The Winding Road of our Careers…

When I think back to my first job, it seems hard to imagine how I got to where I am. At 15 years old, did you ever imagine your life would turn out the way it has? I can’t imagine anyone would say yes. It is a twisting path of people you meet and decisions you make without really thinking about the ultimate consequence. This is sounding really heavy, and it’s not meant to be. I always thought I would be an accountant (which is what my degree is in), and I thought I would be a partner in one of the big accounting firms. This was back when those firms had reputations above reproach— “the most trusted profession in America.” Or so the experts said.

My first job was pretty normal for that path—bookkeeping for a local business. Then when I finished college, I worked for an accounting firm and got my CPA. All the logical steps, right? And now I am in direct marketing selling these beautiful figurines and beloved collectibles. I love what I do, but it’s a path that I didn’t expect. I became more of a general business person instead of an accountant. Well, it got me thinking…what are other people’s stories? You work with people every day, but you don’t really know what led them to their current place; probably the same twists and turns that you had.

So I asked people here at Hamilton about their first jobs, and I’ve received a lot of responses. I have laughed and teared-up reading some of their stories. What I found out for sure is that these folks around me have a strong work ethic. They started working young and not at terribly glamorous jobs—everything including fast food order taker (with polyester uniform), trolley driver, soldier, dental assistant, photographer, lifeguard, trashcan guy, shoe sewer (?), you name it. How did we all get here?

The best story was about one of our co-workers who worked at a veterinarian’s office. I am going to put her story here just as she sent it to me because it is so touching:

“I worked in the back room and boarding area as head dog washer, cage cleaner and pooper scooper! The veterinarian was an eye specialist, so many of the cats and dogs were unable to see for the few days after surgery, and I worried about them being scared.... so I sang. Badly I'm sure, but the animals were peaceful and quiet while I was there singing. Except for one beautiful, blonde, fluffy, show quality Cocker Spaniel, who had been abandoned with us because she had developed early cataracts, and was of no further use to the owner for breeding purposes. The owner brought her in to be put to sleep. The doctor wouldn't do that, so he fixed her eyes instead and she stayed in the back room kennel with me during her recovery. When I sang one certain song, “Layla,” by Eric Clapton, she would howl like a basset hound and start every other dog howling and barking. I learned not to sing Layla...lol. When she was fully recovered, I adopted her and named her Layla.”

What a great story! After a story like that, you wonder how this person became a graphic designer. But we’re glad she did.

If you have a great first job story or if you wonder how you got where you are in your career, share it with me here or on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you. Talk to you again soon.

From www.holidayinsights.com

Inspire Your Heart With Art Day

When: Always January 31st

Inspire Your Heart With Art Day celebrates art and the effect it can have on your heart. Art is valued and appreciated for all sorts of reasons.
Look at a piece of art and ask yourself: What is it telling me? How does it make me feel? What emotions is it evoking (if any) within me?

I am not a connoisseur of art. I had my one obligatory art history class. But I know what I like. And art, in any form, causes us to have an emotional reaction. And isn’t that what life is all about? Those emotional responses to beautiful things give us a little buzz. In my role here at The Hamilton Collection, I see so many beautiful things. I am inspired by the artists, product developers and graphic designers who work for the company because I don’t have any creative talent. These folks can take an idea and turn it into a beautiful product that touches thousands of people’s lives. I don’t think they understand how special that gift is.

The Hamilton Collection is in such a unique situation to create lots of different emotions through art: our pieces are fun, whimsical, beautiful, charitable, sassy, touching, you name it.

By the way, my personal taste in art leans toward the abstract. I like to see what I want in the art, not have it be so literal. The best story about my taste in art is when my mother-in-law saw the prints I purchased to go over our sofa. She said, “Those prints look like the landfill.” And you know; she was right. That’s what she saw—not too inspiring. But that’s the beauty of abstract. You can see what you want it to be. To me those prints were pictures of beautiful mountains and streams and lakes.

Before I go, I am going to talk about another form of artistry I love that inspires me: the written word. I read a lot—mostly fiction. So, I thought I would tell you what I am reading. I just finished Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. It is a novel with what seems like three separate stories that become intertwined in the last three pages in a surprising way. It was pretty good. Now I am moving on to a book of short stories called Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle. She is a North Carolinian, so I am excited to see how she uses the South in her stories.

