Whats New with the Lifestylist

Noted designer and retailer Alexander Julian made the following observation:
“We have to be creative about getting people into our homes and stores now. In deciding if what you offer turns them on, consumers look you over for an average of 15 seconds. In that time, you need to rock ‘em and sock‘em and give them something that moves them. And you can’t do that with anything but product that is visually stimulating and exciting.”

With the contraction of the economy, everyone is on a budget and there is a lot more thought and time spent on how they are going to spend every hard earned dollar. Consumers visiting an average of 30 model homes before they even begin to think about making a decision. What makes your models memorable and brings them back to your sales center/ community? One of the favorite models Lifestylist Design worked on was the Purple Cow model and campaign with Patriot Homes. Tying into Seth Godin’s Purple Cow book by building and merchandising something remarkable, we created a home and marketing campaign people still talk about, as well as winning a marketing award at the Nationals.

Making a model memorable doesn’t have to be extreme or expensive – it just needs to be well thought out. Highlighting a local non-profit can bring interest into your home. Doing a room that displays materials from the local Boy Scout troop, a gymnastics team or the aquatic center that is part of the planned community you are building in can give the buyer a memory point to make them remember your model above the rest.

What a busy month! After just getting back from the International Builders Show there was lots of opportunities on my desk that needed attention, so I’ve been drinking lots of coffee and doing lots of reading and searching to get the best results and answers for my clients. Last week I was on the road again, working with @home Builders in Rochester NY on their amazing new design center that is going to be an amazing resource for their clients and their vendors. Something that keeps coming up in all of these different arenas is brand loyalty.

When I’m in Rochester there are two destinations that are a must for me – Tim Hortons and Wegmans. What I love about Tim Hortons and keeps me coming back is quality and speed. Every store is consistent – no matter where I am I know I can get thru the drive thru quickly, the coffee will be perfectly hot and the right strength, and the sandwiches will be toasted to perfection with fresh ingredients. And the bonus is the cost – they beat every other chain as far as value hands down.

Wegmans is the ultimate food destination and it’s a treat just to browse the aisles and see what’s new. I’ve been now traveling to Rochester with an empty suitcase so I can bring back treats from both of these stores and share these finds with my friends and family.

@home Builders understands brand loyalty and works very hard to take great care of their customers and promote referrals. The Home Idea Factory has been working with them since their first model homes and we not only appreciate their business, we work very hard to keep them as loyal to us as we are to them. David Riedman, owner of @home Builders and Riedman Development traveled with me to IBS to source out new vendors and materials to keep his design center and homes cutting edge. He was looking for partnerships, and I was amazed how few companies seemed to see the value in having a brand loyal client. What a missed opportunity for them. When you have a client who is doing things right it’s a great opportunity for you to also show off the quality and value of what you do.

Never underestimate the value of your brand, and how by encouraging your customers to be loyal to that brand you can guarantee additional sales in the future.

Today was a very exciting day. One of the ways as a Lifestylist I search out trends and try to understand what today’s buyer is looking for is by being a part of the Great State Fair of Texas. Some years I enter the Creative Arts contests – especially cooking. You’d be amazed how much you can learn about people and their lifestyles by sitting with them and chatting while we wait for the judging to be over and those coveted ribbons to be handed out. This was a great day – my second red ribbon and a blue! I love giving back and sharing, so when my competitions are over I share my remaining goodies with the parking lot attendants, ticket takers and fair workers. Ribbon or not, they are always very appreciative of what I make.

This year has been more exciting than most because Oprah is taping at the State Fair and they have been doing a lot of taping in the Creative Arts Building which is where we hang out. We saw a lot of people walking around with crew passes today and I asked someone if I could take a photo of theirs – they actually let me hold it! Why was that important to me? I have so much respect and admiration for Oprah – I can’t think of anyone who gives back as much as she does, and we have the connection of rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Katrina - I worked on over 2,500 Katrina Cottages and she made a huge personal investment of getting people back into homes after the storms. If you have spent any time there you know how important that work still is.

So as we were walking out of the building getting ready to pass out my remaining entries who should be in front of us but Oprah and Company! It was so exciting, and I ran up to her car to try to get a better look – she looks AMAZING in person by the way – I saw someone in her car so asked if I could give her my blue ribbon. They said that was very sweet but I should keep it, but I gave them some of my caramels. I believe in sharing with everyone. I was honored that they were so excited about my goodies, and now can’t wait to see the show after they tape it. I didn’t get to meet her, but you just never know what tomorrow might bring.

Last week was so much fun – my grandaughter attended the Jr Chef Camp at the Gaylord Texan. She had a great time and it made her even more excited about spending more time in the kitchen. Lifestylist Design on Facebook has a video of this fun afternoon.

Nothing can hurt or help more than words and they are something that’s truly priceless.

