One thing that’s generally pushed at us these days is everyone’s uniqueness. Really, being you is the only thing you can’t screw up because there is absolutely zero precedent. Growing up, I used to bristle when anyone would call me weird. But I really was. And am. When I meet people, friendship flourishes generally when the person can either relate to, or tolerate my weirdness. But the word weird has a sense of other that can feel pretty uncomfortable.
With week one of Velvet Sweatpants in the bag, we’ve had a pretty good mix of highs and lows. We’ve had acknowledgement from Studio McGee on Instagram, and Laura’s kitchen was featured on EMILY HENDERSON’s blog. Velvet Sweatpants went out on the town twice last week as a unit, to an industry event and to network and drum up business. It was so exciting to be a unit, working towards our dream together.
Conversely, we lost our first bid that we were so excited about. Overall, it was still such an positive experience, as it gave us the opportunity to go through an interview together, to feel we nailed it, and to know how we’d work together as a team to go above and beyond. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Our name had its first mess ups with one friend earnestly calling us Sweaty Velvet Pants (honestly didn’t see that one coming), and also, Velora (Ve-Laura?) Sweatpants.
Probably the most imprinting experience for me this week was when we were at our networking event, and in passing our card to an older couple who expressed interest in renovating, the gentleman muttered, without expression, “Velvet Sweatpants? That’s kind of weird.”
I have to admit, my inner weird child recoiled, and felt defensive. It wasn’t until our debrief at the end of the night where Laura recounted this with a matter of fact, “we know it’s weird,” that my brain let it go. It is a strange name. It would be unreasonable to think that everyone is going to get it off the bat, if at all. The best we can do is own our weirdness and wave that flag as proudly as possible, and hope to attract clients who do get us.
As Laura put it,
“We are proud of who we are, what we can do, and the image we bring. We are perhaps not the norm, but that’s an honest representation of Sarah and I. And so, here we are, bringing our Sweaty Velvet Pants, at your service!”
—Sarah