MORE QUESTIONS THAN RIGHT ANSWERS
Trust. The Will To Make It Work (shouts to T. Gunn!). The person I embarked on this journey with is sort of an unofficial family member. Meaning, her mother is considered an "aunt", which would make her my "cousin". They both have strong ties to my official family in a generational aspect, but I was not close to my cousin, Tia Blair, before this, as we had not grown up together. I am close to mother, though. And to be honest, I thought it was my last shot at something big. It's hard to admit that, but that's where my head was. The world was spinning, but I was just running in place. There was a promising foundation already put into place. The timing seemed right. And the person connected to it was seemingly bright, well-adjusted and artistically talented in her own right. A little over a week ago, all of that ended. I've since had to take a step back from one of the most inexplicably arduous and bizarre business relationship/friendships I've ever been involved in. The experience had so exhausted me that I literally wished to neither discuss it any more on the phone nor answer any of the follow up queries I received on my Facebook message page. But I knew that I had to address it sooner or later, as there were some pretty serious charges levied against me, and my artistic integrity was on the line as well. So here it is, in a nutshell, in the form of a letter that I sent to family members via Facebook messaging. It has been edited to exclude any references to family members, and certain issues have been titled and expounded upon to some degree:
IN THE BEGINNING
Last year, Tia approached me and asked for my help in getting her small jewelry company more visibility as I know a bit about internet marketing, and I agreed. She had done several years in the military, and had appeared to be quite astute in the real estate business, to my knowledge. I'd visited her lovely home in W. Virginia on several occasions, and found myself enjoying her company more and more. The peace and quiet were also a much needed respite from the frantic state of mind I seemed to maintain in the city. I was also planning to return to school and finally get a degree in media and communications, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity. Perhaps I could even make enough money to purchase a home here, where I could just get old and not give a damn anymore; hey you, please get the fuck off my lawn!......remember your country manners! More of watching the TV box! More WalMart savings! Work from home on the 'puter! Eat, get fat, fuck off, I earned it! Wait, I'm doing most of that shit right now, so why not go for it full tilt and accomplish something worthwhile by doing something that I love and believe in, right?
As time passed, Tia came to me for advice more frequently, so I asked would she like it if I came on as a Creative Director. She said she thought I'd never ask. I agreed to come on board, with no pay, as she had no money, and created and wrote a blog for her, which was to be used as a marketing tool for her company. I'd let this blog lie dormant for extended periods of time, as my mood shifted, and I often either had nothing to say, or was confused about what format I would follow on a consistent basis (I think I may have finally found my voice here!). The new blog for My Bijoux would consist of lifestyle blurbs, fashion, music and featured items from the company. I was a bit apprehensive about the fashion writing, as I have an awareness of the subject, but do not follow it very closely, but it presented a challenge, and we were both HUNGRY. I'm glad I did it because it renewed my joy in writing. I felt the old sense of humor rise back to surface, and most importantly, she loved it and that was enough to make me feel as if I were doing something worthwhile again. You like me, I'm liking me, sis, boom, bah!
It was agreed that in lieu of actual pay, she would pay any expenses I would incur, and that when the business was profitable, we'd discuss compensation, contracts, etc. In the interim, she offered to give me access to certain pieces in order to sell and make a profit, which was cool. I not partial to retail sales work, but I realized that considering my illustrious background as former street kid/hustler (I left home at 15 and let's just say, I did what I had to in order to survive), I had a natural knack for it, and sold more than a few items. I also accompanied her to a jewelry expo in the Dulles Airport area, My Bijoux's first ever, to lend my creative eye to her displays, as well as helped her to construct and market her new kiosk at the Dulles Center Mall in West Virginia, to great success. We were approached by the organizer of the Chicago Expo who asked us to participate in their expo. The other vendors looked at these weird, funky-looking newcomers with the crimson curtains, multi-themed displays,and wood-bead hangings with some trepidation at first (these shows consists of vendors who paid their dues and have been doing this for years), but after they witnessed our hustle, several stopped by and complimented us for bringing something "new" to the event. The manager of the hall even acknowledged this and encouraged Tia to book more shows. After the success of the first show, I suggested that we continue to spend a year just doing as many shows as we could and travel cross the country gaining experience, building up our name and brand while using all of the profits to reinvest in the business in order to build capital. This would have allowed us to purchase more inventory, revamp the website, which was a nightmare, aesthetically, and to hopefully break even within 2 years. I also believed that the main focus should be on the New York market; street fairs in SOHO, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, Union Square, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, etc. We needed to create a "buzz" within the right demographic who are in-the-know, with internet savvy, and who most likely follow underground, yet popular fashion and entertainment blogs as well as mainstream internet sources. I stressed this to her because at this time, she was seriously thinking about auditioning for a spot on the HSN Network, which I thought was a little premature, to put it lightly, and with no major investors, Sweet Gesus, we hadn't even a modicum of experience or inventory to even entertain the prospect! She'd also mentioned that she wanted to operate a kiosk in a mall, which I thought was a cool idea, that is considering all the right components were in place..................
ARE THOSE STORM CLOUDS? (NO UMBRELLA)
I invested two months of my time and love into this, because writing is my passion and I also believed in Tia's considerable talents. Tia is an extremely talented artist, and was great at creating what I thought were amazing and imaginative pieces of her own. This is what truly convinced me that I was on the right path. This will blow up. I thought this would be a great thing for me, for her and our family as well. I soon realized that she was not an experienced business person, and did not do the basic work required to run a business. Before we opened at the mall, I inquired as to whether she'd consulted with or retained an accountant with retail experience, taken any business courses, or at the very least, purchased an accounting software package to help manage her business. Yes, small business folks, Quicken is your friend! No, she had not. We also discovered on the evening before the opening day of business, there was no cash register. She assumed it would be provided by the mall. After she quickly ran out to purchase one, the next morning, she had no idea how it worked; luckily I did, and ran through the procedures of daily money counts and end-of-day receipt reconciliation, so we dodged our first bullet. The kiosk concept itself was designed the same way we had it at the jewelry show, which was a mistake (we'd soon discuss this). Since we opened on a Monday, it was deadly slow. The mall contract required that the kiosk was to be in operation 7 days a week and 9 -10 hours a day. Earlier in the month, I remember asking if she had a contingency plan for an extra part-time employee, as she would be the only person to man the store, to which she agreed was reasonable, but I would soon find out that this was not to be, and she had painted herself into a corner.
Next: THIS MESS WE'RE IN
Next: THIS MESS WE'RE IN
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