Back to school - Jera enters the blogosphere!

Allie and Julianna have completed their first week of school. Back-to-school-time is bittersweet. I miss them, but they were ready to go. It's also nice for them to get the affirmation and guidance from someone who is not Mom.

Allie is now a third grader. Julianna is in first. Lily starts school next Wednesday which means our baby will be a schoolgirl. I don't want to think about that yet, so more on that when the time comes.

Allie is responsible, kind-hearted, and funny. She likes to work. Even when she was a baby, she preferred challenging puzzles and games to playing pretend. She's adamant on making others happy, so she always tries her best with everything she does. She was cooperative even in labor and delivery. Allie was born on July 18, 2000 at 8:24 AM. She was born one week early and I was only in labor for 8 hours. I swear, from the moment I laid eyes on her, I could communicate with her. I don't remember having that feeling about my other two newborns, but with Allie, she could tell me everything she needed to in an instant. She walked at 9 months and talked at 10 months with her first word being "balloon".

Julianna, on the other hand, is our easy-going, free-spirited, always-in-character middle child. If she's not being Ariel, she's Miley or Hannah or Sharpay from HSM. She walks around the house with a little strut, shaking her hair, and talking to me as though she's 25. I'm only Mom if she's tired, hungry, or sick, otherwise I'm her sidekick. When it's time for homework, she sits at the kitchen island staring out the window or talking, talking, talking....whatever it takes NOT to put pencil to paper. When she was born, and the nurses would bring her to me in the night, I always knew she was coming because she was screaming. Not crying. And nothing's changed....she's still as dramatic as the moment she entered this world on April 8, 2002 at 6:53 PM.

And along came Lily, who's been full of surprises even before she took a breath. She arrived on April 13, 2005 at 8:13 PM (weighing 7 lbs. 13 oz...13 must be her lucky number). At 27 weeks, she tried to make an appearance but after 3 days of some nasty drugs, contractions stopped and, ironically, I went 5 days overdue. At least her delivery was easy. Lily loves being the baby in our family. She works it too. She does a good job keeping up with her big sisters which makes her seem to grow up so fast. She still has that cute little kid voice and pronounces many words in her own little way so we're trying to drink it all in before she grows up. She puts her little hands on her hips and talks to me like she's in charge.

They are all precious, happy, and absolutely adorable. And I'm not just saying that because I'm their mother.

Entrepreneur magazine is in stores....

On Newsstands Today

Much thanks to Entrepreneur Magazine and Lindsay Holloway. To be included in this very-accomplished list of 12 other business owners is an honor.

We are especially happy about the end of the article: the "Online Exclusive". It's always nice when we are allowed to share our faith. Without that, who knows where we'd be, as you can see from reading some past entries.

Thanks to the catalogs and stores that carry our product, as well as our online customers who have enjoyed, referred others, and continued to return for their alphabet photo keepsakes!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/worklife/successstories/youngmillionaires/article196568.html

A special thank you to Catharine Schaidle for her wonderful story in the always-supportive Peoria Journal Star. Not only was her story a great reflection of who we are, but she got us on the front page of last Sunday's edition. Allie and Julianna were THRILLED to see their picture front and center Sunday morning!

What to drive

Sorry I haven't written for so long - 17 days. We've been so busy producing your personalized keepsakes I have been tired! It really takes time to sit down and think about what to write, and then it takes time to write it out! I'll try to be better.

When I left my company in 2002, I left my company car behind (for some reason that was a requirement), and I had to purchase one. Since I was starting my own business, I was uncertain how much we’d be earning, and I wanted to be conservative. So, on the way to the Chicago Marathon I bought a 1999 Lexus for under $20,000. I recommend having someone drive you home after a marathon, as having leg cramps and trying to drive an unfamiliar vehicle is not a pleasant experience.

Fast forward to now. I’ve had this car for almost 6 years. I’ve only put 45,000 miles on it in that time, so it’s still in great shape. But, I’m ready to have a vehicle in which I’m comfortable toting around the younguns. My wife has mentioned wanting a convertible since I can remember, but it seems impractical living in the Midwest, as we only have about 5 months out of the year when it has the chance for the top to be down. Otherwise, it doesn’t make much sense to own one. With three children and me being 6’ 3”, a small car is out of the question.

I’m also done buying brand new cars. We bought one in 2004, only because all the auto makers were doing 0% interest and we could put it into the company (at the time) as an asset. However, new cars depreciate more in their first year than any other time. So, why not get one that is a year old with a few thousand miles on it and let someone else cover the depreciation?

Anyway, I stumbled upon a vehicle I think will be a win-win. It will give me the room I need, can seat 5, and it can give the open air driving experience when we want. Additionally, it is under $30,000. Plus, in talking with a couple used car experts, I’ve found this vehicle holds its value better than any other on the market.

Meet the Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4 door:




While that is not me (nor anyone I know) in the picture, this vehicle will likely be in my possession as soon as I bring myself to write a check for $28,000, something I don’t often like to do. I am allegedly cheap, though I like to consider myself frugal. So my hand shakes when I have to write a check like that. The family wants to have it to enjoy during this season, though I might wait until Spring. We'll have to see.

If you know someone that wants a nice 1999 Lexus for a reasonable price, and they are willing to travel to central Illinois, send them my way….

Martha Stewart Radio

We just wrapped up a live interview on Martha Stewart Radio. Radio is generally tough to convert listeners to customers, because they are usually listening in their cars. We have to make enough of an impression and hold their interest enough that when they finally reach their destination they come visit us. Additionally, Martha Stewart's listeners are primarily DIY'ers, so it is a bit counterintuitive but we had great success when Jera appeared on her show last year, so we knew this was a great opportunity.

We were able to tell the truth about how difficult and time-consuming it can be to make a personalized keepsake with alphabet photographs, unless you have the equipment to do the job right. I accurately explained that it can take a few weeks just to get the letters for a name and then have to pay to get it custom framed can end up costing twice as much in the end.While we’re not naïve enough to think everyone who hears the show is going to put off the weekend plans, grab the family, the camera, and head out letter hunting, it would be irresponsible of us to make it sound easy. We might have legions of listeners screaming “Why, why did you make me drag my family all over town for two straight weekends when we could have been getting other things done with our precious time?! Now, my husband and kids are cranky, the housework is piling up, and I’m running around like Ansel Adams over here taking pictures of things while strangers point at me like I’m crazy! To top it off, my name is MEHATAPEMAPETULAN, and so far I only found 5 letters that will work! Curse you, Martha Stewart and your deranged guests!”

We were the first segment in a series called “Collectors Week”, and while many of the guests are going to be experts at collecting antiques and other more common items, we were the “letter photograph” collectors. It was a cool spin.

The show's host, Emily, was truly excited about what we're doing and very complimentary. We had a great time!

Modern Brides 100 Things We Love features Sticks and Stones!

We are really excited to have Sticks and Stones featured on Modern Bride’s 100 Things We Love list! Here is the layout. The issue just came out, and it will be on newsstands for the next 2 months. Upon seeing we were number 54, I asked the editor "you mean you could find 53 things you loved more?" She quickly informed me it was in no particular order, lest I be too concerned.

We were consulting for a friend’s startup business the other day who asked “how do you guys get in national publications?” Honestly, I wish I could answer that question. It’s extremely tough to get national publicity, simply because of the sheer volume of products with which most magazine people are being bombarded.

First of all, you have to know the decision-maker for a particular section of the magazine. If you don't know who that is, your product is going to sit in a big sample closet for months.

