First Times Are Worth Remembering and Being Proud Of

Do YOU REMEMBER THE first time you did something difficult in your business? Maybe it was selling that first big diamond. Maybe it was sitting with a vendor and trying to figure out what to buy. Or maybe it was opening your retail doors in the first place.

As proud as we may be of these seminal moments, I think we’re all glad once we’ve accomplished them and put them behind us!

I remember my first jewelry trade show: JCK 2005. I had been full-time with INSTORE for less than a year and had no idea what to do at the show. My boss said, “Go out and talk to people, get a sense of the industry.”

So, I walked up to the first booth I saw and approached the salesperson behind the showcase, who glanced at my press badge and sneered. I told him I was an editor with INSTORE and handed him my business card. He said he had never heard of it and walked away. I thought, “Man, I am so out of my depth.”

The good news is, I later sat in our booth and was able to meet lots of retailers who absolutely loved the magazine and stopped to tell us so. I thought, “Maybe in a few years, more exhibitors will know what INSTORE is and be happier when I stop to visit!”

I’m glad to report that that is indeed the case. Here’s to first times and everything we’ve learned from them!

Trace Shelton

Editor-in-Chief, INSTORE
[email protected]