Hiring is a Talent

So I am learning that hiring employees is just as much an art as painting glassware.  I figured that three hundred and fifty responses to my one paragraph job listing meant that finding a talented artist, who was pleasant, smart, a fast learner, honest, reliable, and miraculously able to perfect an art I've been working on for years would be easy.  I'll admit it, at times I can be a little idealistic.  I have found a few talented people but training will be harder than I thought.  We'll have many glass casualties due to practice work.  It will test my inner patience and I'll have to remind myself that it takes time to get the rhythm of each design.  The hardest part is turning over control to someone else, teach them my designs, and deem them "good enough" to sell as my own.  But I'm sure it'll get easier! I have a few more interviews tomorrow and hopefully I'll pick someone by the end of the week. 

Inside a Designer's Brain

As I am working on filling out a design brief for my new ecommerce website, I am plagued with my designer brain once again. One simple question on the form elicits 99 questions in my head. Question 1 - What will the top navigation categories be named? Translation - what should the categories be named? How will people want to search for things? Is "collection" too generic? If I organize by collection, does it still make sense to have the glasses named people names from the 1930s? What designs will be in each collection? Uw uw, I just thought of a great new design! what if I put....   Oh right, back to the task; So how many collections do I have? How many do I want to have? When and how often will they be refreshed? And on and on it goes. I was up until 1 am last night trying to answer that one question. So as my first line of defense I hop on google and visit about 60 websites looking for navigation I like, what makes sense and how that could relate to my products or brand. Four hours later, a small overwhelming feeling creeps up and starts to make my eyebrows furrow in frustration... what the HECK!? Why can't I get anything done in a timely manner? I'm pretty sure I ask myself this at least once everyday. It feels like a plague of my personality that I was just not meant to deal with time, ever, at all. I'm sure everyone in my personal life would also agree :) All I wanted to do was complete this brief tonight and now my lopsided brain has made me all philosophical... Ewwwww I hate that feeling.

As I'm ready to hit the sac, I realize that although it may be frustrating to answer just that one question, I learned a very valuable business lesson. Well maybe two lessons. Lesson 1- Everything I am doing right now takes research because it is starting from scratch. And as a start-up, it is absolutely essential to do that research. You cannot plan or execute anything good in a bubble. So yes it may add time to your task completion deadline - but without it you won't be relevant.  Lesson 2- Ease up on yourself woman! It is not your personality flaw that it takes time to do research, just do it and get it over with and stop stressing about it. And that alone will make the task get done faster.

Blizzard Thoughts

So just a quick background so you are up to speed with where I am starting - I recently moved from NYC to Philadelphia to be able to afford my own studio and the opportunity to start a business with my husband (not quite a viable option on 1 salary in NYC). So we packed up and U-Hauled it down to Philly.  The transition hasn't been easy or fun, but we are getting there. Slowly but surely. We've had dinner with a few friends, signed ourselves up for a wine class, got a puppy and our newest gig is to find our dream townhouse which, of course, must include a garage, roof deck, backyard and large kitchen that opens into the living room with a breakfast bar. I don't think we are asking for too much do you? :) 

So Scott goes to work, and with little research so do I. I found my dream studio in an old mill building with painter wash sinks, original wood beams, lots of bright sky lights and a community of artists all around me. It doesn't get any better than this. Turns out the other artists only work about once every two weeks, there is a lack of air conditioning and regular heating, there aren't any toilet paper holders, rarely any soap and a sink that sprays your entire top half when you turn it on.  But you know what?  I kind of like it that way. It gives the entire building even more character than the cracked glass, splintering wood and old school gas heaters already had. And most importantly - it looks like an artist studio. And that's the most important right? I am an artist and I certainly don't want to be holed up in a cubicle with gray carpeting stripping me of all my creative energy, even if there are toilet paper holders and AC. Plus this is a start up - I gotta rough it! So I set up my place and start painting away. I participated in the building's yearly open house and started trying (trying being the key word here) to formalize my business plans. My art? Hand painted glassware. My nemesis? Financial projections for business plans.

My first step - The Philadelphia Gift Show. This was a critical show for me - my first time ever exhibiting and getting retailer feedback about my products. I busted my butt to have tons of designs and a somewhat decent looking display. The idea is that you sell your products at wholesale and get large orders (or more than a retail customer would purchase). I got a few new accounts (1 Hallmark store and 2 other gift shops) and some great feedback about my main competitor Lolita. Turns out no one cared about how many designs I had, and my display wasn't that great, but you live and learn :) I'm sure you've seen Lolita products - they are everywhere. She, however, gets her glasses mass produced overseas. Mine are hand made by moi in the USA.  So take that. Just kidding. But seriously the biggest thing I learned was the re-emerging market for hand made goods, and the increasing loyalty for "Made in the USA" products. It was refreshing and invigorating to hear that customers didn't like dealing with large reps, that my quality was better, and that people wanted to support an emerging artist trying to make it.  I met some colorful people and decided that my initial route to overtake Lolita in the market wasn't the only option. Thank goodness because the chances of that were slim :) I needed some retail marketing gimmicks, upscale packaging and display ideas as well as a narrowed down selection of glasses that I can keep refreshing each season or at least every year.  Man I have a lot of work to do.

So I leave the gift show with several new and overwhelming questions: Is wholesale the way to go? Should I focus on retail only? What should my collections be if I narrow down my designs? What is the best way to display them, as a set of assorted glasses or a set of all the same? A lot of people paint glassware, mine is different and yes better quality, but people are buying the lesser quality and don't seem to care - so do I go even more upscale than I currently am? And what about packaging - I know that the package helps to sell the product and definitely adds value, but how much value and what kind of packaging? These are just a few of my main tasks that I need to figure out before I can move forward. Hopefully I will answer all of these questions throughout this quest :)

Today on Hudsonater (that's my dog) - she learned how to dance! Long hours of painting means lots of knots in my back, so I put a few fingers to the toes and try to loosen the muscles. Well today while jumping around Hudson decided to join in. I held up a treat and said "Dance Hudson Dance". Turns out she likes to jump and stretch too - sweet I'm not alone!