If you are able to come up with the name, which in itself is a huge chore you face a "freeze out":
if you try to call, you never get a return call. If you email, you rarely get a return email. If you try to send them a sample they will say “got it. Looks great. If we can fit you in somewhere we’ll try. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

Having a very strong sales background has been crucial for both of us, as we are used to handling and overcoming the inevitable objections you face. It’s tough for even the most seasoned salesperson to hear “no” 50 times in a row, but the ones that make the sale are the ones that make the 51st contact. Having built the brand, we hear “no” a lot less these days, thankfully.

I think our biggest source of luck was the Oprah-Tom and Katie gift, as that gave us credibility. That, coupled with the fact that we were first on the national scene with a unique and brand new product. We started sending to all the national magazines in 2005, and we are just now getting press in some of them! That’s over THREE years of trying to get our product featured. Nowadays, literally every editor of every magazine that fits our demographic - home, gift, parent, lifestyle, etc - has seen the product, so it’s a matter of finding a story or product feature fit. It’s more a matter of our follow-up and perseverance than anything else.

A disappointing thing is that we always think we are going to attract more customers than we actually do when magazines come out. When the magazines arrive, it is always a lot smaller response than we expected. That said, we are always very excited to be in print.

The toughest thing we face going forward is that once a product starts getting a ton of press, media thinks you are overexposed and they aren’t offering anything new to their audience by featuring your product. After all, they think, you’ve already been everywhere. It’s a tough world out in media-land.

The biggest thing it has done for us is accelerate the company growth. It has made a 10 year process take less than 3 years, which has had its challenges in terms of how to handle rapid growth. Overall, it’s been really enjoyable. I thought I knew a lot about business before Sticks and Stones, and I did have some knowledge that has been very helpful. Being in the middle of starting an internet-based product business has taught me things I never thought I’d learn! I wish I could have learned from someone else’s mistakes. Alas, it wasn’t to be....

The Dark Star Oracle

So I went and saw the Dark Star Orchestra the other night on the riverfront. DSO is a phenomenal tribute to the Grateful Dead. Some DeadHeads would slap me, but these guys are actually tighter than the original band. They literally sound better. Again, if you are a DeadHead you will probably take issue with that statement.

The unique thing about DSO is that they don’t just cover the Grateful Dead, they actually perform a single show from the Dead’s massive catalog of live shows. Each member plays the appropriate role and sings on the appropriate songs. They have the two drummers, play all the same instrument parts, and they even have a Donna Jean gal who comes along for the 70’s shows and sings her parts. Every once in a while they’ll throw in an original setlist, but of the four times I’ve seen them they’ve played three full shows, encore and all.

During their shows, the true fans will start narrowing down the era and trying to guess what show they are covering based on their song selection. It’s kind of amazing to watch it happen, as these fans truly know their stuff. They know what songs were “leadoff” songs, what songs were set-enders, what songs are played in the middle of the first set (“Bobby cowboy songs), what type of song they play in the middle of the second set (“we still need a Jerry ballad”). They also know about when certain songs started appearing in the repertoire (“this song wasn’t played until ‘77”). At the end of the show the band will announce the date and venue they just covered. Like “that was from Dec 31, 1978 and Winterland.” People actually place bets on the year, month, venue, etc.

DSO always packs the riverfront, and you basically see the same people at every show. Last Saturday, my friend T-Bone and I decided to have a little fun while watching the show. He has never seen a Grateful Dead concert, nor does he know any of their songs other than probably Touch of Grey and Truckin’. This was his first DSO show, and on the way in I rolled out the plan: he was going to guess the exact show and be a Grateful Dead Oracle. The secret was that I would use my Blackberry and search archive.org, a website with over 2,000 shows. As the songs would roll out, I’d start narrowing down the shows so that by the time we got 4 or 5 songs in, I’d have it pegged.

My DeadHead friends know I’m more of a casual fan. I like the music, saw the Dead live in ’93 once, but I only know about half the songs in a given show. I also read a great biography of the Dead, but that’s another story. So, if I had guessed the show, they would have been on to me, as they know I’m more of a moderate fan. But T-Bone was an unknown entity, an enigma. He has never been to a show with these guys, so as far as they knew he was the biggest Dead fan in the world.

I told him to only make guesses and nod in agreement if they spouted some knowledge. It worked like a charm. In fact, I had never heard the first 2 songs they played, but by song three I had archive narrowed to 5 possible shows. By the fourth song I was almost positive, so I told Bone “say ‘if the next song is Cassidy, I think this is a show from July 1978’. These guys were convinced it was a show from ’73 or ’74, so when Cassidy rolled out we were giddy. From then on, I told him to say things like “I know they played Stella Blue in this set, but it might not be next” just to be less obvious. I also gave him lingo like instead of saying “Scarlet Begonias into Fire on the Mountain” you say “Scarlet >Fire”. You say “they come out of Drums into Not Fade Away” rather than “after Drums they play Not Fade Away”. Subtle nuances like that can give you away as a Dead novice!

He went along predicting song after song flawlessly. The kicker was when he actually called the encore, Werewolves of London. Near the end he finally said “this show is from July 3, 1978 in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was beautiful, and by that time everyone was convinced he was some kind of savant. People were literally stunned at his ability to predict every song in order.

I almost don’t want to see another Dark Star Orchestra show without my trusty Blackberry and my “GD Oracle”! Good times.

Sticks and Stones touted by Rachael Ray

This video is from the day Sticks and Stones was featured on Rachael Ray's "Hurry Up and Dish" segment. We have had the video since the show aired, but we decided not to post it until we had the blog up and running.

As far as press goes, Rachael Ray has been a huge boost for business. We added hundreds of new customers that day, got some really nice feedback from satisfied recipients, and we still continue to reach new customers regularly, even almost a year later.

Our webmaster had worked overnight to get the new website up and running. For about the first 5 minutes after the segment aired on the east coast, we had the old site still up. During the switchover, we forgot to implement our web tracking, which tells us how many visitors we have and where they are coming from, so I was thinking there was still an error, though I could see the website online.


We worked through the kinks, and the segment was phenomenal. It also helped that our product was not a handbag, as you'll see when you watch it. It certainly stood out by being on easels away from the main table, and having them marvel at the value of getting a custom-made piece of art for such a good price was helpful as well.



You can watch it here:

Sticks and Stones on Rachael Ray

First video with our digital camcorder

This is a funny video clip of Allie, Julianna, and Lily getting silly at their grandparents’ house. Let’s just say none of the three are camera shy. They literally spent a couple hours last night just watching themselves on video and laughing as hard the 47th time as they did the first time. We enjoyed just watching them all sit at the table and break out into laughter every two minutes. Even little Lily has figured out how to pull up the folder and double-click the videos she wants to see, so this morning she was sitting in the kitchen watching all of their shenanigans again!

At the very end, Allie starts busting out the opening bars of Handel's Messiah. Who knew?

Enjoy...

The stars aligned

Someone was asking me the other day what the formula was that had caused Sticks and Stones to take off like it did. I hadn’t really thought in depth about it, so my answer was “let me get back with you when I have time to think.” As I started pondering, I came to the realization there have been many different things all working together. While we could have still made a viable business without one or two of these things, we’d be much smaller and what has transpired in three years would have taken ten!

Here are the things that have caused the "stars to align" in our favor....


Sales experience

The first thing is Jera and I both had years of sales experience and personalities that are conducive to selling. This was crucial when it came to representing our company and our products to other people, especially decision-makers in the national media outlets. Some people were given analytical skills, some are nurturing, some have never-ending attention spans and can focus for hours at a time. We were born for sales and marketing. A friend once said to me, “there are thousands of products that never made it off the basement shelf, simply because there was no one to sell them.” We weren’t about to let that happen.


