SPRING 2012 LOOK BOOK

Hi Everyone!

Deepest apologies.  Insanity doesn't even begin to describe the busyness.  What happened to October??  Seems that everyone is in the same boat for some bazaar reason.  Everyone seems to be as stunned as I am that it's November 11th already, 6 weeks away from Christmas, 65 degrees outside here in NYC...what is going on here?

Well, the good thing about busy is that busyness usually produces something beautiful in the end.  We at Overton Monroe have created our second collection - Spring 2012.  We hope you love it! 

Promising to do a better job with the blog posts. Thanks for your ongoing support!  Onward to Fall 2012!

Post 75 - Bliss

No excuses! Just busy like everyone else I guess. Not much to report on the OM front. We are plugging away. So we by-passed the Resort 2011 season for obvious reasons; that being no sales yet and little capital to develop that season. HOWEVER, Spring 2012 is a MUST. That said, Jerry has sketches ready to go. We are keeping it tight and targeted to 2 groups. We need to be careful and do not want to Waste time or dollars by overdeveloping. That'll kill a biz before even getting off the ground. So 2 groups it is and they are super cute. Sketches to follow.

But....I absolutely need to share my incredible experience from last evening. You all know Bob Mackie, right? I mean really, who doesn't. Well, last night I attended an event put together by the man himself, right here in his NYC offices. In a gorgeous office on a gorgeous floor of an iconic NYC building right at Grand Central, pure bliss! Loads of artwork, costume designs, Collection designs, furniture and OMG this was my heaven. Bob and Edith and the others in their league (though not many can touch that level of talent) are my idols. Some people drool over movie stars and rock stars. For me? Just show me some costume designs drafted for Mitzy or Cher and I'm set. Don't get me wrong, I have the same geeky excitement toward the big leaguers in the Fashion Industry of course! Somewhere deep down, that love for costuming is totally still hanging around. Hmmm, Hollywood perhaps?? Damn...time just seems to keep on slipping right through my fingers. There's a reason mankind has been seeking immortality, the fountain of youth and all that good stuff. I can't imagine I'm the only one thinking "how the hell am I gonna fit into this life everything I want to do?".

See y'all soon!

Day 74 - NYLON Mag

Hi Y'all,

China last week...deepest apologies for the lengthy delays between posts.  I think about "From Start to Fashion" all the time but indeed, life seems to be busier than I think it should be right now!  How does that happen?  Hmmm...thank goodness it's all good stuff, really keeping me on my toes.  But you know?  Sometimes you just need a break from it all. 

Well, we are really happy about our Nylon Mag article!  Check it out!  I bought several copies and so did Jerry.  Our sales guy reminded me that we just might want an extra one to have framed in our corner offices one of these days. Never do know I guess!  Here's hoping....enjoy!

http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416167068&o=ext

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Day 73 - USA! USA! USA!

I'm embarrassed to say that I was sleeping when this tremendous news filled the airwaves! But so happy to awake to my husband whispering "They got Osama!" This hits home for all Americans I'm sure. For thousands who suffered a loss on September 11 and those who have lost precious loved ones since as a result of Osama's evilness, much more significantly than others. For me, I'm thankful that my beautiful brother was safely returned to us from his tour in Iraq. I had a cousin there, lost a childhood friend, prayed as my best friend fought twice, and then heard her cries when the love of her life died at war. There are no words to describe the feeling of emptiness or helplessness. And we were the lucky ones. Anthony came home to us. There's not a day that we don't recognize that gift. Today, I am so proud to be his sister and so proud to be an American.

Day 72 - Mag Hag

And....we're in!! Thanks to a good friend's girlfriend's 1st cousin's wife, we got NYLON! Woo hoo! And couldn't be more excited.

So to all our friends out there, pick up the May issue of the poshest magazine on the newsstand. Get your NYLON mag and read all about it!

And possibly more good stuff soon. We hit up several SoHo hot spots about a week ago. People are interested in the line and agree that there's a definite void in the market for this product category. The good news is that it's reassuring to know that others (particularly store owners & buyers) recognize the need. The hard part is clinching orders. To date? No sales. But we are certain of the future for Overton Monroe. We know that there's room in the marketplace for us. The sky is the limit and we love looking up.

Day 71 - Here goes!

Wish me luck today tout le monde!

Day 70 - We Might!

Very quickly....

We MIGHT have a posh NYC boutique on board!

And

We MIGHT just be lucky enough to have an article in an awesome magazine!

But...you didn't hear it from me!

