We’d secured the opportunity to promote our brand at an event connected to the Grammy Awards. Appropriate to the prestige of the event, it was hosted at the Petersen Automotive Museum, a fairly tame name for what is in reality a breathtaking architectural accomplishment. This museum is full of famous cars from Hollywood movies, including the iconic car from the 1985 movie Back to the Future. The building itself looks like something from a sci-fi movie, and we arrived at 7:45am to the sight and sound of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other exotic cars being driven into place to decorate the event with even more luxury. And on top of that, this was all atop of a pristine rooftop just off the penthouse.

I had arranged for 3 boxes of promotional samples and marketing material to be sent in advance by FedEx. Based on instructions received from the event organizer we went to the space where our brands’ packages would be. But searching through all of the boxes there began to get me concerned our packages were not there. I couldn’t find a single box labelled with my brand. To some relief, a lovely woman called Cindy, and her husband, noticed my what was going on, and started to help me look for my packages. We didn’t find them. Although their kindness and warmth at least provided me with some much-needed comfort in my time discomfort. After only minutes with them I felt like they were my longtime friends, which meant a lot to me. Cindy’s husband suggested I turn to the internet to track my packages, and we soon discovered that not only had none of them been delivered to the building, but only 1 out of the 3 was even in the LA area! Instead of being able to indulge in this great event, I was instead thrust into managing momentary chaos and forced to scramble to fix what someone else had broken.

I phoned FedEx. I got a robot broadcasting a generic message about bad weather and possible delays. No help whatsoever. Then it occurred to me that if I phoned the revenue department and requested a refund for my clearly incomplete service, perhaps I might reach a human to negotiate with. My plan worked- not only did I get to speak with a human, I managed to find a helpful human with the ability to pull some strings. I impressed upon him the stakes at play- I was in town for a prestigious Grammy Awards event that was an incredibly important opportunity for my brand. And I impressed upon him the urgency of my situation- I need those boxes now! He asked me to hold for a moment while he looked into what could be done. For 4 minutes I waited patiently and prayed through the only new information I’d discovered about my packages- 2 of them were still in Dallas! Then he reappeared on the other end of the line. Apparently, while my side of the tracking software showed Dallas, on his admin side, he could see that all the boxes were in fact in LA. The customer side of the software had just not been updated yet. Finally, some good news. And more than that, he claimed he could fast track delivery of the boxes! “We can get the boxes to you within 20 minutes” he told me. “Are you absolutely certain you can do it in 20?” I asked him. “Yes, we will have them there.”

Relief and excitement washes over me, although I cannot fully relax until I see those boxes myself. I sit down at a table 21 I am assigned to as more celebrities continue to file in, counting down the minutes and wondering whether the gift cards I’ve hastily made on my phone will suffice in lieu of the actual gifts, should my boxes still not arrive in time. It’s at this moment that one of the best EDM artists ever, a woman known affectionately as The Queen of Electro, stops by my table with her entourage. I tell her about my brand and I tell her what I’ve been going through with these packages. She tells me that on her way up she overheard the security mentioning that a new batch of boxes had just been delivered. They volunteer to watch my table and I rushed downstairs to investigate. Despite all the distress, I’d encountered yet another kind and good person who tried to help me out despite not knowing me at all.

I get downstairs and discover the FedEx employee on the phone has come through for me. The packages were there. Well 2 out of 3 of them! Immediate gear change- game on! We lit that place up with free smells- literally. With enough product for 200 people, we were through it in less than 40 minutes. There are SEVERAL amazing opportunities that resulted from this, and I’ll tell you more about those later. But suffice it to say for now that despite the terror I felt upon noticing that not one of the boxes in that room were mine, and the intense stress that followed as I scrambled to save the situation, the event ultimately turned into a roaring success.

I hope this story of triumph inspires you. When something unexpected happens, and you run into an obstacle, that isn’t the time to give up. That’s the time to pivot to a Plan B. Don’t let that stress take you out. Let it fuel you to find a new way through to your goal. No matter what obstacles you may be faced with, you too can overcome them. It’s how you act in the face of your challenges that defines you, not the challenges themselves. Your personal response determines the internal podium you stand on in the end. #anecdotenaturals #itsinyou

www.anecdotenaturals.com

@therealabbylee

Grammy Gifting Suit