Monograms are a way of expressing our Southern Hospitality

Monogrammed Preserve Cover by Samantha Grace Designs

I exhibited for the first time at the  AmericasMart in Atlanta about five years ago.  I was nervous and excited with all kinds of expectations and hopes.  At the time my items were designed around the gourmet shops and I was mainly presenting tabletop products.  My focus at the show was on finding more gourmet shops to carry my line and expanding into the upscale gift shops.  We accomplished our goal and did add new clients in Gourmet and did sign on with new upscale gift shops  but those were not the only companies that were interested in our products.  We were amazed at the number of Monogram Shops that stopped by to ask if we sold our items as blanks for monogramming purposes.  A section of the gift industry that I knew very little about but was soon to discover held a large hold on the gift market in the South.

Royal Monogram of King Haakon VII of Norway

Being raised in the Yankee South (Miami, Florida) rather than the true South,  monogramming was not something I was in the habit of doing to items I bought for myself or others.  I had lived here now for about 15 years but still it wasn’t something I thought of as soon as I purchased a towel or a set of sheets.  AmericasMart was aglow that year with monogrammed items of every sort and the last fading trend of everything you could possibly do with a yard of ribbon.  It felt like someone had thrown up the alphabet in pink and green on every aspect of the show.  In fact, unlike the ribbon trend that faded, even years later AmericasMart still boasts the single initial trend everywhere.  I realized that just because I was not one to emblazon it on everything in my life did not mean that others did not want to and have every right to.  Why not give them new, stylish products to do it with.  A whole new world opened up for my little company.  It turned out my items lend themselves perfectly to the spirit of monogramming and with the help of a local monogram shop, I developed a whole line of items with the monogrammer in mind.  After five years of working towards this goal, I have come to a happy place in the monogram world but realized that even though I know the how – I really don’t know the why.  So I set out to discover the history of monogramming in order to find out why the South is crazy about it.

coin of Theodosius II circa 405-450

Most of what is written about monogramming shows that it basically began with the Greeks and Romans using intertwined letters to identify their coins with their cities or Emperors.   Later on in Medieval times it was a signature of sorts for artists.  Their personal monogram adorned their paintings, sculptures and writings.  But back then the monogram was different.  A monogram was created by combining two or more initials into a symbol or logo that did not separate easily back into its parts.  Initials that were next to each other but not connected were not monograms but ciphers instead.  This distinction has been lost over time but in reality the monograms of today are not really monograms at all – not by original monogram definitions.  It is a shame because as you can see by the pictures, many of the original monograms were quite beautiful.  This artistic quality has been lost over time and replaced with generic, factory processed letters separated rather than intertwining.  Mass production has taken the artistry out of the monogram.

Royal Monogram

During the 16^th century, monograms went out of fashion for a time but then resurfaced at the end of the 16^th century as the family crests became popular and monograms were in high fashion.  They put them on as much furniture and clothing as possible. Then with the start of the Victorian era, monogramming became a means for the upper echelon to indicate their place in society.  The Victorians changed the monogram to be what it is today and the traditional monogram etiquette we follow now was established by the Victorians.  Beyond a place in society, it also defined itself as a mark of individuality and ownership.

EP Monogram Early 20th century

Moving into the 20^th century monogramming waxed and waned, losing its appeal during times of war and then resurging afterwards to stake its claim as fashionable once again.  While researching I found a funny excerpt that could describe (with a few dated exceptions) today’s incomprehension of the craze of monogramming in the South but was written back in 1952 by Rosamond Pratt in an article titled,  “Highly Personalized” (House Beautiful, May 1952):

” Women are in for a good many exhortations these days. They have been urged to get slim, to keep up with world affairs, to budget efficiently, to be abreast with the latest methods of child training, and to learn to serve smart dinner parties without a maid. Lately the distinction of being highly “personalized” has been pressed upon their attention.

” This apparently depends largely upon having their initials or names engraved, embroidered, or stamped upon everything they own. Not only stationery and handkerchiefs are to be thus marked, but their nightgowns, slips, and other lingerie, their pillow cases (Mr. and Mrs.), bath towels (His and Hers), and highball glasses (Lucy and Lew).