Don't wanna risk it until confirmed so my apologies in advance for the secretiveness but to be revealed very soon.

Thanks for following!

Day 69 - Helper Outer

Hi All!

Still not much to report. We are plugging away trying to beef up our exposure on two fronts: 1) Editorials and 2) Sales. We've decided definitively to attend the next round of trade shows, most likely Project in Vegas. So we are starting to talk about prep for that. A little nervous to put out the expense but mostly just excited about the opportunities that Project could open up for us!

Just a quick thought for today....yesterday was something amazing. In fact, the weekend was inspirational really. What are you doing with your life? Aside from your professional path, which may or may not involve some type if giving back, there is more we can all do, right? And this weekend proved just how easy it is to make a big difference in the lives of those around us, some strangers, some very close to our hearts. I mean, fewer than 10 people working together to raise a lot of $$ for a family in need? It's so easy! Just make some meatballs and serve it to a pile of hungry Italians in Hoboken and DONE!

Think about it...if you're not doing what you love, what's the point? That's the professional side. And if you're not sprinkling in doing some bit of good for the world, again, what's the point? This is where your purpose comes in...and we all definitely have a reason for being here. But what is it??

I think I just might have figured out the purpose, at least the purpose of my life in this world. I have to say, I feel liberated and really lucky to have found it. I hope you are all seeking it out too. I mean, really, aren't we all? Because it is an amazing sense of fulfillment when that purpose is discovered, truly an epiphany. All the rest is, in a sense, fluff. Don't get me wrong, all the rest can make life awesome and fun and fill up your world with experiences, memories, and basically enhancing your time here. But what are you doing with your life? Who will remember you and how will they remember you?

My secret? I think we are all here to carry on the good. If the nice people aren't put here, then the bad ones takeover. And, as you know, there are a lot of bad guys out there. I can think of several.  But I think there are a lot more good people, far outweighing the bad. Thank goodness! We need all the the soldiers we can get.

Day 68 - Bust

It's snowing....I mean, c'mon Mother Nature, haven't we had enough torture for one year?  And it's not just flurries...it is actually piling up.  What the hell??

Alrighty, so moving on, Bendel Open See is likely not gonna work out for us.  They are clear that no apparel can be shown.  Damn it!  But fair enough, they are an accessories retailer so...

Jerry is working.  Got a great job!  Congratulations to him!  We are working through how to manage our time and still push forward with OM.  Gotta keep a good balance, which we've handled quite well so far.  I don't foresee any problems with this, as we can both manage heavy workloads at work and with OM quite well while keeping the responsibilities 100% separate.  Plus, we LOVE this stuff, all of it.  The more, the better.  We love being enveloped in the world of fashion.  It's in our bones, it's our air.

We started talking with PR companies...now we have to figure out if and when we can afford it.  I mean, I had no idea this stuff was so expensive but I also know it is a necessary expense if we want to expedite the awareness and subsquent success of OM.  So, we'll bide our time and ensure that we make a well informed, well educated decision.

Thanks for following!  More to come.

Day 67 - Hiatus

Ok....so sorry about that unexpected break. Here's why:

What do you do with 2 Irishman in NYC for St. Patty's Day? Well, actually I should say St. Patty's Week? Well, party of course! So we've been entertaining our guests and having a great time doing so. But time to put our noses to the grindstone. Party time is officially OVER!

Here's the latest OM news:
- The Etsy store is up and running.
- We are starting back again trying to get into a showroom for Resort 2011.
- Emails and phone calls are going out to buyers and editorial contacts practically on a daily basis.
- And we are starting to look into PR companies to help us get these pieces in magazines and/or on celebs.

Not much else to report at the moment. Oh! One more thing! Jerry is heading to the Henri Bendel Open Call on Friday morning. Its an opportunity for new designers to present their line to the Bendel Buyers. Overton Monroe will be there with bells on. Never know! It could be amazing for us! So that's really exciting. We have no idea what to expect, so we'll go with a positive attitude and an optimistic outlook and roll with it!

Those side projects mentioned previously?? Well still in work and under wraps for a bit longer. I need to make some headway before I can share anything worth mentioning.

A bientot!

Day 66 - New Beginnings

Starting a new professional life and loving it! Thank God. Jerry is also moving in a new direction doing work that he loves too. The future looks bright and we are going with it!

