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I was recently approached by a friend to help design a product line for her
new company. I felt honored and excited until she told me what her idea was.
It was a “politically” driven product and unfortunately, my views fell upon the
opposing side…I struggled with the request for a while, and I think I would
not have had this dilemma if this product line had encompassed all political parties. I
mean, after all, as a designer, I should be versatile enough to design for
all.
I guess it was not a question of abilities, but rather a personal vendetta /
choice of my own. Then I started asking questions like what if it was beyond politics;
what about religion, social causes, racial issues, tobacco, alcohol? Where
do we draw the line?
Here we are celebrating the success of President Obama 2008 campaign, with
hundreds of articles written about it’s phenomenal brand strategies, the
success of it’s design execution. And yes, he was the more popular, cool
candidate and he won. And of course I stood in line for 5 hours to vote for
him. BUT what if he had NOT been the popular vote? What if he had been the “other” guy
and you had to design for the “other” party?
Are designers similar to attorneys? Are we obliged as a professional, to
consider or take on projects regardless of content, based on that client asking for our help
and them being ready to pay for our services? Or do we have the moral obligation to truly
investigate the repercussions of the projects we take on and the design we
put out to the world?
What if the result of our designs impact the world in a way we may be horrified with?
It maybe an easier decision to make if you are asked to design for a party
or a cause that you TRULY believe in. My question is how do you tackle a
design project you fundamentally do not believe in, but may need to keep your
design studio up and running? Equally so, how do you design for the less popular, non-politically
correct group? What if you are asked to design for anti-gay groups,
anti-women’s rights, or a tobacco company, or a company that profits off 3rd
world child labor?
I guess in many ways, it’s a privilege to run my own design studio, where I
am able to make choices as to what type projects to take on and who to say
NO to. But to those working fulltime for a corporate studio/agency; how do you tackle
situations like this?
We’ve stopped producing printed/paper catalogs for over 3 years now. We’ve been using PDF catalogs ever since we realized that if we were to produce new designs every 3 months, there were no way we could afford to reprint. And the thought of us throwing away old catalogs OR printing more inserts killed me. 99% of our customers are very happy with accessing our catalogs online and once in a while we have the small 1% that give us the nasty, “oh-my-god” look when we say we will email them our PDF. Oh yes… the look is unbearable, but we are proud of the ways we practice our business and that 1% will have to catch up to the digital age.
I was interviewed a while back on being eco-friendly and running a green business. The first thing I said to the editor was, I don’t think I am doing ENOUGH to be called a green business. Sure, the whole green trend has exploded in the retail market and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. But I told her that there is still so much to be learned about what is recycled, recyclable, renewable, compostable, waste management and the list just goes on. Just because the way our products are manufactured and the chain of them being made are eco-friendly, I still feel there is a lot more for me to do.
I told her that we believe being green transcends our products. It’s also the way we run our business. We reuse ALL paper in our studio. We make sure BOTH sides of a piece of paper are utilized. (Yes…sometimes our clients would be getting invoices with the back of the paper printed with designs.) Secondly, we reuse our packaging materials; our clients get shipments from us with Zappos or Amazon boxes! We use old magazines as packaging materials. We also reserve printing emails unless absolutely necessary, and if we have to print driving directions, we print on used paper.
Don’t get us wrong. We truly understand the importance of presentation. We do take efforts in making sure that all of our retail customers get our products delivered in absolute pristine condition. (We reserve our “recycled” stuffing materials for our wholesale customers whom 99% of them prefer that we recycle anyway.)
And there are the MAGAZINES. This year, I went over all 8 of our subscriptions and trimmed them down to 3 that I honestly LOVE and cannot live without; my WallPaper, Interior Design & Fortune. And we’ve called around 10 vendors to have them stop sending us their monthly catalogs. We’ve figured that if we need them, we would go to their websites OR call them. And with all of our old magazines, we donate to libraries, hand over to our gym, or pass them along to doctor’s office. OH and don’t forget Ebay!!!
Sure, being frugal could sometimes lead to being labeled “cheap” or “ghetto”. Maybe I am simply NOT a super consumer, and I was brought up to treasure the purchases I do make and to find innovative ways to reuse them before I throw them away. But I’d rather be “cheap” than wasteful.
