Lights, Camera & Action...

Ernabel, my publicist and good friend, excitedly sent me a text this past Monday to inform me that she had booked a TV interview for me on The PBS Network that would take place that Wednesday. Of course I was excited, but talk about short notice – I had to juggle a couple of meetings and cancel a few appointments for Wednesday’s 2:15 pm taping. The show is called ‘Asian-Americans’ and subject matter, ‘Entrepreneurship’. I was honored to appear, and such an exposure never hurts. When Ernabel told me it was going to be a 27 minute long segment with no commercial, my first concern was , will I have enough interesting things to say to fill up this time? But I did not let this worry me too much! I was excited.

It’s a one big juggling act…

My cell phone starts lighting up as early as 8am and does not stop till at least 8pm at night----and, can you believe it, this describes a crisis-free day.  My daily activities constitute nothing more compelling than putting out small fires and drumming up new business.  Since designing is still on hold (till the end of May); I’m more focused on the business end of things.  And along with all this, I am trying to have fun; I need to spend time with friends.  Sad to say, my social life has been treated like a task which has to be carefully choreographed into my daily calendar. 

Managing a healthy and fruitful social life requires a unique skill-set and careful time management.  Here’s a major rule, not to be trumped….I will NOT accept any same day requests to meet up.  Well, all rules have an exception, if the request is from a good friend, I may break an engagement to fit him / her in.  And if inviter is someone I don’t know or barely know, well, forget it!  So don’t text me at 5pm to ask me out that very same evening.  ‘Your can’t be serious!’,  Asking me to anything, especially anything I’m ambivalent toward, is, if not downright insulting, certainly insulting.  What am I, just sitting around waiting for you to make my day?  I’m no back-up plan for anyone.  Mind you, a year ago I didn’t have these rules; hell, my calendar was empty.  Oh, how times change and we change with them.

….check out the source

It’s easier to criticize than to create --- I have heard this line too often, and now it is really starting to hit home.  With my recent TV appearance, and many other public speaking engagements, I am putting myself out there as I talk about my life as a designer and the products I design.  Overall, I am getting great feedback and support.  But every now and then I do hear negative feedback.  I like to think that most negative criticism is given to help me create a better product?  But I am now at a point where I need to figure where to draw the line.  If I start to listen to every suggestion thrown my way, nothing will get done.  I’ll lose myself and be left with zero creativity to work with. 

Death of a Salesman ---- is he really dead?

You may have read my previous blog wherein I mentioned that I was seeking a killer salesman to join my company.  Well, the search is still ongoing.  What I can’t understand is how in the fashion industry, people don’t seem to fathom the true concept of selling. 

What makes a great salesperson?  Showing a collection to a potential buyer and hoping that the buyer will place an order?  That’s an order-taker, not a salesperson.  Selling requires talent; an order-taker is merely a clerk.  A talented salesperson creates business through 1) his/her knowledge of the product and knowing superiority of the product in terms of quality vs price, 2) his/her ability to instill a demand, a desire for the product where none existed previously…this is what I call selling.