  This a total long shot but you may meet their buyers.  I found that the bigger companies actually wore their badges backwards so that they were not inindated wtih requests.  Another regret when I was walking the San Francisco Gift Show back in 2003 I saw the Nordstrom Baby Representatives and did not have the guts to introduce myself.   Trade Shows are expensive and I DO NOT recommend them....but to each is own and you won't know till you try.  Just realize that there are a lot of large costs. 

If all else fails, maybe find a Representative that works with large companies.  Gift Centers all over the country work with large companies....go get one.  The best are of course New York and Los Angeles but Pottery Barn is based in San Francisco, so....they may have a rep in San Francisco...again do your homework!  You can find other businesses in your industry (or close to it) and see if someone represents them, or maybe if they work with PBK.  

One thing I would not suggest is to out right ask (been there) a stranger in your industry for their contact at a large company...big, big NO, NO.  Imagine you spent an entire year (London of My Little Dish) getting into a great catalog and then had someone actually wants you to give them all your information just like that.  It does not work that way.  And...they are probably under contract to NOT give out the information.

Be Prepared....Be Overly Prepared

If you really want to be a small fish in a big pond, or you want to be play with the big guys....be ready.  Be ready to take on huge orders at a moment's notice. Make sure you can make a profit and produce it in a timely manner.  If you fail with a big company, I am guessing you won't get a second chance.  

Also, know what you and your company can handle...again do your homework.  Even if your dream is to work with Pottery Barn Kids, Land of Nod or any other super large company make sure you can do it well.  It may sound all good and well but if you are a one man shop doing the work of 10 you probably can not handle 500 orders a month.  But then again if you are an entrepreneur at heart I am guessing no one can tell you that you can not do it....or maybe that is just me.

*A search I did today on Linked In for Pottery Barn Buyer listed many buyers, however they were listed with just first name and last initial (Susan B.).  It may be harder than it was for me a year ago, but I am sure you can still find the correct people who make decisisons at PBK.

**I found out almost a year later that the buyer did not dislike my work she hated that it was flat.  She wanted hand painted, she liked to touch things and feel the bumps and strokes and she liked the hand painted look.  I also recently found out she is no longer at PBK.  In large companies people move around a lot....so just because someone said no once, does not mean the answer will always be no.

Advice I Should Know Regarding Moving

October 10, 2011

Moving is not for the faint of heart, nor the easily emotional cry baby mess....not that I would know anything about the latter, but I have heard.  To be clear I am not talking about moving from one city to another, going away to college or moving out of your apartment to a new home....I am talking about moving with a capital M.  Moving one, two hours or 3 states away from your home - now that my friend is real moving.

Anywhere you can not get to within 15 minutes is not really moving.  Whether you agree or disagree with me, moving is a difficult pill to swallow and a big change for children, adults and pets....okay, not really pets, but adults for sure, and possibly children.  To quote a good friend when I told her we were moving she said, "I never meant I did not think you would not sell your house, I just never thought you would really move."  Her and me both.

When I agreed, or as my husband recalls it insisted we move this year instead of next,  I had the biggest rosiest glasses on you can ever imagine.  I just assumed it would be one big fat exciting adventure and I would be welcomed with big arms, a picnic, a parade and neighbors begging to have us for dinner....okay, maybe not the parade, but I thought it would be a big love fest.  

Also, I did think it would be the best, best, bestest thing to ever happen to the Lentzner clan.  Which reminds me of that quote that I now get, "If you want to make God laugh....tell him your plans".  I am guessing the big guy up in the sky has been laughing it up pretty good since I relocated my life, my family , my home and my business to El Dorado Hills.  Shame on me, I was the one who scoffed those with a birth plan, knowing that was just a crock.  I should have known better....really I should have.

Now moving the business has not been as hard as I originally thought it would be.  It has had a few hiccups (line NOT transferred to new area code for 30 days) and a few snafus (checks mailed to wrong address) but it has been easier than expected.  Taking on extra responsibilities until we hire employees has kept me busy and more involved in the day to day operations of Jamie's Painting & Design.  It has probably kept me more sane than I care to admit.