To date, our biggest challenge is still getting those darn sales. We are at a stand still in a sense with Fall 2011. But it's ok....positive thinking. We just need to push through and do our thang. It WILL happen, just taking longer than we wanted, which we kind of reluctantly expected. What the heck, can't happen overnight! We often remind ourselves that this whole thing really just got off the ground in November (despite earlier discussions from 3 years ago). So...keepin' on 'till then.

We feel, as long as each week is building, progressive, and productive in some way, shape or form, we will be A-OK!

So cheers to new beginnings and to the future! Oh wait...we shoulda cheers'd yesterday...for Mardi Gras. Damn! Let the fasting begin....

Day 65 - Made to Order

Good news! We are creating a Made-To-Order option! This will allow Overton Monroe fans to purchase direct from OM, made specifically based on your measurements for the one and only you!

Until we have an opportunity to build our own E-Commerce platform into our website, we'll be borrowing services from Etsy.com for the immediate future while we work through the challenges (and expense) of adding the direct purchase feature to our site. Thanks to a suggestion from my sister-in-law. Hoping to have our online shop ready within the next few days. Jerry is busy working on that.

In the meanwhile, it's time to get geared up for Resort 2011. Time to hit up those showrooms all over again. One season down, infinity to go!

Thanks for reading!

Day 64 - Creepin'

So we are about 2 weeks beyond fashion week.  To date, lots and lots of calls/emails to boutiques and showrooms all over the place but....no sales yet!  What the heck?  We like it but what are we gonna do to gather sales?  I think we needed to be at one of the trade shows (Project or Coterie).  So, we're putting that on the list for the Spring 2012 season. 

However, we are still hopeful.  I think we're just anxious and figured sales would be had by now.  It's ok, we'll be fine.  Just gotta keep on pushing through.

Sales has been our biggest challenge but we knew it would be the case and fully expected it.  Anticipating the challenge doesn't make it easier to deal with it necessarily...I mean we still need to find a way to get it sold, right?

Hmmm, we'll just have to figure it out.

In the meantime, we have one more update to share...the video clip is done!  Check it out at http://www.overtonmonroe.com/.  Now, we had wanted it to be a bit fancier but we like it.  We're keeping it and, next season, we already have our ideas rolling around in our minds.

See you all in a few days!

Day 63 - Recovery

Great weekend in New Orleans.  Now I have 2 days to wrap things up before heading back to work.  2 days to relax and recover from the busyness of this past weekend.

So, I hit up Magazine Street and dropped off a handful of line sheets and look books.  Let's cross our fingers now that some of these tremendous little boutiques pick up the line.  In the meantime, we're still trying to work out sales here on the NYC front. 

Today?  Well, we potentially have a showroom that may want to rep us!  That would be the most amazing news.  We're hoping to touch base with the owner of the showroom this afternoon.

Tomorrow is TBD.  I think it somewhat depends on today's progress.

I would be remiss not to mention last night's Red Carpet, right?  After all, it is my very favorite night for fashion and glamour.  My eyes are dazzled by the beautiful creations that walk the red carpet.  This year, for some reason, seemed even more magical than I remember.  Here are my faves!

1/ Gwyneth Paltrow - She looked great...her gown was GORGEOUS!

2/ Nicole Kidman - Classic and beautiful.

3/ Amy Adams - A little conservative but super classy and she clearly knows that blue is her color.  Plus I love the emerald jewelry.

4/ Mila Kunis - Well, I'm a huge Elie Saab fan and this was so dainty and pretty.

5/ Robin Roberts - She looks amazing. Sharp and spot on with the whole thing. Did you see her shoes?  I think RR lost a little lbs but she looked HOT HOT HOT!

6/ Anne Hathaway - With all those changes, it was difficult to keep up with her looks!  If I have to pick one, it's the Givenchy (her look #2).  2nd fave?  Valentino red.  3rd is the Oscar de la Renta gold. Least favorite was the liquid blue Armani Prive...hated it.

7/ Helena Bonham-Carter - NOT!

Since we have a couple other creative projects in work, I'll be writing the blog a bit less often to free up some time to work on those.  I hope you like what's coming;-)

Day 62 - The Big Easy

And today, a little R&R...well, not exactly. Fun WILL be had but likely not much rest OR relaxation. We have 3 birthdays to celebrate plus a new job. So...sleep? Probably not too much of that going on.

Heading to the Big Easy to take it easy for a few days, in theory. But actually, my plan is to grab my sister-in-law and hit up the little shops on Magazine Street. Yes, that's correct, I'm peddling my slips right up and down the streets of New Orleans. Fitting, right?