“But when every possession of a man or a woman or a couple is indelibly tatooed, it might suggest that the possessors are afraid that thieves are rampant, or that amnesia would overtake them and that they might forget who they are. . . .”

Was Rosamond Pratt right in her funny assumption that we must fear someone stealing our possessions or we monogram in an effort to remember who we are? I certainly hope not but it is curious, what is the fascination?

Car Vinyl Monogram

As we have gone into the 21^st century, we are seeing a spike again as it is not just  clothing and home accessories but also fashion accessories of all sorts albeit still mainly in the southern states.  At the time that I discovered the tremendous amounts of monogramming that was happening around me, a new means of monogramming was in its infant stages.   Soon after my learning experience at the AmericasMart, vinyl lettering became the new trend.  Lots of colors and designs to choose from and now the ability to monogram items that previously had not been candidates for personalization.   Machines were sold that were cost effective and simple to use for the monogram shops.  This took monogramming to a new level especially in the South where 7 out of 10 cars started boasting a vinyl monogram on their rear windshields. So the trend continues and before long someone of keen mind will come up with another method of personalization that will blow us all out of the water.   Something we’ve never thought of before.  I look forward to seeing it happen but we still don’t have a clearer answer of “why?”.

Organizer Bags by Samantha Grace Designs

It seems that with the advent of same sex marriages, monograms have a new issue at hand again.  The traditional formats decided upon during the Victorian Era have been challenged during our times.  Our societal changes are demanding answers to questions such as how to display a monogram of two life partners that want to embroider a joint monogram on items in their home.  What about the woman who wants to keep her maiden name alive in her married monogram?  Monograms have disappeared and reappeared many times throughout the centuries and have changed in a number of  aspects as I am sure they will change as much if not more in the coming centuries.  One thing is clear though, since the monogram dates back to the time of the Greeks and Romans and has survived the many centuries in between, then I would think that we will be continuing to see it around for many more.  I will be curious to view the next trend in monogramming and find out whether the rest of the country will catch on as well or if we simply have to say it is part of our charming “Southern Hospitality”.  The restaurant created by Justin Timberlake and his friends Eytan Sugarman and Trace Ayala is based on this concept of southern hospitality and as you can see by their logo, a monogram is a part of it – a true monogram, not a cipher, good job boys.

Southern Hospitality Bar & Restaurant Logo New York City

Maybe I am reaching here but I wonder if the popularity of the monogram in the south has something to do with this coined phrase “Southern Hospitality”.  In its essence it means kindness to newcomers and strangers dating back to the time when a fellow on horse back could drop in at a southern plantation unknown by the owners and he would be welcomed in to share dinner and spend the night.  Kindness to a stranger and making a person feel welcome and cared about is at its core so isn’t that kind of what we are doing when we give a gift with personalization?  What we say here is that I didn’t only think of your event, run to the store and  pick something out,  I took the extra step by going to a shop and having it personalized just for you.  I spent time figuring out what your tastes in embroidery are, what all three of your names are and took the present to a higher status by adding that personal touch.  That monogram  is saying I care about you and I want you to know that.  And in turn when it is for ourselves, maybe we seek comfort and happiness  when we monogram our own items.  It is a luxury and therefore a treat.  A treat we give ourselves to show we deserve something good.  Something that lifts our spirits and our hearts.  I can accept this better than my purse is there to remind me of who I am or being afraid that someone is going to steal my baby’s bib – can’t you?

Monogrammed Headbands by Samantha Grace Designs

Living among southerners has given me a new appreciation for what they are all about.  When I first moved here I wondered about those statements you hear floating around that all that southern hospitality is fake.  “It’s a ruse they use to get what they want”, they say.  The longer I lived here the more I realized it truly is not.  Are there people out there like that? – of course but there are some of those people all over the country, not just in the South.  My husband’s family is very southern so many canned preserves and home grown vegetables have travelled over my doorstep with sweet notes attached – I am here saying again thank you sincerely.  These are gems to receive.  They are gifts that mean something beyond just the “I should bring something”.  These thoughtful individuals put their heart and soul into growing the fruits and vegetables and then their hard work to can and pack them just for this type of occasion.  They share a piece of their gardens with you that they painstakingly worked on.  That is a labor of love which makes that piece of their garden a piece of their heart – a true meaningful gift.