So, if you are in the mood or market to move, here are a few easy things to help anyone that is moving their life, children, pets....oh and their business:

Change is Not Easy....and Not for Wimps

Have you ever woken up day after day confused, disoriented and not sure where you were?  Have you ever repeatedly gotten lost just coming home from the grocery store?   The only thing I can compare it to is waking up into a dorm room 3 or 4 days after moving in and you can not stop signing that Talking Head song...."and you wake up with a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife and you ask yourself, how did I get here?"  No?...then you have not moved.  

I will be the first to acknowledge once again that this move was one of the most impulsive things I have ever done in my entire life.  As hard as it has been on me, it has been super easy on my kids.  Never, ever underestimate how easily your children will adopt to change....really, really trust me on this one.  I did not trust friends, family and strangers....children can adapt way easier than any adult.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

Being an ex-girl scout, and ex-sorority girl and an ex-Foster City native this one is crucial to your sanity.  Don't lose site of who matters and who has been there for you.  Not to say that there are probably a few acquaintances and friends that you will not keep in touch with, for the most part make the effort.  These are the people that know you for who you are, knew you back when...they will always understand who you are before you moved.

On that note it will be shocking who keeps in touch and who does not.  It will also be shocking how you have affected friends and how the hole you left will be very hard to fill.  I would suggest you do your very best to keep these people in your fold, find every way you can to make sure that even though the friendship changes....it never ends.

Being a creature of, well I would say comfort, but that is not what I am.  I am more a creature of comfort with my friends.  I love, love my girlfriends close, far, Facebook, High school, Grammar School....I love me some friends.  So, keeping them once you move can be challenging - but I highly recommend you do everything you can to keep them.  Because, for me I would be nothing without them.

Don't Be Dissapointed, Be Patient

Face it, people will disappoint you and things will happen in your personal life and your work life that do not make sense.  If you are in the midst of a major life change....then I suggest you let it go.  This is not easy, trust me and I am not an expert, nor have I let certain things go.  However, I have learned to live within the moment and realize that it is just life.

Last weekend my sister and Aunt came to visit and we had a great time.  We laughed, we shopped and we wine tasted.  It is always fun with my relatives, and this time was no different.  However my Aunt did put life in perspective for me.  She bought me a bottle of perfume and left it in my bathroom with this message written on a post it for me:

Jamie

Remember you are learning patience

I love you

Sheshi  (then she added a little cat face that she loves to do & I can't do on the computer) 

I also like to have things done quickly, like an HGTV makeover show.  Or better yet an episode of Extreme Home Make Over or any of those shows that works fast.   Nothing goes that quickly in real life....nothing.  So when I am down or sad I just think of this little simple post it my Aunt left me and I smile and I try to stay patient.

You Trying to Hack Me....Again?

September 1, 2011

The first time I got my bank account hacked I thought I was going to vomit when I was on the phone with the bank.  I wish I had paid closer attention to my bank statements and the signs and clues that I should I have noticed as they happened.  It happened a number of years ago when my children were still young and I was not paying super close attention to things....like when my debit card kept getting declined over and over again at different stores and restaurants. In fact the time that I recall it happening when I was forced to call the bank was when I was purchasing decorations for the trade show in Atlanta.

Small Children + New Business = Very Stressed-Out Mommy

Finally after months of suspicious behavior I had a store refuse to sell me something until they contacted my bank.  I of course was running late, had two whining children with me and started to freak out at the store.  Apparently when a card gets declined after trying over and over you need to call the bank, not just run it as a credit card....only then did we find the problem.  It seemed that at some suspect website where I ordered a super cute Curious George t-shirt for my daughter's birthday some ass.....er person got my credit card information and had been going to a Gas-n-sip in Florida once a week spending less than $70.00.....so it did not raise a red flag.  

