We set out to Cincy around 10:30. My little sister was my wing lady. Our goal was to arrive by 2:30 for lunch with a co-worker who lives in the area. The event started at 4:30 so we'd eat, then head to the venue for set up. This was not how it happened, at all.
I unpacked my entire carry-on and loaded only what I needed for Cincy. The many suitcases, multiple packing, and unpacking coupled with being "show ready" in a dress, heels, and curls created a sweaty and complicated start to the day. The wind blew my signage under the car. Before we even left the house I was on my hands and knees crawling under the car to get the shifty signage. We got that sorted and off we went.
(side note: Cincinnati is a confusing city to spell. Are there two N's or two T's? Is it Cinci with an 'i' or Cincy with a 'y'? From now on I will just use Cincy--it's too much to deal with the rest. )
We hit the road and I instantly had to pee. We waited for a bit but had to stop in Ashland. This was about an hour into the trip. We found the nicest GoAsis (rest stop) I'd ever seen in my life. It had everything-food, flip-flops, phone chargers, Starbucks, Chicken sandos, and a nice/clean bathroom with lovely mirrors.
Somewhere between rest stop number 1 and number 2 it started to rain which caused a bit of a traffic jam. There was also construction on all the highways. We re-routed a couple of times and the
co-worker's lunch arrival kept getting pushed back from 2:30 to 2:40 to 3:05, etc. While in the car I rehearsed my speech. Vikki practiced using the square to charge the books. I barely made it another 90 minutes before I had to pee again. We met Captain Crunch at rest stop number two. This was shortly after I walked into a window that I thought was a door.
We decided no more water for me and away we went to Cincy. It was pouring rain, my curls were melting and we ate an early lunch of fake cheese sticks and grapes while driving. This was life on the road and we loved it. We arrived at The Taste Of Belgium for an early dinner at exactly 3 pm. It was a super cute restaurant in an area of Cincy called OTR chock full of dining, art, and tattoo parlors. The restaurant had edgy art, Moorish tiles, and an eclair lineup that made me trip and fall over a step. I took a video of the cute restaurant, missed a step, and wiped out. No major injuries except injured pride from looking like a social media dummy but I carried on. I blame the pretty pastries. Here is the video.
We arrived at The Alcove at MadTree in good time. It is a brand new multi-room venue in Cincy in the OTR area and it proved to be perfect for our event. The members of ILEA and NACE were very kind. They were engaged. I spoke about persistence, being clever, and embracing the unique buying opportunity that sits before us right now. Everyone seemed to like it. Many people bought my book--the physical and the audio version.
One woman said: "After seeing you speak, I am buying your audiobook so you can be in my ear every morning before work. I'll listen to a little as I get ready. You are going to be my morning hype girl prepping me for each day."
I was honored. It was the greatest compliment of the day.
One person did not buy my book. In fact, as we were leaving
I said to him: "Before we pack up did you want to get a book?"
He looked at me nervously and said, "ummmm I'll think about it"
What did he have to think about? I silently laughed because it made a good story, packed up, and went home.
We made it home in record time because I drove 100 MPH. We ate our dinner of turkey sandwiches and pretzels in the car, on the ride home. Out of the house by 10:30 AM and in bed by 11:30, it was a long day but worth every moment. I got to spend with my little sis, meet new people, talk about the book and speak about sales. All my favorite things.
One event down and no one has thrown an egg at me yet!
Lessons learned:
-pack for the event before getting dressed and curling hair
-immediately after I am done speaking, go to the book table to talk to people.
-watch the water intake on a long road trip
-whenever possible, stop in Ashland to pee.
If you want to attend a future book tour event, click here for the Ohio Book Tour schedule from April 13 - 26.
Mandi Graziano is a best-selling author of Sales Tales: The Hustle, Humor, and Lessons from a Life in Sales which came out in October 2021. The audio version is out now on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. You can also download it by clicking here.
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