Jamie's Blog

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.

Ladies Don't Start a Business, Just Have Babies?

I read a blog post yesterday that really made me think about what it took to own/start a business.  Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazen Careerist wrote a post on Tech Crunch titled, Women Don't Want to Run Startups Because They'd Rather Have Children.  In the post she touches on many broad points and makes tons of assumptions about women entrepreneurs and mother's that own their own businesses.   She does this of course AFTER she has decided to pretty much take a step way back and let other people run her third Start-up.   She is pretty much pointing her finger at VC backed Tech companies - but she makes some bold and assumed statements about female entrepreneurs. 

Here are the highlights, if you don't have the time (or stomach) to read it:

• Starting a business can be Hell
• Women are under pressure to have kids - they have biological clocks
• Women don't want to give up their personal life in exchange for the next big Thing
• She won't even go there regarding women with young children that start a business
• She compares the stupid farms people build in Farmville to how Men and Women differ
• Women want a lifestyle business, so they can control their time, work & be flexible with raising kids

Just for the Hell of it, let me counter, question or decipher her points:

Starting a Business Is Hell

Yes, yes, yes sister  it sure can be Hell!  But uh, anyone in this day and age that does not know that has been living under a rock or is really lacking in the whole brain department.  I mean, gee thanks for starting the obvious.   I sort of loathe people that fail (and yes I know harsh words, but she did fail) at something and then tell everyone else NOT to do it.  It is demoralizing and patronizing.  I mean she is right about the whole starting a business is hell....but it is also a hell of a good time.  Those first two years for me  were mostly exciting, amazing and exhilarating.  Everything was so new and so much fun.  I was Leo DiCaprio in The Titanic, "I'm on top of the world!"

Women Are Under Pressure to Have Kids - Due to Their Biological Clocks

What?  Really? Is it real? No, it is not it was actually conceived as a metaphor for the sense of urgency some women feel regarding reaching menopause, being childless or arriving at her thirties unmarried and without a suitor.  We don't really have the biological clocks - but some of us do have the need, want and desire to have children.  I don't like the fact that she lumps all women into this nice little decisive statement.  Even though I am not who she is talking about, since I started my business after I threw the damn clock away.  I already had my children....then I started the business thank you very much.

Women Don't want to Give Up Personal life for the Next Big Thing

The funny thing is when I started Jamie's Painting & Design I thought, no I knew I was going to be the next big thing.     Okay not like Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates....but I was positive I was the next Rachel Ashwell or even Martha Stewart.  I had such conviction and an ego that was huge.  I could actually taste that desire for total world domination thing.  And, for those first few years I did give up a LOT of my personal life....a lot.  Our social card was empty, I worked while the children slept, I was  thinking and talking about my business all of the time (shout out to those friends that are still my friends....I must have been hell-a annoying back then).  It consumed me, like most entrepreneurs - I was obsessed with my baby.  But, back to her statement, it is so final and um broad reaching.  She, Penelope decided to quit.  She decided she wanted more of her personal and private family life.  I mean, she is even sort of snide saying that she wants to be the center of her family NOT her company.

The Impossibility of Starting a Business with Young Children

The crazy thing is she did this, her sons are young, she even says it in the article.  But, back to the fact that she did not succeed at it, soooooo no one else should try.  I did take offense to this part of the article since I was the one who did exactly that, but then I realized she has no idea who Jamie Lentzner is or what the hell to the L what  Jamie's Painting & Design does.  Since I am not going after VC money and I don't make some snazzy tech gadget...I am not that woman she is thumbing her nose at.  But, I still don't like the statement - so there.

Playing Farmville Shows the Differences Between Men & Women

I hate, hate, hate Farmville.  I never ever had the desire or time to play it.  I have seen it, I have watched it being played...and I don't get he attraction.  Maybe I am biased due to my total disregard and violent hatred of the game but still, I am not sure about her comparision.  She claims that women build colorful fun farms and men build big McManssion farms, proving that is why so few women pitch to Venture Capitalists and that even fewer get funding.  Okay?  So I say to her - what does my (if I had one) fancy farm have to do with me asking or not asking for money?  That means nothing to anyone.  I think it proves that these men spend way too much time on their computers and Facebook.  Or the men that built these huge farms are actually over compensating for something. 

Women Want a Life Style Business - To Control Their Life

Okay now I am thinking she is looking at me.  I have said this, wrote this, blogged this, cried this and screamed this.  I like the control, but doesn't everybody?  I have yet to meet a 40 something woman that did not like being in control of her own life.  We can't stay 3 forever people - we need to learn how to get dressed, earn a living and use the toilet.  Am I right?  I think men start their businesses for the same reasons - to control their own destiny.  Most uber successful entrepreneurs (I am thinking Donald Trump not Louie my Dry Cleaner) even have enormous egos and love being in control of their own lives.

But What Kind of Entrepreneur am I?

The post, as you can imagine got a ton of comments (482 at last count) and most were from women  with and without biological clocks screaming at her.  When I first read it I did take it personally and got all, "Oh no she didn't...." and I wanted to write a nasty comment.  Then I read it a few more times and I was not as irritated as I sort of confused.  I mean, I agree with her on some parts of the article (that would be one part), but coming on the heels of deciding she can not and will not do it all, sort of sounds like sour grapes. 

I do know one thing, oh she is so not talking about me or  Jamie's Painting & Design.  She doesn't even know my name (see another Sixteen Candles reference...I think I will start slipping them into EVERY post from here on out).  She knows nothing about what I do, or other like-minded women in small industries do.  I tend to buy into the whole You can have it all, just not at the same time theory and my personal favorite quote, "Life is hard...deal with it".  But I also think that a woman should not be held back by a ill-concieved pretend biological clock, or her real biological children.....I am just sayin' from experience and all.