Living Rock & Roll

Work Tales – The Stationary Buyer have left us abruptly. She was supposed to leave at the end of March, but all of a sudden…she drop da’bomb and leave just like that. We even haven’t found her replacement yet. I heard from Celtic that the Stationary Buyer took up the Rocket Internet’s offer, holding the Vice-President position with a very impressive salary package.

So, Stewart asked me whether I want to expand my portfolio…I want to pengsan already. I firmly said NO. My plate is full. As a matter of fact, it is too full. I am thankful that Stewart sees that there is potential in me to grow, to lead, to deliver…but with the current situation in D33 which is in a very upside down mess, I have to turn down the offer. I want to fix the department first and foremost. William & Henry are just begining to settle down. As a team, we are still finding our tempo. I hate to let Stewart down. Since Celtic left last year, Stewart have been there for me, who is never selfish in lending me a helping hand or as a friend to talk to when the need arises. Therefore, I have proposed that Victoria should be given the chance to try on this Stationary portfolio. Victoria is another hardworking character with passion, commitment, with a wide smiley face and big heart. It’s very encouraging to be surrounded by her positivity every day.

Doing well in the Leisure category in 2008 and later on in the Furniture category last year was indeed a record and an acheivement by itself. However, that was my past, a very good past. Now, I have to leave it to Mrs. Simon, John Doe & Azreen to fight their battles and I have to fight my new war in D33. Actually, I have to thank GOD that Juan Carlos & Stewart have been very kind & generous to me thus far. This March is already my third month onboard D33…the figures is still not there yet. I cannot set a timetable for when the results can come along. Hopefully, what the team is currently doing right now will be a trigger for more good things to come in the future. We have to show personality & character and have to bounce back as quickly as possible if we take any wrong turns.

I am still remain very doubtful on my Toys Strategies :( If it fails, then I have to dismantle the whole thing and start all over again. Now I am dividing the Toys into 2 zones – the General Toys zone & the Branded Toys zone. In the Branded Toys zone, there are the A Brands, B Brands & C Brands. Trust me, this walk it’s not at all peaches and honey. Sometimes I get bored and become irritable. VERY irritable. Sometimes I also feel very insecure about my own market worth. I was tired and cheerless at times.

My Plan B will be - I will have to segment it by family. For example the Infant Toys Category. The first element will be for Fisher Price, the second element will be for Playskool, the third element will have FunTime, the fourth element will have general blocks in tubs, the fifth element will consists of general toys that comprises pull-along toys, lights & sounds toys, rattles, shape sorters etc. The Eva Mat will be park in the sixth element. I want to contribute yet I feel lost sometimes because there are no one particular Toys suppliers that are specialize in one area. All of them can help you to find any type of general toys that you need. Thousands of them. And to tap into a particular brand, the suppliers just opt to buy the license from the manufacturers. And Toys is also a very lively category and their life span is so short. A few months back – ToyStory & Cars 2 were such a huge thing where every children wants a piece of it and now that the animation is over, where the children want something else, all of the balance stocks have become aging stocks. Thus, I only choose to keep the evergreen brands like HotWheels, Barbie, Nerf etc.

I subsequently find myself in one of the most devastating moments in my career life right now and I also don’t know when I will be able to recover from it :) I am also so humbled by this challenge. But I thank GOD for always being there for me. Quite simply, my strength and stay :) Every day GOD makes me want to be a better person. It’s true what they say…that GOD is fair…every one must have shit in their lives. No one gets to live a perfect life while others get shit. We all will have the same amount of pain, struggles and misery. It’s the stuff that makes one stronger, older and wiser. Not the bubbly happy moments. If you haven’t had any shit in your life yet, wait for it. It’s coming. I’ll put my money on it :) Change is a process of growth.