Working and working some more...

We are almost 3 years old! We officially started this company in March 2003, though we did not go to our first show until 2004. It is strange to look back at the last three years and see how far we have come. We have special treat planned for a 3 year anniversary, so come back Saturday and see what it is! Behind the scenes at Maya Road, it is a pretty busy operation. I think C and I are bit like ducks. Floating along the water's surface while paddling furiously underneath. The week after CHA while C was busy entering orders, setting up the logistics for shipping our CHA Winter line, and following up with our customers, I started developing our line of new products for the summer show. I cannot believe that within 4 days of the previous show's end, I was back at the drawing board once again. One goal of mine is to get ahead of the product development lifecycle. It is a long a difficult journey to do it right, but that means starting your next ideas as your last products pull into the warehouse! Crazy, I know, but true... And you would not believe what we have in store. I know that we are of a certain style, but be prepared to be blown away! I have some great new ideas, and I just got the prototyping started for a great new line.... I also have 3 other lines brewing plus some extra ideas that I may save until Memory Trends. I cannot even imagine having a 3 month old then, so I better get cracking to make sure I get those ideas on paper! It is funny because I was reading C's blog about what she is doing, and my work is so different than hers. I am by myself most of the time at the computer designing like crazy, pulling together the new marketing materials, updating the website (finally we are close), and setting up new special events (just you wait and see this Saturday!) ... My mom called me tonight. She said that my mother-in-law called her and told her that I work too hard since I am speaking to our factories at midnight almost every night. I think the two of them wonder how I can keep up this pace especially with our little one on the way. But this is the excitement and fun of entrepreneurship! It is all yours, success or failure. And you know, it is both exhilarating and a little terrifying at the same time. But the best part of all of this is being able to do something you love without compromise... there is nothing better than that!