 Design for Social Change Okay people! This is my best discovery to date and I am thrilled to share it. I am sure many of you have heard of Designism Connects, but I recently stumbled upon it again while reading my favorite publication, CREATIVITY, November 2008 issue. Started in 2006, this website is a venue for designers to offer their pro-bono talents with non-profits worldwide seeking creative services. The concept aims to facilitate advertising and design as instruments for social and political change.
On a personal note, I would rather be contributing my design services to social causes that I believe in, than to haggle pennies with for-profit businesses and clients.
I have lived through 2 recessions, or at least the ones I can remember as a child growing up in Malaysia. One in the early 80’s and one in 1997. This current one will be my third. Unlike many who seem to be in denial of our current capital “R” situation (you can call it a “credit crunch”, the “great repression” or whatever suits you), I think I am like many Americans who are “realistic”. We do not need our president or the government to tell us if the economy is “fundamentally” strong. We know we are in recession when neighbors, friends and even families no longer have homes and jobs. We KNOW we are in trouble, when our life savings have diminished. Even luxury spending is slowing. The September article, VOL 158, NO.4 titled “Luxe in Flux” of FORTUNE magazine stressed that the $270 billion luxury business is not so recession-proof after all!
My first experience of a recession was when I was 6 years old in the early 80’s. All I remember was my family going bankrupt and having to shut down their retail business. I barely remember my dad selling my sister’s piano and both my father and mother working hard all the time.
But when the Asian Economic Crisis (IMF Crisis) hit in 1997, I was much older. And I remember clearly. I was a freshman, and had just moved to the U.S. The crisis started with the financial collapse of the Thai Baht (Thai currency). Thailand went bankrupt within weeks. Then neighboring countries were chipping in, trying to fend the ASEAN economy. The next thing you know, the entire economy of Asia was in deep recession.
My frustration then was not so much about being broke and stranded in a foreign country, but that NONE of my American friends or professors were even aware about this crisis let alone about the social repercussion of this crisis – violent civil wars in Indonesia. (Which I will not get into as it was too depressing.) On a personal level, I just didn‘t know how to tell my “friends” why I couldn’t hang out, that I could not attend school trips, or eat out. I was busy working 4 jobs and attending school fulltime; data entry, 2 teaching assistant gigs and full time as a designer in an architecture firm. My money went straight to tuition and rent. I barely ate. Ramen was my savior. I slept 4 hours per day for 4 years straight. My college administration showed the same ignorance as “my friends” did. When they threatened to take away my scholarships, I almost died. Administration argued I was taking too long to graduate!! I begged, cried and petitioned to have them continue my scholarships.
Of course, when a crisis hits a person or business, most would recommend asking friends or family for support, or better yet, get a loan! Even Donny Deutch from the BIG IDEA gave similar advice to entrepreneurs facing bankruptcy during his recent show. Ask for family or friends for money OR establish a good relationship with your banker, or go to your community bank.
But what if none of these ideas were an option? Back then, student loans for international students were non-existent. How was it possible for me to ask friends for money when I barely knew anyone here? How can I ask for family or friends support when all of Southeast Asia market crashed? With their currency worth so little, the exchange rate to the U.S. would be horrendous. They would have to pay 4 times more to let me stay in the U.S., to attend a private school. My problems seemed miniscule when back home families were losing homes and jumping off buildings due to the loss of 30 years of hard earned savings.
To me, getting my degree at some fancy private art school almost didn’t matter anymore compared to the survivals of these families. I had 2 easy choices; to return home, or to stay in the U.S. and fend myself. I chose to stay, as I truly believed in the American Dream then…and NOW.
At times like this, egos should not come in the way of survival. “Survive today, live tomorrow”, a mantra I came up with during my early days in the U.S. My dreams may have been shaken, but don’t take me as a negative person. I have learned so much from my hardships. I am sure many fellow Americans are going through the same ordeal with this latest U.S. crisis. Many will have to rethink their lifestyles and tighten up their purse strings. Others will have to sell off their luxury. I have learnt that the route getting to my destination may NOT be the one I like best, but it will buy me another day for my come back. Working hard may not be the only method to success I realized, but I have also learnt to work smarter. I am sure some of us have grand parents who had survived the Great Depression or WWII. I remember my godmother used to share stories of her hiding out during the Japanese invasion in Malaysia and how her family learnt new tricks smuggling potatoes to feed themselves and the neighbors. Like the old saying goes, “When there’s a will, there’s always a way.”
