Orange and Black cones of DOOM! Learning to ask for help and being confidently vulnerable.

Well it's that time of year again...construction season.

My old friends "The Orange and Black Cones of DOOM" (as I have not so lovingly named them) arrived last Thursday afternoon. It was no surprise, I was well informed that it was happening but knowing and seeing are two totally different things. I had that day at long last treated myself to a haircut from the lovely and talented Ashley, the owner of The Proudest Pony. I was rounding the corner after having my hair wonderfully cut and lovingly straightened, relaxed and feeling that little fresh from the salon bounce in my hair and in my step. Then as if someone had smacked me in the face...I spotted them...lining the blocks along Dundas West as far as my eye could see...The Orange and Black Cones of DOOM. Sigh! I actually stopped in my tracks and said out loud to myself "OH FUCK". I'm sure I looked like a crazy person, with great hair of course, but crazy none the less and I didn't care.

Allow me to explain my reaction.

My little shop Beadle will be celebrating 5 years in October and this will be the 4th summer all of which have seen major disruptions due to construction of various forms on Dundas West. This season of construction is the scariest one so far. The sidewalks and curbs and road will be replaced. So what you say? Well how do you get customers to your business when you are a street store and don't have a sidewalk to walk on? At times there will be piles of dirt instead of the sidewalk and a wooden plank to get in and out of my store. Not to mention the sound of jackhammers, concrete drills and construction vehicles that will be making noise loud enough to wake the dead. It frazzles my nerves and toys with my mental health. Sigh!

And clearly I am not alone in my feelings on this subject. Check out the most recent story here: Globe and Mail

Okay so now that I have all that negative stuff off my chest I'll move on. The silver lining is our neighbourhood will get the MUCH needed, over due facelift it has long waited and really does deserve.  The improvements are to include new trees, parkettes, street furniture, new sidewalks with cobblestone inserts, new curbs and a smooth newly surfaced road, just to name a few. Our new Councilor Ana Bailao and The DuWest BIA have worked in conjunction with the City of Toronto to make this long over due upgrade happen. There is no question it will be beautiful once it's all done and it will improve business - we just need to get through it to reap the rewards.

I'm thinking new and trying new things in order to keep Beadle afloat during the next 6 months of construction.

Here is where the vulnerable part comes in. I'm learning to ask for help which leaves me feeling vulnerable but it's not all bad. I'm learning that people are essentially good and willing to help if you ask politely and genuinely request their support. I'm also learning to be confident about asking for help, part of that is discovering who to ask for help and when. And it not only helps me feel supported by asking but those who are asked to help are left feeling good that I trusted them enough to ask. Confidently, genuinely, vulnerable is an interesting way to build credibility and community. Interesting? I think so. I don't even pretend to be a writer so read this article or go to this blog to find out more about what I'm trying to say. The last and what I think is the most important thing about asking for help is saying thank you and remember to give credit to those who have helped or are willing to try. This could be as simple as offering to help them out with spreading the word on what they do or even as simple as just saying "Thank you" in person, on the phone, on facebook or with a card. Simple? I think it can be.

I recently asked musician Jasmine Ash to become a fan of Beadle. I love her song Lulls that plays in the latest Nissan commercial. I think she has the voice of and angle and dig her music so I decided to find her on facebook and genuinely tell her how much I loved her music and then I politely asked if she would "Like" my biz page. She did and I'm clearly very flattered and excited about it. I'd like to thank her properly by sending her some new fans. Please check out her facebook page and "Like" her. Please let her know that "Beadle"sent you (that's the giving credit part I mentioned). You can listen to her song here.

Okay so here goes nothing...will you help me spread the word about Beadle's new Jewellery Making Parties? or Beadle's wonderful array of Canadian Handmade Products? I'd be very grateful and willing to help you out some time when you might need it.

Thank you for reading!

