Thursday, July 28, 2011

Genetic Salt-I Do What I Am


My desire is to inspire women in business, to aspire to be the best that they can, in all aspects of their lives. Itiel



'What is this?'
"That's your son's (King T.) screen printing dvd."
'Do you remember when I built the silk screening frames, on the third floor of our home in Philadelphia?'
"No, I don't remember that."
'Really.  No, I don't think you were born.  Yeah, I decided to make Christmas cards one year.  I built all the frames, put in the screens, drew the stencils, traced the designs onto the film, and put the film onto the screens;I used three colors for my designs.'
"What did people say when you gave out the cards?"
'They liked them, but you know, they weren't aware of the detailed work that went into it.'
"Yeah, I don't know why I asked that.  The work was more for you, your enjoyment."

This was a conversation between my mother and me last weekend.

My mother is a born artist.  Not just a drawer, but an artist.  I always have that overjoyed "this is my mommy-I'm so happy to know her-to be a part of her" feeling when she shares her decades of work with me.  Talented.  Skilled.

If I didn't have a reference point, I don't think that short conversation would've resonated with me to the degree that it did.  You see King T. is insanely talented.  I watched him attend several trade-shows before deciding on going all-in on screen printing.  His setup is much more advanced.  Yet although advanced, it still takes a tremendous amount of time, work, and patience for screen printing.  So, when my mother shared that with me, you have got to know I saw a glow of awesomeness around her.

There's a question from my Execumama.com interview that haunts me resonates with me to this day: 'From a perspective of an entrepreneur, what keeps it going?  When you get to those points of launching a new campaign for marketing, and you expect a certain amount of people to buy, and that amount doesn't buy....what keeps it going?  How come you're still doing it?'  Before having that moment with my mother, my response to that question stayed in my head at the regular tone.  But man!  BASS!


'They liked them, but you know, they weren't aware of the detailed work that went into it.'
"Yeah, I don't know why I asked that.  The work was more for you, your enjoyment."

That woman put Salt in me!!  That Salt that seasons me.  That Salt that preserves all that I am, and makes me RELENTLESS.  Genetic Salt.  This is why I am still going.  Although I did not get my mother's artistic ability in the same way....I danced technically for many years.  Why did I think the artistic ability stopped at performing arts....it transferred.  When I put out a marketing campaign it is to generate sales (business), but more so I am wanting people to pay attention and indulge in this love that I've created. I truly am in love with gourmet desserts, gourmet beverages, and confections, and I want others to experience that.  This is me...it's more than business.  I do what I am.