As I prepared for this business/pleasure/work trip I found myself with lots of trepidation. I loathe making a cold call on a brick n mortar shop with goods/catalog/art/self in tow. Rejection has never been an easy pill for me to swallow, but I decided to forge ahead despite this.
I left home on Sunday the 12th and drove straight thru to Palm Springs, as I had an early appointment with a shop in Santa Ana on Monday. I stayed at a lovely little motel and had a glorious night swimming and relaxing before heading into the LA basin mid-day on a Monday!! Karen at The Dragon and The Rose was coming in on her day off to sample the rosaries I had prepared for this trip ( 34 in all). My call to her on Mon a.m. put me at much ease. Her voice was soothing and welcoming, filled with excitement for my visit. I was hopeful.
I left the Springs later than I should have, made a wrong turn on the 215 and got caught in a little traffic jam ( for LA - 15 min crawl is little.) but still managed to hit her shop only 30 min late.
Karen loved the rosaries, promptly bought the minimum to get the freebie and set aside another 6 for a future purchase.
I was elated and filled with confidence. I left the LA basin, heading for Ventura ( a place near and dear to my roots) where I was to spend the night before driving up Hiway 1 to SC. This time I was not so lucky, having not left the shop until 3:30 pm, I was caught in the infamous 405 Monday afternoon rush hour. What should have been, normally, a 2 hour drive at best ( more likely 90 min), turned out to be 3 hours, with slowed traffic on the 101 westbound adding to the discomfort.
I checked in and unpacked, relaxed and ate.
I departed Ventura, after one nights' stay, heading towards Santa Cruz!! My childhood memories flooting in my head. I arrived, after a long meandering drive up the coast, at my parents home in Scotts Valley. The home I've known for 30+ years. I unloaded, relaxed and settled in for what would be 10 days of business, relaxation and assisting my dad in setting up his shop on Etsy, Woodcraft Designs
The following day I found myself making a true cold call to a shop in Santa Cruz called Serpents Kiss, owned and operated by Susan Diamond. I stepped inside this rather large shop, asked the gal if she were her, and upon receiving a confirmation, introduced myself handing her my paper catalog ( artfully prepared just days prior to my departure). We exchanged a few words, she glanced, and when she turned to the rosary page, she wanted more. I told her I had many with me, and I fetched them from the car. (I really hadn't felt comfortable enuf carrying the entire case in with me!)
What followed was nearly an hour of showing my works, chatting bout our charts ( turns out we were born just hours apart thus making our charts identical!!), and talking bout getting older.
It was a lovely visit, she purchased 6 of my best rosaries, but moreover I continued to get boosts to my confidence as an artist, pagan and woman. For this I should be paying the shop owners, who in this economy, graciously honored my work as an artist and invested their hard earned capital in my product. Moreover, I have opened doors on two new friendships, which otherwise might never have been realized had I not taken that ultimate step from internet shop owner to multi-city distributor of fine art pagan goods!!!
Thank you Goddess for granting me the wisdom, strength and stamina to see this new adventure come into fruition.
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