Take care and be well,
Cherie

Noun

vulnerability (countable and uncountable; plural vulnerabilities)

1. (uncountable) Susceptibility to attack or injury; the state or condition of being weak or poorly defended.
   

   The country recognized their defence vulnerability after an airplane landed in front of the central square without any consequences.



2. (countable) a specific weakness in the protections or defences surrounding someone or something.

Handmade creating life long memories...

I often have customers that come back to Beadle and tell me that the item they purchased as a gift was well received. I can see the excitement in their faces as they tell me their stories. To me it's contagious and to be honest I can never get enough of it. It's what makes me tick, it makes me happy to know that Beadle's carefully chosen selection is appreciated or adored by those who receive them. It is what keeps me moving forward even when times are tough. However up until yesterday I had never had anyone tell me that an item/gift has "changed" someone's life and "is creating life long memories for their family" too. It was so heart warming I almost cried. Here is the story. Please remember I am by no means a writer but hopefully you will get the gist of it.

A woman from my neighbourhood came in to ask about a custom Fleurtje bag for herself. On impulse (her words not mine) she decided to pick out a custom bag. She had a look around and also decided to buy one of the too cute stroller/baby blankets. This gift was for her co-worker, who's wife just had their first child, a very healthy baby girl.

Let me tell you a bit about the blankets before I carry on with the story. Bare with me it does matter what the blanket looks like. The blanket is one of three that are wonderfully embellished with chopsticks and sushi roll. These appliques are hand cut out of wool felt and then hand stitched onto the blanket. They are lovingly created by artist Mary Speer. Who must have the patience of a saint to create these tiny wonders.

So this blanket has a sushi roll on it...are you following me still? Okay, now back to the story.

The Mother and Father of this new little bundle of joy have now started calling their baby "my little sushi-roll" or sushi for short. So if it wasn't for this gift she would have never ended up with such a cute nick-name or this sweet blanket to cherish for years to come. And the too cute little blanket has now created life long memories for an entire family (and beyond). Oh and I should mention that the co-worker/new Father called his co-worker (my customer) 3 times the day after getting the gift. Each time leaving a long message on how wonderful a gift it truly was.

This is a wonderful Beadle memory that I will cherish forever.

memory |ˈmem(ə)rē|noun ( pl. -ries)

• the power of the mind to remember things : the brain regions responsible for memory.• the mind regarded as a store of things remembered : something remembered from the past; a recollection : one of my earliest memories is of sitting on his knee |take a trip (or walk) down memory lane deliberately recall pleasant or sentimental memories.

ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French memorie, from Latin memoria, from memor ‘mindful, remembering.’

On the sunny side of the street

Beadle is on the sunny side of the street. Well that is when the sun is shinning. We've had loads of rain in Toronto and it of course effects business. The other be factor is that the TTC no longer has streetcars running along Dundas West between Lansdowne and Bathurst. They have buses running instead because of the water main construction...ugh! But most people don't like the buses and they fill up faster than streetcars so a load of people are just avoiding Dundas and going to Queen or College. But of course I am always attempting the think positive...

When all of the construction is completed next spring/summer the roads will be nicer, the streetcars will be back and business will boom. Right? Oh, I mean RIGHT!

For now I am focusing on ways to market Beadle on line to put the word out, building a local following. And find ways to market Beadle online to increase my online sales. All of which must be FREE of course. That is definitely keeping me on my toes. Trying to find creative ways to network and market Beadle for free isn't that hard it just takes time. There are loads of ways, Craigs list and Facebook Marketplace are the two I am focusing on in the coming days. To put a further sunny spin on it at least this keeps my creative brain challenged because for me being bored is almost like being dead. (creatively speaking of course)

Wish me luck.

sunny |ˈsənē|adjective

(of a person or their temperament) cheery and bright : he had a sunny disposition

suggestive of the warmth or brightness of the sun

a sunny disposition cheerful, cheery, happy, lighthearted, bright, merry, joyful, bubbly, blithe,

jolly, jovial, animated, buoyant, ebullient, upbeat, vivacious

look on the sunny side optimistic, rosy, bright, hopeful, auspicious, favorable

ORIGIN Old English sunne, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zon and German Sonne, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek hēlios andLatin sol.

genuine

Even when I'm just going about my day, checking various forms of communications - Email, Twitter, Facebook - things, good things, can pop out at you. Restoring my positive outlook on my day even when sales are bleak.