As creatives, we are drawn to the field of design because we want to be part of something big, to make an impact; to contribute to the betterment of the human experience. But we also have to understand global politics, sciences and markets, human-interaction and social developments. How are we to achieve all that as designers when we cannot even admit that our neighbor’s problem is also OUR problem? And that our own greed can cause pain on others. How can we ignore the importance of world partnership?
BACE blog was started with ONE main goal, to aspire to a help forum and assist other designers and small business owners. We have had many criticisms from friends and peers alike for sharing too much information on “trade” knowledge to strangers. But understand this. My husband and I believe that knowledge is meant to be shared. There is no recession proofing a person’s dream. But there are ways to gain and share knowledge so that we are all better equipped with our decision-making.
Note: I have several recommendations. As an avid CNN watcher, Fareed Zakaria of CNN/GPS has the most interesting views on global politics and finance. Read the NY Times, Businessweek and Newsweek. The Dragon’s Den on BBC channel gives a great understanding on small business and truth on investing. By understanding how China changes it trade policies or how India expands it’s education systems or Japan importing luxury goods from Italy, you will begin to see how every bit of that, DO affect your daily life! We are all connected.
Recently a fan wrote in asking us how to put a media/press kit together. I told her we are not professional press agencies or publicists but we can try to share as much information based on our experience.
For small businesses or startups, budget for a publicist or a pr firm is almost non-existent. Over the years, many have approached us, pitching they can get us into magazines, TV shows, celebrity clientele and of course the big O. Sounds all so exciting until we hear the retainer fees and discover the no-guarantee contracts. Nonetheless, we believe there are excellent publicists and pr firms out there. We are not implying that their services have no value. Actually, as your business grows, having a publicist/ pr firm may help grow your brand image as they usually have abundance of new ideas and established contacts. These people are gurus in trends, constantly searching for the next hottest gigs and certainly can offer you fresh ideas that can launch you to the next level.
But let’s just say, we have ZERO budget but still want to get some press, what do we do?
To start with, we think there are 2 types of press coverage. One is a product feature and one is an editorial/special feature on the designer, so determine what type of press you’d like. Product features are what you normally see in fashion magazines, with the product shot, pricing info, a simple description and a website or store location as to where to buy that product.
An editorial piece is more elaborate. It may or may not contain your products, but it features you, the designer or small business owner, your background, how you’ve launched your line, what made you “special,” what you are doing now, what you are planning to do in the future etc. The feature may be from one page up to four pages, with images of your products, or things that inspire you, and have course YOU! This applies to both print and TV.
What should my press kit contain?
Your press kit should represent you, your brand and your products. It could contain:
1) A cover letter or a hand written note
2) A short bio of you & company history
3) Photos/samples of your products along with description/information
4) If you have press releases, include a few
5) List some of the stores carrying your products
6) List some of the celebrities who have BOUGHT your products (taboo topic!)
7) And of course list WHY your product is so unique!
All these MUST be packaged up nicely with your company logo. PRESENTATION IS IMPORTANT.
You can also include a self-return postage label if you want samples to be returned. Of course don’t forget your business card with email and contact information and WEBSITE. A web address is essential. If your products are selected, most editors would list your websites especially if you have e-commerce. If not, they will ask for a couple of COOL stores to list.
So what happens after you send your press kits? Wait patiently! Understand that editors receive TONS of press kits everyday. It may take them 2 weeks up to 6 months before you get that special phone call or email. So don’t be to quick to give up. Allow them time to go through your line. Call them if you truly can’t wait. Maybe 2 weeks after your delivery date.
Do I need to include photos of myself?
Not necessary unless you are targeting an editorial coverage. And if an editor requests a photo of you, don’t panic and go out and hire a professional photographer. Send the best picture your significant other or friend can take – it must be what you think is YOU. You don’t have to send sexy, poser photos. And DO NOT use photos from high school, or when you looked your best years ago! Just be you and disclose all. Editors will easily drop you last minute from their publication if you try to pull a fast one. A good story of mine is that I once sent a photo of myself in front of a plate of a huge burger and chilidog with fries. I was nervous at first, but it was the most recent photo Joe took of me on our Bahamas cruise. And since my line is inspired by FOOD, it made sense to me! So off I went emailing that photo to the editor and voila. I got in! Most publications will then send their own photographer, stylist and makeup artist to make you look spectacular!
