"And Best Display Goes To..."

It takes a whole lot in starting a business, I understand! I'm reflecting on the fact that all throughout my life, I have been in the greeting cards business and didn't even know that I had already begun the process of starting up a company. You see, many years back, I had the thought of creating my own cards and began drawing Christmas cards for my family. They seemed to like the cards I drew. "Oh, how pretty. Can you make me some for the ladies at my church?" I recall a family member asking me. I continued to dwell on the notion that I could draw and sell greeting cards. Next, on a windy Saturday, I remember still today, I went out onto a busy street in Queens, NY, dared to set-up a folding table, and stood there as people went by my artsy table. I wanted to see how strangers would react to my artwork. I remember a man who was rushed to get somewhere stopped and said to me, "These are wonderful. Will you be here when I get back in a couple of hours?" I told the man yes, but it was a windy day, remember? So, I didn't. Again, positive feedback, but no actual sales. Then I went to a class that offered a course on "How to Make Greeting Cards" and during intermission, the instructor, a well-known greeting card designer herself, viewed my cards and told me, "Why are you in my class? You know how to make greeting cards!" She loved what I had brought to the class as samples. After that, I joined a "How to Start Your Own Business" workshop somewhere in Downtown Manhattan, NY. Every week I worked on the skills they drilled us to have once you were ready to go "out there." On the last day of the workshop, there was a celebration where we were all to "stage" our businesses in a particular church's basement. We were going to have REAL customers. Everyone was excited! There was the lady who had racks of clothing... she was staging a boutique. I wondered then, "Where did she get all those clothes?" (Okay, I was young.) Then there was another table that had blood pressure equipment, staged as a health center facility. The guy who wanted to be a florist suggested he and I should be next to each other. He said, "Yeah, everyone buys flowers and greeting cards. So, we can display our tables next to each other!" I said, "OK!" Little did I remember that there was an award to be given out that night for the best business display. The best display would have to be the one with the most customers, the business with the most interaction, the one that would have all the "dots" dotted on what we were taught were necessary components in having a great business. I was so busy that night. The hours flew by. I never thought to stop and think about the "Big Visit" we were having that night by the workshop's president, until it was time for the acknowledgements. We had to close shop. The presentations in the other room were about to begin. I sat down in one of the pews and all of a sudden it hit me. "I think I'm going to win for tonights' activity," I thought, and of course, got all my nerves up in a knot! It was just a strange feeling with goose pumps I got. "The Marketing Award goes to blah blah and blah." Two guys got up from the back and people clapped and cheered. I nervously clapped. I couldn't work on the marketing plan. Didn't understand it, so I never entered it. The workshop president and surprise visitor continued, "And the 'Best Display' goes to someone who did what we taught in this workshop all these weeks, the business I saw tonight had many customers, had people showing interest in the products being sold, had money coming in (a dollar a card), had customer lists, and he just kept going... "I know we will see this business 'out there'... pause... the Best Display goes to Sandra Santiago, 'Cards by Sandra!'" (Wish I had an emoji to put in here.) Everyone cheered! I felt my body getting up (almost an out-of-body experience) and going to the podium to receive the award. I couldn't believe it! So, it has been these kinds of experiences that has brought me here to where I am now. I finally have the chance to show the world, not just in small events, my creativity in my designs. It's been a long run. I feel almost an obligation, a duty to complete this cycle. Those people in that church that night, the ones that cheered me on, are waiting to see my cards "out there." I'm committed to showing them that I did it. I can not disappoint...Welcome to Just Lips! They are the most unique cards you will ever buy! (And,yeah, I like writing too!)