Thursday, August 27, 2009

Entitlement

Mark and I were driving down the street the other day and passed a quote on a sign. I pointed it out, as I found it so dead-on. As I have said before, responsibility is a crazy thing, and you never have less than you do now. It is also a huge trade-off, a necessary evil, but a price worth paying. It is also tremendously gratifying in the end. So, the quote...

"The price of greatness is responsibility"
- Sir Winston Churchill

Good quote, huh? So, we decided to make up our own quotes and were tossing around a few ideas. Then, it hit us...

"The road to failure is paved with a sense of entitlement."
- Mark and Amber Schaub

When we moved to Dallas about 5 years ago, I had to move down first for my job, while Mark stayed in Cincinnati to wrap up the sale of our house. One day, when on the phone, he asked me what I thought of Dallas, and I told him that I loved the city, everyone was very friendly and I was glad we made the move, but some of the people that I was meeting seemed to feel entitled to everything. They were kids that came from money, adults that wanted all play with no work, women that wanted men to pay the bills with no price. It was so foreign to me. I quickly learned that those people exist everywhere, it was more a matter of my workplace and the people that it attracted. Anyway, I found that these people were some of the biggest failures I had ever met. They thought they were owed everything, but wanted to earn nothing. Even if they had "everything", they never found a sense of fulfillment, which may be even worse.

So, Mark and I vowed that we would never raise our daughter this way. We want to give her the foundation to build her own legacy and be proud of herself when she accomplishes that.

Monday, August 24, 2009

For A Reason

As you may have noticed, I haven't had much time for blogging lately, actually, I haven't had time for much. I know, I say it every week, but things just keep getting crazier and crazier! I wanted to at least give you an update on my big daycare drama on top of everything else this month. So, I've pretty much always said, and firmly believe, that everything happens for a reason. And...you should ALWAYS listen to your gut. If I've learned anything from this business is that, as women, our gut is usually pretty darn right. When I talk to a vendor, but don't get a great feeling, I probably shouldn't work with them. If I talk to a customer that is over-the-top demanding, I probably shouldn't sell to them. I learn this lesson over and over again...seriously, I must be super stubborn or something...I won't ask for Mark's commentary on that.

I will keep the long story short, but for those of you that read about the big daycare fiasco...turns out that we should have pulled her out months ago. I had been telling Mark for weeks that we really needed to start looking for a new childcare provider, as I just wasn't getting the best vibes from our current provider, and then the sh** hit the fan. Not only did she cross the lines on many levels, she then sent a letter threatening to sue us for the one month of childcare AFTER we removed our daughter. I wanted to walk away and truly just didn't want the drama, but since we were faced with a law suit, I had to do a little more research. Turns out that not only was she breaking numerous rules, she was technically operating an illegal childcare operation, caring for too many children with no state license. I guess I should have followed my gut. The good news is that I now have Aubrey home with me all day, every day! I have some extra help here at home, a "family assistant", who doubles as a "office assistant" when Aubrey is napping...couldn't be better!!! She is super sweet, fantastic with Aubrey, and we love having her around.

I have never been busier, and trying to fit everything into one day is a bit challenging. This month is a record month for us, as was last month, as was the month before. This is all such an enormous blessing, a ton of work, and the biggest challenge of my life. I am just trying to keep my head above water, making sure we stay on top of orders, designing for next season, working arrangements with some new large retailers, and planning some very exciting things for RuffleButts. Anyway, I keep learning over and again, that EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Calling CA Mompreneurs

Janie Dale over at Baby Cha-cha Boutique recently let me onto a resource that I can't believe that I didn't know about sooner...Peter Shankman's Help a Reporter Out (http://www.helpareporter.com/)! Janie was nice enough to send over a lead that she thought may be a good fit for us, so I am paying it forward and passing this along to you. Best of luck!! Wish they were searching in North Carolina =)

If you are a Mompreneur in California, this could be a great PR opportunity...

5)Summary: Looking for CA Mompreneurs to Profile in Film

Name: Anonymous

Category: Business & Finance

Email: Helpareporter@gmail.com (Put CA MOMPRENEURS in sub)

Title: CEO

Media Outlet: Anonymous

Specific Geographic Region: N

Region: California

Deadline: 06:08pm PACIFIC - 26 August

Query:
I am producing a documentary film about mom entrepreneurs and looking for
moms to profile in California. If you are interested in being considered,
please email me and include your name, website url, how long you have been
in business, how many children you have, city you live in, whether you labor
at your domicile or in an office and the best time and place for us to contact you.

Those who send me their information first will receive priority for
consideration.
We are looking to fill 36 segments. We will be filming for
3 days in late October.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Two jobs (temporarily)

Full-time mommy plus full-time CEO =



Aubrey found a bag of new Bloomers that arrived from the factory and just couldn't resist!

Drama

I am starting to think that I should have my own reality show, not because I would like the attention, but because I think it would make people feel a little better about their own lives. Many people are under the assumption that I've got my stuff together, maybe because I own and run a business. Well, don't be fooled!! I am a crazy mess of a mom, wife, and CEO, just trying to keep life on track. Loving every minute of it, but man, would it provide you with some serious entertainment to just watch like a fly on a wall!!

So, I have now realized that just about every week or so I write a post saying that this week has been a little crazier or more hectic than most. I have now come to accept that every week is more hectic than most! This week is no exception. So, let's see, our NEW Fall Line finally arrived from the factory. I put together our new line sheet & order form and finally got them sent out to our wholesale customers on Thursday. I then received a call from daycare which started a big fiasco. Friday was all drama and let's just say that I pulled our daughter out of her daycare permanently when the babysitter accused my husband and I of "having alcohol on our breath when picking up our daughter more than once." Wow, this caught me off-guard, especially considering that my role of mommy is #1 on my priority list, so this is obviously an incredibly offensive accusation. But on top of that, we pick up Aubrey around 5:30-6:00 in the evening, and I only wish I could be sitting around having margaritas all afternoon, but my days don't quite allow for it!! So now, I am somehow full-time mommy and full-time CEO, and thank God for Mark and Mary right now!! I honestly could not do it with out them.

On to the rest of the week, Mark and I worked until about 1:00am on Sunday night getting all of our new Fall pieces up and available for purchase on the website. I think I've almost got handle on things...now onto finding a new childcare situation. To be honest, a part of me absolutely loves having her home during the day, but realistically I know that it is not fair to her or the business to spread myself that thin.

So, I am thrilled with the new line, and I hope everyone else is too. Onto our new designs, which are on my list of things to do this week...along with a few other things!