customer service...

...i have wanted to post this for a while but i haven't had a chance to before now. even now a half a world away, i am worrying about our customer orders. this is for a couple of reasons. but i have something to say that well will be the honest truth in the matter. when it comes to me - i have been trying hard to work on how i treat customer service people. this goes for a charge that was wrong on my CC, someone at walmart who argues with me whether the diet coke is $0.97/ 2 liter or $1.15/ 2 liter (i have this insane memory skill so i am only wrong about grocery prices 5% of the time) or whatever.
...and well for deb and i to take this 2 week trip to asia to work on Maya Road and our future isn't easy. right now we have the support of awesome friends to try and field calls and message and check on deliveries but i lie awake worrying about stuff b/c i TAKE IT SO PERSONALLY.
... and here in lies the problems. i really like to take care of our customers. i think you will find instances when we totally go out of our way for things that cost us money to make it work for our customers. sometimes that comes at the price of 4 hours of sleep. but we have worked hard at this... so it truly upsets me when a customer is rude to me on the phone. there is no need for it. it won't get you any further up the line of when your order will ship. but i will say, we remember all of the ones who have been kind and understanding to us and for those, we will go the extra mile.
... i will give you an example. we had an international customer that we had shipped a pkg to and 10 days later the pkg was returned b/c fedex had an error online that day we processed it and all international barcodes didn't process. i emailed our customer and she was so kind to say " i understand, not your fault" and i told her i was away in asia and didn't know if i would be able to access email. but she understood and we spent the money to ship the items to her UPS express...

i guess the moral of the story is but kind- it won't hurt you and it truly goes a long way. and for those of you who are our customers, thanks for your kindness. it means a lot. and the good news is the rest of our stuff arrives at the end of this week!

half a world away...

i am a half a world away. in asia - hong kong, mainland china and at the moment singapore. i have taken tons of pictures but alas in the haste do not have the capabilities to upload them.

but i am alive. the timing of the trip is perfect as our next shipment of products do not arrive until early next week!

i ain't as good as i once was...

... ok i admit it i listen to country music - i really like that song by toby keith - but i just finished a run and boy has this pregnancy thing been an adjustment for me... in a phyiscal sense. i stopped drinking diet cokes. no more sushi for me and my all during my run tonight i kept singing that toby keith song. a simple reminder that well, it is ok to take it easy and now i am doing it for me and someone else (i also notice that i have a booty waddle)...

i needed my run tonight to relieve some stress. MR has been stressful for me lately b/c it has gotten bigger than our wildest dreams in a short period of time. that makes planning hard. really hard. and of course everyone wants everything now. but it is a give and take - we can't carry infinite inventory (b/c we don't have the money) so then it gets back to problem solving...

...but tonight i am going to take a break. i promised my SIL and DH when i was in portland that i would hold a photo contest for them. each of them have submitted 3 photos to me they both took one day and have promised they haven't used any program to alter the photo and i want you all to help me choose the best. for them, there is the temer pride riding on it. for you all, if you participate, i will throw you in a drawing for a RAK (translation - lots of cool ribbons). and for me, i told them i would scrap the best in show picture.

so watch for it tonight!

back to my roots...

deb and i are headed to asia for MR business in a bit and it is always nice to be able to mix business with family visits! though i was born and raised here, BUT i never get tired of going to hong kong and china. i am very thankful that my parents encouraged us to speak chinese growing up. i don't get enough of a chance to speak it today and once in a while, i find a word will elude me. it is funny b/c when we go back, ppl know that we are "american" - is it the way we dress? our chinglish?

one year, deb and i were in a store in china and these women started talking about the outfit that deb was wearing (in a negative way like "that is a style my grandma used to wear") i guess they thought we didn't speak chinese b/c we were conversing in english so we started talking in english about what they were saying about her outfit in chinese. but before we left, deb was sure to say really loudly "we are leaving now" in chinese. you should have seen the look on their faces!

but the reality is that this has helped us jump start maya road. in a big way. it really helps to speak the language. it helps to be able to say "pink" in either language so it doesn't get lost in the translation. and it is super way cool when we see a concept we have put to paper made into something real and fabulous.

good news...