Until next time,
Kelli

Meet "Yankee Girl"

In our office we’re talking a lot about movies since The Golden Globes and The Oscars are coming up. Our local theatre has been running a $5 special for any movie all day on Sunday, so we’ve been taking advantage of that great price. I saw The Young Victoria last week with Marianne, our director of marketing. She loves all things British and takes her vacations there quite often. She also is from Connecticut, and around the office she is affectionately known as “Yankee Girl.” So, each time that a palace or garden would come on the screen during the movie, she would tell me that she has been there or that’s the wrong building. I do think it makes a movie or any event different if you have been to the place. I have never been to England, but I was inspired by the costuming and the beautiful women in the movie. The Hamilton Collection has introduced Victorian era fashion ladies over the past few years, and our collectors love them. So, I thought it would be nice to have Yankee Girl write the blog this week specifically about the Victorian era, England, and her experiences there. Here are her thoughts:

I guess most people would identify me as an Anglophile. I have traveled to England many times. I love the people, the beautiful countryside, palaces, manor houses and gardens. When I’m back here in the States, I watch a fair amount of BBCAmerica and PBS to get my England fix—I’ll watch most any costume drama movie because the clothing and buildings are usually unbelievably lovely.

Just last week, I went to see the recently released Young Victoria movie with Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The movie was set just prior and in the early part of Queen Victoria’s reign. I knew Victoria’s history before seeing the movie, but as it’s a timeless romance and coming of age story, I never get tired of it. The movie was entertaining and beautifully shot—and the costumes and locations were gorgeous. As the movie got rolling, I became consumed with the locations and realized I’ve visited a number of the buildings and gardens on prior visits.

In fact, on my last trip to England in October 2009, I visited Ham House, which the film used as the setting for Kensington Palace. Ham House is a beautiful 17^th century manor house on the outskirts of London. The house has magnificent gardens which were used in the movie as well. It’s fun to visit the buildings and gardens used in movies. Some of my friends think I’m quite strange to plan my vacations around former movie sets, but I’m not alone. The British Tourist Authority offers a printed map, which is a guide to places in the UK used in film and television.

Here I have posted some pictures of Ham House from my visit this year. You can wander around the gardens and the interior at your leisure (for a fee). Actually, some of these pictures were used professionally for two of The Hamilton Collection’s newest “Pretty Lady” collections. One of my pictures was used as a background photo in the advertising materials (albeit very hazy). Just keep a look out in your mail box—you never know what you’ll find.

Cheerio!

Yankee Girl

Just call me Figurine Girl

A funny thing happened to me this week. I was setting up an “identity” on some website this week—you know username/password questions as usual. I didn’t really want to use my name because that is so boring. I see all these great screen names that people use, and I thought what could my name be? I spend the majority of my waking hours talking about and looking at figurines. And if you could see my office and all of our offices here at The Hamilton Collection, you would understand why we dream about figurines on lots of nights. So, I decided that I would be “Figurine Girl.” It’s a very appropriate name. And I am attaching a few pictures so you can see why.




Here in The Hamilton Collection offices we have a sample of all of the figurines created because we want to have an archive, and also we want to see how the collections look together and how they will look in your curio cabinet. We keep things in our offices that we especially like. For example, in my office right now I have cats (which I also collect at home), fairies, frogs, angels, beautiful ladies, Elvis, dragons, M&Ms, Precious Moments, Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, and on and on and on. The most of any one thing I have is definitely cats, as you can see from the above photos. Our product developers know that I love cats, and I always get one of our samples in my office. Many are one-of-a-kind sculptures, so I am really excited about those. A lot of mine also have very early numbers in our limited editions. I have lots that are hand numbered below #5, and since most of our figurines are limited to 95 casting days, those are especially valuable. If you own our collectible figurines, check your curio cabinet to see what numbers you have.

So, Figurine Girl has lots of figurines. I hope you do, too. Because they make me so happy to admire and collect, and I am sure they make you happy as well.

Check back in a few days for more news from Hamilton.

New Year's Resolutions

This is the time of year when everyone makes resolutions. Not only is it a new year, it’s a whole new decade! And each year, just about everyone resolves to make their life better in some way, whether it’s to save money, lose weight, spend more time with family or finish those unfinished projects around the house.

I’ve made a New Year’s resolution, too. This year I am vowing to be better about reaching out to everyone through this blog. There’s so much to talk about and so much I want to share with you, but it just comes down to finding the time to sit and write about it.

While the New Year provides the perfect spark for making changes, we all know the really big challenge is keeping those promises we make to ourselves. We start off with the very best intentions, but then as the days and weeks pass, we slip back into old habits and forget what we resolved to change.

