The Do-Over(23)
“That’s good that you are familiar with them, it’ll give you a good sense of direction to go with this. They’re looking for a few things; a series of PSA’s to run during National Breast Cancer Month in October, focused on women being vigilant about going for mammograms and doing self-exams, and they also want to shoot a series of videos to embed into their website that are real-life stories. We’re meeting with them in two weeks, so we’ve got time. I’d say the best place to start is their website. I think we’ll be able to get a lot of the answers right there.” He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Donna. “Donna, this is the info for the CEO’s assistant. Let’s have you be central coordinator on this. If any of you have any questions, have Donna send them over.”
My mind was spinning, the two ends of the project were so different, public service announcements versus marketing. I couldn’t wait to start my research.
“Okay, let’s win this,” were Chris’ last words to us as we emerged from the conference room.
Their fabrics were so bright and happy. The colors just made me smile. All I could think of was rainbow sherbet from when I was a kid. I loved that their photos showed women of all shapes and sizes, from tiny fit women like Jill to women who were older and just beginning their journey toward health.
Peppered throughout the site were motivational stories. Open, compelling and raw, I sat at my desk crying and silently cheering on the strength of these women. How many people did I personally know who were in some stage of fighting or recovery of breast cancer? Too many. Too damn many.
With every line I read, I became more and more committed to being part of a team that joined in with this awesome start-up company. They had been in existence for only five years and between corporate ethos, customer-centric dedication, and a quality product with a fair price point, C-Kicker was kicking butt in the fashion industry and putting a smile on the faces of those who had faced darkness.
Good for them, I thought.
I continued to go through the website: About Us, Our Mission, Give Back, Latest Styles, Contact Us. The rest was pretty generic stuff you find on a website.
For a fleeting moment, I thought to myself that the C-Kicker proposal and presentation had truly been a divine gift; the timing could not have been more perfect. I needed a wonderful focal point that helped me to re-center my priorities, move past the debacle of a weekend I just had and make a positive impact. I was all in.
Next step on my mission was to gather more intel so that I had a better feel for the company, and then Jonathan and I could lock ourselves away in a room and start working on the mock-ups of several concepts and story lines to present to the potential client. If we were to bring on the client, once they agreed on a particular campaign, then Jamie Newfield, head of our production team would join us and we’d begin the process of casting, finding locations, scripting, music and all the pieces that would make each piece a short film.
After thoroughly combing through their website, was the Google part of the search. I found that it was often in the “soft” stories that were in the press that I would find what really made a company tick, and at that point, visual concepts would start flooding my brain and Jonathan and I would get down to brass tacks. I loved the research piece of my job, or company stalking, as I liked to kid.
C-Kicker was all over the press, having participated in many breast cancer events as well as sponsoring others. The first link that caught my eye was from last fall’s U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. The title read, Cancer Survivors Ace the Open. Arthur Ashe Stadium, Forest Hills, N.Y. – C-Kicker, the hot sports clothing company whose line of workout clothes are specifically designed for women recovering from breast cancer… The article cut off and I clicked to open and read the remainder of the NY Post article.
The page opened and below the headline was a grainy B&W photo. The caption read, GRAND SLAM CANCER KICKERS, C-Kicker CEO, Wes Bergman and breast cancer survivors, Sherri Altman and Maureen Politano raised …
I didn’t see the rest of the photo’s caption, my eyes kept darting back and forth between the grainy picture and the words C-Kicker CEO, Wes Bergman. Using my PC’s snipping tool on the picture, I saved it to PhotoShop and attempted to remove the grain. Able to clear some of the digital noise, I sat there for a long time smiling at the man who was smiling back at me from my computer screen.
I rang Donna’s extension, “Do you know the name of the man from C-Kicker that Chris met?” I hadn’t even bothered to begin the phone call with a simple hello.
“Yeah, hold on, let me find the card with the info. Okay, here it is. Umm, he met the CEO. His name is Wes Bergman.”
“Okay, great, thanks. That’s all I needed to know.”
Staring at the now blown up, fuzzy picture on my screen, I shook my head. So, Chris was drinking with you on Friday afternoon, huh? One degree of separation again. I wonder how many times that has happened. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising, but now, after all this time, for some reason, it really is. And with your company headquartered in Manhattan, I doubt you are still living in Los Angeles.
Going back to Google Images, I looked for more pictures of Wes. He still had that gorgeous thick head of hair, but it looked like now there was a little bit of gray in it. Just as I had predicted, this man was better looking now than he had been in his twenties. He still wasn’t your standard good looking. He was sexy and charismatic. I’ll bet women trip over themselves for his attention. He just had It. He had always had It. But now with the experience and confidence only time can bring as part of his cache, just looking at his picture was making me melt.