Vendor at trade show: Yes we do (friendly smile back). We only do sublimination printing.
Me: Wonderful. (shoulders back, confident, ‘I mean business voice’) I’d like to print on 100% cotton at approximately x GSM. Can you help me with this?
Vendor at trade show: (confused look) but you need polyester in the garment for sublimination printing.
Me: (aloof look, quickly pull myself together, arrange my face) Yeah of course, of course. Thanks for your help. Bye.
This if how 99% of my interactions with experts, factories, consultants, companies, any one really, have ended up. I am learning everything as I go along. There’s only so far the university of Google will take you, let me tell ya! I’ve gone from being routinely embarrassed by this kind of encounter to viewing it as normal, even welcoming it. Every time it happens something clicks or I learn something new.
I have no background in manufacturing, fabrics, fashion design or even running a business. The most I have is a GCSE in textiles and I can (very proudly) thread and operate a sewing machine. However, that’s where my knowledge started and ended when I embarked on this journey. The last time I learned acronyms at this rate was my first job in advertising. I compiled a whole glossary page in the back of my notebook because there were so many to learn.
These days I tend to get it out of the way and tell people I’m learning or admit that I don’t know. Most people are happy to teach or help someone and I love learning so it’s a good combination. When I think about what I’ve learned in three years, I’m excited to see what I’ll know in six.
My advice about dealing with knowledge gaps is to embrace them, enjoy the journey and be genuinely excited to look at how far you’ve come.
If you’ve been following this journey for some time now, you’ve probably realised colour – it’s power and it’s potential – is something I’m very passionate about. I love colour; there is definitely something about it that energises me. However the extent of my experience with colour is probably dressing myself, doing my make up …
I saw a friend of mine yesterday and she asked me, ‘How’s the business going?’, Surprisingly, this emotion wasn’t what I felt first. I went on to explain to her my current ‘dilemma.’ It made me realise this is what I should write about this week. I’ve named this dilemma, ‘ The Inventory Trap.’ When …
On days like today, the first line of Lauryn Hill’s Ex-Factor plays over and over and over again in my mind. It could all be so simple; but you’d rather make it hard. Ms Lauryn Hill These are the days where it’s really hard doing two jobs…actually, let’s make that three to four jobs to …
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Knowledge Gaps
Vendor at trade show: Hi
Me: Hi! Does your factory do digital printing?
Vendor at trade show: Yes we do (friendly smile back). We only do sublimination printing.
Me: Wonderful. (shoulders back, confident, ‘I mean business voice’) I’d like to print on 100% cotton at approximately x GSM. Can you help me with this?
Vendor at trade show: (confused look) but you need polyester in the garment for sublimination printing.
Me: (aloof look, quickly pull myself together, arrange my face) Yeah of course, of course. Thanks for your help. Bye.
This if how 99% of my interactions with experts, factories, consultants, companies, any one really, have ended up. I am learning everything as I go along. There’s only so far the university of Google will take you, let me tell ya! I’ve gone from being routinely embarrassed by this kind of encounter to viewing it as normal, even welcoming it. Every time it happens something clicks or I learn something new.
I have no background in manufacturing, fabrics, fashion design or even running a business. The most I have is a GCSE in textiles and I can (very proudly) thread and operate a sewing machine. However, that’s where my knowledge started and ended when I embarked on this journey. The last time I learned acronyms at this rate was my first job in advertising. I compiled a whole glossary page in the back of my notebook because there were so many to learn.
These days I tend to get it out of the way and tell people I’m learning or admit that I don’t know. Most people are happy to teach or help someone and I love learning so it’s a good combination. When I think about what I’ve learned in three years, I’m excited to see what I’ll know in six.
My advice about dealing with knowledge gaps is to embrace them, enjoy the journey and be genuinely excited to look at how far you’ve come.
One reply to “Knowledge Gaps”
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The Inventory Trap
I saw a friend of mine yesterday and she asked me, ‘How’s the business going?’, Surprisingly, this emotion wasn’t what I felt first. I went on to explain to her my current ‘dilemma.’ It made me realise this is what I should write about this week. I’ve named this dilemma, ‘ The Inventory Trap.’ When …
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