My Love Affair With Trader Joe’s

Since my daughter Jennie moved to Austin, TX she’s loved everything about her new hometown except that there’s no Trader Joe’s. When I go to visit, I tuck several of her favorites in my suitcase, but they’re a poor substitute for having our favorite grocer available on a regular basis. For years, TJ’s (as its known to its loyal customers) was something I only experienced when I visited my family in California. I never could adequately explain what made this place so special since calling it a grocery store never seemed quite right. 

When I was moving to Las Vegas, proximity to TJ’s was a big priority. Now a visit to TJ’s is a regular experience for me several mornings a week and I’ve been thinking about all the things that set them apart from other grocery sellers. Some things are obvious. Their product line, for instance, is just theirs. You won’t find brand names mixed in with their offerings. You will, however, find things you never knew you wanted to try. How does that happen?

Besides having all sorts of things you many never have seen before, they also have daily samplings. Never had panettone? Try it and see what you think. Not sure you’d like gingerbread coffee? Have a cup and you might discover a new pleasure.

The product line’s not the only thing that’s different there: the shopping experience itself is unique. If I go to a normal supermarket, I usually zoom through picking up items that I need. TJ’s demands a more leisurely pace since you never know what new treasures might have landed on their shelves overnight. They also move entire sections around in the store from time to time so you really have to pay attention. 

The supermarket I shop at less frequently, has done a fine job of training their employees to recite the same questions to each and every shopper. Not so at TJ’s. It’s actually possible to have a personal interaction with the folks who are working there. After I’d won the weekly store drawing (for which anyone who brings their own bag is eligible), I was paying for my purchases with the gift card they’d given me. I mentioned that I’d won and the checker exclaimed, “YOU’RE Barbara W?” It’s not unusual for a store to post a winner’s name, but it’s pleasantly surprising to know the employees actually noticed.

One hot morning last summer, I walked out of TJ’s, jumped in my car and it refused to start. I went back inside the store and up to the customer service counter to ask if I could use their phone book. One of the fellows working there said, “Let me try starting it. I’ve got jumper cables in my truck.” I breathed a sigh of relief and thought I’d be on my way in a few minutes. It turned out to be more complicated than that, but throughout the ordeal, several employees got involved and offered suggestions until the tow truck arrived. As if I didn’t already love them enough, they won my heart forever that day.

Then there are the shoppers. I can’t recall ever interacting with people in other grocery stores the way I do at TJ’s. It’s not unusual for strangers to query one another about items. “Have you ever tried this?” a stranger might ask. One day, I was about to grind coffee and noticed a woman quietly watching me. I flashed a smile and she shyly admitted she didn’t know how the coffee grinder worked. I invited her to come closer and walked her through the entire process. “Oh,” she said, obviously relieved to see how easy it was,”I’ve been wanting to try their coffee, but didn’t know how to grind it.” 

I still smile when I recall standing in front of a jar of something I’d never seen before and saying out loud (I’m not sure why), “Do I like pumpkin butter?” A passing customer nodded and said, “I believe you do.” Turns out she was right.

The way Trader Joe’s communicates with their customers is also different  from the mega-markets. You won’t find a TJ ad in your Sunday paper, but you might find their quarterly Fearless Flyer in your mailbox or at the store. This little advertising piece–a masterful example of storytelling–is such fun to read that regulars eagerly look forward to its arrival knowing some new taste treat will be brought to their attention. 

If you’re a Trader Joe’s fan already, the next time you visit, notice what you enjoy most about the experience. And if you aren’t fortunate enough to live near this creative enterprise, plan your next vacation to include a pilgrimage and see for yourself how imagination can turn mundane grocery shopping into a mini-adventure in pleasure.

More Good Stuff to Explore

Of all the Christmas gifts that Jack has received, there’s one that he remembers most fondly. When he was still dreaming about being a writer, his sister gave him a copy of Writer’s Market.   It was the first time anyone had encouraged his writing aspirations—and it made a big difference. Jack’s gone on to author several books and dozens of articles.

Know someone standing on the edge of a dream? How might you show your support for that? If your friend or family member is a budding entrepreneur, a subscription to Winning Ways newsletter or a gift certificate for a teleclass might be a fit. Or select one of the books that you’ll find in the Joyfully Jobless library.

Here are some other ways to fan your own entrepreneurial spirit.

