One Call Away

The day barely started as I reached over to grab my little black book from my nightstand. I held it close to my heart. This "dumb book", as my husband would say, adding "why are you always doodling in that thing?"

My sketches were in this book.

My visions.

My manifestations.

My future.

Penciled and erased and torn pages held the beginnings of what seemed a silly idea. You're not an inventor, I'd tell myself as the tips of my fingers brushed away the pieces of rubber. I can still smell the scent, the aroma of the eraser. I laughed out loud. Of all senses to tap into, on this particular day. I squeezed my little black book and welcomed the nostalgic smell and the feel of leather and paper. My trusted friend. Within these pages is everything I want to hide and everything I want to share, the perfect imperfections of my work.

I had long ago divorced my husband, so his words only inspire me to forgive. Maybe because of him, I accidentally accepted my challenges and in my uncertainty, created my future. Too deep, I thought. Doesn't matter. Today is here! My feet hit the floor.

It's 8am. A cuppa tea in hand and a faithful dog by my side chewing his bone he forgot he had. Moments before, he was scratching, reaching and twisting for something just out of his reach. I celebrated for both of us, I cheered for him and his successful find and I cheered for myself, as I was one call away from my future. My dog looked at me as if he knew we were both off to a great day.

It's 8:50am. Zoom call at 9. I'm holding in my hand, my prototype, "The Flow Down ™ ". This is it! The call I've been praying for.

It's 9:04, the host will be with you soon, the message reads. I'm yelling out loud, "I'm ready!" Jarrod is now connected. "Hey girl! Pardon the delay." "No problem" I responded, "I'm happy to be here this morning" (hoping he didn't hear me yelling). As I'm collecting my thoughts, Jarrod begins to say, "Well Amanda, I won't keep you here long, as I'm sorry to say that we have decided to pass on your product. We don't feel it's a fit for us at this time. But we want to encourage you to keep inventing and please feel free to submit any other products you may have in the future."

What did he just say?

I'm frozen. I'm numb. I'm going to cry. My product, my little black book, my drawings, my designs, six months of waiting and I've been rejected.

It seemed like an eternity before I responded that I completely understand, and how much I appreciate the opportunity and thank you for the call this morning. I'm certain he said something else that I can't recall. The screen was black. I closed my laptop. My time was up. My little black book was resting on my lap. As I bowed my head to look at it, my tears hit the cover. It sounded like rain drops on a tarp roof. I gently wiped away my emotions and held that book to my chest. I cried more and more. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. I opened my book and my tears splashed onto its pages. Water drops expand on the paper creating kaleidoscope images one after the other. So many of my pages are filled with colorful entries, and now, I can no longer see, I'm blinded by my tears, my fears and my rejection. It's over. Everything is over.

I can't focus. My chest hurts. My dog is unusually still. Just moments ago we were celebrating our success. He knew something had switched. I couldn't get my thoughts together. What happened? This was the call that they were accepting the product. This was the conversation to the next steps. And in a matter of seconds, it was over.

I was over.

My ex husband was right.

My doodling in my little black book.

Was useless.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Why?! Who's calling?! I attempted to swipe decline. I thought, I can't speak to anyone right now. But, the phone is on, there's a caller, I hear a woman, "hello? hello?" "Hi, yes, hello", I responded. "Oh, ok" she chuckled, "I wasn't sure someone had picked up." That made me smile because I haven't "picked up" a call for quite some time. She resumed her inquiry and introduction. "I'm looking to reach Amanda ?" "Speaking", I say. She introduced herself as Rebecca with Home Brand Accessories. She wondered if I had a moment to discuss a product that was submitted to her eight months ago.

"The Flow Down."

Umm, yes, yes ma'am I do, have a moment. She apologized for not getting back to me sooner, and explained they were deciding on their brand line extensions and they had several products to select from and many people making the final decisions. She asked if I'm still interested in selling the product?

I'm completely, shocked and stunned… 8 months? 8 months ago? Focus Mandy, focus. Yes, I'm still interested. "Wonderful news", she responded. "We would like to offer you an exclusive contract with our brand." She continued, "Of course we take on all the tooling, manufacturing and marketing cost and we have a standard 8% royalties to all our outside innovators." She then told me, "On some items we also offer a twenty thousand dollar sign on bonus as an advanced royalty payment. She continues to say, "you fit the criteria for this portion of our contract but we can only offer this deal if you have not signed on with another company, as we require 100% exclusively" With a minimum pause to catch my breath, I told Rebecca that I absolutely can accept an exclusive deal and I am not under contract with another company. Our conversation continued for several minutes on what the next steps would be and we scheduled another call for the following week to review and sign contracts and payment arrangements. She finished by saying, the best part of her job is calling inventors and telling them their product has market value and that they are excited to have my invention as part of their brand.

I started to cry. I've heard this is how it happens. It only takes one design, one company, one opportunity and all the work it took to get here, aligned perfectly. And in this moment, I finally believed, I am an inventor.

Still clenched in my hands is my little black book. I gathered my thoughts for the third time today, and realized... Twenty- thousand dollars! I was alive and nothing was over! It was just beginning! My faithful pup rested his head on my lap. My tears are dripping on his nose and he licks my face in solidarity. We celebrated, we cried for sadness, we cried for joy. I turned back towards my computer and opened it back up. Still waiting in my shopping cart was my brand new, little black book.

I clicked to buy.

I needed a new one,

for doodling.

The End.