Mall Marathon
I just have to throw it out there– today, I survived a 17 hour shift. On a Saturday, at the mall, 9 days before Christmas.
Yeah… and I never want to have that experience again. I got here at 7 a.m., and around 2 p.m., was already beginning to feel a loss of identity. At 4 p.m., a RockStar was looking pretty good, although, since I have a moral stance against energy drinks, I somehow made it through without one. When I closed, I’ve never felt more happy.
I know there’s something wrong with doing a “mall marathon”, which I’m not applying my problem-solving skills to yet, because I’m really tired–I simply can’t figure it out. I think that is the biggest challenge that I’m facing right now in the project… which I’ll discuss more in the next post.
Visitors Aplenty
I saw 13 people I know today! Many others have stopped by as well during the past two weeks, which I really appreciate.
Today it was wonderful, spontaneous, and pretty evenly distributed throughout the day. I think it was some good kiosk karma, helping to make the marathon less of a burden.
Showing the kiosk is kind of like giving someone a tour of your first on-your-own apartment. You’re proud of it, even though it’s minimalistic (translation: ghetto).
Actually, by now, our displays are looking pret-ty good, and we’re bustling along. First kiosk and all. But we do have that “hey, this is our business!” pride going on, so if you do visit, watch out for that. 
Awesome New Products!
Our kiosk is called “Treats & Treasures,” and we’d been thinking that we needed more Christmas-y treats to add, but weren’t sure what or how to go about it. We had brainstormed & wanted to find chocolate pretzels, hot cocoa tins, cookie dough or do-it-yourself cookie decorating kits, Christmas taffy, etc.
So on Friday when I was at Nutty Guys, Nathan showed me some chocolate-caramel covered pretzels and tubs of Christmas caramels… and I was definitely happy. I hadn’t told him we were looking for those types of things, and I didn’t know he had access to them, either.
What a blessing to find the exact things we were wanting, without even looking for them! I am really grateful for things like that which have happened throughout this experiment!
I’ll post pictures of the caramels & pretzels– when I get home, because…
The Mall’s Wireless Internet… An Art & Science
The internet here is seriously finicky! I’ve actually put scotch tape on the kiosk desk, plotting the exact coordinates where my laptop has to sit in order to catch the wireless network.
If more than two people walk by the kiosk, the network cuts off. That I know this, I’m sure, is a reflection on my pseudo-geek status.
Upcoming Carnival…
And finally, get ready for our blog carnival announcement, later this evening or tomorrow… That’s all I’m going to say about that. From the shadows of the everlasting kiosk… goodnight!
1 Comment
December 19, 2006 at 10:37 am
Again, Melissa and I were so excited to see you on Saturday. You go little Miss Entrepreneur You! I love to see people I know start up new businesses!
Anyway, we’re excited to give the Ballerina Bag and the Fairy Princess outfit to our Sub-for-Santa family. Three-year-old Trinity is such a girly girl, I’m sure she’ll love it!
Glad I could do Christmas shopping and help out a friend at the same time. What a great feeling!
I can’t believe you pulled a 17-hour shift, Carolynn!!!! Hannah disseminated a volunteer sign-up sheet on Sunday to recruit some manpower for you. And, I think that I ought to put you in touch with this gentleman I know - John - whose business is helping grow and support other businesses. (It’s called ADDoptions). He’s writing an e-book right now (which you should totally do, that is, if you ever find time to BREATHE) and has a sharp business head. He might be able to help with getting you some more manpower for your growing business.
I hope that I can incorporate your ingenuity into my new business venture. At any rate, though, I just wanted to say “YOU GO GIRL!!!” Seriously! Hey, you should write up a press release and/or column and submit it to Jeanette Bennett, the editor of BUSINESSQ Magazine. Email her at: jeanette@uvmag.com. She’s, quite honestly, one of my mentors; an absolutely amazing woman. She’s a wife and mother of four, the editor of three magazines, and is simply amazing. I think she would love to do a little spotlight on you and your business in an upcoming issue of BUSINESSQ.
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