So where does all this leave us?  I have firmly come to the conclusion that popularity of monogramming in the South is directly related to the idea of wanting to bring something that comes from the heart and is thoughtful and caring.  Because we aren’t all fortunate enough to have a fruit and vegetable garden or fortunate enough to be able to make it grow, southerners have taken monogramming on as that extra-special addition to turn a gift into a heartfelt hug.  Is it obnoxious to the rest of the country?– maybe,  but by viewing it in this light it should add the southern charm to a monogram that is meant to come with it.

Sources:

The Rules of Monogramming  -  www.embroideryarts.com

Monogramming:  History and Ettiquette -  www.articlebase.com

Late Roman Imperial Monograms – www.ancientcoinmuseum.com

All About Monogramming:  A Look at the Classic Way to Personalize Just about Anything – www.karenperkins.suite101.com

The History and Meaning of Monograms – www.amidprivilege.com

Southern Hospitality Restaurant & Bar – www.southernhospitalitybbq.com

current monogrammed products – www.samanthagracedesigns.com

Shift our customer service back home

I was trying to set up my American Express merchant account yesterday online so that I could go paperless and change my banking information with them  but I kept having verification problems.  They had different information on file than what I was entering in and after three attempts I finally realized I had to follow their instructions and pick up the phone to call their customer service department.  I don’t know how you feel about that but it gives me the willies when I am told I need to pick up the phone to handle this further.  I never had this ridiculous fear of the phone but nowadays you have to be ready to answer an innumerable amount of questions via touchtone until you might finally get a human on the phone. This human may or may not be able to understand your problem and you may or may not be able to understand their accent or language.  I was seeing my day falling away from me and wished I could just handle it via internet instead.  When things started becoming available via the internet, I was hooked on purchasing travel plans, purchasing clothes, handling my banking and anything else I could get my hands on by means of by computer instead of by phone.  I slowly became an internet junkie for all my needs and started avoiding the telephone like it had cooties.  It’s a shame in some ways because it becomes a very lonely existence when all communication is done via typing but I guess that is how it was done prior to the invention of the telephone.  I wonder what Alexander Bell would think about that.  Something tells me though that he would have loved the internet.

Around the same time that all this internet worshipping started for me, the larger corporations in America started a big push for outsourcing their customer service overseas.  The most often used country for these services became India.  A huge population of educated individuals where English happens to be a language that is taught in the schools from early on.  The cost was a fraction of hiring a customer service rep in the United States so “Wow – off we go to increased profit margins”.  I traveled in India back in 2005 for business and spent 12 days there.  It was a tremendous experience, one I certainly will never forget and one I would like for my husband and kids to experience as well.  The culture is so unlike what we are used to that it baffles the brain.  I met some of the most incredible people and felt welcomed and taken care of.  We spent much of the time with a family on the southern most tip of India and their hospitality was unequaled to anything I have experienced previously or since.  But this sadly is completely irrelevant to my point of this blog.  Even though the people were wonderful, the country itself had absolutely nothing in common with how we live here in America.  The poverty is frighteningly sad and their many traditions are completely foreign to us as ours must be to them. On my way out of the country, we were at the airport in Madras and I was rummaging through a gift shop – of course I had not picked up something for each and everyone on my list.  Amidst the touristy junk was a shelf with books and in between books on cities in India, I read the title “EFFECTIVE CALL CENTER TRAINING soft skills”.  I was immediately fascinated and picked up the book to see what it was about.  Opening to the contents page I found myself reading through the chapter list: 1 – The Call Center, 2 – Call Center Functionality, 3 – The United States of America.  Hold the phone!  Now I am really curious.  I keep reading 4 – The Call, 5 – The Customer, 6 – The Product, 7 – American English – again – what is this? We were ready to board so I quickly paid 300 rupees for the book and headed to my plane anticipating some interesting reading on that hideously long flight back.

