So you have these moments in life…things that change your trajectory without you really even knowing it. I have had one of those moments, and I want to share it with all of you.

This is our third year doing our We’ve Got Sole Display contest. I started this contest to not only rev up sales, but I also wanted my garden centers to get involved with their customers. I wanted them to reach out to their community with a personal handshake that says “We care”.  So we decided to award the prize money to the local charity of the winner’s choice instead of directly to the stores.

At the same time, I had hoped by sharing my values and opening up my own wallet, we might be able to start something amazing in this industry and really pay it forward. I try to live my life doing good things for others. I personally feel a company or an individual in the public eye, should, when given the microphone (an audience who is listening), not only have something profound to say, but their actions should show the world who they, and what they are made of without even a saying a word.

So this year we had a lot of entrants to our contest. One in particular stood out. I should have known this garden center was going to be special when I got numerous emails in the winter asking for our contest kit…over and over again. This lady…Jenny, she just wouldn’t leave me alone. She emailed me and emailed me, called me a number of times to register for the contest, get her a kit and so on. I finally got her hooked up with her distributor and thought that was that. Nope! Then she called over and over again about a seminar. Could I give a seminar at her nursery? Please. Please, Please!!  My schedule fills up so far in advance these days that I had to say no…but she was sooo persistent. Who was this lady?!! I still had to decline but she was beginning to make me wonder if she was going to be my first stepstalker? Little did I know what big fans I had.

Now…some history, things I didn’t know until just recently…Jenny and Bill own My Garden Nursery. Apparently upon walking through my trade show booth a few years ago Bill decided to propose to Jenny (in a matter of speaking) at this trade show using my STEPABLES tie dyed wristbands. They wear them proudly, and Jenny told me if she forgets to put hers on…Bill gets a bit sad!

When I opened the photos they emailed me I immediately knew they were going to be my winners. In their nursery, there are two life size figures of Bill and Jenny made out of moss and chicken wire. This year, they planted them with bright yellow STEPABLES and dressed them up with We’ve Got Sole t-shirts! Okay that was pretty cool…but then they made this super happy looking display with yellow crates and killer stepping stones…all the while planting STEPABLES in between the stones…directing traffic right through the display area. I always say the proof is in the pudding with these plants. This is exactly the way I want to see all my stores display STEPABLES!!! Why? Three reasons: One…because frankly, stepping on plants is fun. Two…merchandising plants in a user friendly way is smart. Which, by putting them on top of crates was brilliant instead of traditional block and board.  Three, planting the plants right there for everyone to walk on…kids, dogs, grammas and all, makes believers out of everyone.

They made amazingly cute signs, plus used ours…..then they did something above and beyond the norm…they had a seminar…not just any seminar, but a Sole Sister Soiree!  They had musicians, they raised money for charities, they had tasty treats, they planted the coolest shoes with STEPABLES and then they even had foot massages! All with the Sole message! This is what Jenny was bugging me so much about to participate. What enthusiasm, what spirit and what Sole! These people got it! They understood how to get people excited about a product, but they also knew how to have fun! Brilliant!

Here’s the life changing part…I call Jenny to tell she has won the contest…she is thrilled…beyond thrilled and is hoping to split the charity money in two directions.  One for Alzheimer’s Research (which is near and dear to her heart because of her parents) and the second for Susan G. Komen For The Cure because she is at the moment battling breast cancer and fighting through her first few rounds of chemotherapy.

Now here’s where it got me. Jenny is a pretty young spark like me. I expected to see an older lady. I know I have met Jenny and her staff before, but for some reason just didn’t put two and two together. 

Now, I have my aches and pains, and as I have gotten older, there are a lot more of them than I care to admit. Some of my days can pretty grueling between horrid back issues and other ailments.  I have always considered myself a toughie. As most peeps cringe over a small back spasm, in my world, a day with just a little pain would be a pleasure.  You get used to it, move on and just realize this is how it’s going to be…forever. It’s just the cards I got dealt. 

 But Jenny has changed that for me. I don’t think I’ve tried hard enough to get past this thing. I can get feasibly better. Not perfect, but I want to be able to do things I haven’t been able to do for a while. I want to get out my roller blades again. I want play softball again. I want to learn how to ski!!!  I have this life that I had to put on a shelf the past five years because of my back and I no longer am willing to do that now that I have met Jenny. What I thought were barriers weren’t really barriers at all. They were hurdles. Some, granted, taller than others, but nonetheless, none insurmountable. 

Pain is a state of mind. That’s all. It can whittle you done to nothing if you let it.  Some people do their best work in pain. Michael Jordon comes to mind…throwing up crazy shots to win games in unbearable pain. Gene Kelly sang Singing In The Rain with 104 fever…I always had my best games being sick or injured. When I was in my element, diving for a fly ball came instinctively as I would forget about the pain I was in…then of course I paid for it later! But by gosh the stretching beyond what I should be able to do…laying my entire body out to get munched just to catch a fly ball…that’s what life is all about.

Jenny is doing her best stretch ever right now. By opening up her world to me, to you and to her customers, her sharing has brought about an awareness in me that I have not felt before. Not only for Breast Cancer, not only for Alzheimer’s Research, but for my own wa’aa moments, when I feel 64 instead of 44. Life is a challenge. No doubt about it. Sometimes we get shining moments, sometimes we get the crud kicked out of us.

This is Jenny’s shining moment. She may not see it, she certainly may not believe it, but this woman is, has been and will continue to be a bright star to people around her.  Her life has pushed open a door for me I could not do by myself.  You never know when your world will change forever. You never know where the next little push will come from. You never know just what events will put you on a different path and you never know what hurdles become speed bumps just because you shook someone’s hand.

Get involved out there people!! We can all make an impact on someone, somewhere!

~Fran

www.stepables.com