Hey ya'll! It's not even 9 am on 1/1/2014 and I had to come say Happy New Year and tell you a few things. Just a few though, because I know you're in reflection mode, ya know, thinking of having a clean slate, considering joining a gym, blah blah blah. Just do Hip Hop Abs along with me...that Shaun T is something special. Ok, I digress. Anyway, I wanted to tell you a few things that are in the works and you know what, closed mouths don't get fed so I'm just going to go ahead and ask for some help. I don't ever ask you guys for anything (well, ok, I did ask for your votes on QVC, and thanks a MILLION for that win! :)) In reading the list below, if you think you know someone that I could talk with who could help accomplish that goal, let your friend, Nikki know. It takes a village to raise a company. Yes, yes, I know that's not exactly the saying but NMW IS my baby, so it fits. :)
Ok, here goes:
1. Get on more local shelves this year. What shelves you ask? Boutiques, Gift Shops, Salons and Spas. And local is not just the 'Burgh, where I am, but more Mom and Pops who could make some money selling NMW.
2. Now this is a big one. Get on some national shelves. Now dig deep. Who knows how to get in touch with the buyers at Sephora, Ulta, Target, other national chains? Help ya girl out.
3. Get more press--local and national. Radio, newspapers, magazines. I know there's a mover and a shaker who can help make this come true. My biz partner always says, "Girl, you have a story to tell."
4. Get some features on tv. A Valentine's/Mother's Day gift guide. A story about how a chick from around the way invented something, while holding down a 9 to 5, and she happens to be brown.
5. Because I love this SO much, more opportunities to speak to the youth about the corporate life and entrepreneurship. If there's any way my little story could make someone think they CAN do something they previously thought they could not, then I would be OVER THE MOON.
6. Grow our Magic Money Makers Sales Force around the country. You buy from me at the wholesale price and then sell them at the retail price for a 100% profit. Come on and make some money in 2014!
7. If you hear about features on Ellen, Katie, etc where small businesses are being featured or able to compete for some cash or something, PLEASE let me know at nikki@nikkismagicwand.com.
8. Let me know of opportunities where you think we can work together. I want to support more small businesses this year and we could possibly have a beautiful partnership at an event, on a project, etc.
9. I'm sure there's more but begging is not my style so I'll stop here. My final request is for your continued support, love and good thoughts. I can't do any of this without those things.
I sincerely hope and pray that 2014 is THE BEST year of your life! That's what I'm planning and embracing for me and for NMW.
Tight Hugs,
Nikki
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Sunday, December 15, 2013
An amazing, awesome, mind blowing, unbelievable year...
365 days ago my entire life changed. 365 days ago a lot of blood, sweat, tears, but also excitement, creativity, tenacity came together. 365 days ago Nikki's Magic Wand opened for business! The years leading up to that day held so many new emotions, experiences and educational opportunities. On December 16, 2012, a Sunday, my lovely website master said, "It's READY. I'm flipping the switch." And I did what I always do...I ran to Facebook and spilled the good news, "You may NOW place your order for your very own Nikki's Magic Wand." It was a surreal moment but little did I know, it was just the beginning for those kind of moments. What some may not know is that on that day, I was biting my nails, praying and sweating that the Wands would make it from China in time for the official launch a mere six days later. You can imagine my relief and elation when UPS rang my bell late one night, a few days later, with eight boxes, stuffed full with the final version of my "baby" which had gone through MULTIPLE reviews and edits and was NOW on my doorstep. Whew!
The Nikki's Magic Wand launch, held on December 22, 2012 was a party of a lifetime. It was the official introduction of the Wand, in the flesh, to friends and family and press. It was honestly a dream come true. The love and support in that building was palpable. Little did I know that party was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to love and support. In the months to come, friends and family showed up and showed out by flooding the website with orders, popping up in my Facebook Inbox with idea after idea about how I could further expose NMW. The networking took on a life of its own with introductions by kind people to generous new friends who wanted to help in any way they could.
