I think I fall into the latter category, because a lot of planning has been going on for the upcoming months, all in an effort to bring you improved service delivery and designs. As a reminder of what to look forward to seeing more of, here is another banner of some of our clients who sent pictures as part of the "Show Me yuh TOTE-E" album :)
Speaking of which, our TOTE-E 365 collection is being finalized, and we anticipate it will be very different. Functional yet funky is the theme behind our designs, so we will be having a sale on our old collection before we launch the new one :). In between of all this hard work of course, I need to take a little break now and then for vacation. This picture shows my easter vacation planning with a swimsuit from our friends at Whole Peace, some handmade skincare products from Amara Organics and of course one of the beach totes from our 365 collection last year.
And last but not least, is an issue that has been occupying my mind for a while now, that I feel the need to air out. I know some may not agree with me, but I think I need to talk about this. When I started this business, I wanted it to be something light hearted and fun, even cheeky. In coming up with the name TOTE-E, I thought it encapsulated that energy I wanted to have in the business. A name that would capture the attention of many, while at the same time providing excellent quality, design and service. The point of naming the bag TOTE-E was that as a masquerader or user, the bag you have carries everything you need with you. Basically you TOTE EVERYTHING. That's the name of the bag. All that was done was the shortening of the word to E.
What i have discovered since starting this business is captured in this picture below
Women for the most part (the target market) seem to love the name, find it amusing, and are blown away by the final product. Men however seem have HUGE objections to the name, something that is very puzzling to me, since it was meant to be a fun cheeky name. I get messages, asking me to change the name of the bag, that it is offensive to them, that I cannot be serious about what I am doing.
What I will say is being in a male dominated profession for the past decade, I am used to being told that I can't or having my abilities questioned by men. I find pleasure in debunking such theories about my abilities and earning respect for what I do and what I have accomplished. And that my friends is the same energy that I have taken to growing this business to where I envisage it to be. So to answer the many questions out there, YES I am serious about what am doing and NO I don't anticipate changing the name of my business very soon. So for those of you who have Tote-Ephobia, I assure you there is no need to. I'm creating a brand around a typically functional activity for many while at the same time creating a fun vibe with it. That's all. No need for all the artillery... :)