...running a business is never easy. when i left my old job, one of the VPs came to me to try to convince me to stay. when i told him that i was thinking about leaving to run a business - MY business - he made some comment about "well 4 out of 5 self businesses fail". i shot back "well then i think you underestimate what i am capable of". i have to say after almost a year, it has been amazing and at times overwhelming. what started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for deb and i and i think it shows. we are now a couple of times bigger than we were last year - wow, i can't believe that can happen in 1 year! to start at a trade show with just a mere table and in 1 year moving to 2 booths is a big feat for us. i wonder if i should let this VP know this.

i will admit there are moments of doubt and stress but we believe in what we do... and i want to thank you all for that - you all make it possible. i worry sometimes b/c i feel i can't keep up with the calls and emails we get each day but it is better this way than to wait by the phone for no one to call. we take each customer, big and small - seriously - and if it is something we can do for a customer we will strive our best to do so but if we say no, well then it is for a good reason too b/c i don't want to under deliver on a promise...

this brings me to my news... and there is no other way to say it but like this:

my DH and i are expecting our first child next year... after Memory Trends, i could not for the life of me figure out WHY i was so tired and why my pants were fitting so tight! i figured it might be from the stress of the trade show and too many meals eaten on the run then. we had also begun to look seriously at international adoptions as a way of growing our family and also giving love to a child who needed a family. but the good Lord had other plans for us at this point. this is big news for us and as we go to asia for our next business trip and to visit my grandmother, we will share our news with her - she has been asking about great grandbabies for a while.

so for many reasons, this has been a great year for us. we expect that next year will be great for us for Maya Road and for our family. i can't wait!

congrats to the website quiz winner!

holly b of canada won my BD quiz contest (go holly!) and thanks to all of you for playing! i have been sagging in my blog do to getting all the MT orders ready to go and of course, it is almost time for deb and i to head back to our roots (and suppliers) in asia to get ready for CHA winter.

but be sure to check my blog this weekend. i have some exciting news to share with you all.

setting goals...

i went to watch the finish of the half marathon (13.1 miles) yesterday here in dallas. it was merely a year ago when i ran it and that was the last time i ran for a while (injury). but i was there to support carlos - one of my friends. carlos was my boss about 5 years ago. he gave me my first job in dallas straight out of the plant. he helped me start understanding the workings of a commerical realm and gave me opportunities for many successes.

i went to support carlos b/c he started running with me 2 years ago. he has lost close to 60 lbs now and as tough as it is for me to admit, he runs faster than me.

but i am getting that itch again to start doing something longer term in terms of fitness goals. there are going to be exciting things going on for us (as a company) and me (as a person) in 2006. i can't wait!

but to get me started again, i am going to go to the gym today. i won't let carlos be faster than me forever.

fashion...

yesterday as i was eating some fab pho (noodle soup) with a friend at lunch, i couldn't help but notice this lady who was wearing a super cute tank top that had hearts on the front (printed) and what really caught my eye was the tank top had HEART CHARMS dangling from the pits (yes the arm pits). i wasn't sure what to make of this fashion statement except i couldn't stop staring at the charms - the charms were cute - great for a layout of course - hanging off of a silver beaded chain.

i found myself sipping soup and trying to catch unknowing glances at her pits. i might have to make myself a shirt like this for the next trade show with MR chipboard all hanging from my arm pits.

if she was shooting for a fashion statement and "look at me" - that tank top was the way to do it!

still here!

no, i haven't dropped off of the fave of the earth. i just took a mini vacation to portland to see some family. i needed a break - little TV, no internet (funny how much time that thing can suck out of you), lots of sleep and rain and good food. i am energized (but of course came back to a big customer issue i had to fix). was Memory Trends only 3 weeks ago? things are flying by in a blaze.

i just needed a bit of time to recover from the short cycle of the trade show life.

but i am here and thanks to everyone who entered the contest! i will pick a winner tomorrow!

c