Steven Kalas is one of my favorite columnists in the Las Vegas Review Journal, as I’ve mentioned before. His recent piece called We Think a Little Too Much About Ourselves on Facebook is definitely worth a read.

Another resident of my hometown is voice artist and broadcaster Dave Courvoisier. His blog post called A Word About…Words is an eloquent reminder of why we should have paid better attention in English class.

Give yourself a break and listen to John Williams, Judith Morgan and Mike Yates, founders of the Creative Entrepreneurs Club, discuss developing an entrepreneurial mindset. It’s loaded with observations about what it takes to be successfully self-employed.

What Stephen King Knows

 

As is common on the eve of Compelling Storytelling, I am filled with antiicpation. Spending three days watching participants make fresh creative discoveries that will impact their businesses is just about the most fun I can imagine.

Creativity still is a mysterious force, but the behavior that welcomes it is not mysterious at all. Unfortunately, too many people are oblivious to the possibilities of what can happen when we tap into our own idea factory.

I have been spellbound several times listening to Stephen King’s audiobook On Writing. King, one of the big names in popular fiction, weaves his advice to would-be writers in between autobiographical tales. A voracious reader and fan of sci-fi movies as a kid, King fell in love with the writing life in childhood and has never put down his pen since. 

Married right out of college, King supported his family by working at several horrendous jobs and then as a high school English teacher. Even with two young children squeezed into cramped quarters, he always managed to find room for a writing corner and practiced his craft daily. The result is a mind-boggling body of work that includes short stories, novels, movies and television productions. 

King knows more than a little about the writing life and at one point mentions a number of writers—Harper Lee comes to mind—who produced a single book and then were silent. “Why,” King wonders, “if God gives you a gift, wouldn’t you use it?” 

What Stephen King, understands is that creativity begets creativity. The creative spirit that resides within all of us is prolific, abundant, and flagrantly generous. It’s only when we ignore our own creative impulses that they appear to go away.

What does it take to live a life of extraordinary creative output? The answer is not slavish workaholism—as many people think. Creators all work in their own unique ways, of course, but  there are several obvious characteristics that creative folks share. 

Besides a high level of commitment and discipline, the prolific creators among us are enormously curious about many things. They don’t dabble. They immerse.The creative thinker is always gathering ideas and inspiration from far-flung places and people. For instance, King frequently asks himself questions beginning with, “What if” to form new connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. They look, they listen, they’re fully alive. 

“The idea flow from the human spirit is absolutely unlimited,” says Jack Welch. “All you have to do is tap into that well.” And then go to market.

 

Lessons From a Four Year Old

In her short life, my granddaughter Zoe has played soccer, studied Spanish and taken swim and dance lessons. She’s also amassed an impressive library, traveled enthusiastically, hosted parties and is a whiz at doing jigsaw puzzles. When I visit, she and I usually prepare at least one meal together. She approaches cooking with gusto, but it’s not her big passion. For that, she needs a paintbrush.

Long before she was toilet trained, Zoe approached making art with an earnestness and concentration that seemed exceptionally mature. Fortunately, her parents understand how important it is to her. My daughter said she’d noticed that Zoe becomes agitated when she hasn’t painted for a while. “When I pick her up from pre-school and ask her how her day was, she’ll glumly report, ‘We didn’t do art today!’ or she’ll happily tell me, ‘We did art!’ She’s also starting to look at illustrations and ask what they used to make the pictures,” Jennie reports.

Zoe’s not the only one who becomes agitated when not spending time engaged with her passion. In Thomas Moore’s eloquent new book, A Life at Work, he writes, “If you ignore the deeper issues, you may not know the nature of your calling, and if you don’t do work that connects with your deep soul, you may always be dissatisfied, not only in your choice of work but in all other areas of life.”

Happily, more and more of us are waking up to how essential it is to discover and nurture this indescribable thing we call passion. As Steve Jobs said in his famous commence-ment address at Stanford, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Zoe already knows that and I’m going to make certain that nobody tells her otherwise. And if art turns out to be a passing fancy and not a passion, I’ll make sure she knows that it’s okay to change her mind.

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If you’re a client of Northwestern Mutual, check out the fall issue of Creative Living magazine for Rosemarie Colmbraro’s cover story, Profits from Passion and see what Barbara Sher and I have to say about making a living doing what you love.

