April 2006

Things are really getting busy down here at Breeze Central! At the end of March I met with other CMI M3 winners in Fort Lauderdale for the Office Depot Success Seminar for Women. We all helped spread the word about the great program offered by CMI. The contributions through the silent auction really helped the cause, too. I had the opportunity to meet Christopher Lowell, and partly because of my status as a M3 winner, we are talking with his CEO about how we can work together!
I went straight from there to Tampa where I went to a trade show, and also made some important connections there. I talked to a major blind and shade retailer about their independent reps carrying my product, and we are in negotiations. When I got back to Ga, there was no time to be wasted, as I was launching my private label, Velegance®, along with the designer partnership program. It all happened on a dark and stormy night, but we had a good crowd, and several designers signed up for the partnership. We will continue to have the seminars for designers on a monthly basis, targeting different areas of Atlanta and then working out to other areas of the US.
We went to American Blinds in Detroit Michigan, the largest online retailer of window treatments in the country, and solidified the deal to be put on their website as a vendor. On the way to the hotel room from that meeting, I got a call from Joan Durand from Martha Stewart Media. I will be interviewed on June 28th for her show, "Start ups with Joan Durand", with a broadcast date later. We are working with IKEA to get the pricing for our product, with a debut date sometime in late Summer/ early Fall.

Kathy Keeley continues to do a superb job of mentoring. She, along with my coach, Russ Hall, have been helping me to build on the foundation that has been layed to make sure I take advantage of every opportunity to the best of my abilities. Their wisdom and guidance is incredible.

I had an article published in my alma mater's alumni magazine, Kennesaw State University, where I got my Bachelor's and Master's degrees. They are the KSU Owls, and I am an "Outstanding Owl"! Whoo-hoo! As more people come to know who I am and become more familiar with my product, the selling cycles become much easier. Word of mouth and web site orders are more plentiful. With the Designer partnership program in place, I will now be able to replicate my efforts and mentor a whole different group of professionals who can make great money selling a product that is unique and is "common sense in a patent"!