We continued to be guided by the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, on Pitt's campus but a lot of decisions were based on our guts. Doing what felt right, avoiding what felt wrong. We made the pact to live in each moment, thankful for whatever was happening at that second. Accepting rejections quickly and focusing on the lesson we were to gain from it. We brainstormed about ways to spread the word of NMW; we did Valentine's, Mother's Day, Nikki's in a Good Mood promotions. In February, we added Amazon.com as a distribution channel. As of this writing, we remain 5 star chicks on that site (NMW has garnered a rating of 5 stars from each reviewer). We gave away hundreds of Wands and did multiple BOGOs just to get them in hands. We sent them to bloggers and started to gather some glowing reviews. We kept on that path and coasted through the first half of the year. Then at mid-year, things started to really pick up. I appeared on the Lynne Hayes-Freeland show and then more blog reviews started to show up. We were fortunate to engage a summer intern (Sean) and he began to diligently work through our marketing plan. Sean started contacting more bloggers and beauty schools but he made two very important connections. He called GBK Productions (a company that produces gifting suites for celebrities at major events) and arranged a call with me and the best friend/biz partner. GBK's next event was NY Fashion Week and they thought NMW would be a great fit. I have detailed that trip here but I will just quickly say again, it was one of the best four days of my entire life. We placed NMW in celebs' and press' hands and as exciting as it was to meet these phenomenal talents, the fact that they genuinely liked and "got" NMW was fortifying and amazing. While we were planning to attend NY Fashion Week, we were also preparing to be featured in QVC's Sprout program. Lo and behold, unbeknownst to us, Sean, the intern, had submitted NMW to them and they were interested. After sending them samples and being fully evaluated, we started competing against two other products at midnight on August 31, 2013, (the first set of products featured after the Sprout program's summer break). Of course I ran to Facebook to encourage, beg, plead for votes. By the time we returned from Fashion Week, we had one more week of voting and on September 13, 2013, it was announced to the world that Nikki's Magic Wand had WON the contest. WHAT????? I started getting calls to be featured in local newspapers, the blog reviews continued and now new reviews were cropping up from the press that we met in NY during Fashion Week. Man oh man, September was a mind-blowing month for us. October was not too shabby either, as I was invited to be a guest on "Our Region's Business" with Bill Flannigan and that interview led to orders and more connections. It was also the month that our newly hired PR person started working and striving to get us some features in a few glossy magazines (she's still working for us at this writing). Throughout all of this activity, I attended every vending event to which I was invited, selling Wands one by one and meeting new friends.
So many wonderful things happened this year that I haven't even mentioned, like the fact that there are Wands in the White House (thank you Ali).
At the end of the day, well year, one phrase keeps swirling around my head....Thank You. We are just so thankful to everyone who bought a Wand, who wished us positive thoughts, who spread the word, who invited me to attend a vending event, who wrote about me or the Wand. Thank You for believing and trusting in me and the Wand.
I couldn't be more excited about what 2014 will hold. We've spread the word, had some great exposure but there's still so, so much more to do. This year we WILL apply to Shark Tank, we WILL make connections to get to the buyers at Sephora, Ulta, Target. We WILL begin to work on the next product in the Nikki's Magic Wand line. And we WILL continue to go out of our way to give you a great product, that saves you money, while providing great customer service and most importantly by showing you just how much we appreciate you.
As always, thank you for reading. There's so much more to come!
Nikki
The Nikki's Magic Wand launch, held on December 22, 2012 was a party of a lifetime. It was the official introduction of the Wand, in the flesh, to friends and family and press. It was honestly a dream come true. The love and support in that building was palpable. Little did I know that party was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to love and support. In the months to come, friends and family showed up and showed out by flooding the website with orders, popping up in my Facebook Inbox with idea after idea about how I could further expose NMW. The networking took on a life of its own with introductions by kind people to generous new friends who wanted to help in any way they could.