Thanksgiving Week Treasures

 

When my sisters and I used to spend time together, someone always went home with a new hair color. These days we’re more apt to be gathered around a computer, as we were on Thanksgiving showing Becky how to upload her photo on her new Facebook page.

I am appreciative and thankful that my siblings are curious adults who teach me all sorts of things. The day before Thanksgiving, my sister Margaret and I made a trip to Lowe’s, a place I find mildly intimidating. Going with Margaret is a different experience, however, since it’s more like visiting a museum. We had gone to buy some mundane safety treads for my bathtub. I left with a new light fixture for my kitchen which Margaret assured me I could install myself. “If you get stuck,” she said, “call and I’ll walk you through it.” We’ll see.

Because one of the things I am especially thankful for is the free enterprise system, it’s not surprising that I came across all sorts of stories that added to my joy during this holiday week. On my drive from Las Vegas to California, I always listen to an audiobook and I picked a good one, even though I knew nothing about it. Good Business by Mihaly Csikzentmahalyi takes a look at how visionary entrepreneurs create an environment that allows for flow, that optimal state of creativity that the author brought to our attention back in 1991 through his bestselling book Flow. He shares many ideas that an entrepreneur running a tiny business will find useful. And the quotes from Anita Roddick are profound.

Margaret, who had been a volunteer for the Obama campaign, told me a terrific story about Scott Jacobs, a 22-year-old local artist was was evicted from his house on Election Day. He took a half-finished painting of Obama that he’d been working on and set up his easel in front of Ben & Jerry’s, who were giving away free ice cream to anyone who had proof they’d voted. Jacobs attracted a lot of attention–and suddenly his life got much better before the day was over. You can read this great story at the Ventura County Star.

Entrepreneurial artists were already on my mind thanks to a piece in the NY Times called Transforming Art Into a More Lucrative Career Choice. Check it out.

Guy Kawasaki, another personal favorite, has an article called The Art of Bootstrapping that is worth a look. Actually, it’s worth printing out and rereading on a regular basis.

Finally, the latest issue of Newsweek has a Turning Point article by Carlos Mencia called Laughing in the Face of Change. It begins, “Right now, a lot of people are losing their jobs. They’re saying ‘Oh, my God, what am I gonna do?’ I’m here to tell you, this is your chance. Paint. Put out a rap album. Design a car. Do whatever you’ve always wanted to do….Why am I so confident about this? Because I had one of those turning points in my life: long before Comedy Central came calling, I used to be headed for a degree in engineering.” Read the rest of the story. It’s great.

What Gary Did Right

When Gary Buehler moved from Nebraska to Colorado, he brought with him his wife Duncan, toddler Adam and Hasselblad camera. After years of honing his skills as a photographer, he was ready to set up shop. They settled in Nederland, a little mountain town above Boulder. Shortly thereafter, we were introduced by a mutual acquaintance.

We began talking about ways that Gary might launch his business. He decided he wanted to have a brochure so I suggested he visit area photographers and collect their brochures to see how they were promoting themselves. When he showed me his collection, I was struck by the fact that not one photographer had their own picture on their brochure so we promptly decided that Gary would use his picture (with his beloved Hasselblad) in his marketing. 

We also talked about getting free publicity. I still remember getting a call from Duncan who was wildly excited because the Nederland newspaper (I believe it was called the Mountain Ear) had just contacted her and was sending a reporter to interview them. I didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm, but suggested that this small circulation paper might not bring in a flood of business.

I was wrong. As soon as the story appeared, Gary got a call from a couple about to be married and in desperate need of a photographer. Gary got the assignment and that started the wedding photography side of their business. Because he had introduced himself to other photographers in the area, he also started getting referrals from them. Gary the Photographer was launched.

In exchange for helping them with their marketing, I bartered for a photo session. I had never enjoyed having my picture taken, but it was so much fun working with Gary that we giggled our way through the entire shoot. I loved the resulting photos and told him that I had never been so relaxed working with other photographers. “We want people to leave a session with us liking themselves better,” he said. 

I was impressed and thought he should write a tip sheet about how to work with a photographer. He did just that and came up with some terrific suggestions. (My favorite was to interview potential photographers in person before booking to make sure you have rapport.) I published his tips in Winning Ways newsletter and then he reprinted it and used it as a handout at bridal fairs and to include when people requested his price list. 

