Wow, I’m certainly being tested these days. I’ve got my mojo back but I’ve been dealing with some challenges nonetheless. It’s now the end of August and I still don’t have even a sample pair of our kid’s jeans. Even though the factory really screwed up this time with our paper pattern, we uncovered something else of great importance; so I believe something good came out of something bad.
Our grading issues have come to the surface and we’re really analyzing how to grade our patterns. Standard grading does not apply to our special sizing. So even if we could use standard grading on our patterns, it doesn't work. So it’s another challenge that we’re facing; but Jillian and Cara are working it out. It’s a good thing that we had a major delay because it really brought up this very important issue for us.
So, here’s what’s been happening since my July entry:
We prepared for the National Down Syndrome Congress Conference. Jillian, Cara and I headed to San Antonio, Texas. We flew out to the conference August 4th and returned home on August 7th. We packed up our dressing room, one of every size ladies’ jeans and our samples of youth and children’s jeans and tees. We met so many wonderful people and actually sold a few pair of our ladies jeans. We got a lot of well-needed measurements of children and talked to lots and lots of parents. The event was a wonderful experience.When we got back, we had lots of work. Our T shirt samples were useless. They just aren’t right. But without models, we’ve only been guessing on how to size them. Now that we’re starting to get more models, I think we’ll eventually get these sizes correct. We’re trying to finish up the children’s jeans and tees first, and then we’ll concentrate on the youth sizes.
Next came our local Buddy Walk. The event was August 20th and the turnout was absolutely incredible. I believe there were more than 4,000 people in attendance. I met more people and got more measurements. So many people were happy to help us, I just couldn't believe it; they are so desperate for clothing that fits their kids. Jillian was unable to attend but Mom was by my side.
One of my goals to be a speaker actually came to pass. I was invited by the Rotary Club of Mentor to be their guest speaker. On August 25th, I was so honored to share my story. I planned and prepared for days. Using a Power Point presentation I was able to visually show some of the clothing challenges that we are trying to overcome with our unique clothing line. The response was amazing. I can’t wait to have more opportunities like this one. 