We continued to be guided by the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, on Pitt's campus but a lot of decisions were based on our guts. Doing what felt right, avoiding what felt wrong. We made the pact to live in each moment, thankful for whatever was happening at that second. Accepting rejections quickly and focusing on the lesson we were to gain from it. We brainstormed about ways to spread the word of NMW; we did Valentine's, Mother's Day, Nikki's in a Good Mood promotions. In February, we added Amazon.com as a distribution channel. As of this writing, we remain 5 star chicks on that site (NMW has garnered a rating of 5 stars from each reviewer). We gave away hundreds of Wands and did multiple BOGOs just to get them in hands. We sent them to bloggers and started to gather some glowing reviews. We kept on that path and coasted through the first half of the year. Then at mid-year, things started to really pick up. I appeared on the Lynne Hayes-Freeland show and then more blog reviews started to show up. We were fortunate to engage a summer intern (Sean) and he began to diligently work through our marketing plan. Sean started contacting more bloggers and beauty schools but he made two very important connections. He called GBK Productions (a company that produces gifting suites for celebrities at major events) and arranged a call with me and the best friend/biz partner. GBK's next event was NY Fashion Week and they thought NMW would be a great fit. I have detailed that trip here but I will just quickly say again, it was one of the best four days of my entire life. We placed NMW in celebs' and press' hands and as exciting as it was to meet these phenomenal talents, the fact that they genuinely liked and "got" NMW was fortifying and amazing. While we were planning to attend NY Fashion Week, we were also preparing to be featured in QVC's Sprout program. Lo and behold, unbeknownst to us, Sean, the intern, had submitted NMW to them and they were interested. After sending them samples and being fully evaluated, we started competing against two other products at midnight on August 31, 2013, (the first set of products featured after the Sprout program's summer break). Of course I ran to Facebook to encourage, beg, plead for votes. By the time we returned from Fashion Week, we had one more week of voting and on September 13, 2013, it was announced to the world that Nikki's Magic Wand had WON the contest. WHAT????? I started getting calls to be featured in local newspapers, the blog reviews continued and now new reviews were cropping up from the press that we met in NY during Fashion Week. Man oh man, September was a mind-blowing month for us. October was not too shabby either, as I was invited to be a guest on "Our Region's Business" with Bill Flannigan and that interview led to orders and more connections. It was also the month that our newly hired PR person started working and striving to get us some features in a few glossy magazines (she's still working for us at this writing). Throughout all of this activity, I attended every vending event to which I was invited, selling Wands one by one and meeting new friends.
So many wonderful things happened this year that I haven't even mentioned, like the fact that there are Wands in the White House (thank you Ali).
At the end of the day, well year, one phrase keeps swirling around my head....Thank You. We are just so thankful to everyone who bought a Wand, who wished us positive thoughts, who spread the word, who invited me to attend a vending event, who wrote about me or the Wand. Thank You for believing and trusting in me and the Wand.
I couldn't be more excited about what 2014 will hold. We've spread the word, had some great exposure but there's still so, so much more to do. This year we WILL apply to Shark Tank, we WILL make connections to get to the buyers at Sephora, Ulta, Target. We WILL begin to work on the next product in the Nikki's Magic Wand line. And we WILL continue to go out of our way to give you a great product, that saves you money, while providing great customer service and most importantly by showing you just how much we appreciate you.
As always, thank you for reading. There's so much more to come!
Nikki
Sunday, December 1, 2013
How is it December already??????
Oh My Goodness! I don't think this much time has ever passed between posts and for that I apologize! It's been a busy time but that's no excuse because it's always a busy time. I CANNOT believe we are coming up on ONE year since we launched! That amazes me! Me, Nikki from West Oak Lane in Philly, has been a business owner for a year?! What?! Crazy. On 12/16/2013, I plan to enumerate all of the AMAZING things that have happened in the last 365 days--- exactly one year since we opened the website to take orders.
Since we last chatted on 10/16, things have been progressing well. Wands continue to sell on QVC.com, Amazon and nikkismagicwand.com. We love having distribution channels where people can drop Wands in their "cart" and try out the BEST cosmetic tool ever! :)
Oh, remember, the last time I told ya'll I'd been invited to be a guest on "Our Region's Business" with Bill Flannigan? Well, I did the show and it was a WONDERFUL experience. Really great! I even got to hang out in the "green" room like the celebs waiting to go on tv! :)
Check me out:
http://youtu.be/kJBIwOjCaKs
Right around the time of my last post, a public relations person that we hired started working for us and she's been making contacts with big, glossy publications like Allure, Shape Magazine, etc. AND, we were featured on Allure.com!!!
