Our very own Penelope

The last week or so has been a little nutty. I've been working on a big deal website with a team in New York that changed the creative on the site no less than a dozen times in three weeks. The revisions were actually easier to manage than one of the clients. She's very good at the false gratitude before she drops the big open ended question that eludes to something she might think didn't get done her way. And, she's a chronic repeater. I hate repeaters. This isn't the first grade. All adults in this game. Once is plenty.

To get a real feel for how she sounds on the phone during our super fun daily or even, lucky us, twice daily status calls, watch this clip. She may have been the muse for this character from SNL. Yes, she's Penelope.



It's been extra fun. Especially the whole passive aggressive game she seems to have perfected throughout her career. The good news is that the team I've been lucky enough to work with can read her quite well and just move past it and happily do their work. And, we've all found ways to laugh about the odd repeating and condescending tone.

I didn't put this up to complain. But, I'm curious about how other women in this field feel about some of the women they have to deal with. I find that male counterparts are often easier to work with. Eliminate the emotion and the insecurity and things seem to work really well. I wonder what it is in her life or in her career that has made her difficult and childish.

We get to work in an industry that can be terribly fun. Being around exceptional creative and watching something flat and boring turn in to an interactive work of art is a favorite part of my job. Then helping people turn the fun that we've had building something for them in to something they can be proud of, and that will yield growth in revenue and market share and perception. There are few things better than that.

Today, I started to write my curriculum for the branding class I teach next fall. I have over 50 women enrolled. I hope I can help them choose to love the process and to like the client despite the serious character flaws like our chronic repeater. Should probably learn that myself.

My tiny tribe.

I might talk about shoes more than I talk about my kids. Just so they don't come asking me all kinds of questions one day... I should probably say something. I mean, I'd totally give up shoes and Diet Coke for these three.

Meet my little dancing queen and the other mother in our home, my littler drama queen with a better fashion sense than many of my adult friends, and my tiny, (large headed because his brain is hugemongous) brilliant, soon-to-be world renowned, artist.

sundance, ut  :  late summer  :  2010

Living in Utah has its perks. Sundance is one of them. It's one of our spots. It smells like heaven up there year round. The skiing is easy for kids. The hiking is amazing. I can't even tell you how beautiful the miles of aspens are. The way their leaves tinkle when the wind blows. It's one of my favorite sounds of this place I have not always loved. The more I wanted to get out of this state, the harder it seemed to hold on to me. I mean, there is really no better place on earth if you're diagnosed with some rare form of Cancer.  I got lucky and had amazing care. And, thankfully I got to stay with this three amazing little people in this place I finally really love.

This one though... he's a problem.

fenway  : 6 months

He eats everything. You know, things like crayons, mechanical pencils, blocks, chair legs, chaptsick, flip flops, toilet paper, baby wipes, grass, and chalk. He'd move in to the garbage can or composter if I let him. We should have named him Pigpen. I hate that I have to carry a lint remover with me all the time. And, I'm getting a little tired of his evening liaisons in the playroom with the giant stuffed tiger. He's a horndog. Yes, the little snip-snip didn't solve the humping problem. Lucky he has the cutest dog face ever and he knows how to use it.

These little ones, even the teeny one, are kind of awesome. We're heading in to the years that they won't always think I'm awesome. Some days I get the "worst mom ever" label. Now it's over things like homework and beets and brushing teeth. Soon enough it will be about boys and texting and curfews and cars. I'll take it all. I think it means I must be doing my job.

Mes coups de coeur! J'aime.

I'm very serious when I say that I'm a shoe whore. Think I'm exaggerating? My daughter did a little inventory tonight and then started taking pictures to document my addiction. She's threatening to start her own blog about it. (Name yet to be determined.) The truth is that I'd give up Diet Coke for shoes. Can't wait to hear the gasps. This is serious business.

However, THIS is also serious business. I love pretty things. I don't mean pretty girly things like flowers or jewelry. I can do without most of that. If you know me well, you know that my watch and my tiny silver chain with the turquoise drop qualify as most of my jewelry for the day, every day. The rest I could maybe live without. When I say pretty things, I mean things like these:

From the Odd Molly Spring 2011 Collection

I know, I know... the leggings!!  They are as hot as they are adorable.

Odd Molly has long been my favorite line of clothing. I love the beautiful colors, shapes, and the mixture of youthful fabrics and sweet embroidery with the sexy sophistication of the silks and lace-trimmed pieces. I adore the brand story. So does my 10 year old who is now able to wear their XS pieces without them drowning her. 

I know that clothes and shoes can make people seem shallow and silly. I have to admit that I generally think that about anyone I see in anything Juicy Couture. (It makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.) There's just something special about the pieces that give you goosebumps when you put them on. That's what Odd Molly does for me. Unfortunately that's also what really really pricey Italian shoes also do for me.

