So here I am with my glass of Chardonnay awaiting the outcome of my future.  Okay, so I should have been a drama major.  My samples came today and I stared at the package for a good 15 minutes before I could open it.  I knew that if they were at least 95% right, I would have as chance at getting a shipment in before Christmas.  Let me back up…since I last wrote,  my sourcing agent realized my situation and said that the OEM has agreed to speed up the tooling on one of the simpler collections and airfreight to me a smaller order of about 50 units so I could get to market before the holidays.  (At my expense of course, but at this point, I’ll take it!)  This would only be possible if this package of samples is correct.  So, I opened the package and immediately my heart SANK!  My first reaction was OH NO!!!!  THEY ARE WRONG!!!!  But luckily my husband was there to talk some sense to me.  The stems were/are thicker then my original prototype.  The reason the OEM had “beefed”  (pardon the pun… I couldn’t help myself!) up the stem was because during the machining of the grooves on the stem, a thinner version would break where the top and stem meet.  BUT in my mind, I had this vision of what they SHOULD look like and when I opened the package this afternoon and found they were NOT exactly what I had specified I wanted to die!!!  My angel of a husband reminded me that I am so close to the project that maybe I am not seeing the value of what is there and only seeing was is not there.  He pointed out to me that the thicker stem was actually an IMPROVEMENT in design as it would grip the food better and would allow for even less chance to slipping out.   

Right now he is downstairs grilling Tuna Steaks and Chicken breasts with 3-4 charms in each.  The tuna just came up and the Charms stayed put no problem!  He is about to bring up the chicken…PLEASE LET THEM WORK!!! 

Here he comes…OMG!!!!!  They REALLY REALLY did work better then the prototype!!!  I am on cloud 9 right now!!!!  I was so wrapped up in what I thought they should be like that I couldn’t see any other way, even if it was a BETTER way.  I knew my prototype was the “best” compared to all the other prototypes I had tested, but I didn’t test this particular design.  Sometimes when you are forced to see things in a different light they turn out better then you could have imagined.   Today is a good good day on “Leslie’s Wild Ride”! 

Leslie Haywood, Founder and President of Charmed Life Products, Inventor of Grill Charms™  www.grillcharms.com 

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