Check out the review:
http://www.allure.com/beauty-
At this time, we are gearing up for the holiday season. Can you think of a better stocking stuffer? Of course, I can't. :)
The best friend/biz partner and I are in reflection mode:
1. Did we do our best to spread the Nikki's Magic Wand name in 2013?
2. What could we have done differently?
3. What will 2014 hold?
4. Where do we put our precious dollars?
5. How do we make NMW a household name?
6. Do we try to get on Shark Tank like every single person has asked us? :)
I can't WAIT to list all of the phenomenal things that have happened since we launched almost a year ago. Stay tuned.
As always, I can't thank you enough for going on this journey with me. I've been writing this blog for over a year now and it continues to bring me joy.
Happy December!
Nikki
Since we last chatted on 10/16, things have been progressing well. Wands continue to sell on QVC.com, Amazon and nikkismagicwand.com. We love having distribution channels where people can drop Wands in their "cart" and try out the BEST cosmetic tool ever! :)
Oh, remember, the last time I told ya'll I'd been invited to be a guest on "Our Region's Business" with Bill Flannigan? Well, I did the show and it was a WONDERFUL experience. Really great! I even got to hang out in the "green" room like the celebs waiting to go on tv! :)
Check me out:
http://youtu.be/kJBIwOjCaKs
Right around the time of my last post, a public relations person that we hired started working for us and she's been making contacts with big, glossy publications like Allure, Shape Magazine, etc. AND, we were featured on Allure.com!!!
Check out the review:
http://www.allure.com/beauty-
At this time, we are gearing up for the holiday season. Can you think of a better stocking stuffer? Of course, I can't. :)
The best friend/biz partner and I are in reflection mode:
1. Did we do our best to spread the Nikki's Magic Wand name in 2013?
2. What could we have done differently?
3. What will 2014 hold?
4. Where do we put our precious dollars?
5. How do we make NMW a household name?
6. Do we try to get on Shark Tank like every single person has asked us? :)
I can't WAIT to list all of the phenomenal things that have happened since we launched almost a year ago. Stay tuned.
As always, I can't thank you enough for going on this journey with me. I've been writing this blog for over a year now and it continues to bring me joy.
Happy December!
Nikki
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Wait...there's more....
Hi! How are ya? I haven't chatted with you for a few weeks so I wanted to check in with ya and bring you up to date with all things NMW. As you know, we returned from NY Fashion Week on 9/8/2013, completely energized and excited about our next step. We had met so many amazing people and spread our brand far and wide. We were ready to keep moving!
Before we had left for NY, on 8/31, at midnight, voting began on QVC.com for their Sprouts program and we were one of the products for which the public could vote. This program gives up and coming companies the chance to compete with other such companies and the world gets to vote on which product they'd like to see featured on QVC. The voting was to run until 9/13 and we had been encouraging everyone we knew to vote, vote, vote because, if we won, we'd secure a purchase order from QVC and who doesn't want THAT? :)
So, it's 9/13 and I am participating in a fundraising event at my 9 to 5 but I check my phone and there is an e-mail informing us that we came in as runners-up in the competition. We were a bit bummed but, hey, Jennifer Hudson didn't win Idol and look at her! So, we pulled ourselves together and kept moving. A little later on the same day, the best friend/business partner calls me and says these words, "Nikki, we won!" Huh? She begins to inform me that there was a correction e-mail sent and we did indeed win the competition. OMG!!!!!!! We were OVER the moon! After having just returned from a successful trip to NY, we won the QVC contest and would now be able to sell on QVC. Wow wow wow.
After having a packing party (thank you to my packing team) I shipped off 250 units of NMW 3 packs and they began selling on QVC. As of this writing, we are not only almost 1/2 way sold through, but we also have ALL 5 star reviews on QVC.com. We remain 5 star chicks! :) (We have all 5stars on Amazon.com). :)
In addition to all of that excitement, the newspaper articles, reviews and blog posts that have been coming out since early September have been absolutely amazing! I have been invited to speak at a few events (which I LOVE). I was invited to be a guest on "Our Region's Business" with Bill Flanigan, on WPXI and just this past Monday, I was honored to be featured on Ola Jackson's blog radio show, to discuss being an inventor and entrepreneur. Check it out...www.blogtalkradio.com/onyxwoman/2013/10/14/making-it-in-the-beauty-biz.
