Hey girlies,
In my previous digital diary entry, I spoke about the struggle to set boundaries. But there is a second half to that battle: Learning to open that damn mouth too.
We’ve all heard the saying, "Closed mouths don’t get fed." Having a beauty-based vending machine is one thing but finding a home for it is another. Locations weren’t going to fall from the heavens and into my lap. I had to approach them. I had to ask. Because if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
OYG was not built in silence.
Call after call. Email after email. Many went ignored and many more came back as rejections. It was deflating, but with every "send," I felt a new kind of power growing. I was becoming vocal.
Finding the right contact can be difficult. Even in our hyper-connected world. But I learned a fundamental rule of business: Volume creates luck. If you contact enough people, you eventually hit the person who knows a person. Sending hundreds of emails is how I finally found the agency that secured our locations. One pivotal reply changed everything. It said:
"Hi Kiara, I don’t work in this specific field of real estate, but I know this is usually operated by X, Y, or Z. Have you tried contacting them?"
That one email started a chain. One contact led to another, then another. And then, the unexpected happened: One of the largest malls in the UK reached out to us. They approached an agency, and the message was clear: This is an offer you simply don’t reject. It often doesn't come twice.
In the past, the "Yes Man" version of me would have been too afraid to send that first email. I would have been too intimidated to "bother" anyone. But I realized that to be a CEO, you have to grow a stronger set of vocal cords. You have to be loud enough to be found.
This story does not end here. Every time a new example comes along, it will be added to this diary entry. For now though, I want to say that I wish you success in abundance. Whatever that looks like to you.
Signing off with love,
K
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