Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Vancouver Marathon Contest

**Win an entry to the Vancouver USA Freedom 5K, Half Marathon or Full!  Send us a pic of you in your skirt and a story of your Sweet Spot Skirt in action and you could win:
  • A Free Entry to an event at the Vancouver USA Marathon June 15-16th + an $100 shopping spree at the SSS store (limited to stock on hand)
  • *Must not be signed up already for the VUM*
  • If coming from over 500 miles away, receive a $75 Hilton Vancouver voucher to stay
  • Send to info@sweetspotskirts.com

Sharon's email to Sweet Spot Skirts:
"After I picked up my Rock ‘n Roll race packet, my friend and I stopped by your store.  Boy, was that fun!  I have some really cool new skirts! 
Also, I wanted to tell you that I wore my Jaguar skirt.  It’s the first time I have worn a skirt in a run, and I achieved the goal I have been working on for 2 ½ years!  I was both happy and stylish.  I can’t say that I think the result was totally because of your skirt, but let’s give it some credit.  The people in the picture on either side of me are both much faster runners.  Until today, I have never even come close to their times, but today I beat them!  Yay!

Also, when I was waiting in line at Starbucks to use the restroom (beats the Port-a-Potties any day of the week), the gal in front of me in line admired my skirt.  She is from Florida and flying back tomorrow, but I gave her the name of your company so she can check out your web site. 
What a fun day:  wearing a cute skirt and reaching a goal that has eluded me for way too long!  If you look out your window and see a cloud with the number “9” on it, that is me dancing on it (wearing my fast and flirty skirt, of course)!
Sharon
PS – and this is coming from someone who was never a running skirt person!  Until now… 

Way to Go, Sharon!  Congrats on your running accomplishments!  We always claimed the Fast 'N Flirty skirts make us run faster...now we may have some proof :)

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Sweet Spot Skirts in Action

This email made our day:

Hello,
My name is Patti Kaminski. I bought my 3rd Sweet Spot skirt in a year at the bloomsday trade show and...I have attached a few pictures of my sister and myself I’m the cutest one haha really I’m larger than my(older) sister hehe.

I love, love ,love all 3 of my skirts which is really 6!!!! It is becoming a tradition for my sister and me to buy a Sweet Spot Skirt at the Bloomsday trade show. I’m a woman from Southern California in my 50’s that has recently lost 110 lbs. I work out almost every day. I long distance hill walk and work out at the gym so I wear a Sweet Spot skirt every day. They are so girly and feminine and super comfortable I don’t work out without wearing one. One of the things I like is they are so cute you can wear them after you workout to run errands and still look stylish ( you never know who you will run into).

When you are working out you feel more comfortable knowing that your Sweet Spot is not out there for all to see! SWEET!!! They always fit! Even as I was losing weight I would get excited when I could snap it tighter. It’s nice to have something that is adjustable when you are losing weight instead of having to buy new work out gear. They hold up so well. I wash mine a couple of times a week and they still look new. I love them and thank you for making them...Hope to hear from you soon take care and thanks again for Sweet Spot Skirts, 
God bless, Patti


Thanks for sharing, Patti!  You are an inspiration and the very reason we do what we do!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A New Addition to the Sweet Spot Family!


We at Sweet Spot® Skirts pride ourselves in having the best customer service in the country!  It takes a lot to impress me, knowing our standard of care!  Well, here is a tale of Amazing Customer Service, which also brings our new addition to the Sweet Spot Family!  