Wait, there's more! :) While in the gifting suite in NY, we met a woman named Margot Black who happens to be a Publicist and we decided to hire her to get our brand out there even more. Fingers crossed she can secure some glossy magazines and tv spots. She says we'd make THE PERFECT feature for last minute stocking stuffer items. Let me tell you, if I see Nikki's Magic Wand on a table, being featured on the Today show, I'm going to fall right over!
I can't mention all of this without also mentioning how absolutely stunned and thankful I am for all of it. I don't take any of it for granted. The fact that an idea I had....me, Nikki from West Oak Lane in Philadelphia, PA is now a product which people far and wide are not only using but enjoying....I'm just amazed, proud and oh so thankful.
As always, thank you for coming along for the ride.
Nikki
Before we had left for NY, on 8/31, at midnight, voting began on QVC.com for their Sprouts program and we were one of the products for which the public could vote. This program gives up and coming companies the chance to compete with other such companies and the world gets to vote on which product they'd like to see featured on QVC. The voting was to run until 9/13 and we had been encouraging everyone we knew to vote, vote, vote because, if we won, we'd secure a purchase order from QVC and who doesn't want THAT? :)
So, it's 9/13 and I am participating in a fundraising event at my 9 to 5 but I check my phone and there is an e-mail informing us that we came in as runners-up in the competition. We were a bit bummed but, hey, Jennifer Hudson didn't win Idol and look at her! So, we pulled ourselves together and kept moving. A little later on the same day, the best friend/business partner calls me and says these words, "Nikki, we won!" Huh? She begins to inform me that there was a correction e-mail sent and we did indeed win the competition. OMG!!!!!!! We were OVER the moon! After having just returned from a successful trip to NY, we won the QVC contest and would now be able to sell on QVC. Wow wow wow.
After having a packing party (thank you to my packing team) I shipped off 250 units of NMW 3 packs and they began selling on QVC. As of this writing, we are not only almost 1/2 way sold through, but we also have ALL 5 star reviews on QVC.com. We remain 5 star chicks! :) (We have all 5stars on Amazon.com). :)
In addition to all of that excitement, the newspaper articles, reviews and blog posts that have been coming out since early September have been absolutely amazing! I have been invited to speak at a few events (which I LOVE). I was invited to be a guest on "Our Region's Business" with Bill Flanigan, on WPXI and just this past Monday, I was honored to be featured on Ola Jackson's blog radio show, to discuss being an inventor and entrepreneur. Check it out...www.blogtalkradio.com/onyxwoman/2013/10/14/making-it-in-the-beauty-biz.
Wait, there's more! :) While in the gifting suite in NY, we met a woman named Margot Black who happens to be a Publicist and we decided to hire her to get our brand out there even more. Fingers crossed she can secure some glossy magazines and tv spots. She says we'd make THE PERFECT feature for last minute stocking stuffer items. Let me tell you, if I see Nikki's Magic Wand on a table, being featured on the Today show, I'm going to fall right over!
I can't mention all of this without also mentioning how absolutely stunned and thankful I am for all of it. I don't take any of it for granted. The fact that an idea I had....me, Nikki from West Oak Lane in Philadelphia, PA is now a product which people far and wide are not only using but enjoying....I'm just amazed, proud and oh so thankful.
As always, thank you for coming along for the ride.
Nikki
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Nikki's Magic Wand TAKES OVER NY Fashion Week- The Final Day...
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Hi!!!! I promised to tell you about the final day of our time at NY Fashion Week and boy was it amazing! So, we headed back to the suite to start our day of celeb schmoozing, networking and new friendship forging. The energy was still very high and all of the vendors were anxious to see who would come visit us that day. The day before, we worked our strategy of engaging each person who came by our booth and we were amazed at the HUGE stack of business cards we had collected. We planned to follow up, via e-mail, during the week after NY Fashion Week concluded. We were excited about the possibilities of making new connections and being featured in publications and blogs.
So, there we stood, on the last day, determined to make it the best day ever. The celebs started to come through. We had been given a list of those that were due to come through and I was hoping to see the Hilton sisters and Robert Hergevac from Shark Tank. They did not come but there were some other amazing folks who DID come. The infamous Ms. J from America's Next Top Model came to visit and spent time with us and took lots of pictures. One of my faves, who I didn't even really know much about before NY Fashion Week, was Big Ang. She was SO kind and genuinely interested in our presentation. She said that the Wand was her favorite thing in the entire suite and said, in her smoky voice, "You should see me digging in my lip gloss like a LOSER!" :) She spent lots of time with us too, posing for pictures and hanging out. All in all we found the celebs to be warm and easy to chat with.
