getting some ZZZZs

I don’t know about you, but the past couple of weeks have been Extremely Busy. The first week of September involved a super heavy workload - that kept me working day and night. The second week included house guests and evenings out Every Single Night of the week - only to be concluded with a weekend getaway. 

Basically, I’ve been operating on very little rest and it’s my goal to get back into my usual (healthier) routine. I know that I feel better, have better stress tolerance, and really believe that I process things faster and make better decisions.

This is the week that things will get back to normal. That doesn’t mean slow (by any means), but at least - it will be more typical and I can really ensure that I can get my usual ZZZZs. 

Besides, I NEED all the beauty rest I can get.

i'm not a prude, but a mom? yes.

So I took my eleven year-old shopping for some new clothes with my mom. After going to a couple of stores, we went to the place where we generally have more success (for school clothes): Abercrombie (not to be confused with Abercrombie & Fitch - the store for teenagers). This is the store that is marketed to KIDS.

We walked around. Found some very cute shirts, shorts, tee-shirts, etc. My daughter didn’t want anything from there today (odd!), but on our way out of the store - I noticed something: The mannequins were ALL intentionally styled to have the shirts unbuttoned very LOW. 

I asked the young teenager salesperson if I could talk to a manager (as I had questions about this). I was nice. So was the manager. I asked how old the target customer of this store is - “the upper range ends at 14.”

I asked why all of the mannequins how their shirts unbuttoned so low. 

“Corporate dictates this to us.”

We started shopping in this store when my daughter was 9 (maybe late 8’s). I just think that the store could be a TAD more tasteful and represent it’s clothing to CHILDREN in a more appropriate manner. 

I’m not a prude - seriously, but even my daughter thought that the store should be more appropriate (and that wasn’t because I told her this). My mom had her out of the store before I really went around taking pictures of their mannequins. 

I’m sure there is worse in the world and that I’m trying Very Hard to shelter her from tons of exposure to sexually explicit, overt impressions. I think it’s my responsibility to keep an eleven year old as young as I can for as long as I can. She’s got enough peer pressure in her new middle school to grow up. 

We discussed today that I’m going to shop for her online and return stuff she Doesn’t Like (which hopefully, won’t be Everything Mom Likes). Once the new clothes arrive at home, she’ll be able to see them mixed in with her current wardrobe. Overall, I’m hoping that removing the pressure of shopping in a store (with all of those impulse pressures) will be healthier for our over-protective, sheltering mother/preteen-growing-up-too-fast daughter relationship. Don’t EVEN get me 

started on the fact that the mannequins even have developed breasts!! No pressure.

Every One Is This Unbuttoned.

That’s a directive from some corporate marketing person - who’s kid either hasn’t gotten to the tender age of ten or eleven yet and so they don’t realize how impressionable they are, 

OR

They don’t have kids yet - and DON’T CARE about the message that this is sending,

OR

They have kids that are already all grown up and so, they don’t remember how YOUNG the age of 

ten and eleven really is.

They have the buttons. Soooo . . . someone there realizes that they NEED the buttons. Where is the disconnect between these two departments? The clothing designer gave these clothes buttons. Is that designer upset that the store merchandising stylist doesn’t take into consideration that buttons on clothing for the younger demographic are intended to be used?

I’m purposefully NOT continuing down the path of questioning the fit of the clothing used on the

mannequins, but really - I am pretty curious about why Super Tight in preteen wear is more stylish. 

I guess only the folks at Corporate know these answers for sure.

Abercrombie - if you’re going to have a store for KIDS, then please let them be KIDS and button 

up your shirts!!!

too much love

Ever take the opportunity to have a nice long weekend? Yeah, not exactly a full 3-day weekend, but kinda close. We ate dinner out after work Friday night and then Saturday morning got up and packed our kiddos to ship them off to their summer camp. 

My husband convinced me to stay in a hotel in a small town close to the camp the night before they were supposed to “check in” by luring me there with the promise of antique shopping. And he delivered! 

Learned a lesson: YOU CAN LOVE YOUR WORK TOO MUCH. 

When I antique shop, I like to think of myself as treasure hunting. I met a couple of owners that seemed SO caught up in their antiques, that they really didn’t intend to sell any. When I walked into one shop - there was SO MUCH stuff (all AMAZING finds, btw) and it was all incredibly overpriced - I knew that I would probably not buy much. The owner was nice to me. Almost seemed a little too nice, but honestly - I think he was just very happy to have someone in his store (I was the only customer on a Saturday). 

There were so many items: rows and rows of furniture, filled with china and unusual odds and ends. One his of rooms (there were three large rooms in this shop) had the blue and white china hung all over each wall (serious collector). He had lamps and light fixtures; art and old figurines. He was INTO this. I asked where he had accumulated his inventory from and his answer was simple: everyone and everywhere. He offered to come and buy items from me, but I had not mentioned wanting to sell anything (I’m still accumulating). 

Then he said the strangest thing in the saddest voice possible: “You want to buy me out?”

Nope. 