There are two well-known sayings that come to mind with all this resolution talk. You’ve heard that the pen is mightier than the sword? In other words, write it, don’t say it. I’m serious this year, so I’ve written mine down. And I’ve shared it with others, too. Second, it has often been said that it takes 21 days to form a habit, so to make sure I keep my resolution this year, I’ve planned out my schedule and set dedicated time each week just to blog. I’ve made a list of things I want to write about, too. I like lists—they keep me focused.

When it comes to resolutions, I think the important thing is to recognize all the good things we already have – that’s what I tell myself anyway. Because every year I say I am going to exercise and lose weight, and something always makes me give it up. So, this year I am going to say I am going to lose weight but also feel very lucky to have my family, my job, food on the table and a warm place to live. If I feel grateful for all of these wonderful things, maybe giving up chocolate cake won’t feel so bad.

Have you made a resolution this year? Share it with me here as a comment, or if you really want to “put it out there,” you can share it with all of us on Facebook. Together, let’s vow to keep our resolutions and make 2010 the best year yet!

My Carthage Trip - Part 1

Yesterday was the big day! I thought I’d be able to tell you about my trip yesterday, but it was a long and exciting day, and I was so tired at the end of it! I drove from Tulsa to Carthage to visit the Precious Moments Chapel. Oklahoma and Missouri are beautiful. There are lot of rolling hills with cattle and horses along the roads. When you get off the interstate to go the chapel (by the way, there is an interstate sign for the chapel) you go onto some really small roads. I was sure I was headed to nowhere when suddenly the Chapel Welcome Center came into view. The grounds are immaculate, and there is a lot of parking on both sides of the road.



It sure was HOT! The high in Carthage yesterday was 95, and the chapel dedication was scheduled for outside. So, they ended up cutting some of the festivities short because it was so uncomfortable. It was a beautiful day, but very warm. The grounds were very impressive. I had seen pictures and a video, but the photos didn’t do the grounds justice.

First, I saw the Welcome Center. It is a very interesting building that has a little village atmosphere in the entry. There is a café and several gift shops – a Christmas store, an area for figurines, a kid’s area, and an area for apparel. And they also have other collectibles besides Precious Moments – lots of angels and inspirational items. The gift stores are very spacious, and I enjoyed looking at all of the figurines without feeling rushed or cramped.

After walking out of the chapel, I went into a museum that houses some of Mr. Butcher’s original artwork, a display of the Original 21 figurines which are so beloved by collectors, an area of artwork that Mr. Butcher has done for his children, and lots of other things. One of the interesting collections in the museum is a room full of figurines that were donated by a lady from Illinois. There were probably at least a thousand (I didn’t count them), and a story about the collector donating them to Mr. Butcher. She always bought 2 each of every released figurine – I thought that was so interesting that she wanted to have 2 of each. She gave her “extra” ones to the museum, and Mr. Butcher visited her in her home to show his appreciation.



After looking through the museum, it was time to head to the Chapel. The walkways, fountains and statuaries were lovely. There is a sense of peace and tranquility there that I can’t exactly put my finger on. First I walked around to the back of the chapel to see the “playhouse” that Mr. Butcher built for his grandchildren. Now to call this a playhouse is a huge understatement. It is a stone structure that is on an island in the middle of a small pond. I know it would have been a lot of fun to play there. The Chapel itself is very interesting. There are guided tours all day, everyday. A lady explained each mural that Mr. Butcher has painted. Mr. Butcher paints there regularly and made additions just this week! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any photos inside the Chapel. It was against the rules, but I am sure you can find photos online. The largest mural has a story for each child depicted. Mr. Butcher pays tribute to families and people that have touched him with the stories of their lives or losses. The Chapel seems to be a place that people come to honor people they have lost. There is a room in the Chapel where you can write about someone you have lost, and all of the stories are kept in volumes in the Chapel for anyone to read. People were so moved by the displays that people were crying as they walked through. I could go on and on, but I’ll save it for another post.

The Chapel re-dedication began at 2pm. My next post will give more detail on that, and I’ll also share the program with you – stay tuned!

Today's the day!

Today’s the day I start my trip to the Precious Moments Chapel. I fly into Tulsa and then drive to Carthage tomorrow morning. I saw on the Precious Moments website that the event has sold out, so at least 1,000 people are going to be there tomorrow for the re-dedication of the chapel. I am so excited about the trip, and I am especially excited about seeing the chapel, which I have only seen in photos.

I will post something tomorrow to let you know how the event went as well as some pictures if I am able to take them.

Check back tomorrow for all of the details!