The day moved along and we met some other lovely people. They were representing different press outlets from all over and they were all very kind and receptive to the Wand. We were chatting with a group of young women when someone mentioned being from Philly and the one woman and I realized we'd both gone to the same beloved high school, The Philadelphia High School for Girls. We grabbed each other up, like Girls' High Girls do and shared a great moment. Shout out to the 243rd class from a proud member of 233!
The day was winding down and a woman named Africa came to visit. She told us she LOVED the Wand, thought it was genius and hung out with us for a bit. She asked what we were doing later that evening and we said that we weren't doing anything so she asked if we'd like to go to a fashion show. Ummmm, YES!!! She texted us the address and off she went.
Well, the time had come to break down the booth and start to pack up. We hugged our new friends good bye and everyone shared their left over products. We scored some MAJOR goodies from our fellow vendors. It was a Win Win all around!
We want to send love to Jeff Duckwall, Felix at Kefir, Yumi, Alice and Irene from Hard Candy, Candee and her co-worker from Oasis Hommus, The Pilot Pen Girls, Margot Black from Black InkPR and my newest partner in crime, Robin from IlluminationsPR. We made connections that will last a long time.
We headed back to the hotel, rested just a bit and started to get ready for the Samantha Black fashion show. We cabbed it over there and Africa greeted us warmly and gave us the opportunity to give Wands to tv and movie star, Elise Neal and reality diva Tami Roman. We were elated! After the show, we headed to Nobu for a late dinner. We marveled at the last three days and felt blessed, overwhelmed (in a good way) and joyful.
NY Fashion Week was exactly what we needed it to be and much, much more.
As always, thanks for reading. Next up, Nikki's Magic Wand TAKES OVER QVC!!!!!
Hi!!!! I promised to tell you about the final day of our time at NY Fashion Week and boy was it amazing! So, we headed back to the suite to start our day of celeb schmoozing, networking and new friendship forging. The energy was still very high and all of the vendors were anxious to see who would come visit us that day. The day before, we worked our strategy of engaging each person who came by our booth and we were amazed at the HUGE stack of business cards we had collected. We planned to follow up, via e-mail, during the week after NY Fashion Week concluded. We were excited about the possibilities of making new connections and being featured in publications and blogs.
So, there we stood, on the last day, determined to make it the best day ever. The celebs started to come through. We had been given a list of those that were due to come through and I was hoping to see the Hilton sisters and Robert Hergevac from Shark Tank. They did not come but there were some other amazing folks who DID come. The infamous Ms. J from America's Next Top Model came to visit and spent time with us and took lots of pictures. One of my faves, who I didn't even really know much about before NY Fashion Week, was Big Ang. She was SO kind and genuinely interested in our presentation. She said that the Wand was her favorite thing in the entire suite and said, in her smoky voice, "You should see me digging in my lip gloss like a LOSER!" :) She spent lots of time with us too, posing for pictures and hanging out. All in all we found the celebs to be warm and easy to chat with.
The day moved along and we met some other lovely people. They were representing different press outlets from all over and they were all very kind and receptive to the Wand. We were chatting with a group of young women when someone mentioned being from Philly and the one woman and I realized we'd both gone to the same beloved high school, The Philadelphia High School for Girls. We grabbed each other up, like Girls' High Girls do and shared a great moment. Shout out to the 243rd class from a proud member of 233!
The day was winding down and a woman named Africa came to visit. She told us she LOVED the Wand, thought it was genius and hung out with us for a bit. She asked what we were doing later that evening and we said that we weren't doing anything so she asked if we'd like to go to a fashion show. Ummmm, YES!!! She texted us the address and off she went.
Well, the time had come to break down the booth and start to pack up. We hugged our new friends good bye and everyone shared their left over products. We scored some MAJOR goodies from our fellow vendors. It was a Win Win all around!
