Page 45 of The Funnel to You

“I got everything ready for you for when other brands reach out too. I did a mix of smaller companies, economy brands, and major and luxury brands. So you can use these when you finalize campaigns with them and can go into those meetings ready to share the process and sign on the dotted line. The trademark for Pink Every Day is in the works and hopefully that gets finalized soon too.”

“Matt, there are thirty companies here! How long did this take you?”

He seems to be trying to work out the correct answer when the bell rings and he goes to grab dinner. I am shocked. This is intense! I know he doesn’t sleep much, but this is so thought through. There is so much here. I reach over and grab the next folder on the stack. It’s a bunch of numbers – breakdowns – data. What the heck?

I flip through it, it’s the sales reports, website hits, and wholesale numbers for Natalie from the last three years, and projections for the next two years – with my collaboration and without. This is more than intense. Matt is still in the other room so I grab the next folder. It’s the same thing, with a different company. Another one on my wish list to work with. But the numbers that include my collaboration don’t start in January like Natalie’s does – this starts in April of next year. Just as I’m reaching for the next folder, Matt comes in with the food containers.

“What is all of this, Matt?”

“Just something I was playing with a little bit. I like numbers and so I was running some options for what could work if we used this same idea with other companies – nothing major.” He says casually. It doesn’t sit right with me and I feel like there are other questions I should be asking, but I can’t place what those questions are.

“Let’s put this away for a bit and eat and then we can go over your questions and proposals for the Zoom call tomorrow.” Matt closes the folders and stacks them back up and I follow his lead.

Dinner is quiet. My head is so full of numbers now that I am overwhelmed again. Matt suggests that we call Ashley and go over things with her since she will be attending the meeting tomorrow too. I will be the one heading up this campaign but she is doing a lot on the back end with me now and I want her to have a part of this with me. Ideally, we will be doing this together in the coming years with other brands so I want her with me the whole time.

Going over options for Natalie together gets me back in a good creative headspace. Numbers stress me out but glitter definitely doesn’t. We are toying with the idea of creating a separate “Pink Every Day” social media when Ashley says she needs to call it a night.

“Everything okay?” Matt asks her. Big brother mode has been engaged apparently.

“Yeah, it’s just getting late and I have a meeting tomorrow morning with one of my teachers that I don’t want to miss.”

“Which teacher? Are you having issues with your classes?” I ask her. We haven’t talked much about school recently and I kick myself internally for it. I’m supposed to be mentoring her and that includes stuff like school and her social life too. I want to be her friend too.

“Prof. Johnson. It’s nothing major. I have to write a paper on color theory and I want to do a different approach to it than what is laid out in the syllabus so I need to meet with him to pitch my idea and get it approved. He has his office hours early tomorrow and I was able to get a meeting scheduled. I would prefer to talk it out than try to email it.”

“Okay, well let us know if you need help with anything and good luck with the pitch. And I will see you tomorrow at three for our Zoom right?” I ask her.

“Yep, I’ll head over to Matt’s right after my last class and work on things there so I’m ready when it’s time for the call. Goodnight guys!” She hangs up and I turn towards Matt.

“I have not done a great job of keeping up with her on things outside of work recently. I feel bad about that. I see her as my friend and my business partner, but I’ve had my focus split the last few weeks,” I tell him. I really am upset about this and part of me wants to try to schedule something for us over the break between semesters. I reach for my phone so I can jot myself a note.

“The last few months have been a lot of transition times for you and her. She understands. And she has some new friends this semester that she has been able to work with too. I know you are bummed about not knowing about her projects and things, but next semester a lot more of this is going to be automated and we will be able to give her some more attention on what she is working on. No stress babe.” He reaches for my hand and puts my phone down.

“How about we call it a night so we can take it easy tomorrow morning and finalize what we need for the meeting? Do you want some tea before bed or do you need something else tonight?” Matt asks me as he rubs my hands gently. This man seriously gives the best massages, even the simple hand ones where he works the tension loose in my fingers and wrists.

“I think tea sounds perfect. Can we put on a Disney movie and just chill until I fall asleep? I just want comfy clothes and one of your big blankets right now.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, and you of course.” I smile up at him as he heads into the kitchen. I feel unsettled right now and I don’t know why. I need to sleep and reset. I’ll stress about this tomorrow.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Matt

Iced Chai Tea Latte, pump of brown sugar syrup, one pump of vanilla, sweet cold foam cream, caramel drizzle

Social Post: I think Colorado missed the memo that Thanksgiving is next week. #coloradolife #fallincolorado #noco #wheresthesnow

Image Description: Screenshot of weather forecast for the next week – all in the mid sixties.

We take things slow in the morning. I run out to grab breakfast at the coffee shop so we don’t have to worry about cooking this morning. And I want to get Sasha a specialty coffee. I don’t have a full espresso machine yet so I can only do so much until I get that in. I’m debating chatting with Luca to build a custom cabinet or something so I can get her fully set up with her coffee things. I may surprise her for that for her birthday. I pull out my phone to add a reminder to my notes app when I get a notification from my tracker app.

I haven’t used it in a while, but have a few alerts set up for different things. Things for Ashley for if she needs help – like whenever she calls for a ride share or transfers money to someone. I usually text her when she opens those apps to see how she is doing and make sure she doesn’t need anything. I think she knows I installed something on her phone so I can make sure she’s okay. She bugs me about it occasionally, but for the most part, she lets me do what I need.

This notification is for Sasha. I have different notifications set up for her. It’s on her phone and laptop. This one is on her laptop. I stop right outside my front door to see what she is doing.

She is on a basic Google search engine, but what she is looking for has my heart racing.

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