This past weekend my wife Marybeth and I were in Boston to celebrate her grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. The majority of her extended family lives in the greater Boston area, and this was our first chance to see them since our own wedding two years ago.
That also meant it was the first chance we had to tell them in person about Pickle Of The Month! I’ll be honest, reactions to the business plan ran the gamut, though nothing as unintentionally comical as The Nance’s classic “What a stupid idea!”. The cool thing was, even the most skeptical among them was still utterly supportive and wished us nothing but luck. In fact, the most positive feedback I received was from Grandpa Phil, and that gave my confidence a big lift because he is a very successful man in his own right. Of course, the welcome encouragement didn’t stop me from turning his screaming ground ball for an out in the epic family wiffle-ball game. What, the guy thinks I’ll take it easy on him just because he’s 80+ years old and happens to be the guest of honor?? Hell no! I guarantee he slides into second spikes-high if I don’t make that out. If we actually had bases, that is. Hey, all’s fair in love and wiffle.
My point is, even though both sides of our family (as well as Doug and Mandy’s own families) are completely supportive of our desire to start this business, the last thing I want is someone buying from us because we’re family. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for them to buy a shirt or a subscription! But only if they truly think it’ll be a funny gift or a totally unique, hilarious shirt to wear. And if they don’t feel that way, all I ask is that they honestly tell us why so that we might consider changing things to make them feel differently. Afterall, our goal is to create a great service, not a charitable one.
Viva la pickles!