He confessed that he had 5 other storage buildings just as full as this shop (and I COMPLETELY believe him). Ultimately, I did buy a hand-painted Italian dish from him (didn’t cost very much, but is VERY lovely!!), and I would have possibly asked to buy more, but it was all so overpriced and quite frankly, difficult to reach (or see very clearly) for all of the items piled on top of each other.

I felt like I had crashed a high-end hoarder. 

My life lesson from this is: yes, you can love your work too much. (That was his reason for all of his inventory.) If he would lower his prices and space his inventory out some, so people can actually shop, his shop would be so busy! But he won’t. He likes his things and is looking to buy more (not sell more).

It was a sad sight and one that could make me a fan of (gulp) more modern design!

After this weekend, I’m feeling the need to purge and live a simple, sparse existence.

fave for Friday

LOVED the article in WSJ this month about the CEO of J.Crew. 

You can learn a lot about passion for what you do from reading about Mickey Drexler. Sounds like he’s a pistol to work with, but what a great leader in retail. 

Amazing.

http://magazine.wsj.com/features/the-big-interview/retail-therapist/?KEYWORDS=mickey+drexler

There is also some behind the scenes video that’s darn addictive to watch. 

Enjoy & happy Friday!

happy day off!

Hope your day off today was as family-filled nice as mine! Thank you to the veterans who served our great country!

knowing your stuff

I had a VP once that always had her people in leadership positions reading and giving what were essentially casual book reports. It was to her super important for us to be informed of the latest industry business theories. The other work practice that she stressed to us was to be well aware of what our competitors were doing. It gave me a whole respect for what “research” could do for my career.

Many years, leaders and even companies later, I still consider this idea of research to be a very important responsibility. I like to be the person who has a very important article regarding my industry to pass around the office. 

Reading up on industry news displays an interest in your industry, shows engagement in your company and will help to gain knowledge which you can apply each day for better-informed decisions.

It’s just part of my “homework” and yes, it’s an investment, but it really pays off at work. I read print magazines, books and industry publications as well as subscribe to certain websites. Also, I REALLY keep an eye on my competitors to study strategies and brand positioning (which is key to knowing what you need to do to differentiate your own brand).

What do you do to stay ahead of the knowledge curve for your career?

when life gives you lemons

You know it’s a Monday when you actually arrive at the office nice and EARLY (to get a jump on the upcoming super busy day) and apparently all technology is failing you. It turns out the breaker switch for my office was “tricked” over the weekend and none of my outlets were working. 

The good news was that the cause of the failed technology was figured out really fast, FIXED super quick and I was able to get on with my awesome (okay, I’m just trying to convince myself on that note) Monday.

Lessons learned?

• Don’t sweat the small stuff
• It pays to have a good relationship with the office tech gurus
• It’s also really nice to work with people who want to be helpful
• Once something starts your day on a “bad” note, look for the good side of it to quickly turn it around for yourself

what have you been reading lately?

If you were watching the Bravo series "Kell On Earth," then you might also like to learn more about Kelly Cutrone.

Her new book, "If You Have To Cry Go Outside And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You," will definitely give you a broadened picture of who Kelly is and how she came to be the owner of her fashion PR company, People's Revolution. My favorite chapters of this book were chapter seven, "You Are The Brand: Normal Gets You Nowhere," and also chapter eight, "If You Have To Cry, Go Outside" because these are the meaty chapters with advice for building personal brands and future careers. For those of us already on our way, it's a good reminder of what we like about our own journey. The fact that it is personal, kooky and always evolving.

When you decide to invest in this book, please keep in mind that Kelly Cutrone has become a household name to a younger demographic, thanks to her presence on the TV shows "The Hills," "The City" and now "Kell On Earth." So her main target audience for this book is high school students, college students and 20 somethings. If you are a fan, you'll enjoy getting to know a more personal side of Kelly. For instance, you'll read about the birth of her daughter, Ava. You'll also gain an appreciation for how she has built her business and you'll get an insider glance at how she operates her office.

If you've watched her give Whitney Port advice on "The City" over the past seasons, (or watched her Bravo show lately), you'll already expect that her read will be kinda kooky until she talks business. Then, she really shines and suddenly, you realize that she's crazy like a fox.

a little goes a long way

"It's the little things that mean a lot."

We all know this to be true, but a great example of this in the office is the simple "thank you" through an action. This action might be something as easy as getting the team Starbucks or personally saying to someone how much you appreciate their work. The big idea is recognizing all of those extra efforts that teams or individuals give which make projects successful. Everyone appreciates being told "great job" or "thanks for your help" when the actions deserve this recognition and when the kudos are genuine. It's an opportunity to give praise and reinforce the type of work behavior that you want from the team. It's also a moment when either the team or the individual sees that you do really value their work and to receive positive feedback. The more powerful recognition is when the action is unexpected - that way people can realize that every project is important and that you're looking for the good in their work.

Do something that makes an impact - something they'll remember and want to recreate. This doesn't need to be expensive, just thoughtful.