I haven’t had much contact with Gary since I left Colorado about a year after he arrived. However, I got thinking about him again when I decided to give my granddaughter Zoe a gorgeous photo he had taken of her mother when Jennie graduated from high school. That led to tracking him down via e-mail. He wrote back to update me on his family and then told me about the changes that he’d made to his business with the advent of digital photography. Then he added, “After all this time, I still love it.” 

Connect. Collaborate. Care. Change. These are all things that helped Gary build the business of his dreams. And, of course, there’s his passion for taking pictures that would last a lifetime.

Vocation does not mean a goal I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. ~ Parker Palmer

Odds & Ends

The handouts are printed, the hotel has our room set up order, the Mystere tickets are booked. Everything that needs to be ready for another great Compelling Storytelling is in place. Alice Barry and I aren’t the only ones getting more excited as the days grow closer. Here’s a comment participant Charla Swift made on an earlier blog posting:

I can feel my heart starting to boom in my chest. I’m so excited about Compelling Storytelling, meeting new people who  share similar passions, returning to Vegas, and most of all reconnecting  with the woman who inspires creativity.  Barbara, you amaze me at how  effortlessly you embrace new experiences. You give me courage to see every event (small or large…planned or unplanned) as a gift.  One to be held up to the light, shaken, turned upside down, and really examined  to make certain I don’t miss the opportunity which may be hidden inside. It is with relish I board the plane on Dec. 1 to embrace yet another opportunity to be in your delightful company!!

Before I get to work whipping up the cranberry sauce for my family’s Thanksgiving feast, I wanted to pass along some things I’ve gathered recently. This is a random collection of resources to explore for yourself.

Need a little stress relieving break? Hop over to JacksonPollock.org and start playing. I’ve been telling everyone about this site since I learned about it. Be warned, however, that it can be addictive.

Remember what you got for Christmas last year? When I was visiting my daughter this week, we were talking about last year’s gifts and discovered we couldn’t remember what we’d received. The exception to that for me were the gifts that made a difference in somebody else’s life. My sister Becky made a donation to KIVA in my name, my daughter sponsored a Heifer llama in my name and I gave a Room to Read girl’s scholarship in her name. Maybe more stuff isn’t the most memorable gift after all.

Love a good success story? The October 13th issue of Newsweek had a special section on Women and Leadership. Several of the personal accounts were written about their entrepreneurial journey. You can read about Anna Sui’s Launching Her Label, Lisa Price’s On Becoming an Entrepreneur and Kimberly Pierce’s The  Power of Plot. All three are wonderfully inspiring. 

Fretting about the economy? Here’s what Seth Godin says entrepreneurs need to consider:

In times of financial stress and bailouts, the obvious solution (eliminate all the waste!) is not the one that works. In fact, in these times, we’re more likely than ever to be nervous about the status of the organization we’re working with.

I’d replace the expensive sponsorships and buildings with something more valuable, quicker to market and far more efficient: people. Real people, trustworthy people, honest people…people who take their time, look you in the eye, answer the phone and keep their promises. Not as easy to implement as writing a big check for the Super Bowl, but a lot more effective.

Life is enriched because of the commitment, passion and focus we give it, not the time we give it. ~ Jim Loehr

Stop the Madness

 

Entrepreneur is a perfectly lovely word that can be roughly translated from two French words meaning to undertake. So what’s fueling all these made-up variations? Here are some of the ones that I’ve seen:

Infopreneur

Mompreneur

Seniorpreneur

Kidpreneur

Telepreneur

Micropreneur

Solopreneur

Mobliepreneur

Not only do these new words lack the musical sound of the original, they also lack gravitas. They’re kind of cute and sound more like hobbies than viable businesses. Can you imagine calling Michelangelo a Marblepreneur? Or John Steinbeck a Storypreneur?

I rest my case.                     

 

What Would You Do For Free?

Like many people, I became a fan of Malcolm Gladwell after reading The Tipping Point. Not only did I find his ideas fascinating (and applicable to the Joyfully Jobless life), but his storytelling made the book fun to read. So when I saw an article in Time magazine about his new book, Outliers, I eagerly read it to learn about his latest exploration.

