We’re taking a deep breath.
Inhale.
Hold it.
Release.
It’s done. We’ve selected and announced the 2015 team of Coeur Ambassadors. For a very short few days, we have a tiny bit of space.
The question on the minds of some is…“Now what?” For Kebby, Hailey and the team that read and sorted through the literally hundreds and hundreds of applications, the answer is that they are going to catch their breath for a few days during the holidays.
To be honest, the Ambassador process was emotionally grueling. Not because of the volume of work even though it was very high but because it was so very hard to say “no” to some of the applicants. To be more accurate, we’re not saying “no” as much as we’re saying, not this year. Even so, no matter, how you phrase it, the concept of anything other than “yes” is a foreign one to us. It just goes against our DNA. We like to say yes to customers when they want to exchange or return something, we like to say yes to our retail partners when they ask if we can host a ladies night or rush them something overnight, and in our heart of hearts, we would like to have said yes to everyone that applied. As you might expect, Kebby received a few hurtful emails from individuals that were not selected and (as a few of you who know her well might expect), she was deeply saddened to think she had caused anyone to be unhappy.
We tried to console her by reminding her that our decision to give all of our ambassadors custom kits versus making them buy them (even at a discount) forced the economic reality on us that we couldn’t take everyone. Now to be clear, we stand by that decision 100%. As we’ve said before, it is our belief that if we asked our ambassadors to buy their kits, they would, in effect, just be customers who got something on sale and that’s not what we’re looking for. We have much bigger aspirations for our team than that.
We reminded her that time and again, she added to the list to the point where we were well beyond our budget. We also let her know that the reason some of the people were upset was because they loved what had been created and that in a small way, their responses were a compliment. Finally, we said that as we grow, the team will grow and that next year we’ll be able to take the individuals who were on the bubble.
So back to the original question. Now what? In addition to some much needed time with friends and loved ones, we’re making almost daily trips to the factory to inspect and tweak the 2015 line. Production is going well and we think the gear looks amazing! Kebby is going to snap a few pictures of the triathlon kits on the production line and we’ll share those soon.
We’re also starting the process of indoctrinating the new members of the team. Over the next few months, we’ll share our aspirations and reinforce the message that, first and foremost, we expect them to be ambassadors for health, fitness, and endurance sports. We can’t say this enough, so pardon the redundancy. If all they do over the next year is convince one other person to lace up their running shoes and go for a jog, or hop on a bike for a ride, or even sign up for a local sprint triathlon, then we’ve won. Everything else is secondary.
Finally, we’re in the early stages of studying the feasibility of a Coeur camp. We’d love to find a way to bring customers, ambassadors, professionals, and friends together to meet each other, train, and most importantly, have some fun! The logistical challenges are immense but we’ve already gotten some great information from people who have been to similar camps.
For now though, we’re going to take that deep breath.
Inhale.
Hold it.
Release.
Happy Holidays everyone!