Jerry is staying back. He's got his own agenda full of fixing up the slips a bit (they're getting a little tossled now, need to spruce them up a 'lil). He's got some printing to do plus networking, as much as possible. Gotta keep it going!

Yesterday's video interview was fun and went well! There's something strange, and a tad bit awkward, about sitting in front of a camera telling the story of one's life. With a little practice, we could get use to this I think! Can't wait to see the results. We'll share...I promise. Thank you Sarah, Channon & Elisabeth for hookin' it up!

And finally for today, PLUSHNYLON's Overton Monroe article Part II, the continuation of last weeks publication, is now live! Check it out at http://plushnylonmag.com/entertainment/designer-spotlight-overton-monroe-%e2%80%93-part-ii-the-vision-the-process-and-the-breakthrough

Taking a long weekend...see you on Monday! I mean, if something amazing happens between now and Monday, you'll def find an update here;-)

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Day 61 - Thank Goodness for Good People!

What a day!  Here's how it went...

10am - Thanks to a great friend and supporter, we were afforded the opportunity to walk through Coterie and meet lots more good people. We spent the morning strolling the aisles trying to figure it all out, made a few acquaintences, sought out any competition and determined that we need to be at Coterie next season.  We loved it.  Being there completely rejuvinated us.  We are re-inspired and ready to make a go of Overton Monroe for many seasons to come.  This is not a hobby....our hearts are too invested!  Good thing we were reminded of this.

1pm - Curve was super cool too...but we realized that, even though we'll likely be hanging on the floor with bras & panties in the majors (hopefully someday soon), we really want to be considered closer to contemporary ready-to-wear.  So, another great realization...Curve is not the trade show for us. But all you guys out there should DEFINITELY check it out....it's a lingerie trade show;-)

2pm - Headed to SoHo for a key meeting at 3:30pm with more great people! Brighter future, lots of fun, ready to move on professionally to an amazing new opportunity.  Couldn't be happier!  We have to keep in mind that while OM is moving ahead full force, I still need to work and will continue working indefinitely (call me crazy but I love to work).

5pm - Home to Jersey to take a little break, chill with my hubby before heading back into the city for the last meeting of the day.

7pm - Back to SoHo for our dinner meeting at Balthazar.  Praying that something comes of it.  Made new friends and Jerry and I are excited to be broadening our network. 

1am - Home

Today?  Super tired but lots more to do.  We have a video interview at 1pm.  Not quite sure what to expect but we're going with it! 

Tomorrow?  Hello New Orleans!  Woo-hoo!  Building memories with my bros and sistas (hubby too).

The more we can grow our circle, the more support we're likely to stumble upon.  But most importantly...if we can do this by surrounding ourselves with good people, we'll feel success to have built a business well grounded with genuine support.

Oh!  One more thing!!  We have more press!  Check out this great article: http://www.informalrunway.com/2011/02/introducing-overton-monroe/

Day 60 - Choices

And our selections for the opening video clip are done!  Website updates are done too!  We are super excited.  And today is a potentially BIG day for OM. 

Ok...one thing at a time.  Firstly, here are the photo selects for our video clip.  Now, we'll see what our web guy can do with this material, which is meant to be the intro to our website.  Remember?  We had put this on hold a couple of weeks ago?  Finally we're done.  Can you see the read the story?  What does it tell you?

Also, we had a handful of minor changes to the site.  Check out the Collections tab and the detail pages for each style.

Finally, this morning, we have lots to do.  Firstly, Coterie and Curve for the early part of the day.  Then back to back meetings.  Our day will end with a key dinner meeting with what could be really great press! We're crossing our fingers.

Tomorrow, another busy day....It's all good stuff;-)  And...we're almost to 7000 hits already!!  What?!?!

Day 59 - Refreshed

Sigh.....so refreshing to have a weekend away. Don't get me wrong, a weekend at home in PA is never quite "relaxing." No, that's not the word I'd use, but rejuvenating, motivating, refreshing...yes. That's more like it.

There's nothing more important than spending time with the people who support you, family and friends, the ones who conditioned you, who created your world, who love you, who made you the person you are, those who understand the true you. It all really puts things into perspective.

So here we are, driving across the state. I remind myself that merely 4 months ago, on this same highway, making the same drive across PA (only I was with my husband that time), Jerry and I decided to take that leap of faith and officially establish OM after more than three years of talking about it. And thank God we did.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. Lots of exciting things including what we hope to be an awesome interview. Wednesday, we're being filmed for another interview and we have two others on deck thereafter.