Our beloved Dodge truck “Black Beauty” has been the driving force of our event travels for the last 4 years.  After she turned 180,000, I was forced to turn her out to pasture and buy a new truck.  Our search started with two or three very nice dealers in Montana, but nobody had “the truck” that I wanted:  A Ford 150 XLT with nothing fancy added.  The thing that made it difficult to find was bucket seats and a console.  Much better for travel and we NEVER put three people in front, so we didn’t need the full bench.  Jay, at Archie Cochrane was a fantastic sales person and so was Eric from Bitteroot Ford in Missoula!  They just didn’t have this special truck.  
Black Beauty on her last ride... she is fixed now and going to a good home!
           On a whim, after a long day of truck shopping and errands, I pulled into Laurel Ford on my way home.  I thought to myself that this was going to be a ‘needle in a haystack’ to find a Tuxedo Black, short bed, gorgeous half ton pick up, with a back up camera and nothing else fancy.  Many car salesmen sorta creep me out, and Eric and Jay were so great I didn’t want to push my luck.   I started walking the lot to see if they had what I wanted.  Out of the big large cabin, a salesman named Bob appeared.  With a quick glance, I noticed his bright smile and bright white hair and I immediately felt comfortable (as a matter of fact he is an exact look-a-like for an old college coaching buddy of mine: Bobby Cremmins).  I told him what I was looking for and he calmly walked me over to not only one, but two of the exact trucks I wanted.  One was long bed and one was short bed!  Great product ordering Laurel Ford!  

Long story short:  Test drive, Paperwork, Keys were in my hand by 9:00 p.m. 
The new Sweet Spot® Skirt truck!

Now what I want to explain is the service you get when shopping at Laurel Ford.  I didn’t know their “Straight to the Point Pricing” until after I tried to “dicker” with the price and Bob said with a smile, “oh no the price listed is the price.”    I said, “seriously, you won’t come down anymore?”  Bob with a confident smile just shook his head as if to say ‘that is correct!’  I had shopped so many dealerships, I knew that this was within 200$ of the perfect price.  So, of course I bought it. 

When anyone purchases a vehicle from Laurel Ford, they hand you your keys while they play the song “It’s a Small World.”  Everyone in the company comes in a line and thanks you for your business.  It is so much fun!  I had the pleasure of watching  a young couple with 2 kids get their new Ford Truck keys and it was smiles all around with the much noted Disney song blaring in the background.  

Disney does represent the happiest place on earth.  The Laurel Ford large log cabin, which they use as an office, looks more like a clubhouse you would find on a championship golf course.  It is beautiful, and inside you find fresh baked cookies, a gorgeous waiting room, with a full blown kitchen and floor-to-ceiling fireplace.  You help yourself to anything in the stocked fridge to drink and free internet to boot!  They sell vehicles there... but it is obvious in just a short time of hanging around the dealership, that they are about taking care of people FIRST!  

Self portrait of Bob and I 
Bob, my salesman, has a fabulous sense of humor and two of his sons live in Portland, OR (great conversation).  During the transaction, he introduced me to some of the others in the dealership.  Never was there that awkward silence, when they are handing you off to yet another person to try and “seal the deal.”  We just visited like family and then the truck was mine!  So comforting!  I came back by the next day to pick up my old Dodge, and Bob had my new truck washed and detailed again, as I was worried about some water spots that were crystalizing on the paint.  Everyone stopped by and made small chat, I drank a cold pepsi and ate hot chocolate chip cookies.  I may stop by everyday so that I can eat their cookies and drink their pop.  I just really like it there. 
My favorite of course, BOB!
Need a truck?  Call BOB!



Chris, Connie, Bob
The general manager, usually a guy sitting in a big desk somewhere, was actually at the front desk counter and worked hard at 8:30 at night to get my financing where I wanted it.  Then he shot a quick email to his daughter, who also lives in Portland, and offered to buy her a skirt from Sweet Spot® Skirts!  Chris is full of good stories and really loves the environment he and the others have created at Laurel Ford.  


Russ detailed my truck twice!


Connie, the Finance Manager, had my paperwork in a flash.  I also got to see pictures of her new horse, what a beauty!  I am sure all three of these missed dinner with their loved ones that night, and they didn’t seem to mind at all.  The purchase of my new truck, which means the growth of our wonderful little company, was the only thing on their mind...and that felt good.  
As Sweet Spot® Skirts travels the country in our new Tuxedo Black XLT, we will share our experience with Laurel Ford, knowing it matters to them.   Built Ford tough and MADE IN AMERICA!  P.S.  my absolute favorite thing on the new truck is the small video that plays in the dash as you start the engine.  You gotta test drive one just to see that! 



