We were tickled pink to be guests on the CBS Atlanta Better Mornings show on Thursday morning … even if it was at the very crack of dawn.
We were excited about our little story, which was to talk about the sentiment behind Valentine ’s Day, and not the stuff. We were excited about being store owners but not necessarily plugging our products -- although we had plenty of little props along, just in case! We were excited about all the cute Valentine’s ideas we’d gotten from our employees and we practiced over and over again how to incorporate them into our little spiel. We were dying to mention how Sam and her husband Johnny Jones have celebrated Valentine’s Day for the last 42 years, by dancing to Johnny Mathis’ “My Funny Valentine.” And we were excited about ending on a high, with a plug for a favorite cultural institution -- the High Museum.
We thought we could make it so fun, cute and sassy that the producer would get caught up in the moment and decide on the spot to extend our 3 minute segment to fifteen, which would get syndicated and run on all the networks all over the world – and go viral too!
So that was on our minds as we got up at 3:30 a.m., fluffed our hair, changed outfits five times -- and finally went to the studio at 4:30 a.m. where we carefully and painstakingly merchandised our prop table with all of our exciting little products. The adrenaline heated up as we met with the producer and anchor of the show, and then got wired for microphones.
At 5:40 a.m. we heard, “30 seconds to air time” and oh boy, suddenly lost all our lines and totally forgot the things we had practiced.
“10 seconds” and we both started to feel a little queasy.
“5, 4, 3,” (oh no, I think I may throw up), “2, 1” Good Morning, you are on the air!
The next three minutes went by so fast that we have no idea what happened or what was said. All we know is that we were just beginning to feel comfortable and hitting our stride when the anchor said, “Thank you so much … and now on to the weather” and we wanted to scream, “No wait!! We haven’t finished!! There’s so much more to tell you about Valentines’ Day!! Don’t cut us now!!”
When we went back to review our little segment later, we almost died laughing. Meg started off beautifully, but what happened to that practiced script that carefully incorporated all of our employees’ thoughtful ideas? And did we really need to plug Whole Foods’ floral department more than Huff Harrington Home? And why was Ann going on about cupcakes? We are a home furnishings store and don’t even sell cupcakes! What happened to the champagne bucket that is a keepsake and perfect for Chastain summer nights? The jewelry that can be hidden in a clever little basket? The heart shaped necklace that imbues perfume? The adorable valentine’s cards? The candles from France? Or the Amy Dixon Nude that is the sexiest gift of all? We needed at least fifteen more minutes to tell our story!
If nothing else, our first encounter with live television brought us enough giggles to entertain us for days. We loved the opportunity, and relished the excitement of being in a TV studio. Even if we completely neglected to plug our store, we were thrilled to be invited to do so. We’d do it again in a heartbeat and happily give up many more hours of sleep.
And as for our elusive 15 minutes of fame? Well, we only have twelve and a half more to go!
P.S.: Was it a coincidence that Whole Foods posted a 30% gain that very same day? We’re sure it was because of sky-high sales in the floral department – especially cabbage leaves!
Ta ta,
HH
How funny! Great post! Kudos to you for the exposure your store received from the TV segment. The Whole Foods floral departments in the Atlanta stores, by the way, ARE really something! In fact, all departments of the WF stores in the Atlanta area are so much bigger and better than the one (yes, only one store) in the city where I live.
ReplyDeleteKaren T.