The bulk of the book wasn’t nearly as interesting as I had hoped.  All very detailed on how to effectively run a call center – exactly what the book title proposed.  However, the chapters that initially gripped me did have some interesting things to teach the fine folk of India.  I re-read a good portion of the book again in preparation for this blog.  It was a bit of a surreal experience.  It is hard to describe so I am going to do a little side story to explain the feeling of reading this book.  Let’s say I am institutionalized but I am sane enough to process information in an effective and intelligent manner.  Throughout my time being at the facility I have been evaluated by doctors seemingly a million times.  They have compiled all the information they have learned about me and have written a book about my habits, speech, history, idiosyncracies, patterns, hobbies, food preferences and so on.  Kind of feel like an organism under a  microscope?

Most of the statements about America were accurate but how some of it was presented was weird.  They had a highlight of historical significance to America that appropriately started with The American Revolution, talked about the Civil War, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor and the Cold War.  Then it skipped over to the US being the first on the moon and described our pride as Americans for having accomplished this – moves on to Vietnam stating that it brought embarrassment to the world’s most powerful nation and then more embarrassment with Watergate.  On to The Gulf War where it mentions that we established our air superiority and then wildly it goes on to  none other than O.J. Simpson and MonicaGate.  The O.J. Simpson trial for showing how we all make and voice our opinions and “gave new dimension to the importance of media in American lives.”  I also tend to think that all these reality TV shows got their roots in that televised personal account of these people’s lives.  Then regarding Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton, they write,  “The person occupying the highest office of the country is believed to have lied under oath.  Equally interesting is the fact that the president confessed to his behavior, and was forgiven by Americans.”  It is creepy to me how they are trying to figure out how we think so they can be more like us when they have to talk to us on the phone.  It reiterates again that our cultures are so different that an explanation is necessary on how we “aliens”  across the world react to things and why we react the way we do.

This is turning more into a book review which was not my initial intention but how this book was written and what it discusses has a strong relevance.  The rest of the chapter on America was interesting teaching them about our geography, climate, monetary system and time zones.  It discusses how we are governed and what our national flag and anthem are and how they came to be.  It spends a nice portion on our US postal system which explains our zip code system (I had no idea that ZIP stood for Zoning Improvement Plan) , abbreviations for things such as street, avenue etc.  and references a table on our state abbreviations and time zone location.  Then it delves back into our psychology in the sections about culture and society, an American family and sports.  It makes general points of accuracy but then also some huge generalizations that leave you baffled – “The day begins with a heavy breakfast of cereals, sausages or bacon” – ugh – I am overweight already but if I ate that each day for breakfast I would really be obese.  What about fruit and yogurt which is my preferred breakfast?   Another statement, “Relatives and blood-relations play very little or no role in an American family.  Unlike India grandparents are not very common in households and visits from relatives is infrequent and highly occasional.” – interesting statement but I feel they missed in explaining why the above is often true.  They don’t explain how each holiday in America is all about family get-togethers and reunions are frequent – this statement really makes it seem as if there are no familial bonds where really it is just that many times we live far from each other and because of our work ethic can not see each other as often as we like – that doesn’t mean we don’t talk on the phone with our family incessantly and that “our relatives and blood-relations don’t play a role in an American family”.

Now a very scary and somewhat unrelated statement that I hope was mis-researched but I think might actually be true, “Television has played an important role in shaping today’s America.  Almost 99% of the households have a TV.  An average American spends approximately 7 hours per day in front of the tube seeing one of the 1500 channels the medium offers.”  This book had it’s first edition published in 2001 in New Delhi so a bunch of this television has probably moved over to internet surfing since then but still – 7 hours, what a colossal waste of time.  And love how the tube is italicized, teaching our slang.  Slang is covered extensively in the chapter on American English which focuses on that and also teaches neutrality in speaking.  They feel that rather than trying to imitate the American’s speaking, it will be more effective to have a neutral accent so that they can be better understood.   They go through methods to achieve this.   Unfortunately for them I think it requires too much training and they have not been as effective as was necessary in that aspect.   This is where many Americans became frustrated with overseas call centers and it is one of the biggest complaints that I have.  There is something about the telephone and not being able to see the person that makes speaking with someone that has an accent more difficult.  I believe that we do a lot more reading of lips and facial expressions than we realize during a conversation.  For example, I know that with my rudimentary skills in Spanish I can converse and get my point across.  However, the times that I have to have a conversation in Spanish over the phone, it completely demoralizes me and I feel like I never took a Spanish lesson in my life.  I don’t understand the other person and I think it is because I can’t visually aid myself in deciphering what they are saying.  There is something highly frustrating about this and I know that I as well as many of my friends and family have been turned off by customer service conversations because of not being able to understand them.   I own a business in the south and I have to say some of these southern accents are impossible to understand.  I will not have anyone answer our business phones that has a strong accent.  Why would I want to frustrate my customers when they call me.  This is not discriminatory, it is simply good business practice.