Here is one example of what I am talking about.

I stumbled across this blog/website today called www.etsyitemoftheday.com This seemingly lovely woman (I say seemingly only because I don't actually know her) whom really enjoys things handmade, has taken it upon herself to promote an item/shop on www.Etsy.com each day that somehow catches her attention. I've also found her on Twitter. I read her blog and it seems that she just does this for fun. Imagine an individual who is genuinely interested in promoting things that are handmade without any financial benefit from it. I guess it's her hobby and what a feel good one it must be.

There are genuine people to be found in this world. How truly wonderful.

genuine |ˈjenyoōin|adjective

truly what something is said to be; authentic : each book is bound in genuine leather.• (of a person, emotion, or action) sincere : she had no doubts as to whether Tom was genuine | a genuine attempt to delegate authority.

ORIGIN late 16th cent.(in the sense [natural or proper] ): from Latingenuinus, from genu ‘knee’ (with reference to the Roman custom of a father acknowledging paternity of a newborn child by placing it on his knee); later associated with genus ‘birth, race, stock.’

The kindness of some new friends.

Things have been a little rough lately with the lack of streetcars, the city workers strike and the lack of tourists coming to the city. Luckily I have some great new friends in the "hood" as we seem to like to call the Brockton Triangle/DuWest/little Brazil. The kindness of people I am just getting to know and call "friend" is astounding. I'm really looking forward to walking Chip with Melanie and Dim Sum in the morning. I really need the exercise for various reason especially to help with the stress I'm feeling due to the lack of business. And it's probably a really good idea for me to leave the 4 city blocks that I now rarely ever venture out of, at least once in a while. We are going to walk over to Bickford Park on Harbourd at Christie. Thought it would be fun to try out a new dog park for a change...I love all the people and dogs at the regular ones but sometimes it's just nice to break routine.

I chilled out at Zoot's Cafe (Melanie's biz) last night for a weekly event called Quite Night. I was there earlier in the day when Martina dragged me there insisting to buy me a coffee (she's a sweet heart). I had a mini-melt down when Melanie asked how biz was. I felt so dumb because I pretty much burst into tears. Both Melanie and Martina where so nice to me. But I still felt stupid for crying. Anyway Melanie offered up one of her windows to display some Beadle jewellery in order to drum up some business for me. Words can't express just how much I appreciate her doing this for me. And Martina after buying me a latte then dragged me off to the bakery to get me all the fix'ns for a sandwich. She actually thanked me for allowing her to treat me to a latte and lunch. Now that is kindness.

So in the theme of being positive I'm going to do a word of the day. Or at least a positive word each day I blog.

Here goes...

My word of the day is KIND

kind

(adjective)

having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature : she was a good, kind woman | he was very kind to me.• [ predic. ] used in a polite request : would you be kind enough to repeat what you said?• [ predic. ] ( kind to) (of a consumer product) gentle on (a part of the body) : look for rollers that are kind to hair.• archaic affectionate; loving.

ORIGIN Old English gecynde [natural, native] ; in Middle English the earliest sense is [well born or well bred,] whence [well disposed by nature, courteous, gentle, benevolent.]

First time...

Okay well here it goes. I've finally gone and done it and created a blog. I'm told it's good for venting, updating friends and family on your life and also a must have for small business. I'm not much of a writer but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. So wanna know more about me check out my website www.beadlestore.com or www.cheriebeadle.etsy.com

I look forward to comments and questions.

Thanks for reading!