We want to send love to Jeff Duckwall, Felix at Kefir, Yumi, Alice and Irene from Hard Candy, Candee and her co-worker from Oasis Hommus, The Pilot Pen Girls, Margot Black from Black InkPR and my newest partner in crime, Robin from IlluminationsPR. We made connections that will last a long time.
We headed back to the hotel, rested just a bit and started to get ready for the Samantha Black fashion show. We cabbed it over there and Africa greeted us warmly and gave us the opportunity to give Wands to tv and movie star, Elise Neal and reality diva Tami Roman. We were elated! After the show, we headed to Nobu for a late dinner. We marveled at the last three days and felt blessed, overwhelmed (in a good way) and joyful.
NY Fashion Week was exactly what we needed it to be and much, much more.
As always, thanks for reading. Next up, Nikki's Magic Wand TAKES OVER QVC!!!!!
Friday, September 20, 2013
Nikki's Magic Wand TAKES OVER NY Fashion Week-- PART TWO!!!
Friday, September 6, 2013
The best friend/business partner and I woke up in the Big Apple filled with excitement. We'd had a GREAT first day in town and had already met some amazing people. Today was THE day to meet some celebrities (oh who would come?????) and press too! We checked and double checked our gift packages, grabbed our brand new banner and hopped a cab to The Empire Hotel. We were to report there by 7 am for set up and we arrived right on time. The room was abuzz with other vendors setting up for the first day in the gifting lounge. We got to work at our little table, erecting the banner, deciding how to creatively display the Wands and planning our strategy. We had already discussed making sure that we gave each visitor to our booth our full attention and also gaining their contact information. We had a tag team plan ready to launch. We got all set up and were ready for the day.
We didn't have to report back until about 10:30 am for a meeting with the owner of the gifting suite company so we grabbed some Starbuck's and relaxed a bit (as much as we could). We excitedly headed back to the suite to get this party started and what a party it was. Bre and I stood at our table and one of us would start the speech by opening a tube of lipgloss and holding the applicator alongside it to show how it couldn't reach the bottom, while the other one then showed the Wand and a ridiculously empty tube that the Wand had emptied out. That's when we got what we call, "The Face," It's when people are just listening and then realize what I'm saying the Wand will do and they go, "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, so you can get it all OUT!" We LOVE LOVE LOVE "The Face"! Anyhoo, the day progresses and we are eagerly and anxiously seeing who is coming next. Each celebrity had a person with them holding a sign with their name and their latest project and another person held a HUGE duffle bag of their goodies that all of us vendors were dropping our gifts into. The celebs were required to spend a few minutes with us and honestly, no one gave us the bored face, no one tried to rush off and no one was mean. Each one was kind and interested and many of them gave us "The Face." :)
I have a few pics for you from that first day...
Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola
.JPG)
Adrienne Bailon
Aren't they gorgeous?? So, the day was exciting and high speed...like can't really eat or go to the restroom high speed but it was a successful day by all accounts. We worked our strategy and collected a HUGE stack of business cards and when folks told us they were fresh out of biz cards, we had pre-printed cards for them to fill out. You'd be surprised how many celebs happily jotted down their gmails or yahoo e-mail addresses.
Well, 7pm came and we were officially exhausted and ready to head back to the hotel room to chill before dinner. The best friend/business partner had made reservations at Le Cirque, a very Chi Chi La La restaurant that she'd been wanting to go to. We got all cute and headed out.
At dinner, we recapped the previous two days and excitedly discussed our favorite parts.
The final, PHENOMENAL day to come!!!!
Chat very soon,
Nikki
The best friend/business partner and I woke up in the Big Apple filled with excitement. We'd had a GREAT first day in town and had already met some amazing people. Today was THE day to meet some celebrities (oh who would come?????) and press too! We checked and double checked our gift packages, grabbed our brand new banner and hopped a cab to The Empire Hotel. We were to report there by 7 am for set up and we arrived right on time. The room was abuzz with other vendors setting up for the first day in the gifting lounge. We got to work at our little table, erecting the banner, deciding how to creatively display the Wands and planning our strategy. We had already discussed making sure that we gave each visitor to our booth our full attention and also gaining their contact information. We had a tag team plan ready to launch. We got all set up and were ready for the day.
