Читать книгу EcoChi: Designing the Human Experience - Debra Duneier - Страница 7

In the early 80s, I looked for and found every entrepreneur’s dream, an unmet niche in the marketplace, and I established Debra Hope Creations, Inc. This online gift service was designed specifically to provide businesses and organizations with the type of gift item they could be proud of sending out for corporate events and special occasions. The custom-designed gift baskets I created were received with raves, reorders and referral business. Like most endeavors of passion, creating these packages was, for me, the highest form of self-indulgence.

The process itself was so much fun. I would choose a basket from my inventory—anything from a painted basket with handles to a natural wood tray. Working out of my design studio, I would blast Rod Stewart on the stereo and begin the creative process while singing, dancing and sipping a freshly brewed cup of decaf hazelnut coffee. First, I would place an array of products into this basket, which acted as the “pot.” This could include gourmet foods, chocolates, bath products, stationary and other items of all shapes, sizes, colors, scents and tastes. These were my “ingredients.” I would then design my end product, which was something magnificent and far beyond its individual components. My “recipe” was then entered into the computer, with the list of components and a photograph so each design could be exactly reproduced for future orders.

The music I listened to, the colors and scents with which I surrounded myself, the taste of hazelnut and the panoply of textures I worked with all brought joy to my life because they engaged all of my senses and created a wonderful Chi energy. As a result, Debra Hope Creations became a successful international business with happy employees and delighted customers. I tell you this story because forming and running that company lives on in EcoChi— the pinnacle of all my many lessons learned. So here are the basic ingredients, which, once imbued with my own “secret sauce,” became the EcoChi System.