This new book looks at extraordinary success. Gladwell contends that talent and, even, genius aren’t enough. Instead, he cites what he calls the 10,000-Hour Rule which says that great achievement is most often the result of constant practice––about 20 hours/week for 10 years, to be exact.

Can you imagine devoting yourself to something that passionately? Would you do it for free? Many people won’t, of course, and consequently will never actualize their full potential. 

The ones who are willing to put in the practice often dazzle us once we learn about them. I was reminded of that when I read a recent edition of Valerie Young’s Changing Course e-zine. She had this little quote from Rachel Ray tucked away at the end of the mailing:  “I did 30 Minute Meals for five years on local television, and I earned nothing the first two years. Then I earned $50 a segment. I spent more than that on gas and groceries, but I really enjoyed making the show and I loved going to a viewer’s house each week. I knew I enjoyed it, so I stuck with it even though it cost me.“

When I first decided that I wanted public speaking to be part of my business, I made it my policy to accept every invitation that came my way–whether money was attached to it or not. I knew that the only way to polish my speaking skills was in front of other people. And if someone was giving me the opportunity to practice with a live audience, I was going to take it. I even found a volunteer gig as a backstage tour guide at the Guthrie Theater, which gave me additional speaking practice.

Eventually, I began to get calls where I was asked, “What is your speaking fee?” That’s when I turned pro. (That’s not quite accurate; in my own mind, I had turned pro right from the start. It just took a lot of free talks for it turn it into a reality.)

In Phil Laut’s nifty little book, Money is My Friend, he says, “An easy way to create an abundance of clients is to give away your service at the beginning until you have more clients than you can handle or until people force you to accept money. If you don’t like your business well enough to give away your services, this may be an indication that you are in the wrong business. When you have an abundance of clients, it is a good idea to continue to give away a portion of your services, even if you have to refuse the money.”

Think of it as an investment. Think of it as sweat equity. Think of it as the unsung road to success. By all means, think seriously about what you would do for free.

I think the best investment that you can make it to start a business that is so much fun that you don’t care if you go broke. With this approach, you can be certain of success. ~ Phil Laut

Bad Time to Start a Business?

All sorts of folks are blogging about whether it’s too dangerous to start a business during our current economic challenges. Some of them have lengthy arguments against taking such a radical step.

I’m not sure where they’re getting their advice, but the Joyfully Jobless folks in my life are some of the calmest people  around. After all, they’ve already demonstrated that they can bring an idea to life, understand multiple profit centers and consider themselves to be wonderfully flexible. So what do the people who are doing it say?

A perfect example of what I’m talking about came via an e-mail message on Friday from Lisa Sellman, owner of Aloha Pet Care. She wrote:

I was just watching a little of the news about our poor economic times and how anyone could be ready for a lay off at any second.  The expert in the field suggested that everyone get their contacts together because as one firm lays off another firm could be hiring.  So even if your company looks good, any minute your life could change.  It was a story completely fear based.  I kept waiting for the news to encourage people to start their own business and create their own destiny but not a word about that.

 I am so glad that I started my own business four years ago and I am completely secure with my clients.  Even in this economic times, my clients still completely need my services.  My new pet portrait business is going extremely well and I had my first art show two weeks ago and I am working on my comissions currently.  Also, I have another art show on the 22nd of November as well as one in January.  It is very exciting to create my future and to feel safe and secure knowing that no one can take this away from me.

 Thank you, Barbara, for encouraging entrepreneurs everywhere.  Entrepreneurs Unite!

 Entrepreneur Tom Breitling wrote a brilliant piece last spring called The Art of Entrepreneurship. He says that a good idea is recession-proof. How come? “Entrepreneurial minds don’t stop thinking creatively just because the economy is hurting. This is when creative minds focus.”

Seth Godin, the most popular business blogger on Earth, recently had a piece called Looking for a Reason to Hide. He ended his piece by saying, “Inc. magazine reports that a huge percentage of companies in this year’s Inc. 500 were founded withinmonths of 9/11. Talk about uncertain times. But uncertain times, frozen liquidity, politicalchange and poor astrological forecasts (not to mention chicken entrails) all lead to less competition, more available talent and a do-or-die attitude that causes real change to happen.

If I wasn’t already running my own business, today is the day I’d start one.”

Person who says it cannot be done must not interrupt person already doing it. ~ Chinese Proverb