Now, back to the me vomiting while on the phone with the bank - the bank at least refunded everything we had lost and started to keep an eye on my account.  Which, would come in handy since it happened a few more times:

Hip Hop Attorney livin' in Compton Beetoches

Yes, you read that right, someone got my social security card number and had filed tax returns. The best part was I was listed as an attorney (who knew right? ).   I um, was pretty busy too making all of $80,000.00, I was living in Compton and I worked for Hip Hop Attorney....yes, that was name of the company.  I also kept trying to open up some credit at all the IKEA's in Southern California.  I had filed a tax return with H&R Block and they are the ones who figured out that me living in Foster City, yet working in Compton was ridiculous.  I even got to fill out a whole Identity Theft form at the police department...exciting stuff and made for some interesting phone conversations with some creditors calling me....."um no I do not live in Compton.  What?  You called a 650 area code in Northern California. No I told you I am an artist....in Foster City!  What?  Hip Hop Attorney - I do not work there!"

 I have Never Even Been to WalMart

Lastly, about a year ago I got a phone call at home from Wells Fargo (that be my bank) early in the morning on a Saturday.  I sort of got freaked out and was getting all nervous, like the teacher called on me when she knew I had not read last nights homework.  The woman on the other line was not cruel or mean she just kept asking me the same question over and over and I guess I was not speaking loud enough for her.  The conversation went something like this;

"Hello is this Jamie Lentzner?"

"Yes, this is her."

"Mrs. Lentzner this is Wells Fargo Bank and we have some questions for you."

"Um....okay (in my head I am thinking I am in big trouble with my bank....and I need some coffee)."

"Ma'am (shoot....I hate when they say that) can you confirm where you were about two hours ago?"

"Um, asleep."

"Yes, but where where you specifically?"

"I was in my bed."

"No, where were you?  What state were you in?"

"You called me at home.  I was in my own bed. In CALIFORNIA.   Am I in trouble?  Or am I being punkd'?"

"No ma'am you are not being...what did you call it? Punk'd?  Can you confirm that you were not in South Carolina at a WalMart purchasing $800.00 worth of diapers this morning?"

"Bahahahah! What? Diapers? In South Carolina?  I have never even been to a WalMart.  No, no I was not buying diapers this morning." 

"So you are positive that the you did not purchase diapers?"

"Um, yes I am pretty confident."

"Ma'am is that your final answer (well maybe she did not say that, but something like that)?"

"Yes I am positive.  Can I go get some coffee now? I need to go look for a place to stash my $800 worth of diapers in my home.  Kidding! I am kidding!" 

Are You Trying to Hack JPD

We just moved part of the business Wednesday and already we have some big excitement here.  My husband informed me that someone or some thing tried to hack my companies website not once but seven times the other day.  

I said tried, it if of course did not happen because we have a fantastic host and superb security system on our site.  I am told that there were seven different IP addresses trying to crash our site and get credit card numbers.....but again, it did not happen.  Why would my site be targeted I asked (If the hackers had read my blog they would know we are not a million dollar company)?  There is of course no explanation. 

At first I thought it was funny, then I was like, "Really? Really? Hackers?"  I started to really stress about it and worry if it could happen again or if next time they would succeed.  I stupidly started to get all worked up about it and freak out, but we made sure it did not happen.  So, nothing bad happened to our site or to our customers.  I will scratch that off my lisf of things to worry about this week.  I hope I have good luck with that...the worrying part, I tend to stress about things that are not worth worrying about.  I like to use this quote when that happens:

Worrying is like paying money on a debt that may never come due

Moving, Moving....Moved

August 22, 2011

I have been thinking about this post for a long time and I had it all planned out as to what I would say, what photos I would show and how in control I would be.  This post, however will not be as I imagined.  First off I broke my camera and the two I borrowed are still packed in some box.  And, this is sort of like all my pregnant friends that spent hours on their "Birth Plans" expecting their labor to turn out like they wanted it to. I have found that life is never what we expect it to be.  I never believed in a Birth Plan myself, it was sort of like if I wrote how I would like it go, I assumed that it would go exactly the opposite.  Murphy's Law and me we got a good thing going and things pretty much never turn out the way I expect it to.  Not to say that it usually works out in the wrong long term, but I laugh at the people that have their life all mapped out.  I don't think life can be mapped out, no matter how hard I still try to map it out.  Hell, I have recently been  forced to accept the fact that I can't even use maps very well.