Right at home where it belongs! 
Serendipitously, we found the perfect truck, at the perfect dealer, with the perfect crew to get the job done!  It still amazes me how things really just work out for Sweet Spot® Skirts!  Thank you Laurel Ford, for your commitment to excellence and amazing customer service which epitomize our own desires as a company!   

Thank you Laurel Ford!  
Stephanie Lynn 
Sweet Spot® Skirts



Wednesday, May 8, 2013

"I put the 'Kristina' in Kristina 8K"




"Throughout my life I've pictured myself as a lot of different things, but never once did I picture myself as a spokesperson for anything. If I had let my imagination wonder in that direction, I might have imagined myself as the spokesperson for a chocolate company, or perhaps a shoe company (high heels, not running), but never ever would I have imagined being the spokesperson for a fitness/weight loss challenge. Yet, here I am, Kristina of the Kristina 8K!

The response to the Kristina 8K has been amazing and I have been completely overwhelmed by the support and encouragement I've received from so many women who I don't even know! I look forward to meeting you all on June 26th and thanking you personally, but for now a written thank you will have to do: Thank you to everyone who signed up for my event and encouraged your girlfriends to sign up, and thank you for the support you have given me in doing so!!

By April 1st I had lost 50 pounds, and weighed 183 lbs, but I had completely plateaued. Despite running 4 times a week and watching what I was eating, I could not manage to move a pound! So Stephanie (owner of Sweet Spot Skirts) and I challenged each other to lose 8 pounds before the Kristina 8K, and so the 8K Challenge was born. Stephanie and I have spent a lot of time over the past month talking about food and exercise, and she came up with a low carb/high protein plan to help jump start my metabolism again.  I am happy to report that as of May 1st, I have lost an additional 4.4 pounds, dropping my weight to 178.6! If you would like to join the 8K Challenge, I would love to hear from you! You don't have to commit to 8lbs, it can be any amount you choose, just set a goal and we'll work on it together, supporting and encouraging each other as we go.

Please don't read too much into my words; I am NOT a weight loss guru, I hold no easy secrets to success, I'm just a mom who was unhappy with her reflection in the mirror and the numbers on the scale and decided to change. In making these changes, I have learned a lot about myself, and I want to share with you one of the most surprising things I've discovered: for the longest time I had been focused on my weight and on the numbers I was seeing when I stepped on the scale. As I started to lose weight, my focus changed, and suddenly the numbers didn't really matter. It didn't matter if I lost one pound in a week or five, what mattered was that at the end of the day, I knew I was doing something to better myself and my family. I knew I was setting a good example for my beautiful daughter who unfortunately will grow up in a society that puts way too much focus on how women look. As I obsessed less about numbers I was able to focus more on the important things in my life, like the fact that my butt could finally go down the slide at the park with my daughter and not get stuck halfway down! Weight is just a number, 'healthy' is a lifestyle, and one worth embracing!!!"

~Kristina

Note:  The Vancouver event is full, but limited spots still remain for the Seattle location.  Find info here and read more about Kristina's story.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

A Day in the Life of: A Superhero Spotlight


Text Message Conversation


Dianna, Shop Manager, Sun 9pm: "Panic mode.  Need more skirts ASAP!  Can you sew some for a pickup on Thursday please?"


Kristina, Seamstress, Sun 9:15pm: "If my life was a comic book....when I get a panic mode text message from you requesting as many skirts as possible as soon as possible, a big SSS spotlight would shine in the sky over my house (like the bat signal) and red lights would start flashing on my sewing machine and I would jump into my closet and pop out wearing the comic book words skirt I dreamed up on my 6 mile run and my cape with a sticky note on the back that says SS for Super Seamer, and I would sew at lightening speed! Since my life is NOT a comic book...I think I'll be able to make 12 more skirts between now and Thursday."


What fun we have here at Sweet Spot Skirts!  Kristina is a stay at home mom who has been sewing for us for over a year.  SSS has just hired several new seamstresses to help with production.  We are so happy to be able to keep our skirts made in the USA and provide women with opportunities to sew from home.  May the adventures continue!  And here's to all the superhero women we meet who balance their busy lives with family, work, exercise, friends...