Thinking globally

We also had both worked for companies that either had a global presence (the largest in the industry in my case) or had a global customer base (in Jera’s case). This was important because we realized it’s a big world out there. Had we worked for businesses that were locally operated with a local customer base, it would be much more difficult to envision our product in O Magazine, People, Entrepreneur, etc. Just having that more global outlook was an incredible positive for us. We never saw ourselves becoming “weekend warriors” – people who work all week and then spend their weekends at craft fairs. That is a tough way to make it, as you rarely make up the cost of time and booth fees, plus we valued our relaxation and family time. We also want a basic footprint in boutiques and gift stores, but we knew the business they could offer would be very small simply based on their foot traffic. Today, even with 60 stores, we reach more customers online in a single day than we reach in a week in all of our stores combined. Where would you put your efforts? We also got a really nice response from our local newspaper early on, but again, after a couple days we were old news. So, we went on to the next step…


Blitzing the national media

We set out a plan to blitz the national marketplace in order to set up significant roadblocks for the competition that would surely follow once we started appearing on television and in magazines. To date, I don’t believe there is a stone left unturned in national (millions of readers or viewers) outlets. Because of that, 95% of our customers come directly to the website via our URL rather than a Google search. While we still get a small amount of Google searches daily, it is our presence in the national print and internet media that gets customers to bypass search engines and come right to the website.


Knowing the importance of branding

I mentioned this in an earlier blog, but I’ll point out some really extreme examples of brand development, and you can reduce that down to our little industry. Tissue paper: Kleenex, Inline skates: Rollerblades, Online search: Google, Photocopy: Xerox, Mp3 players: iPod. All of these industries have competitors, but their brands are so powerful they’ve become part of the lexicon. We knew it was crucial to get our brand built early on, and we weren’t willing to compromise the future by making decisions that might make money in the short run but ultimately would dilute our brand effectiveness long term. Had we not had the foresight and concern for branding from the outset, we might be selling $.25 photographs for $5 a pop and shipping them to you in an envelope rather than completed custom-framed personalized keepsakes that are pieces of art and family heirlooms.


Managerial and Leadership background

I was fortunate enough to have years of managerial and leadership experience, which has been really important since we grew to having a number of employees. Learning to deal with different personalities, to set up incentives to motivate specific performance, to look at financial statements and make business decisions based on those statements – all these are acquired skills that I had in my pocket from my days in the corporate world.


Customer service background

Coming from a corporate environment where the customer is always right made the transition to running our own company easy, as we keep the same philosophy at Sticks and Stones. We knew if the owners of the company harbored that philosophy, it couldn’t help but trickle down.


Internet background

Jera worked selling internet advertising and email campaigns starting in 1998, so she was at the forefront of the movement. She also saw the downward trends in both over time. Her knowledge of that industry has saved us thousands of dollars in advertising, as we hardly bother spending on unprofitable pay-per-click (except on our own pages and to keep track of a few others) or buying email lists (a complete waste of money since the clickthrough rates are less than 0.1% these days). We’d never have known that had we not had years of exposure to that industry. When you sell it for a living, you get to see it go into the tank firsthand! And don’t get me started on banner ads…


Having cash for growth

That is something we were very fortunate to have, as we have spent a ton of money simply to grow and to get through the lean times – building, maintaining, and upgrading the website is expensive. Purchasing enough materials to have on hand for customer orders has a cost to it. Paying salaries, rents, and other overhead all costs money, and we weren’t profitable for the first 18 months, so having enough put away to cover all of these necessities was such a blessing.


Having a mentor in the custom framing business

I can’t stress the importance of this to our business success. My friend who owns a very successful custom frame shop has been a cauldron of knowledge. Early on, he was willing to take a smaller profit because he believed in our growth, rather than trying to make his money while he could. When he realized we were outgrowing his shop, rather than getting greedy, he focused on exactly what he does best – make custom frames for people. He not only allowed me to strike out on my own, he encouraged and taught us. Today, he still makes all of our wood frames, and he is able to focus on his strength while making a solid revenue from ours. It’s a win-win.


Having a fantastic programmer on staff

Again, another situation where the stars were aligned. We have one of the best programmers around at our fingertips. You can read about him in an earlier blog, but basically he and Jera have worked together since about 2002. There is a trust that exists between us that is imperative when working with someone so intimately involved in the creation of our “store” in cyberspace. Most people either have a brother-in-law that “dabbles” in programming or they have to bid out their jobs. In our case, Cristian Hotescu was available what seemed to be every hour of the day, 7 days a week early on. He is also extremely talented and knowledgeable in his field.


Not having to go to another job

We were extremely blessed to be able to own our company before Sticks and Stones came along, and we were both full-time employees of the company. That meant we got to set our own schedule, and we both had the time to devote to growing Sticks and Stones when we needed it. I used to have every toll free call come into my cell phone, I answered every email, and one of us would run packages down to the packaging company we used at the time. I can’t imagine trying to run a professional business while working for someone else. It would be almost impossible to justify handling your side business with an employer during the workday, and customer service would suffer.


Last, and probably most important…faith in God

There were stretches early on in our marriage and lives where we had financial and professional success and believed we were self-made. We believed in God but never really cared about living a lifestyle that reflected that belief. God showed us how wrong we had been, as we went through some very scary times. Relatively speaking, we never had to break into any long-term savings, which was a small miracle. However, we saw a number of months where outflows exceeded income, and watching the bank account going backwards to start a business is unsettling. Through it all, we had many signs and answers to prayer that said “keep moving, you’re going in the right direction.” I know many times God will allow a person to go through adversity to get their attention. We were so lucky it wasn’t health-related, as that would be so much harder to handle. However, He got our attention in a big way, and He’s continued to provide for us as we’ve continued to be faithful. I can't imagine trying to run a business without our divine "business partner"!

That’s it, in a nutshell. Thanks for reading all the way through. There are so many exciting things on the horizon that we aren’t even able to talk about yet. Look for our personalized alphabet keepsakes to continue appearing national publications throughout the year, and please subscribe to our blog if you haven’t yet. You’ll get an email every time it is updated.

Laying out the fleece

I want to share a story today. In case you’ve ever felt led to do something (or thought maybe you were being led but weren’t really sure), maybe this story will help you take that leap of faith.

I was sitting in our church on a cold Sunday in November 2006 listening to our pastor preach a sermon on giving. Knowing we hadn’t really been doing our part in the past two years, I was suddenly struck with a dollar figure in my head. A nice, round dollar figure I felt God wanted us to give in 2007. I won’t tell you the figure because that is unimportant. Suffice it to say it was more than we’d cumulatively given in our lives.

I had also been reading about sacrificial giving – where we give and because of that we actually forfeit something. Admittedly, it was something that wasn’t normal for us. We were used to giving a percentage of our income to a church (during some years when we felt we had the ability to do that). However, there were years we didn’t give anything at all, as we felt our finances were too tight.

So, when I got this figure placed in my brain, the first thing I wanted to do was to test God. I knew somewhere in the bible some Old Testament fellow had tested God, so I looked it up. It was Gideon, in Judges 6. You can read it if you want, but Gideon tested God twice, because he wasn’t quite sure if what God had instructed him to do was really the direction he was supposed to take.

If you read the chapter, you will know where the term “laying out the fleece” comes from. Early the next morning, a Monday, I woke up and I asked “God, if you really want us to give that amount in a single year please let me test you. Show me some kind of sign within 24 hours.” That’s how it went. Then I fell back asleep. That was probably 5:00AM.

Apparently, God felt my faith was a bit weak, so he needn’t wait too long. Five and a half hours, give or take. At about 10:30AM, my wife calls and says “Just got a call from the Today show, and they want to put us on and do a story about our business!” At this time, we had gotten virtually no national press, so this was a HUGE sign to me. It wasn’t like these calls were coming in every day.