What if the publication does not have the budget to send their entourage of beauty pros but still want an amazing photo of you? When that happens, you then weigh in on hiring a professional photographer.
When to send press kits?
Deadlines for publications range from 2-6 months in advance. For instance, if you want to be in their HOLIDAY features, send your press kits by May.
How to get the names and listings of editors?
Simply pick up the magazine. You don’t even have to buy them. Go to your local bookstore, sit down and write down all the names! Most magazines have a page listing all the different editors. Look closely at the magazine; for instance, if they have a page featuring the hottest products, there is usually a listed editor that handled that feature. That is the editor you want to send your stuff to. Also note that magazines change editors ALL the time. So you may want to call up to confirm.
If you have a small budget to spare, another place to look for the list is http://www.mastheads.org.
What other press can I approach?
Blogs and design publications.
Taboo topics
A few taboo matters that relate to press I’d like to point out.
Firstly, a LOT of the FASHION magazines out there will ONLY feature you or your products if you have celebrity clientele. Don’t ask me why that is, but I am guessing, celebrity product placement is a huge industry out there. I am always torn with that angle, because we have celebrity clientele that actually BOUGHT our products, and we also have celebrity clientele that demanded free products from us. Of course we usually say NO to the latter, unless it’s for charity or a good cause. We believe celebrities do not deserve handouts as they can surely afford a $6.00 greeting card! On the other hand, some magazines really do not care about all that celebrity mumbo jumbo, but focus purely on GOOD design and innovation.
The other taboo subject, should press be given free samples?
Some of us may send free samples to press because we WANT to, on our own discretion. It’s part of our press kits. Once an editor calls you back to request for more samples, most of them will provide you with their FEDEX/UPS account # and return our samples when they are done with their photo shoots. Once in a while we get bloggers or journalists asking for samples to do reviews. WE usually stay away from them. Many of the bloggers we have dealt with, would normally ask for photos only. Some will meet you at trade shows if they want to “review” your products. But rarely do they request FREE samples. You send them samples because you want to. Feel free to ask who is paying for the shipping costs and if you are getting your samples back. The professional ones will always agree to cover shipping and return samples.
Another taboo subject is about age and appearance. Depending on the type of magazine and their demographics, some editors are looking to feature designers who are under a certain age group with a certain “look.” I think it’s safe to say we all live in a superficial world where we know of many “celebrity designer” who are NOT even that fabulous (not naming names here!) but they are featured everywhere, simply because they look HOT and they appeal to the right audience.
My time is spent mostly on my business and family. I refuse to believe that my weight, my ethnicity and where I was born would be deterring factors from getting featured! So a BIG THANKS to those magazines and bloggers who have featured my products and me in the past. If they can feature a 5’7”, 150lbs, Malaysian born Chinese woman, FOB (FRESH OF THE BOAT) designer, who speaks with thick Chinese accent, they have no problem featuring everyone else!
So, GO GET THEM PEOPLE!! Get your press kits together and good luck to you all! – Mel Lim ☺
Maya Lin my hero
A few months ago, The Museum Contemporary Arts in downtown San Diego, had a Maya Lin show called Systematic Landscapes. In conjunction with the show, we had the rare honor to watch the Academy Award® winning feature documentary, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision and met the filmmaker Frieda Lee Mock.
The 90-minute film was truly remarkable, with tears shedding down my cheeks the entire time. I watched with great intent, feeling inspired in every way possible; as a Chinese woman, as a minority, as an artist and mostly as a female architect. In the last 11 years living in the U.S, I’ve had my fair share of “colorful” episodes while working as a designer in the field of architecture and design. You name it; I’ve seen it all. I’ve had peers and clients discrediting my work because I was considered “too young”, not American, even a terrorist (just because I was born in a different country), the list goes on and on. But after watching that documentary, Maya inspired me to face challenges and discrimination with clarity, poise, dignity and most of all integrity.
Watching her cut through all the politics involved in the controversial Vietnam Veterans Memorial when she was only 21, her years of personal criticism and attacks on her designs, how she survived thousands of threats, pounds of hate mail, moved me so deeply that after the documentary ended, I looked at my husband Joe, and said, “Bring on the pink hard hat! I no longer fear!” Thank you Miss Maya Lin, you are one true hero to me. – Mel Lim
Origami Bijou by Cindy Ng
No, it is not an article about your favorite soap opera. It’s an article that is literally about the young people and the restless people. My name is Cindy Ng and I run Finger Magic / Origami Bijou as well as an origami design boutique based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am young, I can pass for 18 years old and it gets worse, my voice sounds like Mickey Mouse! Despite these “unique” qualities, I am a restlessly hardworking individual who started running my own business 5 years ago. I believe I am highly qualified to start a discussion about my squeaky voice, youth and how that plays out in the professional arena.