Moving Out of My Comfort Zone

So, here it is I moved and not just around the block or to the next town over.  I moved 2 1/2 hours away to a whole new area code and a whole new lifestyle.  This from the girl that was never leaving the Bay Area, the girl who rolled her eyes at others that left and always swore I was staying put no matter what.  Well guess what?  No matter what or a specific matter came a calling and made me look at a number of things and I had to eat crow and put my tail between my legs and say to people, "Never say never."  

My family and I moved and my business is moving up in two days.  We put the business on vacation for two weeks to hopefully get me situated and now I am supposed to be ready for it to come to me.  My few remaining employees will be staying in the Bay Area as I prepare for the holidays alone, possibly hiring one employee to help me out.  Manufacturing will stay in the Bay Area for the time being and we will work within our means to keep our customers happy.

The space we have for the business is good sized and it will hopefully be able to grow back to where it was in the pre-recession days.  I am almost nine years into this adventure and I am thinking that whatever happens, then that was what was supposed to happen.  I no longer subscribe to the Self Help Books, the Seminars or the quick fix to getting your business successful bullsh*t.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it means nothing to me.  If we grow big again, then great, if we don't then so be it.  Life is too short for me to spend 14 hours of each day obsessing on my business.  My children are growing, people I love have left me or left this world entirely.  It is only a company and this is only a job.  I still love what I do, but I no longer let it run my life.  

 Moving Sucks

One of the other reasons for not blogging was that I could not put into words how much moving has affected me.  Leaving an area I lived for almost 42 years of my life was harder than I ever thought it would be.  I know people that have moved some 32 times in their lifetimes and others that move every two years for work - but that is not me.  I was settled, I was a local girl and I loved where I lived.  Let me rephrase that, I loved the people that lived near me.   I still love those people and even after two short weeks, I so do miss them.

I talked a good game to friends and family, always touching on all of the positive points about the move and focussing on what we would gain, instead of what we would lose.  I only teared up a few times in public or in front of my immediate family.  I kept those dark sad times for when I was alone and I cried about who I would miss, I cried for my children and I cried about the unknown.   I let myself be sad for the changes and I still get choked up once in awhile here in our new home. 

Except, whenever my children would cry or express their fears I shut it down, way down.  I was able to not cry and talk them through their rough times.  Something deep down in the Mommy that I am, I kept it together for them.  I had dogs with explosive diareahea from the stress of the move, I had family members that were hysterical and I had friends made me cry just by a simple text about how they would miss us.  I am not made of steel, nor do I pretend to be.  I just forced myself to be "in the moment" and look ahead and not behind. 

We Moved in, but not Settled In

It has been two weeks since we moved into our  home and in my crazy world I would think we would be settled and calm.  This is far from the truth.  The garage is still full of boxes and no one can figure out where I put the bowls for breakfast (for the seventh time they are in the center island!).  We have had workers here every day and we have found that movers are a very interesting creative bunch that will wrap your my china in my son's bedding....not kidding.  I have also  found that getting lost in a strange town is not that bad.   For the most part strangers can be very friendly.  It is humbling to rely on the kindness of strangers when you just need a fly swatter.

I spent months second guessing myself and I wondered if this was really the right decision for our family.  I agonized over if this was right for our family or was it the right time to move.  Right before we moved a friend said something to me that made me thing we had made the right decision; "You actually did it.  You did what we all talk about doing some day.  You really did it.  I can't believe you made the decision and you stuck with it.  Good for you and good luck." 

