Hello, this is my first blog so I will bring you up to speed quickly. My name is Suzanne, and a year ago, my girlfriend, Tami, and I decided it was time to do something meaningful with our lives (beyond our beautiful five children, who now in their teenage years are anxious to no longer be the single focus of their mothers' attention). So combining our talents of architect, graphic designer, author, marketing manager and salesperson, we developed a shoe accessory company called Grafeeti.
We have a very symbiotic partnership - TC is very social and great with people, while I on the other hand am a creative hermit who would rather sit here chatting to nobody in cyberspace than go for coffee with another living organism.
Our business got off to a great start. Within a month we had developed our first product, a line of pewter shoe charms engraved with West African tribal symbols designed to inspire the wearer. A percent of the proceeds was earmarked for Hope for West Africa, a foundation working to eradicate AIDS. The product was designed specifically for Tilly's, a west coast retailer with whom TC had a connection. The buyers were reluctant, but the foot in the door technique worked, and after a month of pursuit, they put us on their e-commerce site. The product was developed for the Vans, Converse wearing crowd and can be worn on hoodies, sneakers, cleats, board shorts or any other shoelace that needs inspiration.
We launched a grass roots campaign to let our friends know the product was there, and leave it to love, support and ideas came streaming in. Since we obviously couldn't expect our limited supply of supporters to continue to purchase Grafeeti from Tilly's in order to make us appear successful, we decided we needed to expand our horizons.
The Tilly's e-experience brought to light two aspects of our product we hadn't originally recognized. First, we realized that the product is extremely flexible. A friend asked us for some custom Grafeeti and in two weeks she had 40 lacrosse charms for her team. The second was, we realized how powerful e-commerce can be.
Back to our mission - partner with organizations to raise money for worthy causes while providing quality products that express the sole. We started a campaign focused on non-profits, specifically run/walk organizations (how perfect, right? - inspirational shoe charms for run/walk participants trying to make a difference). The idea is a Grafeeti e-flyer is sent along with the run/walk information. A participant clicks on the e-flyer to go to a website where they can purchase Grafeeti that commemorates their participation. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds goes to the organization.
We've now knocked on twenty-three organizations' doors (called, navigated the labyrinth of each organization to find the right contact, created custom proposals for each foundation, filled out sponsorship forms, followed up, followed up, followed up) and finally some doors are beginning to creak open. It's been a slow process, (Thomas Edison was right, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."), but we keep plugging, because to be honest, I love it. Hope is a powerful high. Since we started this venture, each night I go to sleep thinking about the possibilities of tomorrow.
Next week, we have several presentations lined up and fingers crossed that the foundations we are meeting with will share our enthusiasm and vision. Also in the next couple of months we are launching our first two campaigns, the first with the National Junior Basketball League and the second with the Scleroderma Foundation.
A year has been invested, three hundred and sixty-five days of ideas pursued, a stronger friendship with a good friend forged, experience gained, and tomorrow... tomorrow more doors will open and we will change the world.
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