Past The 500 Mark!

Well, it's March 30th and we've sold 501 pairs of gloves. It's not 1000 or the loftier goal of 1200, but it's 501 more that many industry professionals said we could sell. These sales are our introduction into the children's glove industry. We'll be at the ABC Kids Expo in September and then at SIA in January. It's my plan that those two industry shows will be our springboard to nation wide success. Please don't misunderstand, I'm defining success by the fact that we'll present ourselves and introduce our product to the world with gloves for sale, on store shelves. And I'm the one who gets to take the credit for getting us "here." Now it's time to get us "there."

Now that the sales efforts are over, it's time to get to work on our baby glove (I have an idea! How many times have you said that?), our fleece line, our improved ZBG, and one other I'm not at liberty to discuss just yet! Stay tuned, we'll have lots more to share along the way!

Another Sale!

I made another sale yesterday and a sales call that I'm hopeful will result in an order today. My count is now 456 pairs and I have three more days to sell.

ZipperBack Gloves. On store shelves Fall 2009!

There are people that say, "I can't believe my product is actually going to be on store shelves!" To that I reply, "Why not? What was the point of all this hard work and money spent if you didn't really think it was going to be in stores?" Sheesh, I've believed all along that ours was going to be in stores. On April 1st, I'll post the list of stores that will be carrying ZBG.

You may have lots of money, and not know how or where to spend it. You may not have a dime, and a mentor who can tell you how much ($) you need to accrue. You may have both of those things but no faith in yourself to sell your product.

Of all the things you have or don't have, you absolutely have to have belief in yourself and your product. With those two things, the other stuff will come. If your not sure where to start, let me recommend an excellent read; The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. If that doesn't do it for you, I don't know what will.

Promises, Promises!

I know I promised to post a picture of the little thermometer graph showing sales progress. I didn't do it because I haven't made the time to make it. I should put Mason on it! Laughing!

So as of this minute, we have sold 420 pair of gloves. I have four other really great leads that I hope come through on their promises, promises to buy (order actually, but it's buying one way or the other!). I'm feeling really great that we have even one pair of gloves sold. Truth be told, all retailers had their orders place for the coming season in January. We got our saleable gloves on March 13th. With that understood, we've made enough of an impression on the people we've been able to reach to have them actually place an order with us...that's on top of an order they already placed in January with someone else!

Finally, I set my mind to having these gloves available to be on little hands fall 2009. I was told by nearly everyone on my team that I better brace myself for the "reality" (I love it when people bring up "reality") that we may not be in a position to show & sell in time to make that happen. I just couldn't bring myself to agree and here I am, certain I will have 420 pairs of WarmEase ZipperBack Gloves on store shelves in November of this year, 2009! That my friends, is something to be proud of!

Off To A Great Start

On Friday, Dave and I headed up Hwy 50 to South Lake Tahoe to hit the ski resorts and the State line shopping center. We got great feedback from the store at Sierra at Tahoe and then Dave landed his first sale. He sold 168 pair of gloves to Sports ltd. in S. Lake Tahoe.

This store is notable because this is the very store that I drove to from Truckee in 2006 to find gloves for Mason. I bought a pair that when I tried to put them on him, didn't fit. It was that fateful trip that sent me one step closer to making that first prototype.

Congratulations Dave! You are the sales super star at this point. I've said all along I have my work cut out for me, and now you've just raised the bar.

On Wednesday, I'll post a pic of the thermometer I made to graph the sales numbers. The goal is 1200 sold before March 31st. We may very well be a quarter of the way there. Stay tuned!

Off To Sell Gloves!

I have a day jam packed planning to meet as many glove buyers as I can. I'll give you an update on Friday! Wish me happy selling!

All In Just One Year!

Last week ended with a bang and I'll be sitting here waiting anxiously for our gloves to come tomorrow. Interestingly, do you know what this week is? Think for a minute, go back exactly one year, where was I and what was I doing? Oh come on, you do too remember! Okay, I'll help you out a little. I had just returned from Vietnam and was frantically unpacking and repacking to get back on a plane for Arizona...and what was I going to Arizona for? Yes! The Lucky Napkin Live event where I met Amilya. Tomorrow, just two days before the official one year anniversary of our meeting, I will have a finished, saleable product in six sizes in my hands! From cut-up glove with hand-sewn in zipper, to finished, retail ready kids snow gloves. I have to say, I'm pretty darn proud of myself. I'm also so very grateful to all of you who have helped me along the way (I really want to name you all, but for fear of leaving even one of you our, I'm going to know you know who you are), nobody accomplishes great things all by themselves, and I certainly could not have done this without all of you! Thank you!

The Samples Are Here!

In the US anyway! They touched down in WI and are now in the dependable hands of FedEx on their way to me. I'll have them on Tuesday and already have four appointments for Wednesday!!

Patience may be a virtue, but it ain't my strong suit! Happy Friday the 13th!

The Waiting Is Killing Me!

I am trying to be patient and wait for my final samples. I don't do patient (but don't tell Mason!). I only have 3 weeks to sell over 1000 pairs of gloves. I have to cover as much of the Sierras as is humanly possible and everyday I don't have my samples is a day I'm not out selling.

Now that it's Thursday and I've heard nothing, the best I can hope for is Monday...of next week...UGH!

Another Call!

I got another call from the producer of Amilya's upcoming television show. He called following up on the e-mail he sent those of us in the top ten. He said that though the choice was not easy, they did not go with us for the pilot...the pilot. He said that it's entirely possible that they will use our story in one of the coming episodes. Cool!

As I learn about the format of the show and when it will air, you'll be the first to know!

One Step Closer...

to being cast in the Amilya Antonetti TV show. I received this e-mail yesterday. It's certainly not a guarantee, but it's one step closer!

This e-mail is being sent to all of those who made the final 10 casting list. I apologize for not calling each of you individually, however it's a very packed day and very little time to devote to any of the items on my to-do list. The purpose of this note is to let you know that the casting decision has not yet been made. All of you are so terrific that we are having difficulty choosing. I will certainly let you know (via phone) when we do make our pick.

I'll keep you posted!

This is just one of several families we spoke with about the struggle with kids hand wear. This child was wearing mittens, or trying to wear them. Dad was having a devil of a time getting mittens on her hands (?) until we handed them ZipperBack Gloves. The very first time she tried, she put them on by herself! Dad was impressed. The worst part of our research was that the kids did not want to give us back our gloves.