My dad was a stockbroker. I don’t even know if such a job exists anymore. Nowadays, we call such people financial planners or account managers, but my dad was an old fashioned stock broker for the simple reason that is all he did-sold stocks. Dad had an innate way of finding customers. We lived in central New York, farm country full of onion, potato, and corn farms. Dad would drive around every Wednesday looking for a farm with two silos. He figured any farmer who could afford two silos had enough extra money to invest in stocks. So, he’d walk up to the frond door, knock on the door, and make his pitch for why farmer x needed to invest in stocks. Don’t laugh, it worked out pretty well.
Anyways, one day I made the mistake of asking him about his “clients.” “I don’t have clients, he said. “Clients owe me, that’s why attorneys have clients. “I have customers, because I owe them. Without my customers, I wouldn’t have a job” I never asked him about his clients again . . ..
So, I asked my customers what it is about my artwork they like best. Here is what they told me:
1. The texture.
2. The colors.
3. Your work is beautiful.
4. You know so much about art history. Author note: 38 years as an art history professor will do that to a person.
5. You’re passion for your art.
6. You’re in it for the long game-you don’t quit.
7. You keep chasing your dream. At your age!
8. Your materials are sustainable. The designers love that the best.
9. You deliver on time. Designers also love that.
10. You answer the phone and help us when we need it. That would be my former students talking . . .
So,
Here’s to all my customers. Without you, I wouldn’t have a deadline, a dream, a passion, and yes, sore feet. And like my dad said, I would not have a job.
I owe you.
