Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Meet our team...


Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sitting down to tea with Ambassador Leader and team member Sandra Price to ask her to share with us a bit about herself.  Okay, okay, wishful thinking...in reality we were exchanging emails since she lives a three hour drive from me in eastern Massachusetts, close to the New Hampshire border.   I just know you will enjoy meeting Sandra as much as I've had the pleasure of knowing her and having her as a colleague.

Sandra, you have such a great and unusual Barefoot business.  I know you were a former elementary school teacher who never lost her love for teaching.  Please give us a peek into your world.

"Wow, what a great display of beautiful children's books!" Five years ago, that was my first thought and introduction to Barefoot Books. As a former Educational Publishing Sales Rep I sold literacy materials to schools in New England. I was an exhibitor at an Early Childhood Conference and met Amy .....who had a very creative book display of Barefoot Books. Everything about the books, art and story, (sound familiar?) were so engaging. I wanted the opportunity to sell the books in any creative endeavor I chose. I decided I would use my relationships with District Curriculum Coordinators and offer Family Literacy Presentations to parents after school.

Tell us about your favorite Barefoot moment.

My favorite Barefoot moment, well, I have a couple of them. After a presentation, a dad came up to me, shook my hand and thanked me for the idea of using emphasis and tone to make the story come alive with meaning. He never thought of that! During another presentation, in which I had a Spanish interpreter, many of the parents were sharing their at-home literacy activities and clapped after the presentation. Simple but very rewarding. For them and for me!

So, how do you stay motivated when running your own business?

I keep motivated by just doing what I am doing (and not worrying about what I can't do). While I don't sell full-time now with Educational Publishing sales, I do work full-time at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA. I am able to schedule my presentations after work.  

Textile history...sigh...fascinating.  Okay, Sandra, how about some fun information about yourself we probably don't know.

I know some of you already know this about me, but some of you don't. I have an identical twin sister. She is now retired from a rewarding career as a Reading Specialist. She enjoys Barefoot Books as much as I do!

Seeing you with your twin at Barefoot gatherings is so much fun.   Thank you Sandra for sharing some of your story with us.  It's truly been a pleasure to work with you.

Please join me in congratulating Sandra on her fourth year(!) with Barefoot Books, which will be celebrated on October 3rd.  Congratulations Sandra and many happy returns!