What I Do for a Living: 101

Okay so, I've heard it all when I tell people where I work. "You work for like, a dance company?", "Oh, you work for a little scrapbook store?", "You actually have men that work there?", and my favorite "You work for a step company?". And that's just about the name of the company. When I try to explain my job and the business model, it just confuses people. That is why I thought I would give some insight into what I do each and every day 40 hrs a week. Hang in there, this could be a long post.

We are a direct-sales company who manufactures our own decorative rubber stamps. We have independant consultants called demonstrators who sign-up to sell our products, which by the way are not sold in stores. They can only be purchased through a demonstrator. Currently, more than 40,000 demonstrators from all 50 states and Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom teach the art of rubber stamping and share their enthusiasm for rubber stamping, scrapbooking, and card making.

SU! operates two state-of-the-art facilities: an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Kanab, Utah, and a 300,000-square-foot home office and distribution center in Riverton, Utah.

So, after 2 years in the accounting department I was informed about a job opening in Demonstrator Training. This is where I am today, where I create training pieces for our demonstrators to sell our product more effectively. We give them the tools they need to have a successful business.

One of the major focuses in our department is events. We hold 2 major events in the US per year including Leadership and Convention. Then throughout the year, our facilitators travel to various locations for regional trainings as well as Conventions and regionals around the world. Our events are for our demonstrators and not aimed towards the general public. At the event, we provide business classes, stamping presentations and a party atmosphere. These events are what we gear-up for for several months leading up to it.

So what exactly do I do? Well, I get to create samples the demonstrators will see at these events, so they can copy those and use them in thier businesses. It is fun to make beautiful projects but it can be stressful too. It's important to keep the demonstrator in mind as we create projects. We always ask ourselves how cost effective is the project? What products should be focused on for encouraging sales? Who is our target market? What is the purpose of the project? and so on.

One major focus of projects at these events is Make & Takes. The demonstrators are handed a packet and stamp sets in order to create 4-8 projects over 2-4 days. They will leave the event with finished samples to take and show to thier customers to encourage sales. I will have to post the projects we designed later. I still haven't made a set for myself.

Convention was just held here in Salt Lake in July. Here is a photo of one of the two make & take halls. We held 3 sessions (one per day of convention). This particular group was about 1,000. It sure is a cool feeling to look out into a sea of women (and some men) making the projects we came up with and being very excited. Most of them love the ideas and are very grateful. Some are just mean but we try not to focus on those comments.

Here is a shot taken on check-in day. This was the line for Memento Mall, where they can buy SU! logo merchandise specific to Convention. It went all the way down the hall and back around. 3 hours long!!!

This is opening general session. Without actually seeing convention, it's hard to comprehend what the energy is like. Doors open at 7:30 am and if staff is not against the wall, we will be trampled. The demos literally come sprinting in to get front row seats (you think I'm being dramatic but not this time). During opening session, there are roughly 6,000 people in the audience. Most of them love the SU! staff and several of us have even been asked to "autograph" catalogs for demos. Ha ha that was so dang hilarious!! These ladies love what they do and really give us the energy and inspiration we need to do our jobs well.

Another major focus of my team's work is for on-stage presentations. We work with the facilitator in what the objectives are and then our team comes us with what they will show. (sometimes facilitators stamp their own projects, it just depends). Here is my co-worker Jaron (a facilitator or presenter). He is so loved by the demos. Some have shirts made saying "Got Jaron?", they give him presents and projects and the list goes on. So, here he is presenting a scrapbook.

Last year, Ang and I had a great opportunity to present our own creations. Here I am backstage with Miss. (Ry and B flew in to Denver to see us).

This was the set last year in Denver. It's hard to see just how big the space really is!

Thurl Bailey is on our Board of Directors, so we posed with him backstage after our presentation.

I really love my job and I love the people I work with. We have a good time. Thanks for letting me talk about my passion for creativity and my work. I'll have to chat more about it some other time.