On top of that, we have trade shows to visit and, at the end of the week, I'm heading to New Orleans to hit up the boutiques on Magazine Street.

Our sales pro is all over the NYC Metro area calling boutique after boutique. We are on a roll and making a splash.

Thanks for following!

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Day 58 - Pebbles

Just so, so much to do!  How do we get it all done?  How did I get it all done before?  Well, we just need to keep moving forward, keep looking ahead, one day at a time. 

We are moving into our R&D Road Trip Weekend to do our research for the Resort 2011 collection.  Can't wait to hit the open road!

Update on the look books....hardcopies are still not done.  We are just torn and, therefore, kind of procrastinating for a minute.  We've got several quotes on a variety of different qualities but we just don't know which one to choose.  We need another day or two, one more place to check and luckily, it takes only about 2 days to get the books printed.  The good news is that the digital look book is all set, line sheet is all set and website is done.

No update on the sales side.  Still doing what we can to push forward there...but it's early yet.  Fall 2011 Fashion Week is not quite over and sales will continue on for the next 4-5 weeks.  We just need our orders in by end of March and we'll be fine for production delivery (honestly even mid-April and we're still cool).

We have 2 more press pieces coming up within the next week and potentially a third big one!  We will keep you posted once those articles are published.

Thought for today:
"Nobody trips over mountains.  It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain."  ~Author Unknown

Huh, similar to the more famous statement, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" and the small stuff comes in many ways and on many different faces.  They will try to derail you.  Don't let them!

Day 57 - "The Go Getter"

We are in a holding pattern for the immediate future.  The OM team is getting the word out, doing everything we can to get the stuff sold, linking up our Facebook, Blogger, and Twitter to http://www.overtonmonroe.com/ and continuing to spread the word on LinkedIn.  Share the news if you can!  The faster we can make this go viral, the sooner we can get OM to the next level!!  We'd love your support.

While we still need to get Fall 2011 sales and then move into production, Jerry and I are planting seeds for the next season.  As a production professional, thank goodness I have that process down pat for Fall 2011.  I'm not worried in the least bit that we'll be able to negotiate great prices at the factory, achieve ON TIME delivery of all raw materials, and subsequently succeed in delivering goods to our warehouse and retailers perfectly on schedule.  Stores, of course, love when designers deliver as they say they will.  I assure you, they will not be disappointed.

For Resort, we have started talking about fabrics, sketches, some special items and are just about ready to get Resort 2011 out of our thoughts and onto paper. 

So between now and the time we start Resort...what are we doing you may ask?  Well, we've gotta find other avenues to get the word out in addition to our current strategy...hence, we will be attending CurveExpo and Coterie, both trade shows targeted to bridge the gap between designers and buyers.  We'll be attending both next week!  Go Get 'Em!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stYPo9bHiFI

Day 56 - Ready, Aim.....FIRE!

In the past several days, OM has been developing its sales strategy.  Friday evening, we met with our sales guy, briefed him on all the garments, the fabrics, the seaming and details.  We walked through points to call out, details which might be interesting to buyers, walked through the wholesale and retail pricing, target customer, etc, etc.  All the things a sales person would need to run with it.  Then on Saturday, we were so lucky to spend time with an amazingly talented businessman.  Someone we look up to and, especially after having met, we have the utmost respect for the him and the successful business he has built.

We spent yesterday creating a list of boutiques we'd like to approach.  Next step?  Approach them!  Let's hope they like what they see and agree that there is a void in the market.

Goals this week:

• Hit the phones
• We also have a bit more work to do on the site.  Just a few little things so we'll take care of that by next Monday hopefully.
• Take an inspirational road trip to gather some vintage items and antiques which will lead us into the Resort 2011 season. 
• Prepare for industry trade shows.

Oh!  I almost forgot!!  We have press! Yippee!  What a very nice Valentine's Day surprise.  Thank you Tamara!  We love your support.
http://plushnylonmag.com/entertainment/designer-spotlight-introducing-overton-monroe-%e2%80%93-part-i

What else....well, Jerry and I have lots and lots of plans.  We LOVE Overton Monroe and the places we envision it will take us. Aside from focusing on our line, we have some other creative endeavors stewing.  Stay tuned, we have some work to do before I can expose what's going on but I promise....you are gonna love it!

You may be curious about yesterday's post.  Well, it stems from a deep philosophy and passion within.  I am sick of people trying to rain on my parade (it has happened once or twice before)!  Who do these people think they are anyway??  And I won't take it lying down, most definitely will not accept having my character (flawless to date) being called into question because I had the balls to do something exciting and fun, harmless and innocent.  So I'll push forward!  Let them have the mini accomplishment, however unconscionable it may be.  I won't lose sleep over it (haven't so far).  Au contraire mes amis, I am all the more motivated and determined to get it going in a BIG way. Thank you! 

