Sometimes, I am just plain ANGRY!!!!!!!

 Where to begin?  I am hearing Julie Andrews in my head, "Let's start at the very beginning..."  

Today we had a client visit our office/showroom to review some new exhibit properties.  A 10' exhibit and a table top.  

Considering what our industry has been through, you would think I should be excited, right?  Nope.  Today it made me ANGRY.

Let's go back a bit here.  2020.  We moved into a new space in January of 2020.  2019 was filled with excitement as the building owners were doing a custom build out specifically for us and our new space.  We were choosing flooring, paint colors, laminate colors, fixtures etc.  The whole family and all staff got involved in packing, throwing away things we didn't need any longer and even designing space.  

Our then 16 year old son has a great eye and he was helpful in decorating the new space.

It was a very exciting time.  Here is a little area that he envisioned and designed in our showroom/lobby.   Porter, our son, is a senior this year. At one point his dream was to run our business.  I'm not exactly sure where that dream is going to go now?

2020 was on track to be our BEST YEAR EVER.  We had so many committed orders, rentals, services jobs and so much more.  It was a very exciting time for us.  Our staff was growing and business was booming.

 Of course we all know what happened.  I won't belabor any of those details.  The job/order cancellation the lost business etc.  Talking about all that is just negative energy. It is history. It is behind us. We are moving forward. We are excited and encouraged again. Business is coming back.

But there are days that the anger, the sadness, the frustration creep back in.  Today was one of them. Since we moved into this gorgeous space, we have only had a handful of visitors. As we were preparing the showroom, I went to turn on the lights on some of the exhibits.  I realized something that hit me like a ton of bricks.  I said to David, "I don't even know where all the switches are to turn on the lights in the showroom."  Wow, I stopped for a second in my tracks and the last 14 months all came flooding back. I got MAD.  All the people in our industry that have been without work, all the companies that have lost significant revenues all the customers in marketing that were let go.  Dang it, no one deserved any of this.  

Despite my frustration, when that client walked in the door I was also hit with a wave of gratitude.  This is what it is about. I am face to face with a client and I am helping them look great for their upcoming events. I am listening to their needs and creating or selecting the perfect solution for them.  They loved some of our new products, and were excited to bring those ideas back to the team for their upcoming show schedule.

It is daunting, sometimes overwhelming, but we will rebuild. We will be better than we were before because we have grown and learned a lot during this time. We are fighters.  We are survivors. We are GRATEFUL.

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/ or check out our website at www.totaldisplays.com