Plan A
Sometimes in life you have to put all your eggs in one basket. At least that's how I seem to live.
From the very beginning, when the idea of Mustard was taking shape, I knew that I wanted to launch at Life InStyle. I knew that wholesale was where our energy needed to be focused to gain momentum and Life InStyle was the perfect platform for the brand we wanted to create. I did the research and looked into other options, I asked everyone I knew who had done a trade show. But, in the end there was only a Plan A. I had no Plan B.
The deadline for applications was sitting on the horizon but we didn't actually have any products, a logo, a website or anything much more than ideas to apply with. So this became the key task: build enough elements of a brand to make the application look good and then figure out the next steps after that!
I attended Training Wheels, a full day workshop for new and existing exhibitors that Life Instyle runs and it really helped me get my head around the trade show experience. It was another investment that was yet guaranteed to pay off!
Having only one focus, one path, meant I was able to really focus my energy on achieving it. If I had tried to hedge my bets and cover all the options I might have missed the very opportunity I wanted the most.
Then... the email appeared. We were in.
#phew