To begin, the voice stigma became most apparent when I was 14. I was working at my father’s print shop and had to call the bank – the customer representative would not speak to me and actually asked to speak to an adult. I was offended because I couldn’t get my job done! I am now 26 years old, and sad to say that still happens today and I still have the high-pitched voice.
Next, comes the problem of my age. There might be some truth where small business owners that just started are ignorant or inexperienced, but that applies to everyone regardless what age you are. In the first couple of years, companies would ask me to design origami pieces or brainstorm ideas with them. Of course, that made sense since I also have a business degree in economics from UC Davis. (But knowing your 4 P’s in marketing is completely different from executing the concept!) Right off the bat, it would often appear to be a nice collaboration, until it was too late. CINDY WAS WORKING FOR FREE!!!
It may seem that a young age coupled with a youthful voice is not quite the winning combination to running a business or climbing the corporate ladder. I think quite the contrary. With young age, comes the abundance of energy, innocence, aspirations, idealism, enthusiasm and joie de vivre! Yes you may get taken advantage of when you are young, but that applies to a lot of other budding businesses. I agree that with age we will grow emotionally and with this we will be able to adapt to problems and deal with human interactions better, at a sophisticated and more civil level. But age does NOT hinder my ability to produce work, my industrious work ethic, or my determination to grow and succeed.
Hence, empower yourself! Once you start respecting yourself, you will able to demand your worth! Nobody should ever work for free, no services should be traded, and that products should never be paid with meager back-page endorsement or tiny 1-line editorial print feature. The last five years have been a road of self-discovery. As an entrepreneur and a designer, I have learned to accept that though I may not be able to change people’s common perceptions but I CAN change and grow myself. I know I am equally qualified and as smart as everyone else in my industry. I simply needed to let go of my own self-limiting thoughts.
Yes it may take an extra effort to impress a fellow professional or a possible client, and convince him/her that I am no longer in high school or college. But one trick I’ve learned that works quite well is that I do not speak unless it is of VALUE. Talking out of my ass is wasting other people’s time, and worse – my own time.
Essentially, I’ve come to embrace my perceived negative qualities and turn them into assets. Today my squeaky voice is my most valuable and distinctive asset. Many individuals I encounter now say, “Oh! I remember you!” It really is part of my brand recognition when I stand out among a sea of competitors.
In regards to coming to terms with my vibrant youth, I lovingly tell myself, “I am always the youngest and most responsible owner at a tradeshow, while most of my friends are having hangovers from a rough Friday night out clubbing.” And THAT is truly as young and as restless as you can get!
Note from BACE:
We thank Cindy from writing such a beautiful and sincere heartfelt piece. You can also check out Cindy’s Origami Blog here.
The biggest challenge other than collecting money from clients, is finding the right suppliers and vendors. Most designers including us are anal retentive, obsessive compulsives and we want everything to be PERFECT. Unfortunately in the manufacturing business nothing is perfect.
You can try your very best to cover all basis, to make sure the materials you specify are in stock, the correct colors, weight and that the artwork you supply to your factory is PERFECT; everything they had asked for. You can even issue a Purchase Order (PO) that spells out exactly what you want, how you want your products to be made, produced, shipped and billed. You can call and follow up consistently with the sales manager in charge of your account. You can even call the production manager on the floor making your products. You can call before, during and after your products are made. You can even demand for photos of the product in production or pay extra for final samples to be shipped overnight to you so you can quality check before they complete production. You can even ask them to send up-to-date photographs of the pieces as they package the goods for shipping.
Somehow, somewhere, after waiting weeks to receive your final products, and waiting for UPS or FEDEX to deliver, your goods arrive at your warehouse, or home office. Such a long time sweating the details to ensure that no problems will be had, you finally open up the first box on the pallet and voila!! Labels appear strangely misaligned. Your prints are not the colors you specified; even though at press check, you approved the color proofs and loved them. Or the first 100 pieces of your products look good but the rest of the 900 look like someone ran over them with a lawn mower!
