The Ellen DeGeneres Show

We have had some potentially great news this week (I think it's great news). The Ellen Show called BabyLegs and asked for one of the gift baskets BL's sells on their site to be considered for the giveaway on the Mother's Day Show which airs May 6th. What is in these baskets? It is an adorable SaraBear Diaper Basket, 7 pairs of BabyLegs, and a Woobee blanket, bib & burp. What does this mean for Woobee? Well, a few things.

Let's start by saying they want 300 free baskets for their audience (at least half are moms-to-be). So that's 900 pieces of free Woobee product, and did I mention that it would all have to ship sometime next week? Does that stress me out? Hell yes! Why? Because I am a company that manufactures in smaller batches 15 miles from my Seattle home and I do not hold on to a ton of stock. Letting go of this much inventory for free is a little hard to swallow, especially if the show is a success. Why would a successful show be a potential problem? Having "enough" (and there is no way to tell how much "enough" is) inventory left to meet the demand of the viewers and retailers that may see the show and want the product is key and there just isn't enough time to produce more Woobee's before the show airs. I think I have "enough" but who knows? Becoming an overnight success comes at a price. Yes, it means more money but it can also put the company into a position where everything is reactionary - you're putting out fires all the time and not making strategic steps toward responsible growth. Don't get me wrong. I want our basket to be chosen for the show and for Woobee to be an enormous success, I just wish I had more time to prepare so I could make sure inventory and customer service was up to potential flood of attention.

So what am I doing all weekend instead of playing with my kids? Packaging product that may or may not go to the Ellen Show. What happens if our basket doesn't get picked? It just doesn't get picked, but someone at the Ellen Show would have seen my wonderful Woobee's. Also, all my inventory will be packaged and ready to go. All the way around in goodness.

Customer Service? Anybody out there?

So from one customer service person to another, do you ever feel that technology has dulled our societies ability to creatively problem solve. Here is why I say this...I ordered a poster today from Staples in California for someone else to pick up for a local event and their on-line service does not offer a payment option for in-store pick up items so I call the store to pay via phone but they couldn't figure out how to make that happen, so I asked for the total so I could send the person picking up the poster a check, and they did not know how to get that information without ringing the poster into the computer, so I asked what the local sales tax is (so I could add it up myself) and they had to find a manager. Hummmm. What happens if the magnet strip on the back of a credit card isn't working...total disaster?

As an owner of a company, and customer of many others, is it too much to ask that young people (I sound 80) know a few basic things like:
1. get a manager when it is appropriate (like when a phone authorization is requested, instead of saying "Um, I don't think we can do that").
2. know how to use math skills without a computer.
3. know what their local sales tax is, especially if you work in retail...hello.
4. know how to take someones phone number down AND call them back when you found an answer to their problem.

Am I asking too much?

Video weight

A fabulous PR girl/journalist named Whitney Keyes asked to interview me about running These Two Girls, LLC. Here is the link to one part of the interview, it is very odd to watch yourself in an interview - kinda fun, kinda not. It seems like I remember myself much younger (and thinner)...

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-biz-bite-with-these-two-girls/3576899453

Here is another part of that interview, just in case you didn't get enough of me the first time...
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-biz-bite-with-these-two-girls-1/1639173008?icid=acvsv1

Quickbooks is Lame!

Okay, I am compelled to vent about wasting my entire Saturday trying to fix my Quickbooks entries to reflect all my shopping carts little fees and random deposits, arggghh. I honestly don't know whether to more irritated at Quickbooks or my shopping cart. My reality with shopping carts...fees, fees, and more fees. If anyone knows a wonderful inexpensive shopping cart I am all ears.

Wondering why I am still doing my own books and trying to get them sorted out? Well, I have had bookkeepers but none that have been consistent. I am working with an account right now who I know personally that specializes in getting financials in order and doing sales projections for the upcoming years. I am so excited to get it all together and really start mapping out the direction of These Two Girls and Woobee Kids. She does however encourage me to not pay her to do bookkeeping since her hourly is quite a bit higher than a person who enters receipts and reconciles statements. So I suck it up as a responsible business owner and do it myself. Quite honestly, I am not very good at the whole Quickbooks thing. I just do not find the program very intuitive and often spend more time doing something over because I did not get it right the first time. I have got to suck it up and find a bookkeeper.

Have a great weekend!

Own Company = Better Snowboarder

You may think it's a bit of a reach to say owning These Two Girls, LLC. has made me a better snowboarder, but I think it has. Why you ask would I make such a random comment? Because a few weeks ago (which was probably more like a few months) I actually went snowboarding for the first time since I started making the amazing All Weather Woobee's (shameless plug). Nicole Donnelly (owner of BabyLegs) invited me up to the BabyLegs cabin (20 minutes away from Stevens Pass ski area) for an overnight "work" snowboard trip. Nicole used to be a pro-snowboarder and knew I loved to ride since I lived on Mt. Hood (and Mt. Baker) for years slinging drinks and snowboarding - doing my damnedest to hold-off adulthood (which is how I met my husband). Well, since hubby and I decided to leave Neverland and caved in to growing up, going back to school and institutionalizing our commitment to each other, there has not been a lot of snow time. And the more children the less time. A new company, less time. Needless to say I hadn't been snowboarding in years and do you think I was little nervous to get back on my board with an ex-pro leading the way, ummmm yes! I was totally worried that I would not be able to keep up with Nicole and that I would be so bloody sore the next day I wouldn't even be able to lift my arms to my laptop(stay with me, here this is where I tie in the owning business thing). Here is what I discovered, since owning These Two Girls my analytical skills, confidence is my decisions, and general focus have sharpened considerably. Multi-tasking at such a heightened level has taught me to block out surrounding activities and quickly assess a situation to chose the next best move. When I was on the hill it was just me, no children, no Woobee, no BabyLegs, just me picking my route down the mountain. It was liberating! I have never appreciated my time on the mountain as much as I did that day. My new ability to truly focus, analyze my situation successfully, and appreciate the moment allowed for an awesome day of cruising through fresh powder, moving through trees (which I never really liked before), and whooping down long fluid runs...pure magic. The cherry on top, since I was so on my game (and on my board) I wasn't sore the next day. So, Nicole and I got some girl time sans kids, got some magical mountain time, and came back to the cabin to get some work done. A perfect 24 hours. The one nasty surprise...lift tickets were $59! Last time I skied I had a season pass so I was shocked. Was it worth it...every stinkin' penny!