I have mentioned a few times about the culture differences and this is a topic that is hard to express the importance of  but I know from my own experiences, culture differences cause a problem in this scenario.  The book references these culture differences often and spends an awful lot of pages on explaining our culture and how we think and feel.  Their definition of “soft skills” that a customer service agent should possess reiterates this – ” An agent should have an understanding of the customer’s culture, problems as well as that of the product he/she is representing”  What happens when you don’t inherently understand why someone would/does own the product that you are a customer service rep for because it is so foreign from anything that you have or will ever experience.  How can you effectively help someone in this situation?  Can an agent appreciate the frustration that is caused when something is not working or arrives late or is the incorrect item when you have no understanding of why someone would even buy this item.  Effective customer service is rooted in the feeling that the person on the other end of the line actually cares about your predicament and understands your need to have it taken care of.  How could a person in India or anywhere else in the world for that matter understand what we put importance in.    There are so many false assumptions made about what an American is like which is obvious by some of the statements made in the book and obvious by some of the press we receive overseas.    They are examining us under a microscope to find out how we tick so that they can use this to better serve their own country.  By most of the world we are viewed upon as a society that is self-centered and overbearing.   They are not doing a good job of ascertaining who we are and hopefully with everyone’s help we will show them how that will not better serve their country in the long run.

Apparently one of the first call centers in existence was set up by Pan American World Airlines in 1956.  Maybe it will be a topic of conversation in the new show that is airing.  Soon others followed and by the time the use of the internet and the telecommunication technology had advanced into the 1990′s, a whole new opportunity presented itself to the world.  Overseas firms could offer a 50-60 % cost reduction to American firms in handling their call center volume.  In the early 90′s, 3% of America’s population was employed by a call center.  Calculate that in your head for a second.  In their book, the writers described from 2001 through roughly 2010 they could bring in a revenue of $ 17 billion into the economy of India and provide employment for 1.1 million people.  That’s an awful lot of money and an awful lot of jobs that America needs here in our country to better our own economy.  Why should we send it there when we have so much need here.  First and foremost we should take care of our own citizens, help ourselves.

I made a small but possibly effective effort when I took the survey that was sent by American Express asking me how my customer service experience was.  I gave a good review because it was a good experience but most of all at the end where they give you the chance to comment I wrote  “thank you for giving me an American person to speak to about my American problem”.  This American customer service agent gets that changing my bank account is a privilege that I have and that I want to facilitate changing my accounts over to my new account efficiently.  He understands that  drafts for electricity and gas bills will be coming through soon and that my account needs to be accepting merchant deposits right away so that these bills can be paid.  He knows what it is like to have to go through a situation where a check “bounces” so he understands how quickly this needs to be done.  He  gave me the two things I needed to feel – cared about and understood.

Now I am not an economist but I am also no dummy and I realize the original reason behind going overseas was mainly driven by profit margins.  I get that if we bring customer service back over here that most likely these companies will have to account for this increased cost and will have to raise prices for their services or products.  But customer service is only a portion of their business, not their whole business so the cost is thereby  not the main cost of the product/service.  It will raise the cost to us consumers but it will most likely be closer to a 5-10% increase rather than a 50% increase.   Since time is money, isn’t it costing us when we have to hang on the phone for unprecedented time trying to explain why we need something and trying to understand their responses?  Can’t we give in a bit into some price increases if we save time on the other end?  Aren’t frustrationless calls worth something too?  Isn’t it of paramount importance that we think of our own economy first?  Don’t we want our neighbors, friends, acquaintances to have jobs?