For all you dreamers out there, GO FOR IT!  Don't let the spineless hold you back.  Set yourself free and get it going. Don't waste another moment wondering about what could be.  Just take the leap of faith.  Who, at the end of their life, wants to say "I wish I would've done..." 

Thank you for reading!!
~Annie & Jerry

Day 55 - "The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones"

I had never heard this proverb before yesterday. Seems coincidental that I would hear such a clear and concise thought at church this very weekend.  Yes, I'm a spiritual person.  Though not a bible beater, I have a strong faith grounded in a solid upbringing, thanks to my parents and all the good and decent people around me.  Maybe too many good people in my small town that I was protected from the true creeps in the world.  Who knew that with so many honest people that the world had room for so many of the dirty ones?  Alas, this world never ceases to amaze me.

I am a strong believer in that things happen for a reason.  I am also a strong believer that we are spoken to in mysterious ways.  That is what happened yesterday. These words came through and I knew immediately who in my world this was directed to.  How interesting that people just simply aren't able to support others, that when a person is doing well and achieving all they've ever wanted, someone insignificant comes along and does their best to stomp on it, at any cost and whatever it takes.  Some just can't handle that others have it so well pulled together and have a good life and, in their small world, so it appears that some of us have much more compared to them.  Not in dollars, not in material items or real estate or love or any of those things.  But in true control of their own circle, true confidence in who they are, true comfort in their own skin and without fluff, without untruths, without the need to exaggerate...just simply "this is who I am, love it or leave it."  But isn't that envy the evil creeping into the world?  Those whose loathing is so extreme, those who are so disgusted by your confidence that they stoop to deceit to take down the good ones?  It's out there.  For sure. 

Eh, it happens, doesn't it.  Thank goodness for resilience.  Thank goodness for strength and thank goodness that no one can ever take away one's talent, one's skill, one's dream to make life everything that it can be.  Don't take "no" for an answer, don't let others pull you down for being an overachiever, for living life.  Don't let them reduce you to a life of mediocrity and conformity.  Don't let them silo you into being a sheep.  We live life once.  Fill it up with as much as you can while you can.  The nature of human dynamics will allow them to knock you down for a brief moment but those of us who are strong and determined, and those who have been faced with these "types" before, those who bleed perseverance, those of us who know that envy and deceit are all around also know that the immediate feeling the other one receives as a "win" is just a flash in the pan.  Anyone with a soul knows that winning by deceit it not truly a win at all.  The true winner never really arrives at their final destination, they're always looking ahead to the next goal.  It almost makes you want to feel pity on the others but...

I love positivity and I thrive on challenge.  I love the feeling of freedom and living life to the fullest.  Eliminate those in your world who are green.  When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. And if someone comes along and poisons the lemonade, spill it out and get a new glass. 

This week, Overton Monroe is focused on the future.  We have a lovely level of success ahead of us and we will push forward until we reach it.  Thank you to our supporters!  Thank you to our mentors!  Thank you to those who follow their gut, make their dreams happen and hold steady until the dream is realized. Thank you to those who love life and live it.

Day 54 - Praying for Rain

Well, now that our site is up, our digital look books are done, our hardcopy look books are just about there (ready to go to print hopefully this weekend...couple day delay), our line sheet is pretty well wrapped up, our WIP is all set, we just need that rainmaker to step in and help us network with buyers, get the meetings, gather orders, get some press and get the product out there into the market place.  We're looking for a sales/marketing/PR guy all wrapped up into one (for now anyway).

And THAT is the point of tonight's dinner.  Our guy is gonna make it rain...we know it.  We are confident that Brandon is the one.  It just feels right.  We'll continue going with our gut feeling, as so far, it has not steered us wrong.

Thanks for following!  See you on Monday!
http://www.overtonmonroe.com/

Day 53 - And we are LIVE!

Sorry about the late, very late post today!  Not feeling well and spent most of the day taking care to get better...it's Fall 2011 Fashion Week and who wants to be ill?

Just a quick thing for now....we are LIVE!  Overtonmonroe.com is up!  Check it out and let us know your thoughts.  We did find a few little things to touch up but we'll get there. And our video clip still needs to be done but that's no biggie. We didn't want to hold up the launch so we just went for it;-)  Would love your feedback!