At that point, I knew we were really called to give that amount. Either that or these were both coincidences. A skeptic can chalk it up to that, and that’s fine. Allow me to continue…

We went through the first part of 2007, always the slowest months of the retail season, and we didn’t give anything – maybe some small amounts here and there, but nothing near where we needed to be to keep on schedule. I wasn’t even sure we needed a schedule, as long as the amount was given by the end of the year. In fact, by May we had given less than 2% of our God-indicated goal for the year.

Let me back up a little bit. The year before, we had given a little money to Peoria Christian School. The school runs between a $250,000 and $300,000 deficit every year, as they are private. Tuition is the only source of revenue the school has, to my knowledge. We went to the elementary principal and told her we wanted her to contact us with any financial needs and not to be shy. The worst we could say is “we can’t give you that much, but would this help?” We also enjoy giving to smaller causes where our smaller amounts can really make a difference, and we can actually see the difference being made. Not to take away from anyone who give to large organizations – they need money too! It just wasn’t where we wanted to allocate most of our philanthropical dollars, especially when our daughters’ school is in such need year in and year out.

So, in our defense, during the first part of 2007, the principal didn’t ask us for much. In June, she asked for a more substantial amount for a project, and we gladly gave. A couple more months went by and by September we were still only about 10% of the way to our appointed goal. We went to our annual school fund-raising banquet in September, and after the banquet someone anonymously donated $100,000 to the school. It was the single, largest donation ever made to PCS. It was really inspiring to hear that from some of our co-workers the next day.

By October, we started picking up our giving, and it was amazing to think we could actually make our goal by the end of the year. We still weren’t sure, but we had faith. Literally within 60 days we had four huge PR releases – Rachael Ray in early October, the O List in mid-October, Martha Stewart in late October, and People magazine the last day of November. It was crazy and fun at the same time. We were able to make several larger donations to the school and to a friend’s ministry, with the largest coming the last week of the calendar year.

In all, we ended up not only meeting the goal but exceeding it by almost 50%. It was so incredible to be in the midst of it, because there were very few people who knew the story of how it was burned on my brain that day in November 2006. We never had so much fun writing out checks and just giving them away.

Anytime I look back and think ‘imagine what we could have done with that money” (which does happen from time to time), I come to my senses and realize we were stewards of that money during that time period to serve a greater purpose. It wasn’t ours before and it’s not ours now. However, being given the opportunity to be stewards of it provided the pleasure of seeing people’s faces light up.

While we’ve been able to support these Christian-based organizations, it has really caused us to focus our giving. We feel called to be faithful and continue in this direction.
I’m still waiting on our calling for this year, and though it hasn’t yet come in that same overwhelming feeling, we’re open and ready for what the rest of 2008 will bring.

Maybe our giving was sacrificial giving. At this point, we don’t know. I do know it’s made us more faithful and trusting than we ever were before, and whenever I speak to groups or individuals and give the details of this story, I get inspired all over again thinking about it.

A Return to the Live Music Scene

About 12 years ago I started playing music with a guy in Davenport, Iowa on the college music scene. We played a lot of grunge covers – Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots. We played all acoustic guitars and I had a piano that I played on some of the songs. Our name was Those 2 Guys, which was kind of silly, though we liked seeing it up on the marquee.

When he moved away in 1997, I was out of the game for a while, only to return in late 2002 with a new threesome aptly called Those 3 Guys. We added a keyboard player but kept the moniker. When our keyboard player moved to Singapore (he is an attorney by day), and our drummer got worn out, I stopped playing music again. In fact, my wife bought me a brand new acoustic-electric guitar for Christmas in 2006, and I barely played it at all.

During this time, the company growth kept me so busy I couldn’t even think about getting back out on the scene, mainly because trying to coordinate practice and gig dates with 4 guys is a huge headache. There were 4 careers, 4 wives, 10 kids, and the schedules that come along with each of those.

Back in April, I got a call from a friend in Indianapolis who had heard us play a couple years before. He was having his annual Indy 500 and wanted me to bring my guitar and strum for the masses for a couple hours. I committed to it and then set out to learn about 50 songs by the end of May. It was no small task, but with Rick, an accomplished percussionist on his sophomore Indy 500 trip, we were able to entertain for a good 2 ½ hours the night before the race.

In June, the request was made to again bring the guitar to the campsite we were staying post-Jack Johnson in late June.

I knew I was a phone call away from getting an acoustic gig at a few local watering holes, so I booked a show. Tonight, I will be out in all my musical glory, back where I am extremely comfortable – on a stage playing guitar, piano, and singing my heart out. Only now, the setlist has progressed into Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, O.A.R., BNL, and bands that weren’t around back in ’96 (well, DMB was just becoming popular at that time).

Rick, the skin-beater, will be joining be with an assortment of world percussive instruments (almost everything you can think of except a traditional drum set) and some really tight harmonies.

Two main questions I get asked are: 1) do you get nervous? Honestly, I really don't. I got really nervous the first time I played live with a guitar, only because it was a new instrument for me. I really look forward to it, and any anxious feelings I get are usually just wanting to get up there and play!

2) people ask me regularly if I write my own music, and the answer is no. Not only have I never written a song, but I haven’t yet had a real interest in writing one. I'm not confident it is something I would do very well at all, mostly from a chord arrangement standpoint. Lyrically, I would be fin, I believe. Mostly, I think it’s because I’m such a huge fan of music that I really just enjoying celebrating other people’s songs with my own renditions.

Join me tomorrow for a post-concert update.

Family Tree made from the keepsakes!

Over the past two years, one of our customers has been building a “family tree” with our keepsakes. Back in 2006, they ordered their last name, and at some point over the next year they decided to make a family tree.


It’s been enjoyable to be a part of the completely unique way they are displaying their family tree. As you can see from the picture, when the family grows, they are going to have to find a new wall! Here is a picture of the hanging in progress:

If anyone is interested in building a family tree wall using our keepsakes, please let us know via email at sales@createsticksandstones.com. We can help keep things uniform from the get-go. You can certainly build it over time as budget allows!

Entrepreneur Photo Shoot

Back in April we found out we were going to be in the September issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, which is exciting for us. We got interviewed right away and then nothing happened for a while, so last week we got the email that they were coming to do a photo shoot for the issue, which sounded harmless enough, and even a bit exotic. In fact, I’d never been the subject of a legitimate (or illegitimate, for that matter) photo shoot before, though Jera has it mastered. She knows the stuff to wear, how much makeup to apply to herself, what can and can’t be airbrushed out, etc. Apparently, she missed the class on “where to put your hands during a photo shoot”, as she was corrected a number of times, but she had the rest of it pretty well mapped out.

Karyl, the photographer, called and we set it up for yesterday. I could tell from my phone conversation that I liked Karyl. She is cool! So, we got to the riverfront where she and her friend and fellow photographer Lisle were already setting up shots. Karyl has been doing photography for Entrepreneur for a few years, and she said two things we want to avoid are bright sunlight and wind. I assume rain also, but she never mentioned that. So, when we arrived to a sunny, windy riverfront, we knew we’d ultimately have to move.

Karyl was also determined to photograph us in a “letter” of some sort, which was a neat idea in principle, but proved tough to bring to fruition (is that grammatically correct?).

We first tried St. Mary’s Cathedral, site of a couple of our favorite letters, and while the grounds crew was wondering just what the heck was going on, Karyl was snapping away. Lisle was keeping busy telling Jera to move her hands and moving her hair around. I was sweating through my white, long-sleeved shirt. Every once in a while, she’d say “close your eyes and open them on 3”, because I tend to squint more than most people when I smile.