(For those that think this line might be a little too dainty and girly... you can check out my other favorite line but be for-warned that it's all kinds of naughty. No, not all skanky, just some well-placed super foul language on very sweetly embroidered tops and accessories. It's genius. If you get offended easily, don't go so we can still be friends.)

Kisses!

DUH, WINNING!

This is our version of winning around here. Sunny day at the park next to a lake. I had this photo blown up to an 11x17 today. Then I hung it at the top of the stairs where we will see it all the time. Nothing makes a bad day evaporate faster than this kid.

Good creative is so sexy

I mean it. I work with some amazing designers. It's one of the perks of my job. They're always pretty confident, very trendy, and for some reason... funny. What's cuter than that? I'll tell you. Their work. Good design = aphrodisiac. Test me, I dare you.

Sometimes it's not really the design. It's the delivery. These could possibly be the most fun and clever business cards I've seen in the last several years and I've seen a gazillion. You do things like this with your brand and you'll be remembered.

Don't get me wrong. Hand me a beautifully printed traditional card on paper that makes me know that you aren't a cheapskate and value your brand and I might swoon just a little bit.

Plenty of people believe that the relevance of the business card is long gone. Pretty sure a lot of those people also thought that barber shops died when trendy salons or stupid chains like Bikini Cuts started to pop up in their towns.

Guess what? Some of those barbershops have been there forever because they didn't forget about their brand and they learned how to deliver that brand in traditional and non-traditional ways. Fast Eddies in Allston, MA is one of those.

Tell me you don't like what they're doing? It's so unexpected for a barber shop to put branding first.

I love it!

I MARVEL. So will you.

I'm a packaging junkie. You are too right? You should be. Lovely Package is the first site I visit every day. I spend a huge amount of time each week thinking about, writing about, teaching about and pouring over brands, their products, their identities, and how those brands are taken to market. Packaging is fun and can be the difference between average and outstanding for a brand. Not every brand can move the market and cause a stir. Many will not. Honestly, most will not. But the lucky few will get the double-take and they will move the needle just enough to change things.

Like this....

HOXTON STREET MONSTER SUPPLIES

Fantastic right? Keep going.

It gets better. Here, in this shop that Roald Dahl would possibly wet himself to see, one can purchase things like Human Snot, Organ Marmalade, Fresh Nail Clippings, and Pickled Eyeballs.

This is the store all little boys dream of. Forget toys and candy. This is the stuff of their fairy tales. And, when they are done shopping, they can write and create and dream up those fairy tales by wandering down a secret passage in to the Ministry of Stories.

I want to go. I want to write and create with them. I want to hear their stories.

I work at an agency. I teach a branding course at a major university. And, I do a shit ton of freelance work for big brands all the time. And, I often wonder why some of these big brands don't pull the plug on half the shit they put out there and do something amazing with their resources. There is so much money spent on stupid campaigns all the time. The kind that don't net returns, improve market share, increase awareness, or anything of real value. So much that doesn't contribute to good things. But this one does. It's a keeper.

I love that one of our own, an agency, built this. This is genius. And, I marvel at their creativity, passion, and the fun happy smiles and the STORIES that they will help create.

It is so f-ing badass... I'm taking my kids to London. You coming?

To get the full details on Hoxton Street Monster Supplies visit the company behind the magic. We Made This Ltd. 

My Shoes. My Brand. My Fears.

"It's not the brand of the shoes that matters. It's how you wear them, right?"
This is what my 10 year old said to me this morning. I debated between these two before finally leaving the house with the pretty suede ones on hoping that I'd avoid the bit of expected rain.

What I didn't say, because it proves that I am a shallow shoe whore, is that it is sometimes about the brand of the shoe. But, just as that thought crossed my mind she said, "It's like a part of your own personal brand, huh?" Oh em gosh... She listens to me and she gets it! Eeeeeeeeee!!!!  She understands that we put our own brands out there every day. The messages we send, the way we work with others, the way we carry ourselves, the way we cover ourselves, and a multitude of other things that people see, remember, and form opinions from.

She's a smart kid. She gets what 95% of the clients I work with don't get. Most of them believe brands and logos are one in the same. Some of them have resumes that include marketing job after marketing job after marketing job. And, still, my 10 year old is smarter. Today I realized that she hears me. She understands what I tell companies to do every day. She listens. It made me a tiny bit misty.

I have worried endlessly about these 3 little ones. What if they don't hear me when I tell them that fairy tales are real, best friends are hard to find and easy to love and impossible to let go, love is real, and kissing (especially French) is pretty much the second best thing EVER. (If you have to ask what the first best thing ever is... we might have to have a talk.) And, that they can be whatever they want because they're brilliant, clever, creative, beautiful, and totally completely awesome people. I want them to fear nothing and to try everything.

Maybe they all hear me. The fact that the oldest could even put the idea of a brand in to words gives me hope. She may have been listening to what I say to clients or co-workers on the phone and not necessarily to what I say to her. It's cool. I'll take the baby steps. As long as they are in fantastic shoes.