This happened almost a decade ago. It is what started me on the desire to make a baby product that lasted. It also taught me that most of the time I spent shopping was really just me “clearing my mind” while I was a stay at home mom of two little boys. I ended up purchasing pretty little things to justify my time away… eventually I had to detox from that too.
I even went once to Target and filled up a cart with everything I “needed” and then left it. Walked out without buying anything….It felt amazing…
getting close to the fire and exiting with grace.
I realized that I just needed the IDEA of the things, the options, the alternatives…I didn’t actually NEED NEED them.
I also don’t really enjoy shopping there even now becasue while I was on the floor at a trade show in Vegas one of the BIG BOX stores walked over. A large round man and asked me to pitch them bibbitec. The more I told them about how long it lasted and how many things it did the more this man laughed. Like a huge belly laugh…very SANTA like.
It eventually gathered himself and told me straight to my face.
“Bibs are bait! That’s how we get the moms in…they can’t last longer then two weeks, three weeks at most.” And he walked away turned over his shoulder and said, “ build it to last less and you got a deal.” I was totally shocked and that night my sister received an order for our bibs from TARGET. The Purchase price was way below the price I quoted and thus the point of it was that it would force me to go over seas and make a less product. I remember being in the hotel bathroom looking at the mirror…crying hysterical…” why didn’t they like me?” “ I fixed the problem” and then it accured to me that they didn’t want the problem fixed and that is why they sent over an order for a ton of money but ONLY if I made it on the Cheap.
I was with my sister and she shook me and said remember you made this to fix the problem…so we can’t take this offer. Then she took me to Chipendales and I was pulled up on stage tied to a pole and in that erotica moment I woke up to the whole entire GAME we are all participating in.
Women are being played …. and we like it!
While I was filming Shark Tank I had a copy of that order with me to remind me not to FOLD not to make a crap product that forces moms to buy more…spend more…wonder why things aren’t made well? I refused to be part of that conversation…I respect woman and the men that support them and this idea that women purchase just proves that if we wanted to we could change the world…by not purchasing!
Xo
S