The ladies suggested we get the girls involved in the shoot, which wasn’t originally planned. So, we went home, got them ready, and headed to Detweiller Park, another site where we originally took a couple of pictures that are now letters on the website.

After a couple hours of shooting, I realized being a photographer of people is a tough job. Way tougher than taking still images. First of all, they take a few hundred shots to find a handful of good ones where all the subject people look as good as they can possibly look. The more people you add to the mix, the harder that is. The younger they are, the harder it is to get them to pay attention. All of this is going on and they are trying to get a good shot without it seeming too “posed”.

Also, the first time you are asked to be candid, you feel about as plastic as you can feel. At one point, Jera and I are walking toward the camera slowly, holding hands. I look at her with my painted-on smile only to legitimately break out in laughter at her painted-on smile and crazy eyes, which caused her to laugh. Hopefully, Karyl got the real laughter. Also, at one point she said “talk to each other,” at which time you realize you have nothing to say when you are put on the spot, so you start saying things like “bumblebee tuna, watermelon, cheesy poofs,” just to make it look like you are saying something.

Every time I hear a supermodel say “modeling is such hard work”, I laugh. Relatively speaking, it is a cakewalk compared to a person that actually has to work hard, like a ditch-digger, or a stay-at-home mom. However, I would not want to do this kind of thing every day. First of all, it is unnatural (as I stated above). Also, I don’t really like to see pictures of myself anyway. Although I like the idea of having our picture in a top-notch magazine like Entrepreneur or being on a TV show to talk about our product and business, I absolutely hate actually watching the show, and I dread seeing the magazine. I’ve personally made an appearance on The Big Idea four times, and I’ve only watched the first time. I’d had about enough of myself at that point. I can watch Jera all day long, and I’ve told her she is welcome to do these shows any time. I’d prefer to stay back and run the company, like I did during her Martha Stewart appearance.

About the only things I hate more than seeing pictures of myself is hearing myself on tape and seeing myself in action on video/TV. I know I am visibly uncomfortable in these situations, and I think just because it is so shocking to see yourself as others see you. The first thing my wife asks when she sees herself on video tapes is “Am I THAT annoying in real life?” at which point I pat her tiny head and say “No, you are not that annoying in real life at all.”

Anyway, Karyl and Lisle were delightful ladies who really enjoy themselves. They certainly had fun with us yesterday. At the end of the shoot, we all went to a “dunch” (I only use quotes because, unlike brunch, “dunch” has yet to attain mass appeal in the American lexicon) at Hooters on the riverfront. I was slightly uncomfortable amidst the hosiery, butt-cheek-short orangies, and midriff t-shirts, but the ladies seemed right at home munching on wings and quesadillas amidst this gaggle of scantily clad serving gals.

Here is a picture just after dunch, of Karyl (L) and Lisle (R) with Karyl’s newest possession, her very own Sticks and Stones!

This is Cheri (pronounced with the "SH" sound")

Today we feature Cheri Hirschmann, our Director of Retail Sales. Here is a picture of the Hirschmann family:


Back in November 2006, we were gearing up for the holiday rush and she was referred to us by a mutual friend. At that time, we both thought she would be with us through the end of the year and then go on her merry way. However, we could tell right away her loyalty to the company would ultimately create a place for her for the long haul.

There were a couple nights during the holiday season where a few of us stayed until long past midnight, and there was Cheri right alongside us doing what needed to be done. She has always been assertive, giving input where necessary to improve processes and help us grow.

After the Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, our store business started to grow and we needed someone to handle store relationships – rolling out the program to them, and handling questions that might arise in the process. Cheri was more than willing to try her hand at this. When we got so busy last Christmas, the need arose to create a division of the company that solely handles retail stores. Cheri was a natural fit, and her knowledge, customer service mentality, and upbeat, positive attitude made it a no-brainer.

I decided to let everyone get to know her a little better through this interview:

SnS: What do you like best about working with Sticks and Stones?
CH: There are a couple of things that I really love about working with Sticks and Stones . . . I have always fancied myself a creative person and I love the product!! I was a big fan before I ever thought of working with this energetic, constantly growing company. How could I not want to share a keepsake with everyone I knew?
Secondly: (feel free to grab a tissue) I absolutely love working with Brad. Since day one I have felt like a contributing person to Sticks and Stones. He is an idea junkie and will entertain even the craziest thoughts. I have learned through working with him that you just do it – No excuses!! I have learned to become my own devil’s advocate, constantly working through the stops in my head to make things happen. His energy, enthusiasm and encouragement to others are contagious!! We have had some of the most interesting conversations that have always made me think, learn and grow just a bit. We share the same dry sense of humor. One word could send us over the edge for a good 2 weeks – you delicate bird, you!!

SnS: What is the biggest challenge for you?
CH: Early on, it was to try not to be so sensitive. If someone didn’t love everything that I or we were doing, I took it so personally. Now I would say, just keeping everything I do straight in my head. I take A LOT of notes. I’m even starting to keep them in my laptop which is a far cry from my 10 notebooks last year.

SnS: What is the best and worst feature of working from home?
CH: PRIORITIES!! I am constantly trying to be the best for my family and the best for the company, in perfect balance. When you do work from home, I find that everyone seems to think you have tons of extra time to do whatever they may need. Just arriving into my late 30’s I am learning to live by the creed, “I am capable, but am I called?” I guess it’s pretty common for women to feel like they are dropping the ball somewhere on a regular basis. It’s all worth it though. I feel so blessed to be able to be with my kids and still have a pretty cool job.

SnS: What’s the strangest thing that has happened to you while working with Sticks and Stones
CH: Well, following a day at the Women’s Lifestyle Show last October, I fell like I have never fallen before. We were so busy that day. Our table was surrounded by women who wanted to see their name spelled “Sticks and Stones Style.” No time for lunch!! I met my husband at a pub across the street following the event. When I got up to go to the Ladies Room, I got so light-headed and fell one of those horrific, slow motion, strung out falls that only those of us not particularly known for our grace would know. One year later, I could still use the surgery on my knee, but most days are pretty good. FYI: Only 2 drinks of a beer were taken!!

SnS: Tell us about each of your children.
CH: I am going to be brief only in the interest of who ever may be actually reading this, but I could go on and on.

Meghan at 16 . . . genius!! Together with us, she has begun her own company this year. Please take a look at http://www.bezales.com/. She has had a business plan in her mind since she was 13 with a small company called Megnets. Selling to friends and family became a bigger and bigger circle. Magnets became necklaces and so it goes. Did I mention http://www.bezales.com/ to get the rest of the story? She will be a junior in high school this year. She also runs track, works in the theater and is overall fabulous.


Savannah at 14 . . . brilliant!! She is just one of those girls that make you want to be a better person. Savannah is kind, sweet (when the rest of us may be laughing at another’s expense she will bring us back home to their good qualities), ambitious person. She is fluent in soccer, basketball, even cheerleading and flags. Especially flags!! The girl can spin!!

Eli at 11 . . . interesting!! He is the only kid I know that can tell me anything I would ever want to know about any kind of reptile, start fire with nothing but a piece of flint, and play the violin that will make a girl’s heart swoon one day!! I love the old fashioned words such as swoon. He reminds me of Bear Grylls on the Discovery channel. If I were ever deserted anywhere I would want to be with Eli.

Ruby Tyler at 8 . . . fascinating!! She is so smart and talented and in for a world of hurt one day, as she is a groupie in her heart. Any place – any band, she is in front, ear to the speaker, with a sharpie in her back pocket ready for them to sign her arm. I absolutely adore her spirit!!

SnS: What is your favorite food?
CH: I wish I was so much more couth, but seriously, give me a cheeseburger and fries any day of the week!!