 

What's in a Name?

Naming a new product or a product design sounds easy enough, but it really difficult.  There is a reason why multi-gazillion dollar companies spend a fortune on research and development of new products.  Even though I jumped blindly into this whole business pretty much with both feet and just a paint brush in my right hand, I did do some research.  Not having that (or any) budget when I started, I did the best I could, I went to stores, I got catalogs and I purchased magazines.

When I started designing my original Name Tiles (now I call them Wall Letters....but that is a whole other blog post) I also spent countless hours on the Internet looking at my competition.  No, No, NO, it was not to rip them off and copy their designs (like a few wanna-be's I may or may not know) but to see what they named their designs.  The arena was getting a bit crowded when I started in 2002 and I wanted to stand out.  I also wanted to differentiate my designs from other more famous and well established artisans.  

Product Names Mean Something

This is much easier said than done, I soon found out.  There are only so many different ways to describe or name Train inspired Room Decor.  Also, I had the hair-brained idea that my product names should be cutesy, clever and different from my competition. That is the only explanation I have for my ill-named Cotton Candy Name Tiles Wall letters.  Or worse I used to put Lil' in front of all the Name Tile designs and Big in front of the Name Plaques.  There were Lil' Bugs, Lil' Sluggers and of course Lil' Fairies.  Our first web designer pointed out I was trying to sell Big Fairies did not sound so good....we dropped the Big soon after we discovered that.

Some designs could not be changed, like any of our Princess themed products.  There is no way to change out Princess for something that describes it any better way than just calling it what it is and what most girls want to be .....a Princess.  To this day Princess designs are always best selling, always pink and always the one design that will always have to be apart of my line of products.

But, other products were not so easy to name.  When I was researching what to call my Western inspired Name Tiles Wall Letters for Warm Biscuit Bedding I did the research, but I did not get it right.  I toyed with words like Western, Cowboy, Buckaroo, The Wild West, Ranchers, Silverado, Sheriff.  Again at the time I wanted to stand out from the crowd, so I went with Buckaroo....and then I had to get all creative (read baby talk) and call them Lil' Buckaroo Name Tiles Wall Letters.

What Customers Are Looking For

Fast forward to last year when I had our website re-designed and we had to look at what I was calling all of our products.  Instead of calling my products something cutesy and clever, I wanted to call them something a parent would go searching for on the internet. More importantly, I was looking to better understand the voice of the customer.   As I have stated before, my husband is in the  Web Search ( or Paid search industry) so he was able to help me with this project.  Google has some fantastic tools you can use to help you to understand what your are looking for.  

We did have to look at my competition also and make sure I did not call it the same thing - but for a different reason than before.  I already get some other company's orders from time to time, and I knew if we had the same name (Go do a search on Cupcake Plates and your head will explode) it would be an even bigger problem.  I am, uh not a big fan of copying anything - whether it is a design a name, or even a product description.....I am just sayin'.

Pay Close Attention to Your Elders

Lastly, this also explained to me why when websites that would carry my products would change my product names, like from Blossoms to Butterflies.  In the beginning it made me crazy and frustrated.  I did not realize they better understood their customer than I did - the very green, very inexperienced entrepreneur.  

Had one of them just let me in on this secret, I would have probably understood and then quickly changed my product names.  Instead it took me about eight years to know why the themed names had been changed, and changed for good reason.  I have sadly found out that not everyone views the world like I do, sharing sometimes way too  much and hopefully helping out others in the industry.

 

This is Who We Are

I graduated college in the Fall of 1993, but I did not go through graduation ceremony till Spring of 1994.  I literally moved home the day after taking finals - such a rush I was in to leave behind my college days, and especially my sorority days.    I had been in college for 5 1/2 years and away at school for 3 1/2 of those years.  Home was only about 45 minutes away, but it was a world away from the life I had been living for so many years.

