Adventures of the First Lady: Progress

Throughout the week I made preparations and changes for our first email newsletter, and upon attending a social media meeting, found how to gain access to the Decorah Bicycles Google+ page.

(And I will shamelessly plug Life on Two Wheels, too!)



It was quite an adventure getting everything set up. I'll admit there were moments of frustration as I worked on trying to get everything newsletter-wise all situated and pretty. I had never made a newsletter before and was uncertain if I was going the right direction. It was made to be basic and not have too much going on. I didn't want to overwhelm the audience, plus I figured it would be good to experiment and see what people were interested in.

The next newsletter is already getting started! We'll try to have some sort of fun "Did You Know" section as well as other interesting things. May will have several different things happening for National Bike Month!

Really stoked to share what fun things we will be doing.

I've had some positive customer interactions which I'm thankful for. The more I'm able to talk to people the more confident I feel. I'm starting to feel a bit more established.

I'll be honest, I had a bought of being too hard on myself earlier in the week. I grabbed another bike from the shed which was identical to what I had just built- size and everything, which is something that I wasn't fully aware of. I was fumbling with my mental and emotional self.

I have learned that I (for now) enjoy adjusting wheel bearings on new bikes. I know a lot of it seems to be luck (in terms of not having to adjust a million times) but I feel like I'm doing pretty good with it.

Tuesday we had our first employee off-road ride session with Kai, Rich, and Rich's brother. It was fun! Something that we hope to have more of. It also gives employees a first-hand account of what the trails are like. Not to mention the comradery that comes from a bike shop hosting an employee ride day.

Sunday we will be at the annual KDEC Home, Sport, and Garden show. The store will be closed for the event, which is something that's new. Travis and I will be riding bikes and socializing- if people ride a trainer bike they will earn a $10.00 coupon for our store. That's well worth a few minutes of time I'd say!

It's exciting with some of the changes and new things we're implementing. Being my first year at the shop, it will be interesting to see how it all goes and what works.

I'm learning new things every day. Sometimes it's overwhelming and other times I feel very lucky that I get to be involved so organically with this business.

Oh. And I officially decided to go to the PWC next Saturday.