We didn't have to report back until about 10:30 am for a meeting with the owner of the gifting suite company so we grabbed some Starbuck's and relaxed a bit (as much as we could). We excitedly headed back to the suite to get this party started and what a party it was. Bre and I stood at our table and one of us would start the speech by opening a tube of lipgloss and holding the applicator alongside it to show how it couldn't reach the bottom, while the other one then showed the Wand and a ridiculously empty tube that the Wand had emptied out. That's when we got what we call, "The Face," It's when people are just listening and then realize what I'm saying the Wand will do and they go, "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, so you can get it all OUT!" We LOVE LOVE LOVE "The Face"! Anyhoo, the day progresses and we are eagerly and anxiously seeing who is coming next. Each celebrity had a person with them holding a sign with their name and their latest project and another person held a HUGE duffle bag of their goodies that all of us vendors were dropping our gifts into. The celebs were required to spend a few minutes with us and honestly, no one gave us the bored face, no one tried to rush off and no one was mean. Each one was kind and interested and many of them gave us "The Face." :)
I have a few pics for you from that first day...
Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola
.JPG)
Adrienne Bailon
Aren't they gorgeous?? So, the day was exciting and high speed...like can't really eat or go to the restroom high speed but it was a successful day by all accounts. We worked our strategy and collected a HUGE stack of business cards and when folks told us they were fresh out of biz cards, we had pre-printed cards for them to fill out. You'd be surprised how many celebs happily jotted down their gmails or yahoo e-mail addresses.
Well, 7pm came and we were officially exhausted and ready to head back to the hotel room to chill before dinner. The best friend/business partner had made reservations at Le Cirque, a very Chi Chi La La restaurant that she'd been wanting to go to. We got all cute and headed out.
At dinner, we recapped the previous two days and excitedly discussed our favorite parts.
The final, PHENOMENAL day to come!!!!
Chat very soon,
Nikki
Friday, September 13, 2013
Nikki's Magic Wand TAKES OVER NY Fashion Week!
Fantastic... Amazing...Surreal...these words barely touch the reality of how things went at NY Fashion Week. As you know, we were BEYOND excited to be heading there and I promise you, once we got there, it was everything and more than we expected. I want to give you some highlights from the trip and share some pictures too.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The business partner/best friend and I land at LaGuardia at 8 am and make our way to the hotel. We scope out the gifting lounge where we'll introduce NMW to celebs and press over the next few days. We LOVE it! Then, the biz partner has a great idea. She suggests we hand write letters to Jane Larkworthy, the Beauty Editor at "W" magazine and Anna Wintour, the Editor-in-Chief at "Vogue" and deliver the letters, along with Wands to them at their office buildings. We sit in a little cafe and craft the letters then off we go. We are directed to the first floor mailrooms in the two office buildings. The first one is "Vogue" and we want to shout out Alex who hand delivered the Wand package to Ms. Wintour. Then, it was off to "W" magazine and there we ran into James who very kindly took our package to Ms. Larkworthy, after posing for a quick picture. Want to see our new buddy, James?
Here he is:
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The business partner/best friend and I land at LaGuardia at 8 am and make our way to the hotel. We scope out the gifting lounge where we'll introduce NMW to celebs and press over the next few days. We LOVE it! Then, the biz partner has a great idea. She suggests we hand write letters to Jane Larkworthy, the Beauty Editor at "W" magazine and Anna Wintour, the Editor-in-Chief at "Vogue" and deliver the letters, along with Wands to them at their office buildings. We sit in a little cafe and craft the letters then off we go. We are directed to the first floor mailrooms in the two office buildings. The first one is "Vogue" and we want to shout out Alex who hand delivered the Wand package to Ms. Wintour. Then, it was off to "W" magazine and there we ran into James who very kindly took our package to Ms. Larkworthy, after posing for a quick picture. Want to see our new buddy, James?
Here he is:
So, with that taken care of, we headed back to the hotel to assemble the Wand packages for the 100 press and the 70 celebrities who were expected over the next two days. We also wanted to chill for a bit, eat, sip some wine while we took everything in and prepared for the Patricia Field party later on. I want to show you some pictures of us as we were headed to the party. I also included a pic of THE Patricia Field!
Stay tuned for what happened on Friday, September 6, 2013!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)