I am sure by just going to the grocery store you have picked up on the fact that most items have been steadily increasing.  As a family we have increased our grocery bill by 25% in the past two years. We have started cutting back on our normal staples and price shopped  in order to bring that 25% back down to where we were 2 years ago.  It’s shocking how by steadily  increasing the price  a few pennies here and there or reducing the amount of product you get for the same price, so much of what we purchase every day has increased drastically.   This is an additional cost that we can’t generally see a benefit attached to.  You’re not getting better tasting food or more food for your new increased price.  At least if the reason for the cost increase was American customer service  you would get a reward for your extra cost, eventually a better American economy and a less frustrating customer service experience.  If our unemployed fellow citizens have jobs, they spend money and if they spend money, our economy is spurred on.  If you agree with me please make a concerted effort and try to fill out these surveys and questionaires and let these businesses know that you prefer for these jobs to come back to the United States.  Let them know that you are willing to incur a price increase if it is shown to be because of providing jobs to Americans.  I have to believe that if enough people will voice their opinions that these powerful businesses will respond.  Help shift our customer service back home to us.

Outsourcing our history to China – the final straw

Yesterday I was having my morning cup of coffee and flipping through a magazine when I turned on the TV to watch one of my favorite shows – CBS Sunday Morning.  No fail, they always have great topics and leave you feeling fulfilled about watching.  Your fulfillment generally comes with either excitement over something you didn’t know but are happy to learn about or amazed at some gross injustice that is happening in the world that you can’t wrap your head around.  The latter is what happened to me this week.  It was reiterated again this morning by an affronted news reporter on the radio who was just as mind boggled as I was.

I know America has gone further and further away from our status of a manufacturing powerhouse but this last outsourcing choice really takes the cake.  For many years now the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation has been working on honoring this extraordinary man in Washington, DC to celebrate his many great accomplishments.  A private endeavour, not government based, the Foundation had the government approve a beautiful spot of land, a 4 acre plot, on the National Mall at 1964 Independence Blvd., an address with significance for the time period of many of his important contributions.  The memorial has been in the works since the charter was approved in 1998.  They put out a bid for design and awarded the project to Roma Design Group, a firm based out of San Francisco, CA  in the year 2000.  We travel forward another 6 years when in 2006 the design that Roma developed with the “Mountain of Despair” leading you to the “Stone of Hope” was unanimously approved by the National Capital Planning Commission granting them the ability to finalize the design of the project.

The funding required to create this project is of course outstanding and they pulled in some “outstanding” individuals to make it happen.  One of my favorite actors, Morgan Freeman, is brought in to publicize the building of the Memorial and TV ads are created to promote donations to the foundation for the Memorial.  A recorded 120 million dollars is expected to be needed so they have their work cut out for them but they work steadily and get donations from big companies like StateFarm, PepsiCo, Exxon Mobil, GE, FedEx, Cigna, Shell Oil, Verizon and Sony just to name a few.  The South African government donates 100 grand and promotion/fundraising keeps humming along  with events such as  the ground breaking ceremony followed by the National Dream Dinner Gala, a Kids for King National Essay program and The Dream Concert.  Dollars are rolling in and things are looking great for the project both before and after the design team heads to China to explore granite quarries and fabrication sites.

Shut up!  Everything up till now is grand and beautiful – a memorial for a man who has accomplished more with his pinky toe than I will accomplish with my whole being in 10 life times.  A memorial,  grand and sophisticated with meaning and dedication to everything he stood for in his life.  Etched onto a 450 foot crescent-shaped granite wall that juts out on either side of the Mountain of Despair will be fourteen of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most unforgettable quotes.  Quotes that people strive to live by every day.  This man has brought justice, hope, meaning to so many lives and now we insult him by having his 30 foot statue made from Chinese granite by a Chinese  sculptor named Master Lei Yixin.  My mouth is still hanging open!