As my father kept telling me I had to get a J.O.B (ya, he said it like that, over and over again) and pay off my student loan as soon as possible.  Moving  home and job hunting was my only option.  Having left a large number of my very close friends to move home, I found myself lost and sad to not see my college friends on a daily basis.  Hell, I lived in the sorority house with about 40 other women.  I had spent most of the last 3 years with them every day.   I was sad that some of the friendships just died and went away as soon as I drove away.  It was like a really bad break up with out the constant dwelling of, "How he done me so wrong?" with my close girlfriends.  I was perplexed and I.....oh, I don't  know may have (may still) obsessed over it.....a tad.

Friends For A Time & A Reason

Lucky for me I tended to solve all my problems back then with self help articles in Women's Magazines, like Cosmopolitan.  I could always take the Is He The One Test (he so was not), or Do Guys Like Short Hair or Long Hair Better? (I was sad to learn long hair....and started growing mine out immediatley) quiz.  One weekned, while sunbathing (yes, I used to do that way back in the day....don't judge!) in my backyard I read an article that actually resonated with me.  One that helped me with my obsession about my sudden loss or dis-interest of friends.

The article talked about how you would meet friends at all different times of your life, and how they could affect you in all different ways.  Some friends would come back in and out of your life at monumental times, and they would always be your friends.  It would be as if they never left your side.  Never would you have to reaquaint yourselves, you would just slide right back into that comfortable place, like an old pair of slippers or jeans that you forgot you had.  It would be as if only days , not decades had put themselves between you and your friend.

Some friends would be with you through your entire lifetime, never leaving your side.  Whether
you met them in grammar school, high school or college - these girls were there for the long  haul. No matter the miles, the lifestyle changes or the  many obstacles thrown in your way - these girls were going to be with you forever.  Through every milestone, every heartbreak, every death and every life lesson, they had your back.  If I were still a girl scout I would call these my Gold Friends (and if you were not a girl scout, the song goes like this:

Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver, and the other is gold

Yet others,  would only be friends for a specific time in your life.  They were there for one event, maybe one year, possibly just one month.  They would come in and out of your life like a storm or a cool summer breeze.  Most likely they would never return.  They were there for a reason, and then they left.  The article went on to explain that this was just a mild blip in our lives and to accept these friends for who they were and what they meant to us.  We....okay me, or I was forced to realize and accept some friends were not forever, they were there for a specific reason or just a season in my life.  

Being a person that craves, dare I say demands (ask a few ex-boyfriends) closure at the end of a relationship, this was a tad hard to swallow.  But, swallow I did and I learned to accept it.  Since reading that article, I have probably read hundreds if not thousands of articles about romance, friends, parenting and the ever popular - aging.  Most don't stay in my brain long enough for me to digest what it was about.  But that article , seventeen years ago (see I can do math) really stuck with me.  I was forced to acknowledge that  pretty recently. 

Old Friends Have Great Memories

This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend an entire weekend with a large handful (if I had eight fingers) with some of those friends I so missed after leaving college.   These are friends that I have had for twenty of so years.  We get together, sometimes a few times a year, other times we don't speak for years.   This year, we crammed in about much fun as possible in the two days we spent together.

I feel it is important to stay friends with some people that knew me way back when, friends that
knew me before I was an adult, a parent, responsible (okay maybe not that one)....middle aged.  I feel it relative to keep them around me, and I adore them.  Sometimes I do not want to be reminded of who I was or who I have become - but they insist on reminding me.  Old friends call me out, they roll their eyes and point out what I won't.  At the end of the day (or a long weekend) I sort of love that.

So, I get it ladies - I promise to Let it Go, even without the closure I so crave. Which makes me think I would like to end with the best quote EVER.  In the in the 9th episode of Big Love, Alby said something profound to his sister Nikki (after he decided to NOT kill her of course). Alby touched Nicki's collar and said, "This is who we are, this is who we will always be".

