Grand Inspirations

That beautiful little Cuban guy residing in that wonderfully fluffy nest is my grandnephew, Ben.

We are all seriously besotted by this kid.  His poor parents - when they come over,  the first thing Eric says is, "Yay! Ben's here!" As if Helen and Daryl's (his parents) entire reason for existing is for them to deliver this beautiful boy to us for our endless amusement. (Sorry, guys. )

This is one of about thirty identical pictures (thank God for digital!) of him in all his cozy wonder.
He is completely enthralled with Diego and we are completely enthralled with him.

There are seven great-grands in my big, fat Cuban family.
And I am constantly inspired by their adorable presence.

But, Ben....

well . . . he's THE quintessential Little Cuban Guy. =D

(you can see all my other Cuba To Go! designs here.)

It's not you. It's me.

So after I posted my "oh what a terrible businesswoman I am" speech this morning, about my Cuba to Go! business, I get an email from the fabulous and astute Marc Masferrer over at Uncommon Sense  (who by the way, loves Cuban women) asking:

"I was looking at your shirts, and I didn't see a place to designate the size? Am I missing something?"

Answer: Umm.... missing something?  Maybe it's because my SIZE fields have gone missing!  Oops! I have just been wondering why my orders have dropped off this last week and feeling sorry for myself. 

It turns out that my shopping cart people updated something which caused all the SIZE fields to blow away into cyberspace.  Luckily, I'm kind of intimate with my tech guy ;-)  and he's working on it right now and he's pretty tenacious about these things.  He keeps reminding me we're in this together and trying to keep me from freaking out more than I am. Cuba to Go! should be completely functional again in a few hours. 

It will probably take me that long to get this egg off my face.

Taking care of business

I have a confession to make:  I am a terrible businesswoman.

Let me explain. 
I have my online store called Cuba to Go!  It's pretty straightforward.  I have come up with some fun designs for shirts and bags and things.  My products are all about showing off your Cuban heritage.  My husband is an Internet marketing guy and he is my own personal in-house (literally) Techno-Geek. 

I'm pretty computer savvy myself, besides being an artist. I am pretty good about getting the orders from the in-box all the way to the mail-box.  I am very competent.

But here's where my business skills break down.  I have customers who contact me with questions, and then we start talking.  There it is.  Right there. I get hooked by people's stories. And every one of them has a story.  I went out of my way to get the "Guajiro" sweatshirt to Robert's dad across the country for his birthday with the note:  "Here you go, Papi. I love you. Robert." (got choked up by that one) 

The friends of the proud new Cuban dad sent a gift of a onesie to their friend's newborn "Cubanito."  (does he look like the dad?)  There is my new friend, A.L. from Glendale who bought his Cuban wife a shirt in every color and style in our catalog.  We talked for over an hour about her Cuban heritage, how proud he was of his children, how we homeschool and.... oh... yes.... about his order.  Eric & I are making plans to meet them at Porto's in Glendale one day very soon.

How unprofessional is this??  I care more about the people than their business. I exchange emails with them. I want to hear their stories.  I met my friend Lee when she wrote me a lovely email with the thought that we could be friends.  You should see the pictures of her grandchildren! They are gorgeous! (Hope you have a great time in Boca Raton, Lee & Steve!)

So if you find you like my products and I see your order in my inbox, rest assured that I will wonder about you. I will laugh at your clever email address. I will wonder how Cuban-Americans ended up in that part of Texas, or what nationality your husband or wife is. Chances are I might even pray for God to bless you.

This is not an apology. I'm just giving you a head's up.  I'm not really a very good business woman. I want Life to Life contact.  I must connect with people. It is in my DNA. I'm Cuban!
Mi casa es su casa.  Which makes professional detachment impossible for me.

But my stuff is cool.  I know you're going to like it. Even if I am a big sentimental dork!

Consider yourselves warned.