This design team had from the year 2000 to the year 2006 to “get ready” for the ground breaking ceremony and get their ideas finalized and their materials chosen and accounted for.  In that 6 year time span, could they not  find an American quarry for the granite nor an American artist as their sculptor?  Was this even a consideration or is it normal to spit into the face of an American icon.  Do we not have any pride left?  All these different dinners and programs – don’t many have the word “National” in their names, does that not mean anything anymore? I am appalled and saddened by this news.  Another step in the wrong direction for America.  I own a small, insignificant in the scheme of things, company here in the United States and I struggle every day to come up with American made items even though it becomes more and more difficult to find American made raw materials.  I try though and will keep trying and will do everything in my power not to outsource my manufacturing oversees.  I feel that as an American that is my duty.  I am of the opinion that every little item that an American buys from an American company puts dollars back in the pockets of our fellow American citizens.  Helping each other survive is the name of the game especially in this now rocky, recessionary period.

I live in South Carolina and when we drive up to Boone or Banner Elk in North Carolina to go skiing in the winters or we drive up to visit the Nanthahala River in the summer, you could throw a rock at any given moment and hit a quarry.  I get giddy when I think  how I will come up here one day to get my granite countertop when we do our kitchen make-over.  The abundance is fabulous.  I mean, come on, this state actually has a town called Granite Quarry, North Carolina.  It took me all of 20 seconds to find that on Google. But this design team could not find granite in America?  And they passed over every artist in America, deemed them unfit and incapable with their insulting choice of a Chinese sculptor?  The pride we should feel for this project has been robbed and I don’t understand why.  What is the motivation behind the choice to outsource this incredibly important project to another country, and of all places, China?   I make a simple choice every morning when I get up and go to work – today I will not outsource to any other country what I can make here myself.  The Martin Luther King Jr. “National” Memorial Project Foundation really should have felt the need to make that statement themselves especially in light of the oh-so-very American man they honor with this grand memorial.

Self-preservation – Organization

An organized life is like a finely tuned machine in that all the aspects start to work together seamlessly if they are greased regularly, placed in the proper position, ordered by function and are rid of any dirt or grime that shouldn’t be there.  I did not discover the power of organization until somewhere in my thirties.  My epiphany started with a humongous pile of laundry of all things.  It had been an especially bad day and I was feeling like throwing in the towel and heading to bed.  Instead I folded a load of laundry and then another and another and scary – another.  By the end of that ridiculous pile, my mood had dissipated and I felt ready to tackle the problems that I had not wanted to face earlier.

That happened a few more times before I understood the full impact of what my laundry folding was doing for me.  It dawned on me that my moods were generally brought on when the home responsibilities together with the work responsibilities became too much to handle and then everything I touched fell apart.  So something as boring as laundry was good because it was a task you could not mess up and a task that  I could complete without failure.  It led me to realize that accomplishing  my tasks is what made me feel better and that the act of running out of time to accomplish those tasks was what was stressing and frustrating me.  So… if I could gain more time in a day, then I would be able to tackle all the home and work tasks without that desperate feeling of not having enough hours to do them in.  But how do you add hours to a day?  You can’t,  but you can become more efficient with how you use your time.

My husband taught me a trick he had learned in sales training.  He taught me to make my Monday’s easier by sitting down for 30 minutes sometime on Sunday and outlining what I had to accomplish that week.  That took my Monday’s from being a tempest in a tea-cup to a well oiled machine.   When you are juggling a business and running a household, raising two kids and trying to have a happy marriage, you can’t afford to have a disorganized life.  Organization is obviously the key to less stress and I started to expand on these simple concepts that I was finally learning. I put up a bulletin board in the kitchen with the week’s upcoming activities. I had my children see the true value of their agendas and in turn make more of their own decisions.   I spent moments in between other moments accomplishing small tasks that only required 5 or 10 minutes.  I now had time to end my work day at 5 pm and pleasure read for 45 minutes before I had to start dinner.  Maybe not every day but a few days of the week and that was a few more than before.

My biggest contribution to my self-preservation was coming up with my organizer bags.  In the midst of my learning these new life skills I realized I was wasting precious time looking for “stuff”.  The longer you live in a house, the more “stuff” you accumulate.  Well we have been here a WHILE! I understood that placing things of like nature together made it easier to find it and would thereby save me some well needed time along the way.  It was time that was my enemy and the lack of it that was causing my overwhelmed moments.  Saving time became my mantra. I could stick things in containers, boxes, bags, drawers – but you still had to remember that you put them in there and my memory wasn’t getting any better.   So I expanded on the idea that if I used clear tubs in my workshop to find my different fabric scraps and tools then why not in my daily life but in bag form.  I created the clear  bag with the laminate velcro top and became hooked instantly.

