WELL....
I have to report on our first official showing of our bags in
Las Vegas! Everything was great....lots of work but
definitely turned out to be worth it. We spent countless hours putting together the booth and getting everything ready for the show. Mandy, Rachael, and I planned the show itself while Jon and Bob built the back drop. We made it out of
corrugated metal. It looked fabulous! We used post its on the side walls for fun. We used the photos we had from a photo shoot Mandy and I did last fall. Mandy is the photographer and I...well the fill in wherever we need it. I don't have an official title, which doesn't bother me. When it came time to driving down to Vegas I was very
appreciative of my sister Camille for watching my kids. It is very nice to be able to leave them with someone that is loving and capable of watching them. She did such a great job of watching them, cooking for them and playing with them. I am sure they will miss her :) The people that actually came on the trip were the
Lindahls, the
Bushmans, Mandy and Brian, and Jon and I. We drove down so we could bring our trailer full of
trade show equipment. We left on Valentines Day morning on a Saturday. That night we went to Blue Man group. It was lots of fun. After the show we went swimming at the Venetian swimming pool. It was a party hanging out in the hot tub and running and jumping into the pool. We stayed at the Venetian and
thoroughly enjoyed it. It was amazing. Spencer was able to get us a great deal on 3 suites there. He is a guy with a lot of connections and it comes in handy! Melinda has been very supportive as a friend and is always offering to help. I couldn't ask for better friends and family. I was very sick all the way through the trade show which put a damper on things but was still tons of fun. On Sunday we set up for the show...that was a huge task, but with several men to help it went pretty quick. We worked the show Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. They were very long days but worth the time we put into it. While we were there we also went to Cirqe de solei and watched Austrailia in our room while eating room service. It beat the last hotel we stayed in while in L.A. that had barbed wire on the balcony and crab apples for the continnental breakfast! When all was said and done we are happy to report that we will be written about in
WWD Magazine known as "The fashion Bible", another California magazine that I can't remember the name of right now, and a British "
ezine" (an online magazine). We are in several stores across the United States and even Tokyo! We had Wet Seal offer a private
label, the owner of Chinese Laundry stop and talk to us for over an hour, a referral to
Sundance and was asked to send a bag to David
Archeletta to give
Mylee Cyrus for a thank you for coming on her show last Thursday! (They say she loved it!) Many other stores took information and are planning on buying. I have a meeting with the buyer for
JMR and Lola Bella in a few weeks. Lots of fun!!
NOW I have to figure how to balance my six kids and grow my business at a great speed! I will only work during school hours whenever I can. I won't sacrifice my family for the business. This is possible with the amazing team of people helping me. Mandy is amazing and talented...I can't tell you how many compliments she got for the photography in our first catalog! We laid it out together and had fun designing it. Rachael is very organized and great at keeping the business side put together. There are many other people that help do what needs to be done. I am getting ready for the time of my life.....Hold on!!
MAKE A STATEMENT: Provo, Utah-based Native Honey joined Accessories The Show for the first time, showing its colorful, crafty collection of handbags made from fabric remnants.
