Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I have SO much to tell you!
Last I wrote I was on my way to New York for a fun long weekend. I started a HUGE entry on the plane ride back (which I will post after this one) that I didn’t get to finish. My plan was to finish the entry on the plane this week during my work trip to Detroit, but believe it or not, I was so concerned with making sure that I had all the stuff I needed for the trip - presentation on a thumb drive, different instructions, etc - that I left the office and forgot to bring my work laptop!
I can’t write entries on my phone like many of you can, so I just decided to go old school, leave the entry for later and take actual handwritten notes during the meetings.
Have to say I had a great work trip this week. Went to Detroit to meet with GIANT CORP for whom I created the Line That I Created (LTIC) on Wednesday evening for their supplier summit and awards dinner and Thursday for more meetings and a roundtable session with other licensees.
I had two BIG COUPS - or at least moments of note - while I was there!
The first was at the pre-dinner and awards ceremony cocktail reception. As you know, I went solo to this event/meeting because Boss is on vacation and Golden Boy was supposedly “busy” (turns out, he wasn’t…so I’m still not sure why he didn’t go). But solo turned out to be the best way to go because I didn’t have the Fun Police hampering anything.
So. There I was, by myself, having a glass of wine and kind of mingling in this really beautiful courtyard, surrounded by men in suits (this company is very formal, old-school and, judging by the percentage of men - a good 80%, clearly still driven by the Men’s Club) and I told myself…Self, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by introducing yourself to people. So I started just walking up to a few folks who looked like they were open to a stranger approaching, and I introduced myself and told them why I was there.
[Ed Note: my company is not actually a “supplier” to this company per se. I’m working on a licensed project FOR this company - a brand extension, if you will. If you knew the product that I design and the GIANT CORP I’m designing this stuff for, it would make complete sense. This is the first year that GIANT CORP has invited licensees and I went early to get the full effect. The liaison guys I’ve been working with didn’t show up until the next day]
Anyway. Turns out there were a few people there who I actually knew from other projects and we bumped into each other. One guy asked me if I’d met the CEO of GIANT CORP and I said no (in fact, I didn’t even know his name or what he looked like! Shhhh…don’t tell anyone!), but my business acquaintance told me that he’d been standing close by and he’d point him out to me if he saw him again so I’d know who he was.
Time went on and wine was flowing and I’d met a few more people and pretty soon my business acquaintance came back over and whispered that CEO was standing right next to me and then walked away. So a lull came in the conversation he was having with more suits (pretty handsome suits at that!), and he turned around and I made eye contact with him and MADE MY MOVE!
I boldly looked CEO square in the eye and asked him if I could introduce myself!!
And he turned to me and pointed at the men he’d been talking with and said, “Now, what do you think? You think I want to keep talking with these guys or come over and talk with YOU!”
And he walked right over to me and allowed me to not only introduce myself to him but to tell him all about the LTIC and how proud I was of it. We ended up talking for a good 15 minutes!
Then, of course, he needed to go talk with other folks and I was thrilled about our conversation and I found the head of marketing for GIANT CORP, who I already know because I’ve been working with him on this project. We started chatting right before it was time for dinner, and as we were being called in to the ballroom area, I felt someone come up from behind me and kind of wrap his arm around my waist…
It was CEO of GIANT CORP coming back over to ask Head of Marketing dude why he’s been hiding me from him? Like, he was openly super flirting with me and had completely pulled me into a full blown HUG!
So. Honestly, I was shocked by this. In this day and age of #metoo, here was this CEO of a multi-billion dollar GIANT CORP making me blush and pulling me close and talking openly to one of his executive staff about wanting to steal me away. It was flattering and dumbfounding at the same time.
Had he taken me seriously? Was this a game? Who knew at that point?
So dinner was called, and we all had assigned table seating. Head of Marketing and I were seated at the same table - at the very front of the banquet hall, and I am still scratching my head at how I got seated at such a prestigious table, because I ended up sitting next to the President of another extremely important division on the other side!!