All of a sudden I had a bag in every aspect of my life that was color coordinated to the rooms in my house or color specific for the person using it.  My daughter’s polly pocket stuff was in a girly version of the bag, my son’s yugi-oh cards were in a more acceptable boy colored bag.  My tubes of lipsticks and powders and cleansers went in an elegant version.  Even my husband’s tools were organized into bags so that we could find them faster.  Because of their clear nature, things are easier to spot and because they group things together, I am not constantly searching for misplaced items.
I became somewhat obsessive and obnoxious about the multitude of uses I placed these bags in.  Lucky for my family, the initial craze subsided after a few months and I became more normal in my organizer bag use.

I do still have at least 50 of them floating around in my life in one way or another and fully believe that my life has taken a turn for the better after adding them to my every day existence. And it seems I am not the only one.  I have turned  friends into organizer bag addicts  and strangers have emailed me to let me know how great they are.  One new customer recently emailed and said “When I first received my organizer bag as a present, I kind of looked at it not knowing how I would use it. Now not a day goes by I don’t have it in use in some way or another.  I had to buy more.”  It’s exactly how I feel too and I am so glad that it serves the same purpose for others.   I have defied science by adding  time to each and every single day!

What came first, the action or the post?

This is something new for me, blogging.  Even though around my home I feel that I have a lot to say and everyone should be listening, this is a bit different when posting to the world who can decide whether they even want to be bothered.  My children certainly don’t have that choice although they often think they do.

You can read a bit about me by clicking on the “about” link on this page and that will give you an idea of who I am – just a regular “Jane” with a bit of cross cultural influence.  I decided to start blogging because I launched my new website with the help of some great men and women at my website developers company “Mediasation” – a super worthwhile endevour.  Since I launched, I have been engrossed in learning about getting your name out there on the internet.  Everyone can certainly find me easy enough if they know that they want to but it is creating that want that is of paramount importance.

That is where I have been living these past few months – why would someone want to seek me out??!!  I have plenty of reasons to believe that you do want to because I have a tremendous belief in what I create and I tend to think I can be a pretty cool chick as well.  That will get the people who know me and my business to come and visit but what about all those strangers that don’t know a thing about Samantha Grace Designs and what we offer or  about me?  So I am on a pilgrimage to learn about the ways to get your name known on the internet.

I have seen endless videos on social media, learned about the three big ones – Facebook, Twitter and Linked in.  I foraged into rate and review sites such as Yelp!, Citysearch and Angie’s List.  I learned about blogging (that is what this is right?) and that Debbie Weil, author of the Corporate Blogging Handbook, says the term “blog” stands for “Better Listings on Google”.  That should help then, I sincerely hope.  I also read through pages and pages on “QR codes” and “Location Based Services” otherwise know as “LBS”.  That aspect of social media I find the most fascinating and feel it shows how mad people are about posting what they are doing.  To check-in at a location and let everyone know where you are and what you are doing, that is the epitome of social media.  Facebook certainly started that but LBS has taken that to a new level.  Unfortunately, being an internet based business, LBS is not going to help me achieve the name recognition that I am searching for and I am still not convinced if LBS is not a bit over the top in the social media arena.  That one has to grow on me a bit more before I will start playing around with it.

I struggle often with the concept of Social Media because in some ways I find it obsessive.  I check my Facebook now on a regular basis and started checking in at Linked In more regularly.  I loaded my company up on the most important rate and review sites, I am blogging and I am seriously considering setting up a Twitter account.  Self-serving this may seem to promote my business shamelessly like that, but I am actually also doing this because I enjoy it!  Is that good?  When you see some of the posts that come through on these sites you wonder if they have time to live their lives or if the social media site is living it for them.  Are we posting things that happen to us or are we creating things to do so that we can post about them?  We are back to the age-old question about the chicken and the egg, but does it really matter what came first – the action or the post?