SnS: If you could spend one day doing anything you wanted, what would it be?
CH: A day away with my husband anywhere would be great. If it were 2 days: I would spend one with him and one by myself just to hear the quiet.

SnS: If you were a car, what make and model would you be and why?
CH: I would definitely be a mini. After 4 kids, I’ll take anything that seems petite!!

SnS: How many fingers am I holding up?
CH: None – they never leave your laptop.

SnS: What strength do you possess that best prepares you for handling the retail sales division of Sticks and Stones?
CH: I am a talker!! I absolutely love each one of the stores that I work with and know most of the owners well enough that we talk about other things as well as the store. I genuinely want to see them succeed and will do whatever I can to help them. I admire their attitudes for running a business that they love.

SnS: As a music industry insider, you’ve been to many concerts over the years. Which one was your favorite?
CH: Prince!! Hands down!! I love that little fella!! Even if you think he is not for you . . . one show and I bet you would change your mind.

Kelly

This is Kelly to the right ------------->

She is our Chief Operating Officer, and she is in charge of production for the company. Anything that gets out the door begins and ends with her stamp of approval. Kelly has been a part of the family for years. While she was working her way toward her college degree she took care of the Deal girls on a regular basis, which wasn’t always easy, as we were working from home most of the time while she was keeping them in line! Upon graduation, while she was still formulating her long term career plans, we snatched her up. We figured if she could keep our children in line, she could do the same for our company.

Her arrival has allowed us to move our focus toward the future. We can spend our time doing things that will bring long-term growth, knowing Kelly is handling the side of the business that gets keepsakes in the hands of our customers. If you write an email, chances are Kelly will be the one responding to it. During the “normal” season (i.e. not the holidays), she also returns the majority of the customer service calls that the customer service department can’t answer, so you may talk to her at some point. You will certainly come away feeling refreshed!

I had chance to interview Kelly the other day, and I was enlightened. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

SnS: What has been the most rewarding part of your first year with the company?
KB: Honestly, just knowing that I am now a full-fledged part of Sticks and Stones. I have been indirectly associated with the company since the very beginning when I was a nanny for the Deal's and I already had this sense of pride in what we do. I have been here from the ground up, and love the product and the people associated with it. To know that I get to go to work everyday and further that vision is so rewarding.

SnS: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
KB: Finding my own voice amongst all of the others... When I first started, I pretty much had to jump in and learn as I went along. I really looked to everybody on our crew to help me out with what I didn't know. The hard part was that everybody has a different way of doing things or an opinion of how things should be done and all that noise can be overwhelming. My challenge was to take all of that knowledge, insight, opinion, and at times, nonsense, and make my own path. Everyday I work to try and make a positive impact.

SnS: What are the similarities and differences when it comes to working with employees between the ages of 16 and 65 versus handling three children under the age of 8?
KB: There are actually more similarities than differences. I have found that regardless of age all people want to be listened too, respected, and appreciated. While you meet those needs differently with a 4 year old than you do a 30 year old, you have to make sure that you don't take those needs for granted. Also it’s important to remember to always be willing to adapt and learn because things won't always go as planned. It is also amazing how much people enjoy snack time, regardless of age. :) The biggest differences are how I have to solve problems and the way you communicate. You go from being able to speak in abstracts and "because I said so" to having to really articulate yourself. Problems can no longer be solved with an episode of "Spongebob" or quiet time... its a different set of problem solving skills. And the biggest differences is I don't get as many hugs and kisses. My girls were always good at that. :)

SnS: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
KB: Hypothetically, it would be in one of the New England states. I have never been to the north east but I have this idealistic picture of having a cottage on the beach, enjoying a simple life. It is my happy mental picture. Though realistically there is nowhere that I would rather be but right here in Illinois because it’s where almost everybody I love lives. What good would the beautiful cottage be if I didn't have my friends and family to fill it up?

SnS: What is your most embarrassing moment on the job so far?
KB: One day during our busy season when I wasn't handling a situation as professionally as I probably should have and things got a little heated. It was one of those learning experiences that made me wish I had a shell to crawl into. And I am sure on a daily basis I trip over something in our studio.

SnS: Name three of your guilty pleasures.
KB: 1. Mountain Dew
2. scratch off lottery tickets
3. shopping

SnS: If you eat dinner with a historical figure who would it be and what would you ask him/her?
KB: I couldn't pick one so instead I am having a dinner party with George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi, and John F. Kennedy. I would like to ask all of them what they think of our world today and if y believe the things that they stood for are still being honored? And what would they do to turn it around?

SnS: What’s on your iPod playlist right now?
KB: Well I have some Death Cab for Cutie, Queen, Ben Folds, Jack's Mannequin,Lincoln Park, Counting Crows, Eric Hutchins, Paolo Nutini, OAR... And for some reason I am really loving The Flobots new song 'Handlebars". There also might be a Britney Spears song or a little Rod Stewart, maybe some Elvis.


SnS: What’s your definition of success?
KB: Being able to do something that I love that also allows me to support myself and a family when that time comes. Success is taking responsibility for your place in the world. It’s balancing work and play. It is leaving this world having done what you could to make the world better than when you got there.

SnS: Who is your favorite LOST persona and has it changed since the show started?
KB: Hurley and he has always been my favorite. He is just this good guy with a big heart, who comes through when you need him the most. That and I think that he is more than likely the catalyst for everything that happens on LOST. Just my opinion. :)

SnS: If you couldn’t be you and could be anybody else in the world for a month, who would you be?
KB: Dr. Penny Patterson... She started the Gorilla Foundation and works with KoKo the gorilla. I have always wanted to be able to be close to gorillas and am fascinated with how she taught Koko sign language. I cannot imagine a more fulfilling and amazing month.

Career goals

Once upon a time I had two employment goals. The first was to be my own boss. Not in the “I-really-have-a-boss-but-he’s-in-another-state-so-he’s-not-breathing-down-my-neck- everyday” sort of way, but to actually be completely in charge of my own destiny. I remember October 3, 2002 like it was yesterday. That was the day I went to my boss and resigned. The reason was I got tired of building someone else’s dream. I did it for nine years and I was just worn out. I didn’t care about the money, I only cared about the overall quality of life. Once I realized I didn’t look forward to getting up and going in to work in the morning anymore, I knew it was going to be a short road. It wasn’t fair to the company for me to go through the motions, and they needed someone who was going to be excited and dedicated. For nine years that was me. For two weeks it wasn’t. Then I resigned. The vast majority of people are completely fine with being in that situation, but for some reason I was not.

That brings me to my other goal. I was tired of wearing a suit and tie every day, and I resolved to not put myself in a situation where I’d have to wear one with any regularity. Fortunately, working from home offers a very lenient dress code, and from 2003-2006 we worked only from home. Once the company grew enough that we had to buy the equipment and start framing ourselves, I still decided to keep it casual. We decided not to have a dress code, which means people can pretty much wear what they want, within reason. Since we don’t have walk-in customers, it isn’t too important what people wear on a day-to-day basis.

My wife said that since I’d accomplished my two main goals, I should probably come up with something even more ambitious. So, a couple weeks ago I decided I’d like to get a recliner to sit in every day at the office. I’ve got one at home, but here at the office we have “office-y” type chairs. I’d sit in them and find myself putting my feet up on my desk while working online. Because the desk is higher than the chair, I’d constantly have to change positions as my legs would start to fall asleep. So, I decided to buy a recliner for the office. We only have one desktop computer at the office, and everyone else uses laptops. Since I sit in the recliner at home to work, I figured I should afford myself the same luxury at the office.