Ending Badly

I am not much of a fan of Tom Cruise, I think he is bat-ass crazy actually.  But I used to really dig him (oh gawd, did I just say that?) back when he made  movies like The Outsiders, Taps, Risky Business and of course Cocktail.  I think it was one of the first adult films I got to see at the theatre as an adult, it was probably a date.  Tom Cruise is a bartender who aspires to own a business and finds love with Elisabeth Shue while working in a bar in Jamaica.  However, before the big happy ending comes, Tom Cruise gives one of my favorite quotes;

All things end badly, otherwise they wouldn't end. 

Jamie's Painting & Design officially ended their rental agreement today with Property Management company that owns our space, or what was our space.  Today being the last day of the month and all I scheduled a walk-though at 1:00 p.m.  I was seriously done discussing the move....then this happened:

I Just Wanted Closure

I know this is not the end,but it feels like an ending.  On the last day of the month I wanted to walk through my office one last time.  I wanted to just look around, take a mental note or photograph of where we were.  I am one that needs closure, I do not do well without it.  I like TV shows or movies that wrap up every loose end tie a big ol' bow on it and hand it to me.  That is what I like.

We don't always get what we want though.But I could not do that.  Nope, did not happen like that. This past Monday (February 28, 2011) I went to my office and the locks had been already changed. Let that sink in for a minute - my last day, under contract.  The. Locks. Had. Been. Changed.

Nail in the Coffin

When I marched down to the Property Management Office I was told a number of things:

1. "The locksmith was here so we just figured he could change your locks."
2. "I looked in your window and it seemed you had moved everything out."
3. "We just were trying to save money too you know?"
4. "Well, we have been very good to you."
5. "You owe us for March."
6. "I can walk you through the office."

Ah....WHAT?  How could I rent for March?  I had to correct the landlord and tell her that I was not staying through March....especially since they changed the locks already!  She changed her tune quickly, but still had a lot more due than I thought we owed her.  Apparently when we paid rent late, we got a stiff fine....we paid rent late a lot.

Keep the Good News Coming

So, my slow waltz down memory lane would not be.  I would be followed around my office space with the Property Manager firing questions at me while she looked, sniffed and poked around my office space.

The walk through took a long time and was uncomfortable to say the least.  I had to go in and collect what few possessions I had left there.  I had to keep juggling some paper towels, a sponge,a water and hand soap.  I was Steve Martin in the movie The Jerk, carrying his lamp down the street.  This was not the look was after at all.  I was already a bit frazzled and now I looked like a bag lady clinging to her last worldly possessions.

The End of Our Agreement

The worst part of the exit interview/walk through were the questions the Property Manager kept firing at me.  I felt like I had gotten in trouble at school or something;

"Did you turn off the electricity?"

Yes....as of March 1st

"Did you forward the mail?"  

Yes....again, we were supposed to be out March 1st

"What about the phones?"  

I am not sure why that is relative, since there is no phone....uh, yes anyway we did.

"The garbage? Did you cancel that?"

 March 1st

"What is this shelving unit doing out here behind your office? Is this yours? Why is it out here!?"

Well, I was paying it forward you see and I gave Calvin our neighbor next door all of our large industrial shelves.  They can be quite expensive.  Did you know they cost a lot?  Anyway....sorry I am rambling.  So,  he took them out of here this morning, I gave him a key...before you changed the locks.  It looks like he is dismantling it......"

"But it is on your side of the property?  See the shelves are on your side.  This has to be moved.  You will be fined."

Let me get Calvin and make sure he drags his shelving unit over so I don't get fined.

Another Beginning

So.....instead of taking a quiet walk my rental space, quickly turned into me defending myself and badgering my neighbor about my/his shelving unit.  While, I should be congratulating myself for being smart and downsizing while times are tough - I was instead looking around nervously to make sure things are all in order. 

