Last week we went to Whistler, BC with Janome. Here is how it works– You “win” (by spending lots of money) an incentive trip. This year we “won” and the trip was to Whistler. We have won trips in the past, the very first trip we went on, I was very skeptical to go. Why? These people sell sewing machines for a living, how FUN can they be? This will be BORING and they will probably all wear velcro shoes.
Here is what I have discovered over the years on these “boring” sewing machine trips–
- I am the boring one.
- Some of these people can drink more than a village.
- Some of these people are very funny.
- Almost everyone is nice and welcoming.
I found out that one of the dealers used to be a professional drummer for a popular band in the 60’s. I found out that another dealer used to raise homing pigeons. “Did you know that if you have a stud male pigeon, that you can stud him out for $400,000?” No, I didn’t. I don’t even know what a homing pigeon is actually used for. Maybe we need to look into a new business!
On this Whistler trip we got to meet the new President for Janome.
You can see how very serious they are. That is Randy Thomas in the back. Randy is VP of Janome America and Shin Yamamoto is the Janome President. Neither of which wear velcro shoes.
We also met Dan & Kelly. Dan & Kelly ARE us. Only 10 years older. They have two kids. We have two kids. She used to be a school teacher and quit teaching to raise her family. I used to be a school teacher and quit to raise a family. Dan is adorable, athletic and sells sewing machines for a living. Darren is adorable, athletic and sells sewing machines for a living. You get the picture. We felt very connected to them. There are NOT many men that can talk sewing and then go hike up a mountain. And there are not many women who can LISTEN (snore….zzzzz) to men talk sewing and then go hike up a mountain. We are a very small subgroup of humans.
Aren’t they cute? They live Walnut Creek, CA. They have a shop called The Sewing Machine Shop. If you are ever in the area, tell them Andrea & Darren said hello:)
My point is, never judge a book by its cover. Sewing machine people do NOT equal dorky, velcro wearing nerds. It is full of funny, interesting, kind party animals! Who knew?! Life continues to amaze and intrigue me.
Cheers!
Andrea
