“What
are you staring at?” the man asked.
His voice startled
me. I was so focused on the jewelry behind the checkout counter that
I hadn’t even noticed the tall man standing beside me. I looked
around the gift shop. We were the only two people in the store at 10:01
a.m. besides the sales clerk.
The mall had
yet to come alive. I’m not a big shopper so I tend to hit the
mall when the doors open to avoid crowds. As I was passing the gag gift
store, a place I usually ignore, I remembered a friend’s upcoming
40th birthday party. I needed the token “over the hill”
gag card to top off the gift. Perfect, I thought, this shop would certainly
have such a card, which is how I ended up at the checkout counter.
The stranger
cleared his throat. He was waiting for a response. I quickly closed
my mouth and smoothed my brow to pretend I wasn’t as perplexed
as I appeared. I’ve never mastered my “poker face.”
Then I answered, “The crosses.”
“Why are
you so interested?”
The truth was
that I couldn’t decide whether I was questioning the store’s
marketing practices or the sincerity of the jewelry hanging behind the
cashier. Their gag gifts range from silly to downright nasty, so the
crosses just didn’t seem like a product fit. But this judgmental
speculation seemed too complicated to explain to a complete stranger.
I settled for, “I design sterling silver jewelry so I always spot
silver.”
“You do?”
the stranger asked. I presumed he was referring to my “jewelry
designer” statement. “I am the Vice President of Vendor
Relations. I’m responsible for finding new vendors for our gift
shops nationwide. I tend to drop in on stores for surprise visits,”
he winked.
I thought, “What
luck! What perfect timing. Thank you, Lord, for putting me in the right
place at the right time!” I had been waiting for my “big
break.” I couldn’t believe what he said — the V.P.
of Vendor Relations?!
As we chatted,
I told him about my Zipper Art®. At that time I had an assortment
of 36 sterling silver zipper pull designs ranging from a peace sign
to cats and dogs. My young business was struggling, but I knew it was
taking me “somewhere.” I knew my business was growing into
its purpose. I just didn’t know what the purpose was.
I walked away
from this chance meeting holding his business card and an invitation
to the chain’s headquarters to sell my Zipper Art® idea. I
was flying high. Like a cartoon, dollar signs bulged from my eyes and
my brain rang with the “ching ching” of the cash register.
Numbers raced through my mind – 500 stores times 36+ designs times
“x” number of customers per day. Ching, ching, ching, ching,
ching.
I couldn’t
wait to tell my husband!
That evening
I happily sizzled stir fry in the kitchen while my two young daughters
built a fort in the living room. I was bursting to tell my husband the
good news. The door opened and I danced around the counter to hug him.
When I described
the encounter, his smiling face fell. “Huh” was all I got.
Then he silently walked out of the kitchen to give the girls a big Daddy
hug. I followed, “So? What do you think?”
He turned, kissed
me, and said, “Honey, all I can say is that I want to be there
when you tell our Sunday school class how you made your first million.”
HMPH! What kind
of support is that?! I’ll show him. I may change the gift shop’s
purchasing decisions while making my first million! HMPH!
The next week
I defiantly went ahead and sent my proposal to the buying department
and began to make my plans to travel to the company’s headquarters.
Then, in the
middle of the night I heard a clear, loud voice ask, “WHO ARE
YOU?” With that I was wide awake, sitting straight up, heart pounding,
drenched in cold sweat.
Out of breath
and chilled, I ran to my computer and typed three lines without thinking:
1. Wholesome
2. Generous
3. I have my Father’s eyes
I sat back and
stared at the words as I tried to catch my breath. Wholesome, generous,
I have my Father’s eyes. I knew it was God asking me. The words
on my computer screen were a mirror of my true self – a blueprint
to my soul. I sat there feeling calmly aligned. For a moment my mind
let go and my soul peeked through.
When I could
move, I crawled back in bed, woke my husband and told him what had happened.
He believed me, because this wasn’t the first time I had been
“addressed” in the middle of the night. Then … a wave
hit me.
OH NO!!!!! What
am I doing? If I don’t want my daughters shopping at this store,
why am I going into business with them?
I didn’t
sleep the rest of the night. I tried to rationalize how I could change
the gift shop chain, how the whole store wasn’t so bad. But I
panicked for the next two days and didn’t sleep a wink. What if
they accepted me? What would I do? Dollar signs still blurred my vision
and my head still rang with a faint “ching-ching.”
I received the
call a few days later from the purchasing department. “We’re
sorry. You just aren’t raunchy enough.”
Raunchy enough?
The conversation
was brief. I finally understood what my husband was gently letting me
figure out on my own by not adamantly discouraging me from this business
venture. When I hung up, I laughed and sang and danced with my daughters.
“I know I’m not! I’m wholesome and I have my Father’s
eyes!”
Within two weeks
of the rejection, I received another call from two women affiliated
with the Girl Scouts asking me to create four zipper pulls for the Girl
Scouts of America. The word “wholesome” came to mind. Thank
you, Lord, for setting my heart in the “right place” at
the right time!
My company had
been floundering because I didn’t really know “who”
I was “supposed to be” in business. For the first time I
felt my entrepreneurial spirit align with my true self. All this time
I had been working with the wrong focus. I had been working to please
people. Colossians 3:23 came to mind: “Whatever you do, work at
it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for men.”
With this new
sense of freedom, I now felt compelled to create my own line of jewelry
through “my Father’s eyes”… and the company
I have today was born. My first design in my new line of jewelry was
the Follow Me™ pendant. What type of woman did I want my daughters
following? The card reads, “As women, we have a unique responsibility
to set a good example for our children, family and friends. Turn this
pendant over and read the empowering statement, ‘Follow Me.’
Live up to these words and enjoy!” This pendant is my personal
reminder of the slippery slope I could have taken.