THANK YOU!
Annie & Jerry

Day 52 - We've only just begun

So you may be wondering...where does the blog go from here?  We have shared quite a few photos so now we're back to mostly writing (for the moment anyway).  The point was to write a blog about a start-up of a fashion line, what it takes to pull it off, exposing the bumps in the road, from the initial concept through launching the line - From Start to Fashion: The Making of Overton Monroe. 

We are just about launched but there is still PLENTY to write about!  While we are basically wrapping up the development portion of the process, we still have to get our sales, make production, ship the product and get the product on the retail floors.  We have an entire other half of the business still to write about.  We've only just begun.  Hang with us....we expect Overton Monroe to be an exciting ride!

Quick updates:
1/ Last night, Jerry and I were interviewed for our very first press article!  We are looking forward to next week when the article is published.  Stay tuned for the link to that!  Thank you Tamara;-)

2/ Our sales meeting tonight is moved to Friday due to a last minute conflict with my schedule.  No harm, no foul here.

3/ Jerry is taking our look book to print today!  This is a big deal so we're super excited to get the proof and pick up our official hardcopies on Monday (we hope).  Crossing our fingers everything looks great on the first proof, which we'll see tomorrow.

4/ Website is JUST about there!  Phone call with Squirrel Media this morning and we should be good to go.  Will keep you posted on that front as soon as we are launched.  Promise...you'll be the first to know!

5/ Finally, we decided we do NOT like the profile photo of Jerry & I.  So we'll be taking a new picture....see if we can't get it to be a little more flattering.  Definitely on the bottom of the priority list but....

Thanks to you all!  Keep on following!

Day 51 - Steady now...

This week's goal?  Hold steady, stay strong, keep healthy and focus...most importantly, breathe.

Yesterday was a busy Monday for me at my day job.  I was exhausted upon returning home.  But, thank goodness, Jerry was rockin' it out with the phone calls and emails to showrooms.  Here's this week's schedule:

Today: Lunch with a great helper, Sade, who has offered pro-bono PR work.  Who could be so kind as to do so?  Well, good friends lead you to new good friends and that's really what makes the world go round, isn't it?

Tonight: Interview!

Tomorrow: Dinner with our sales guy.  He has a name...Brandon.  We can't wait to get him fully on board.  It's new for us and new for him, so exciting for both of us! 

Also important, we need to launch our website!  We are super duper excited about it!  Just need to make it happen now and we're sooooo close.  We're putting a hold on the video clip for the initial launch, just until we have a chance to pull it together in the right way.  It'll follow shortly though.

Thursday: I'll just say it's gonna be hectic.  Thursday night, we have a fashion week event to attend for a friend's line plus, after that, a meeting at my church.  We're working to plan a meatball cookoff to raise money for a family in need from our church.  If you don't make time to help people in need, what's the point, right?  Good thing Mike and I have our own recipe for killer meatballs!  I'm willing to share the recipe if you're interested;-)  Yummmy.

Friday: Another event after work.  Good networking opportunity.

Weekend?  What MUST happen for Overton Monroe is yet to be determined.  I suppose that depends on how successful our week goes!  One thing for sure.....it's Valentine's Day weekend so I have a date with my husband to a little Italian restaurant.  Other than that let's hope the weekend involves some down time and relaxation...Jerry and I can both use a little time to chill out.

Just for fun, I'm attaching here our Profile Photo of Jerry and I.  This will be on our site.  Neither of us are picture takers but we like this one! 

Day 50 - Busy, busy, busy and...we're going with "B"!

We had a mix of opinions for Friday's pics.   We decided to go with "B" for a few reasons.  We LOVE what Kylee is doing in this photo and her facial expression is really pulling you in...Zach's arms look great too.  AND, this image will be placed in our video clip, flashed for about 2 seconds.  So for that purpose, the more we reviewed it, we love this image the best.

This weekend was quite busy here at Overton Monroe.  Here's how it went:

Saturday, Jerry and I spent the day laying out the final choices of our Look Book.  We're very happy with the result.  So we PDF'd the look book, printed the labels, and burned the DVDs.  This way, we are all set to start passing out the digital look book to whomever's hands we can get these into.  Look book attached here!  Hope you like what you helped to create!

Cousin Annette came through for us!!  She color corrected all of our website photos.  This was a big concern of ours but...check! Thanks to Annette.