I was checking my LinkedIn page today and saw that a few people had given me recommendations including Sam Weidner Jr who was the VP of Patriot Homes and who had written the following:

“I have had the honor and the privilege to see a true artist at work. I hired Suzanne Felber to help Patriot Homes take a new, innovative, and aggressive role in helping redefine manufactured homes as people knew them. Without question she tackled that task with enthusiasm, and a creative vigor unlike anyone had seen in our industry at the time. Suzanne has a brilliant mind for knowing design trends and how to present her designs in a way that attracts buyers from all walks of life. With her help Patriot was able to win over 9 housing design awards including an award for best marketing campaign awarded by the NAHB. If you want your products to look the best the hire the best, Suzanne Felber.”
Service Category: Professional Lifestylist
Year first hired: 2002
Top Qualities: Great Results, Good Value, Creative

It’s one thing when you think that you have given a job your all, but when you receive something like this out of the blue it makes you want to go out and work that much harder, and give that client a big hug!

I’m honored to have worked with Sam and his company, and I’m looking forward to working with him even more in the future!

Today many of us gathered to say goodbye to a great man – Norman Brinker. Most people know of Norman as the mind who started and refined the trend of casual dining and the founder of Brinker International, but to me Norman will always be a horse lover, polo player and wonderful father first.

In my horse days I had a barn behind Norman’s equestrian center – Willowbend Polo Club. We would ride back and forth between barns and most of my horses came from owners at Willowbend that owned horses that were too much for them and wanted to unload them. Those were wonderful days and how fortunate we all were to be able to watch Norman streak across the polo field doing what he loved. Norman had an uncanny knack of knowing and remembering everyone’s names from the grooms to the owners and he treated everyone equally.

When I had two very young children I decided to work as a waitress at Steak and Ale – a concept that Brinker owned and was fairly new at that time. I helped open the Plano location and Norman spent an amazing amount of time with us learning what worked and what didn’t. He also wanted to make sure that we knew our jobs inside and out and we did a lot of wine tastings to learn about what we were serving. That was my first exposure to wine and it’s an experience that I still enjoy. His passion about the company made us passionate about what we were doing, and we took our jobs personally and wanted to make Norman proud of us.

Our lives continued to intertwine – my sister was married at Willowbend and went on to work at the corporate offices at Brinker International. Being a “Brinkerhead” she loved being a part of that culture and was always amazed when she would visit a Chili’s and Norman would be there often by himself just enjoying a burger. He always remembered my sister and made her feel special.

What Norman and many great self-made leaders understand is that to succeed it has to be personal. Your own integrity, how you treat people and love of what you do  is not a small part of why these people have succeeded and why so many people people love and respect them in return. I wish I had taken a pen and notepad to the service because the wisdom and stories that were shared were incredible. Ross Perot and Mr. Brinker were good friends for many years and I can understand why – they are a lot alike, and both have a great, dry sense of humor that I love. Mr. Perot spoke and he was able to capture what made Norman so special. Even though he had been in a coma and had health issues from a polo incident and had other obstacles, nothing was going to keep Norman down and no matter what he did it was always with an amazing positive attitude and a love for life and everyone around him. Thanks to those special moments at Willowbend, Steak and Ale and our love of horses I have lifelong friends and memories for which I’ll always be grateful.

We’ll miss you Norman, but know that you are happily playing polo on the most heavenly fields any of us have ever dreamed of.

I was looking thru some of my photographs the other day trying yet again to organize them and came across the amazing photos that Lisa Stewart Photography shot during the 5 years of Savor Dallas. It is such a fun event, and I swear I go into Savor withdrawal during the 51 weeks until the event.

Jim and Vicki White do such an amazing job orchestrating the event and bring some of the finest wine and spirit makers and restaurants to Dallas. The education that I get every year is amazing and it gives me a year’s worth of new wines and restaurants to try out until the next event. Plus the Savor Dallas website features tasting notes that are a tremendous resource that can be used year round.

The Whites also believe in giving back and supporting our community. HomeAid is a very special group that is very close to my heart – I’m involved in the chapter that is part of the Dallas Home Builders Association. HomeAid raises money and support to help build housing for abused children and families – it would be a dream if this type of housing wasn’t needed, but unfortunately it seems we can’t build housing fast enough to help this escalating part of our population. When I asked Jim if Savor Dallas could donate an auction item for our upcoming event he didn’t even hesitate but immediately offered whatever we needed. I know bidding is going to be fierce on this item, and if you would like to try and outbid the others on this item, please contact me and I’d be happy to add your bid.

Please also take a look at the Savor Dallas website and help me to thank Jim and Vicki for all that they do. And also be sure to mark the dates for Savor Dallas 2010 on your calendar – we’ll see you there!

With grocery costs going thru the roof and concerns about the safety of the food that is available, this is the perfect time to think about incorporating edible plants into your landscaping.

I’ve had great luck with basil in my gardens, and when discussing with the lead gardener at Gaylord Texan what would be good choices for this years plantings she recommended going with plants that do well in my soil and light which amazingly enough are tomatoes, basil and mint. Even in my shady areas the mint seems to be happy as can be and is a welcome addition in my infamous Texas Tea and Mojitos.

Basil actually is beautiful when it blooms, and I’ve been known to give people bouquets of my blooming basil which are as fragrant as they are pretty.

My tomato plants get to be the size of a typical bush, and even the ones that don’t produce very good tomatoes contribute a great splash of green. Rosemary is another great addition that takes a while to get started, but gives green and scent all year long in my climate.