“You just have to believe in yourself. The system is designed to bring you down but you can rise up.” Bob Marley
It took us some time to get over the disappointment. As a niche entrepreneur, you are often shooting the dark. Along with my partner, we have been toiling for a few years to get our products into the hands of cools millennials. I remember it as it were yesterday; it was on 31st December, 2014, we got the thumbs up for Spencer Gifts LLC (www.spencersonline.com), to design a unique line of KIIZ Eyewear Charms (www.kiizaa.com) to compliment their existing line sunglasses. It felt as though, we had a fighting chance to create a fashion.
----By the way, history shows that trends happen by mistake. ----
We took approximately one month of create the styles requested by senior buyer at Spencer’s LLC. The styles (themes) were as follows: Rasta Pack, Pride Pack, Not So Patriotic, Dirty Comic, Dirty Verbiage, Nautical and Neon Fun. We felt that we were on our way. After delivering the designs, we followed up. The senior buyer directed the junior buyers to review our styles. During the process, we had to send another round of samples. We had to keep following up with phone calls and emails. It was beginning to feel as though we were chasing a ghost. Where did the enthusiasm and interest go? We wanted our product to be available at one of the largest novelty chains in the USA. We spent over one month trying to contact them via email, phone, handwritten letters, cards and faxes. We were in total disbelief. How could our best lead go on a hiatus? When everything seemed fruitless, I paid an unscheduled visit to the office in Atlantic City. As entrepreneur it is sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission. I took the greyhound bus from New York to Atlantic City. The return trips took approximately 18 hours. As was expected, neither the senior nor junior buyer was available. While browsing the city I received an email from the junior buyer stating that they are no longer willing to carry the product. Why did they not convey this months ago? Moreover,could n’t they have said this before I made a trip to their office? As an entrepreneur, I have learnt to deal with rejections, disappointments and all the other hiccups that are a part of the process. The learning curve is very steep.
Now, it is back to drawing board.
How do we get our product into the hands of cool millennials? Should you have any ideas regarding the design, social media marketing, programming, trade fairs, partnering, ect. , please don’t hesitate contact us at [email protected]
We would like to get our products in the hands of millennials around the world. We would like our dream to come to fruition.
Orin Hickerson & Saloni Gupta
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