That’s what running a start up is all about, right?? I just have been talking to fellow entrepreneur friends who are going through the same kinds of issues I am…close to a big deal that can save the day and close to being out of business. How do we live like this??? Most people have some amount of respect for entrepreneurs but it takes living through this to really understand what it means to be able think on your feet, turn on a dime, and pray to the various gods of luck, commerce, and charity.

All that said, I would like to share that I am excited about where we are and scared to death at the same time. Getting up and going has been the typical roller coaster ride you would suspect of a start up.  We’re constantly working to move this boat forward sometimes with an oar and sometimes with the boost of a powerful engine.  We’re excited about our test market line and that it’s beginning to see some traction in the marketplace.  Meanwhile, we’ll keep working on adding new styles to the line. We plan to have the fun, trendy additions ready for the Christmas selling season in October.

We’re going ahead and getting ready for our style consultants to start selling as well. We’re working on getting to the point where we can implement the help of some wonderful business partners who will help us put the whole infrastructure in place.  In the meantime, we’re making sure that the ladies who become our leaders will be rewarded for the importance they will have to our fledgling company.

I have to give a shout out to my Director of Distribution Development, Laura Hamblin, who is one of the most dedicated and creative women I know. She has been a rock for me to lean on over these past few weeks as all the craziness has unfolded and I can’t even begin to descirbe what she has meant to me!!!

Finally, make sure you check out the online store with its phenomenal pictures and the new lower introductory pricing. If you live close to Ypsilanti, feel free to stop by the storefront in Depot Town to visit, see the clothing and take something home.

Well, thanks for joining me as I walk, live, breathe, and sleep on the razor’s edge.

Myra Klarman, our photographer, has done it again! You can check out her blog here. We had our photo shoot this past week and I think you’ll agree it’s a huge improvement to the website! We ended up only having two models. I had tried for more because I wanted a mix of younger and older models and a bit more multi-ethnic feel, but I had bad luck and timing conspire to whittle it down to just two at the end.

My hope and thought is that being able to see how the clothing fits on girls’ bodies will encourage people to place orders. The other challenge we’re having is that for some reason people haven’t been figuring out that they can click on the image with the categories to access more colors and a choice of graphic designs. We have tried to make that clearer through indicating the number of items available and putting text on the page that tells people they can click to find more.

In the meantime, we’re in the process of adjusting our fit to make the back to school line even better. Our designer, Adriana, is gearing up for our back to school production and with our new manufacturer we can count on high quality goods delivered on time and to our specifications. We are still manufacturing in the states, but will now be using a cut and sew operation out of Los Angeles.

We’re also gearing up to launch the style consultant network. We’re having a meeting at the end of June to talk with interested consultants in the area, explain the opportunity, and begin the process of identifying some our founder’s circle leaders.

There is a lot going on and there is also a lot of uncertainty due to the still unresolved funding issue. We have a partial commitment and are working to fill out the rest of what’s needed so that we can move forward with the intiatives that will put us in the marketplace in a strong way.