For father’s day my mom and wife combined on a gift….my very own office recliner! Here is a pretty close approximation:

Envision yourself curled up with your laptop. This recliner is so comfortable I've actually nodded off a couple times in the chair in the middle of the afternoon. It also allows me to have my legs stretched out without causing the blood to rush away from my feet. I need a little side table to hold my beverage and everything will be right in the world.

I’ll have to come up with another lofty career goal now. Maybe the office fountain beverage or cappuccino machine….

Lake Geneva, Jack Johnson, and the great GPS fiasco

For a little getaway we took a trip to Lake Geneva last weekend. After dropping the girls off in Chicago at their grandparents’, we continued on to the French Country Inn, a quaint spot on Lake Como. I had originally tried to get a reservation a couple weeks ago, and there was nothing available. I then called back on Monday, and they had a small room available for Friday, but we’d have to switch to an even smaller room for Saturday night. We were totally fine with that, but I had a sneaking suspicion things were going to get even better. Debbie, our liaison from the Inn, called again on Tuesday and said “good news – you don’t have to switch rooms now!” to which I said, “At this rate, by Thursday we’ll be staying in the owner’s suite.” Like clockwork, Debbie called on Wednesday and said “the historic suite got a cancellation. Would you like it?” The historic suite is the best room at the Inn, and because my catchphrase is “nothing but the best for my lady”, we took it. It was a fantastic suite, and the accommodations were first rate. We ate dinner at the restaurant there and listened to a guy named Josh play guitar and sing all evening. The next morning, we ate and then headed into Lake Geneva for some shopping. There seems to be about 2-3 blocks of stores there, so we walked around, took some pictures, and shopped. Later in the day we went to a place called McIntyre’s Resort, on a different lake, and met up with this group:

The original reason for the trip was to go to Alpine Valley and see the Jack Johnson concert.

I have recently stepped into 2008 and purchased a Blackberry complete with GPS. Little did I know the GPS could be a bit less than reliable, and it seems to want to send you the shortest distance between to points rather than take advantage of interstates and 4-lane highways. It was all fun and games until I was leading a caravan of four vehicles en route to Alpine Valley and we ended up in a neighborhood about 10 miles away from our destination.

The show was great, and though we were far away I’m pretty sure it was Jack Johnson up there playing. It certainly sounded like him. Here is our view from the lawn:

He played a solid setlist with a good mix of songs from each of his albums. I was trying to think of songs I liked that he didn’t play, and I could only think of Rodeo Clowns and Mudfootball. He also played about 8 songs from his newest release, Sleep Through The Static, which I had bought just for the road trip, so that was cool.

After the show, we hung out in the lot for a couple hours, as leaving with 30,000 other people out of 2 exits takes a while. Again, the GPS system got everyone lost, and we ended up in a small town (well, I think everything around Lake Geneva is a small town) at 1AM. By this time, I don’t think anyone was still in the mood to jack around with GPS, so we went old school and pulled out the paper map.

We got back to the campsite at about 1:30AM, and three of us stayed up around the campfire until about 3:30, though I lost track of time with no watch and no phone. Jera had gone back to the French Country Inn in the car, as she required a bit more civilized accommodations than I. In fact, I spread out my sleeping bag and pillow on a picnic table and slept under the stars. Even though I’d left all my clothes, my air mattress inflator, and any sort of personal hygiene things back at the Inn, it was awesome!

The next morning – a couple hours later – I got up and realized I had no way back to the Inn. Everyone else was still sleeping, so I borrowed a car and started driving. My phone was dead, so GPS wasn’t an option. After about 30 minutes into what should have been a 15 minute trip, I hit the Illinois state line and realized things had gone horribly awry. So, I rummaged and found a map and eventually arrived after about an hour of driving.

The moral to the story is this – when driving around rural Wisconsin get yourself a good, non-electronic map, and keep it with you at all times.

The Queen of the Castle

We are both the oldest of two siblings in our families. Everyone has a number of children they’d ideally like to have (none at all in some cases). While we didn’t want to limit the upper end, we knew we wanted more than two, God willing. One seemed lonely, and adding another seemed almost obligatory. So we always wanted at least three. Once we hit three, we weren’t sure we could handle any more, so we settled on three.

This is Lily, our third:

She is amazingly happy and independent.

Every morning, she comes downstairs while I’m sleeping, gets right up in my face so that I can feel her hair brushing against my nose and says “I want milk” (sometimes just “Milk-y” or “milk-milk” if she is trying to act like a baby) about 6:00AM. I make her say “please” before finally succumbing and getting up. On the occasion I’m not fast enough, she will run into the kitchen, grab the entire gallon from the refrigerator, and lug it over to me.

Once it is in her little cup, she always wants to put the cup in the microwave, shut the door, and push the buttons “4-5-START”, which she will sometimes say as she is doing it. She then moves over onto the stove and looks in the window watching the cup twirl around on the translucent plate common to many a microwave oven. She watches it the entire time and will sometimes comment on the motion of the plate. For some reason it reverses itself at times, and the other day it was off the spinny thing, so Lily alerted me by yelling “IT’S NOT MOVING!” Once it is done, she opens the door, careful not to fall off the counter, and she shakes up the cup, just to make sure the heat is evenly distributed.

From there, she plops down on the couch, demands a blanket, a pillow, and one of her favorite shows. We have that On Demand cable, and much to my dismay they stopped running her favorite show Max and Ruby, which she refuses to accept, as she asks for it every morning. Much like her shows, she will bring me a book in the morning which I will read to her. After the book is done she will want to read it again immediately. I try to get her to expand her horizons and bring me a new book (also, so I don’t have to read the same thing twice in a row), but that only elicits a “read it again” demand from her.

She is extremely friendly and outgoing, and wherever she goes she will introduce herself to people. Adults love it, but other little tykes look at her like she’s nuts. When we drop her off at Sunday School or a class of some sort, she walks in like she owns the place with a huge smile on her face. She’s also quite bullheaded, and it takes some serious negotiating, which usually erodes into threats of privilege removal, to get her to do simple things like buckle into her car seat or stand still so we can brush her hair.

We sometimes wonder if we should try to “break her spirit” like we were taming a wild stallion, or if we should try to harness and focus the little strengths that are already showing. The traits she has that drive us crazy at three are the same things that will make her a strong, confident adult, so we often err to the side of leniency and let her run free.

I thought I’d give her some blogspace today, since I focused on Allie and Julianna’s lemonade stand a couple days ago. Lily has two parents and two older sisters that dole out the love every day, so she is definitely not lacking any attention!

Who is this man?

You might be asking yourself why we would put a photo of this fellow on our blog. This man is Cristian Hotescu, formerly of Bucharest, Romania, and now a full-fledged U. S. Citizen. He is the owner of Black Pearl Technologies, and he is completely behind the development and programming of createsticksandstones.com. Though he works behind the scenes and from 2 states away, his work is crucial in keeping the website end of the company up and running on a daily basis.

Jera and he used to work together for Car.com a few years ago. When Car.com sold to Autobytel in 2004, he gave up a secure career and took a chance on working full time with us. Though our business model has changed drastically since 2004, he has been a constant. When the site first started in 2005, he brought us from a blank page to a fully functional website by working for weeks on end 16 hours a day.

Of his many sayings, my favorite has to be in response to my very common question “can we make the website do this? (Insert something newfangled and difficult here)” I then brace myself for his unwavering response: “anything is possible”. I’ve never heard him say “impossible” yet, and I don’t expect to hear it in the near future.

Many times web programmers come equipped with mad programming skills, but they are missing a few cards from the customer service deck. Mr. Hotescu believes customer service is part of the package. He’s worked on websites from the ski slopes of Vermont, from Romania, and from Seattle, Washington, all while vacationing.

