When I started this funny business two years ago, it was very much like trying to move that big boulder that chased Indiana Jones at the beginning of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Unfortunately, the boulder we were dealing with was not speeding along; in fact, it seemed to be very comfortable right where it was, thank you very much.
They say a rolling stone gathers no moss, but this one looked like it was auditioning as an inhabitant for Yoda’s swampy home planet of Dagobah. Back then, it seemed like it would take all of our energy just to move the rock a millimeter. An order here, a few new Fan Club members there. Very late nights trying to get the eCard Zone working. A nice complimentary, albeit slightly patronizing e-mail from a family member. Everything was in s l o w motion. It was like a leaky faucet in the middle of the night; things were happening, but it was pretty annoying. We’d come up with an idea we thought would catapult Kim & Jason to the stratosphere, only to see a pitifully meager response from our effort. I knew that it wasn’t because the strip was horrible. I had (and still have) a long way to go on it, but I knew that things were going the way most businesses start out – slow and steady. There were always signs that the cumbersome metaphor was indeed moving.
It’s two years later and the big heavy rock is still moving; although it doesn’t seem to be quite so heavy or hard to move now. Coming off the Chicago Gift & Home Show last weekend, we’ve signed two sales reps and are in negotiations with a book distributor and a licensing agent. There is still an enormous amount of work left to be done, but it finally appears surmountable.
Now more of my energy is focused on making sure the boulder doesn’t veer off course and squash innocent civilians or my bank account. I have visions of the day when I’ll have to run just to keep up with the moving boulder, which has built up speed from all the hours of blood (cutting myself with my X-Acto knife), sweat (coloring Weekenders in my office with no air conditioning) and tears (of frustration as I’ve often pondered my sanity).
Hopefully I can do it as heroically and with as much movie star cool as Indy.