Coup #2 was that I ended up talking with President Dude all through dinner and I has so much face time that I was able to show him the amazing photography we’d done this week from my phone! He was so impressed by the looks of the LTIC that he said he wanted to make sure that I got extra business through his area! He said it to me AND to the Head of Marketing guy. I later connected with him on LinkedIn so I’m going to message him if needed to actually see this to fruition (a woman on a mission - which is hilarious seeing as I’m bloody pissed at what’s actually happening at my company right now. Still, I can’t help but be proud of my work!).
But back to Coup #1, along came CEO to our table and he tapped Head of Marketing on the shoulder saying that he wanted to switch seats with him so that he could have dinner with me!!
Gah, you guys! I mean, beyond funny and quite fun, but what to make of it?
Dinner was great and the awards were really nice. Some of the suppliers I’ve been working with on the LTIC won big awards, and I was excited to see that.
Next day were the big meetings, and I do mean big meetings, as in, 10 hours worth of meetings!
I saw CEO again at lunch and as he walked by my table, he joked, “You’re still here?!”
This was as I was talking with the big boss of the liaison company and a couple of my counterparts on their different projects. After he chatted a bit and walked past, we all talked about how much fun he is and how he’s so approachable and friendly (again, I’m with all men). At the very end of lunch, I felt an arm slip around me again (!!!) and it was CEO, wishing me much success at the breakout meetings and with my project.
If nothing else, he remembered me.
Later, I went looking for him online. As the head of a multi-billion dollar publicly owned company, you can imagine there’s lots to be found out about him, but all good things. He’s a super stand-up guy from all I can tell…he just was clearly having some fun. But WOW did it take me off guard. And really, I can’t say in a bad way. Who knows what could come of this?
Even later I saw that he’d viewed my LinkedIn profile. He has a hidden profile, but as a Premium member of LinkedIn, I can see that someone with the title “CEO / Executive Director” of GIANT CORP has viewed my profile.
By the end of the day yesterday I was wiped out. I didn’t really know what to expect at the end of the two days of meetings, so I had booked a hotel for two nights (wasn’t sure if liaison company would take me to dinner or something - thankfully, no).
I ended up having dinner solo. I yelped a few places - wasn’t sure where to go in the suburbs of Detroit. I found a place that looked great and close to my hotel, so after I went to a retail store to do some research on some product, I drove myself to this place. Looked super fun with lots of people mingling. Turns out, the place was closed for a private party.
Back to yelp. I found a Thai place that got great reviews! It was a little further drive - maybe 10 minutes away, but it would be worth it for the spicy Thai, right?
I got there - it was in a little strip mall - and when I went inside, there was like one custmer and the place looked like a dump! And nobody was waiting on customers at the front door so I walked out.
I was desperate at that point. There was an Italian restaurant in the strip mall a few doors down. But I didn’t want to go Italian because of all of the bread and hi-carb food.
Luckily, two more doors down was the PERFECT Mediterranean spot! And it was ½ price bottles of wine! I splurged, you guys…I got a bottle of wine (of which I drank two nicely poured glasses), tabouleh with lamb, spicy jalapeno hummus (yes, with pita - yikes), and baklava for dessert (super yikes but oh so delicious)!! I died of happiness and let out a huge sigh of relief as I let the meetings drain from my soul.
This morning I had a 7am flight back home! That meant I had to leave for the airport before 5am! UGH.
Luckily, I got an upgrade to first class on the plane which meant mimosas and a nice nap on the way back.
Of course, Boss was already asking for a recap before I even landed. Hah. Not even kidding. Not even funny - ESPECIALLY since the dude is on VACATION!!!
I went back to the office and wrote a huge recap (complete with powerpoint slides, recaps, AND photos of the CEO of GIANT CORP - ha!!!), sent it out to his ass by 2:45, and then left the fucking office.
Still no thanks. No good job. No glad you were able to get our name out there to the CEO and President of very important area.
It’s a thankless job, for sure…so I gotta get my kudos and feed my passion where I can. If that means having drinks and laughs (and maybe a hug or two) with the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, so be it!
Must sleep now. Stay tuned for the New York story…coming up!
xox,
GS
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