He’s worked hand in hand with some of the web’s premier designers. He’s been known to pull all-nighters to meet a deadline. The night before the Rachael Ray show featuring Sticks and Stones aired (which you can see here), we just so happened to be finishing our web re-design. He was uploading the new site as the show was airing, and we made it through with only a few minor hiccups!

Though the casual web browser might go to our “About Us” section and find out a little about our family, Mr. Hotescu’s contributions go largely unheralded. So, we thought we’d introduce him to you today.

Entrepreneurs – born or bred?

Our oldest two daughters, Allie and Julianna, are already displaying signs of being little entrepreneurs. The neighbors across the street donated the lemonade stand they built for their kids years ago, and on day one they were peddling lemonade at the edge of the driveway.

I think they had somewhat of a monopoly, as there were no other lemonade stands in the entire neighborhood that day, so even though lemonade was $1.00 a cup (an extra shot of sugar was $0.25) the locals were a-clamorin’. On a day where there is another group of kids down the block setting up a stand the price might drop to $0.75 as market forces take over, with three or more groups service and flavor are the determining factor.

If you enlarge the picture, you can see Allie’s look is one of “I have all this inventory that’s getting warmer by the second and there are no customers”, while Julianna is just content to kick her feet up and wait.

We won’t let them into the street to attract customers, but they can hold a sign at the edge of the driveway. They are quite the persuasive little salespeople, which likely comes from Jera’s days selling online advertising. She worked out of the office in our house and balanced watching kids at times, so they got to hear her on the phone with General Motors or Ford.

I do wonder how much of the entrepreneurial personality is with us at birth. Both of us have somewhat of a problem with authority, which means we are going to do much better when the vision is ours rather than our boss’s, or his/her boss’s vision. We are also risk-takers, and we’ll throw caution to the wind if there is something we believe in. We were never content to work for someone else’s dream, and we were willing to forsake the relatively secure corporate environment (“my company will take care of me”) for the possibility of being able to make our own decisions, even if that meant financially we would have less short-term security.

Finally, we both come from a sales background, and we are used to overcoming objections on the fly. This comes in handy when dealing with the rejection that comes with selling a product, and we’ve been turned down more times than I care to count.

I see many similar traits in our kids. We try to foster the spirit without overwhelming them by encouraging selling things, even at their young ages. I used to hate going door-to-door selling candy bars for little league, but my daughters look for things around the house they can sell, and then they want to walk around the neighborhood selling them.
We have to rein them in!

While motorists along our street can drive on by, the family pushing strollers down the sidewalk is low-hanging fruit for these two, like shooting fish in a barrel. The girls are counting their greenbacks before the family is even within shouting distance!

We talk about charity and saving as things you do first before you spend. I think they get the philanthropy. In fact, Allie had saved $63.00 and gave every penny of it away to her school for a fund raiser without even telling us about it. Jera decided that since Allie was so giving she would buy her something she wanted that cost even more than what she had donated.

They have a tougher time understanding saving at this point, as immediately after counting up their tally from the day, they want to go spend it all on Webkinz. They now have more Webkinz than they can possible keep fed, played with, and clean on Webkinz.com. In fact, I’m afraid if I logged in to their accounts it would look like one of those animal shelters that gets busted on Animal Planet. I hope there is no animal welfare department for cyber-pets, because Allie and Julianna would be facing serious charges!

Not "A" walk in the park...

We thought it would be fun to tell the story about some of the letters we’ve found over time, as there are some pretty fun happenings associated with them. The first is about this “A”:

Back in November 2006 we took a trip to Chicago specifically to look for letters for a keepsake we were doing on behalf of the wife of a prominent attorney. While driving on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, we spotted this “A” on an historic church. Jera grabbed the camera and jumped out of the car onto the sidewalk to get the picture while I continued to drive slowly in traffic, as Michigan Avenue has no real place to stop and relax, unless you are on foot.

Looking slightly nutty running down Michigan Avenue with a camera around her neck, she caught up with me at the next intersection, and we continued on. Later, at our hotel halfway to South Bend, Indiana, we realized the picture was slightly blurry, much to our dismay. Though our trip netted some great photographs, we were disappointed we couldn’t use this “A”.

In July 2007 we took the kids to Chicago for Allie’s birthday and stayed a couple blocks from the church. While walking to the beach the next morning, we were finally able to re-take the elusive “A”. We’ve recently added it to the website, and I’m happy to report it was worth the wait!

The most exciting thing...

I remember when the website first got up and running we knew the names of almost every customer, as we would get a couple orders a week. I’d have the 800-number ring into my cell phone, and I’d get a chance to answer questions personally about our keepsakes. Three years later, we’ve grown to the point that we don’t get to see each order, as they are coming from different sources – catalogs, stores, internet, phone.

We are still so appreciative on a daily basis of each order we receive. There is an inexplicable feeling to think “we created this product and someone thought it was cool enough to search us out and buy it.” It is truly humbling, not in a cliché way, but in a way that makes you feel very blessed.

I remember having some sleepless nights last Christmas season. Our staff grew to almost 50 people to meet the holiday demand, and some of us worked 7 days a week. With the little time we had to sleep, I’d wake up and think “I just don’t want to disappoint anyone. I want everyone to get their keepsakes in time for Christmas!”

We started getting two UPS pickups daily after Thanksgiving, because with one pickup we’d fill up the warehouse with outgoing shipments, and it made it tough to operate. We worked right up until 6PM Friday evening before Christmas and got those last boxes on the truck just in time. Mission accomplished.

Through all of that, we were so thankful for the people who were willing to work tirelessly to meet the demand, the vendors who got us our materials in a timely fashion, and for each customer who said “I want to give a Sticks and Stones for a gift this year!”

I sometimes wonder after being on the receiving end of paltry customer service “at what point did that company decide I was just a number?” It certainly wasn’t a conscious decision, but it happened at some point in their evolution.

Here’s to the fact that almost three years later I still get excited when I hear that little chime on my cell phone that tells me we just got an order. It’s as much of a rush as it was back in 2005. Thank you for being our customer!

Do you want an iPod or an mp3 player?

What apparatus pops into your mind when you think “I’d like to listen to my digital music on the go?” If you said “iPod”, you are in tune with most of the world. I believe I read a couple years ago that Apple had over 80% of the hard-drive based mp3 player market. Even if you don’t own an iPod, you certainly recognize the name and probably can even pick one off the pages of your latest Sunday Best Buy insert at a glance. Apple spent millions of dollars building their brand, and it paid off in a big way. Remember the silhouettes dancing to U2’s Vertigo? Today, there are iPods and there are “all the other guys”.

Though we don’t have visions of grandeur that ever include being in the same sentence as the iPod, we made the decision a long time ago that building our brand would be the most important thing we would do for the future. Building a brand immediately differentiates our company from others in a few different ways. Initially, we were alone in cyberspace, but after appearances in a few magazines and on a few TV shows, competitors began appearing, many even with eerily similar stories in their “about us” section (I’ll let you research them yourself), and most with similar styles and prices.

The main thing we have going for us is people recognize Sticks and Stones as a trusted brand for quality. Having Oprah, Rachael Ray, and Martha Stewart touting our work doesn’t hurt, and it definitely lends credibility. We also decided service would be number one, hence our 24-hour a day toll free customer service phone line, quick response to emails, and online chat. We strive to make everyone happy, and offering a no-questions-asked return policy puts people at ease. All of these things have helped build trust in our brand, and we’ll do our best to keep the trust we’ve earned over past few years.

How much would it cost to do it myself?

A few times we’ve heard the comment “I should just do this myself.” People often ask us how difficult it is to find “letters” for a name. Actually, that is just part of the battle. If you can muster the time you can certainly find the letters. It might take a day or so to find the letters in your name – some letters are harder than others to find.

Let’s say you va