I knew my days were coming to an end with this company. I was training more people and relinquishing more duties. I wasn't satisfied with the eight lines that had been developed. We needed more accounts, more sales plus exciting new products.
I felt exhausted. I couldn't come up with any more ideas. I had a nagging sense deep inside, that I was at a dead end. Then a couple days later, it was an unusually cold and wet day in early Fall. The broken window on our floor forced me to get layered up.
While looking for some flannel shirts and sweaters, I landed on the floor of opportunity. I couldn't believe, I had overlooked these two floors for so long. In almost no time the creative juices started flowing. The timing couldn't be better. Morale was at an all-time low. Fundraising wasn't going well and two major supporters had dropped out. Team Leaders and Managers were not getting paid every pay period. Our employees were always paid due to the vulnerability and fragile states most lived. During our weekly meeting, the bomb was dropped, paychecks would be half the amount for this week. They had arranged for people to go to the local pantry to help with food expenses. The mood was grim, for the first time Team Leaders were contemplating jumping ship. I needed a game plan.
We had enough products to repeat a few lines while adding some different materials to maintain our accounts, while I worked on new prototypes for next Season release. I quickly had my Assistant create a new production sheet, pulled new materials and gave her a quick set of instructions.
I then went back to the floor of opportunity and spent the rest of the evening pulling sweaters and knits. I needed to start developing some new product lines and release the line for testing. If I could, develop new prototypes for our retail store and make them only available to our customers it would keep us operating. I couldn't wait for the President's approval, I went straight to the PR consultant with the news flash.
I called the President after I got home and told her about my plans. It was time to lock myself in my home studio. Time to play with some new materials, I was back on track and excited. This would be the line that would change everything.