A negative situation can be draining, especially when you’re expecting a great experience and then WHAM, you’re surprised with a bad result.
Negative experiences aren’t bad…they can be the fuel you need to be better…do better.
This happened to me today…I headed into something that was going to be great, and it ended up being a disaster.
What I did next was life changing…okay well at least for the next hour to pick me up from feeling like I was a failure.
Here’s the story…
The owner of a retail shop that stocks my Wuh Duh Fuh® hats, ordered another twenty-four. We were both on the same page…I recently stopped by their store, saw no hats in stock and reached out to her. She was happy to order more.
I’m a small business owner and must think about every hat order I place with my supplier. Once I receive them, I customize them with my logo and that is a lengthy process, but I’m more than happy to fulfill the order. I love how my brand makes people feel and so every hat I create is made with my customers in mind. I know how it makes them laugh and smile.
Fast forward, I showed up at the store with the twenty-four hats I carefully curated, and was met by the buyer (not the owner) with an unwelcome response. It turns out they still had a few hats in stock…and when she showed me them…they were hidden on a bottom shelf.
She went on to say that another “big name hat company” had come in and there just wasn’t any room. I mentioned that I had visited the store recently, walked through the store and saw none of them on the shelf. Her response was that she couldn’t control that.
Bottom line, she wasn’t happy the owner ordered more and she wasn’t happy that I was disappointed that my hats weren’t visible for customers to see.
The energy that was coming across was negative. I could tell she wasn’t impressed with my brand and because of that, they weren’t getting a chance to be sold.
I kindly said, thank you for putting them back on the shelf, let’s stay in touch.
I left very disappointed and felt like a failure.
Across the street was a very popular restaurant where I promised to give an employee a hat (weeks before) so I went there with his hat. He wasn’t there, but another employee there was so excited to see my brand and was ecstatic. I decided to give her a hat and asked her to give the other employee his hat when he returns to work.
Her reaction was what I needed to lift myself up again and remember how my brand makes people feel…HAPPY.
Since then, I have received orders from posting a video of her wearing my hat.
Negatives can ALWAYS turn into a positive…you just need to make that happen.
Doing nothing will keep you feeling sorry for yourself…doing something, will get you right back on that positive energy you were once feeling.
Oh! And I love writing and this situation gave me a chance to write! No help from AI.
Have a Zenatudinal Day!