If I was religious I suppose I would be able to quote something about needing to go through the darkness to come out into the light.   Or if I was a better writer I could come up with something poetic and profound.  Maybe I just need something uplifting and spiritual that I could chant over and over till I believed it.   Instead I think I am going to end with a song that I have been singing over and over in my head the last few days.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end

                                                                   ~Semisonic, Closing Time Lyrics

 

Pay It Forward

February 22, 2011.

Back in 2005 after we negotiated our lease, put a bunch of money down on our new space I realized we had no office furniture for Jamie's Painting & Design.  We  had 9 employees, me included and I was not even sure if we would have enough chairs for them (we worked in shifts in the studio).  Some of the cabinets and counters we were able to take out of my garage and utilize them in the break room and the work room.  I think we had two office chairs also, but other than that I had nothin'.

Things Happen For a Reason

As luck would have it our new rental space was located across the street from an old friend of my parents.  He was from their days of coaching my sister and I in softball (okay my sister mostly, I was just there for the snacks and gossiping).  While the rest of my family was measuring and figuring out the logistics of my office, my mother bounded across the street to say hello.  They had just sold their business, so they would not be our neighbors for very long.  However, they were willing to sell us as much of their furniture at dirt cheap.  We picked up 6 great teal colored drafting tables, industrial shelving units, and file cabinets.  We were thrilled.  I quickly made plaques for their grandchildren and sent them nice thank you cards.

As great as that was for our office - we still were short many things.  I for one had no office furniture, until I found me some Craig's List.  I had never used Craig's List, nor had I really had a use for the site.  I found myself trolling the site each morning when I woke up.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I could use, what I wanted and what I could actually afford.  As luck would have it again, I found an entire office set for only $80.00.  There was a desk, a credenza, a book case and multiple side tables.  The gentleman had just bought the house and hated the built-in office furniture. 

After dismantling the furniture my very creative Father put it back together in a formation that worked within my office space.  He made a credenza out of three of the file cabinets and a single file cabinet  He built me a free standing desk, and a 2 side tables, plus a table for the entry way.  He tool the book cases and made them into one large book case.  

Do As We Did

After exhausting the office furniture sales on Craig's List I turned to FreeCycle.  It is a great site where you can find free things that that people want to get rid of.  One afternoon I found a small company that was giving away office furniture.  Desks, chairs and file cabinets.  My husband and I borrowed my father's truck and hauled ass down to San Jose to pick it up.  I thanked the guys over and over and asked what I could give them some compensation (usually in these situation I can offer up some cute baby gift, but these guys were not even 30 and had no use for my cutesy baby decor).  The owner of the company just told me if I was ever in the same situation to please give these desks away to someone that needs it.  He said, " You should know, start-up's are hard enough, let alone having to purchase thousands of dollars of office furniture.  Pay it forward."

We Are Busy Paying Everything Forward

I am not used to downsizing, or minimizing my space.  I don't think it something that I have ever had to do.  But, wow it sure is therapeutic and very calming to have to go through everything you have and figure out do I need it or not.  Or let's face it I had to admit most things I had I just wanted, and did not need.  I am helping some peeps out;

• My cousin's are both starting out and need things for their apartments.  My aunt came and collected decorations, coffee pot, microwave, frames, artwork, chairs, kichten table and the cutest little white chest you ever did see.
• One of the women that works for me took an oak filing cabinet, wood organizer and half of the built cupboards and counter for her garage.
• Two of my favorite teachers a my daughter's school took my office furniture, office supplies, organizers, tissue paper and file cabinets
• Our Art Studio at school took all of the turquoise drafting tables and a large metal cabinet for storing art.
• The Salvation Army got dressers, chairs, rugs, cabinets and anything not nailed to the wall.
• Giving away mistakes and errors are going to be on Facebook for FREE (except for shipping and handling).
• And of course we gave away all of that office furniture that was so graciously given to us.

Small is the new big, or shall I say the new smart.  I did not need all of this "stuff" nor did my employees.  I don't like what the Recession did - but I do respect it.  We have shrunk in size, but not in product.  We will survive, we will survive.