Jerry and I worked on the website quite a bit.  On our "Collections" page, which is the page where you can see all of the styles in the Fall 2011 collection, we needed to work out concerns we had with the "Details" pages.  So we created (actually Jerry did the work while I watched the Steelers lose Super Bowl XLV) all 15 of the details pages.  This way, Squirrel Media can easily upload that information and get the site launched asap this week...just in time for NYC's Fall 2011 Fashion Week.  We are shooting for a Tuesday/Wednesday launch of the site.  Cross your fingers!

We also have great news! 

1) We have a sales guy on board.  Our very good friend who will be helping to make some calls for us and network with some industry insiders.  We are thrilled that he's coming on board! 

2) Jerry and I have an interview this week!  For a cool magazine.  So we've put together some intro information for that and sent it over to the writer last night.

Things are popping!  Keep on watching!

THANK YOU! Annie & Jerry~

Look Book:

By the way, that funny looking thing on the last page is a QR code.  If you place your smart phone's bar code reader over it, the little symbol will bring you directly to overtonmonroe.com.  Thank you Uncle John for that cool little tip!

Day 49 - And it's "A" again! Ok, here's another one!

Hi Everyone,

You guys are a GREAT support!!  Thank you!  Now if we can just get someone on board to help get orders rolling in, we'll be in amazing shape.  Jerry and I are spending the weekend really nailing down a plan to get it going in the sales area.  We have a lot of work to do but we have solid information to go with (thanks to lots of great support from colleagues, family and friends) and just need to get a plan in place.

In addition to working on that, we definitely have work to do on the website images, which will take some time. It's nothing that difficult, just simply having the time to do it.  In fact, the most difficult part is choosing the photos!  Too many good ones to choose from!

Oh!!  I forgot to mention, yesterday's winner is "A" again!  Not unanimous but definitely the majority.  We'll do a little cropping to get it just right. 

And todays...we have 3 choices.  Which one do you love?

PHOTO A:

 PHOTO B:

PHOTO C:

Day 48 - Shirley "A" Wins. On to the Website!

It was unanimous!  Shirley "A" is the winner!  Thanks for voting.

We're making significant headway with the website.  Just about complete.  Targeting the launch for roughly this time next week.  Before we can do that, we have lots of decisions and editing to take care of.  Squirrel Media has our 15 looks, so we're set with the photo selects.  However, now that we see the pics all together, we can tell that they need a little more work.  So, we'll be dealing with that over the weekend (might need my amazingly talented graphic artist cousin's help to get it right;-).  We need to get the shading to match from image to image.

A handful of other minor comments after reviewing the updated site last night.  We're confident these adjustments will get us right where we want to be!

The next thought regarding the website is getting that video clip together.  We made several selections for these photos too but again, color correcting will take a minute.  Plus, we still have so many decisions to make...which is where we need your help! 

Which do you like??

PHOTO A:

PHOTO B:

Finally, we are just dying to get a showroom on board but we're running out of time (thinking about the fact that NYC fashion week starts next week).  So it seems, we're on to plan B!  We're just gonna have to sell it on our own.  This weekend, we'll have to pull together a list of hot stores and start hitting the pavement.  Anybody out there have a knack for selling clothing to better boutiques??

Thanks for reading!  It's Thursday and everybody's working for the weekend!  Can't wait to catch my breath.  Oh...wait, it's the Super Bowl and the Steelers are playing.  Guess my Sunday is all tied up with game plans.  Oh well, that'll be fun!  See you tomorrow!

Day 47 - And the winner is...Ollie "A"

We agreed!  Ollie "A" was the clearer picture and we liked Taylor's attitude there.  Last one for the look book is Shirley (don't tell anyone....she's my favorite in the whole collection). 

We have 15 styles total going into our look book and onto http://www.overtonmonroe.com/ (the site is almost there!).  But based on your votes, we're able fill in the balance of the look book styles.  We get where you're going with the votes;-)

We WILL need your help with just a handful more photo selections.  For the opening to our website, we're putting together a little video clip.  We have so many photos and we need to squeeze our faves into a 45 second spot...too tough for us to decide on our own!

Redirect....back to today's goal.  Can you help us out with Shirley?  A or B??

PHOTO A:

PHOTO B:

THANK YOU!!

Day 46 - WE HIT 5,000!!! Thank you for reading!

Hi Everyone!  Thank you!  We reached 5000 hits on the blog just in time for February 1st.  It was kind of my secret goal...and you helped us reach it, which is awesome.

Ok, so Lucy "A" it is!  Next up...here's Ollie!


PHOTO A:

PHOTO B:

 Have a great Tuesday!