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OVER THE COUNTER Left: David Robertson was delighted to discover Popsy & Plum at PG Live in July as part of his quest to keep his card selection fresh. Bottom: CL Collections’ Shopping in Paris and Fashion Friends ranges have been introduced into JP Pozzi stores (and online) recently to create eyecatching displays of newness. Below right: Don’t be too hard on yourself, urges David. Have a plan and take it step by step.
and you can see that retail is not an easy place to be right now. The indie card and gift retailers have always fronted out the challenges with the quirky products we stock, the innovative displays and of course a service that the larger stores and the internet simply can’t provide. So is this success or is it survival? For me right now, to survive is to succeed simple as that. I heard the award-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Day speaking on a number of different radio talk shows this week. She spoke about the world’s obsession with success, how this was viewed and how she had looked at in another way. Her How to Fail podcast exploration of failure has resulted in over 21 million downloads and one could argue she has made a huge success out of failing. Her book, Failosophy looks at the seven reasons why failure is good and having listened, many of her thoughts are things that I also question and do. I have had a strange week. I had a bit of a chest infection which caused me to feel flat, lacking in energy and drive which is not like me at all. I am in the embryonic stage of my latest big project (more on this to come) and this would normally energise me, but with many hurdles to jump it feels like really hard work and the initial buzz of signing off the planning drawings has worn off. I have also been thinking way too much about the business and ultimately where I am as I approach another birthday (my 47th!). Birthdays tend to be reminders that life is passing us by and with Covid restricting so many of the things that we all
like to do, it has made me feel a little fed up. Putting things into perspective I then spoke to a pal of mine who is an air hostess who told me that as she landed at Heathrow she watched the juxtaposition of folk arriving from Afghanistan while various holidaymakers were arguing about having been delayed. Success or failure means little when fighting to just live is very much a reality. Success is a very difficult thing to nail down and quantify. How do you measure it, in time or money or perception? It can of course be all of the aforementioned and more, but purely measuring it in physical or numerical ‘things’ will always leave you feeling like you want more. I have spoken before about the ‘slippery slope’ of comparison when you look around and think that others are probably earning a lot more and doing a lot less than you are. Retail is a hard graft. It is an unglamorous slog. So how do I get myself going again? How do I get that perspective on things where I realise that actually I am doing OK? I love a list, and hope it helps others too, so here goes… l Am I doing my best? As your mum would always say to you about school: “Effort is everything”. l Am I clear on my goals and how I am going to try to achieve them? Planning the journey is one thing, but you will need to adapt it along the way.
l Understand that sometimes what you
want is maybe not what you need. I can sometimes fixate on one thing - if ‘we can just do this’ or ‘we can stock that’ - you shouldn’t put that pressure on yourself. l Success is believing in yourself and that you can do something. If you don’t believe in you, who else will? Self-care is essential to your and everyone else’s success. This is something I have really struggled with. Switching off has long been my downfall. I feel guilty if I don’t address emails or work issues, but slowly I am forcing myself into time slots where I relax and get away from work. I am having to plan in my downtime, but it does appear to be working. I have realised the importance of being grateful for what we all have - friends, family, work colleagues, your home - rather than that lustful list of the things we don’t have. Plus, tackle the things that daunt or scare you. If there is anything causing you fear, confront it; don’t bury your head in the sand.
You can’t win every battle, but you need to keep working towards winning the war. Sometimes it is easier to walk away from things or retreat to fight another day. You need to stand up for what you believe in and celebrate small wins along the way, especially just now. Recently we have celebrated hitting our 2019 sales figures, but it could be as simple as celebrating good customer reviews; anything to keep the positivity up. Ultimately you control your path and destiny to success, but what that looks and feels like is entirely up to you. Elizabeth Day makes the point that we all fail every day. It is quite a democratising thought because if we don’t fail, we can’t learn. So, in fact we need to fail and accept it. Sometimes we need to shift our mindset to come back stronger. You need to train your brain to be content and accept your success in different ways, but quite simply, you just need to keep going. To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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