What do you do in situations like this? Tough one to answer. We still face issues like this everyday after years in business! 4 out of 10 factories/vendors are honest and sincere ethical businesses and hold the same quality standards as you. If these few do mess up on a print job, they will admit their mistake and offer to reprint. They will cover the cost of reordering paper and inks. They will even deliver the job to us in person. Or if some pieces are badly made, they will offer to remake or offer a large discount for the current order. The fact is they should be sincere and apologetic and resolute.
Unfortunately for the factories/vendors that do not offer any solutions to the problems they themselves have caused, when you have already paid them in full, we are very sorry to tell you “YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK!” You are stuck with inventory you cannot sell and may never move. Designers and makers have more leverage to negotiate a discount or refund, when you have not paid your factories in full or have only paid a 50% deposit. But we know most startups that have yet to set a business credit history, may encounter the no terms, and pay in full drama. It’s the reality of the trade. Factories/ vendors take, as much risk producing your goods in good faith you will send payment to their invoice.
In other cases it is not so much with the quality you are getting, rather the company’s questionable business ethics. For instance, both parties may have agreed to the pricing/quotation on a job, and then your factory/ vendor decides to up your price in mid-production. Not only will you be concerned with your profit margin, but also how you will be able to pay for the order? Can you still ship the orders or hold them until you find a new vendor? Can you start all over again; the negotiation process, the sampling process, and the production time? You may ask yourself, what if this new factory turns out to be like the original factory?
How about factories/ vendors that nickel and dime you? You receive your final invoice and you feel like you’ll have a heart attack because they’ve made up all these little extra charges. You may have thought some services were part of the job, but you were charged for them instead.
What if your broker goes missing? He has taken your order, and you had paid him the deposit money but the actual factory doing the work never received your order or payment or even heard of you or your broker?
These are all legitimate concerns that we still face today. You can try to prepare and do your very best to make sure nothing goes wrong during the production process. Nonetheless, mistakes may happen somewhere in the chain of command, either from the sales level, factory level, supply level, shipping level, ethics or quality arena. Over the years, we have built really strong relationships with our vendors and suppliers. It is rare to get the white glove service. When and if you do ever experience this, you will want to maintain that relationship, build and grow it further. Don’t let them go! Cherish them and hold them dear. It is sad to reward companies for functioning the way they are supposed to, but they are so hard to find these days. A simple thank you note or holiday gift basket will go a long way…
Talking buyers
Design is personal to any designer. It is hard to accept when people tell us, oh don’t take it too seriously; it’s JUST business.
We agree that it is business, hence when we are told that our products are NOT a good fit to a store, we understand completely. You can not expect a Kmart to carry designer prices when they are used to made in China prices OR vice versa. We all have to know who our buyers are. The more we know about them, the more forgiving we are of their comments.
Despite all that, sometimes comments could still come off as rude or insensitive. ie. “Oh your designs would NEVER sell at my store… but I guess they are cute?” Or placing a Starbucks coffee on top of your display samples, when you’ve spent the entire week making them. Or having you wait for an hour before they see you on a sales meeting and then spend another hour haggling over pennies.
One of the worst comments that have been thrown at Mel Lim over the years, is a buyer telling her that her products would do really well in CHINATOWN. Another comment by a buyer when walking into the tradeshow booth screaming, “Your stuff made in CHINA!!?” with an audience of other buyers to hear. It’s slander and a total discredit; when Mel Lim’s products are made in US for quality assurance. By far, the worst is when buyers walk away in mid-sentence while we are explaining our product line to them. Call it an attention span of a walnut if you will, but you name it, we’ve seen it. Sometimes people even say that they’re just New Yorkers, since our shows are mostly in New York based. This is just not true. We’ve seen it everywhere. So many buyers with so many different sorts of “colorful” personalities exist across states, races, cultures and even countries.
The solution; BUILD A THICK SKIN! Over time, you begin to realize that you can not take things too seriously. However, we do have to learn to stand up for ourselves. We must love and take pride in our own work. The more we empower ourselves the more we build our brand. We all know that great companies like Kate Spade and Jonathan Adler did not make it overnight. They have shown us grace, dignity, self-respect and that designers can be ethical business people.
Let us rise above the pettiness and show them thatwe have class. After all, buyers need us as much as we need them.
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