Filed to story: Outplayed Story (Brooklyn & Ethan) Book PDF Free
Ah. That old chestnut. He had seen this before when he’d helped people. They were all about the product or service. It was nearly always easier to convince men to feature themselves on their websites than women. ‘Remember I said that people buy from people they like and trust? How can they get to like and trust you if you’re not visible? Your current site doesn’t even have much of an “about us” page.’
She inclined her head. ‘I suppose I could expand that a bit.’
He took that as a win. ‘You could. In fact, you should.’
She looked down and rotated her coffee one way and then back again. Oh dear. She was avoiding eye contact. He should probably shut up now. Except, he was right. Her project had so much potential, it would be a shame to see it fail for want of something so easily fixed. All she needed was a personality and a story to get people talking about the product.
‘You’re intelligent, articulate, and attractive. You’d be the perfect figurehead to give to this project.’ He said it quickly, so that it sounded like a fact and not like he was hitting on her.
She made a face. ‘I’m not really comfortable with that,’ she said.
Ethan leaned back. ‘Okay. How about, you do some research on crowdfunding projects that have been successful? See how much of it is about personality and see if they give you any ideas on how you can build more of a personality-led brand without giving up too much of yourself.’
She didn’t reply.
Around them, the cafeteria filled up. The buzz of conversation and the clink of crockery rose around them. Should he say something? Was this silence a bad sign?
‘Brook?’
She raised her eyes, her expression guarded. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Great. Just tell me when you’re ready and I’ll update the site for you.’ It wouldn’t take him long to make the changes, because he was used to doing it. To someone new, it would be overwhelming. ‘For now, I can just tweak it a little so that it flows better. If you like.’
She shifted in her chair. ‘That’s very kind, but I can’t afford it. I have no budget left to pay for website stuff.’
‘Oh, it’s on me,’ he said. ‘I told you. Paying it forward. You do someone else a favour when you’re established.’
‘Oh, in that case … Thank you. You’re a star.’
He shrugged, modestly. She glanced at her watch. Ethan’s mood deflated. Was she in a hurry to get away?
‘Do you need to run?’ he asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
Brook looked up at him and seemed to come to a decision. ‘Yes, but I think I should drink my coffee before I go up, otherwise it’ll just go cold.’
‘What are you up to today?’
‘Same as every day. Writing pitches, ticking off the rejections.’
‘Keep at it,’ he said. ‘It only takes one person to say yes and things will change.’
‘Fair point.’ She took a sip of coffee. ‘So what about you? Exciting plans for the day?’
He grimaced. ‘I have a meeting with my business partner.’
She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him as she slipped off her seat and started gathering her things.
‘I haven’t had any emails from him or any input into a project for six months now. I keep cutting him slack, but I think I really need to do something about it now.’
The look she gave him was sympathetic. ‘That does sound like an untenable situation – and unfair on you.’
Ethan blew out his cheeks. ‘Yeah. But I hate confrontation. Plus, Bradley is so … charming. Whenever we argue, I end up being the bad guy.’
‘That’s tough. Could you frame it as a business thing only and not bring up your friendship and how it’s affected by this?’
‘That’s what I intend to do. I just hope I can hold my nerve.’
‘I’m sure you can,’ she said. ‘I have to go. Thank you for your suggestions.’ She picked up her cup. ‘Good luck with your meeting.’
‘Thanks. Let me know when you have pictures and the copy for the site and I’ll slot them in.’ He picked up his own cup and drained it. Brook had left and was standing waiting for the lift. Ethan thoughtfully put his cup back down. That went well. He hadn’t said anything weird. All good.Brook glared at her crowdfunding page. No pledges since yesterday. This was a new low. Ethan had some good suggestions, but she didn’t agree with all of them. Especially his insistence on making the crowdfunding site all about her. Why? It made sense that it should be about her product.
She closed the page and laid her forehead on the desk. This was not how this was supposed to go. She was supposed to create a vibrant and fun community of people who loved handbags, not feel like she was scrabbling around begging for support. Maybe her father was right. Maybe the best thing was to stick to a regular job where you put in the hours and got paid – regardless of how you felt about your work. There was no creativity, no buzz. But you got a reassuringly regular paycheque at the end of each month.
Brook stood up and walked over to her cork noticeboard. It was covered in various notes she’d left for herself, but also, in the bottom right corner, a photo of her mother. It had been taken when Brook was about 6. She was in the photo only as an arm and a blur as she ran out of shot. Amma was laughing. Her face wasn’t even very clear in this photo, her hair was spilling onto her face and her hand was raised to push it back, obscuring her mouth. But the way her head was thrown slightly back, the way her eyes were creased at the edges … Brook could almost hear her laugh.
Amma had taught her about hopes and dreams and being creative. Thatha, on the other hand, always advised caution and common sense. With Amma gone, Brook’s adult life only had caution left. Taking a risk like she had done with Shanthi Bags was a tribute to her mother, but at the same time, it felt like a betrayal of her father.
Unless she made a success of it.
Which brought her right back to her struggling crowdfunding campaign and her lack of a retailer to partner with. Not to mention letting herself get distracted by this gaming competition. It was as though fate had conspired to give her a pathway to two things she really wanted – to run her own creative business and to meet Blaze – but it was forcing her to choose one.
Well, stuff that. She would do both. Neither of her parents had taught her to fold at the first hurdle. She was going to run at both those goals full tilt and see what happened.
She went back to her desk and looked again at the notes from her meeting with Ethan. She was convinced that Ethan was wrong about people needing to see her on her crowdfunding page, but his was the first bit of professional feedback she’d had on her campaign. It would be stupid to dismiss his advice without even checking. She searched for some successful crowdfunding campaigns and scrolled through them. They all had a lot about what they were selling, but … the creators were there posing with their products, beaming with drinks in their hands, making cutesy faces at their pets. Frowning, she read a few ‘about’ sections. Personal stories. Some were heartwarming, some were inspiring, but all of them were very personal. They all fleshed out the people behind the business. Dammit, Ethan was right. They did all have that in common. It was almost as though the personality came first, and the product second.
But she didn’t want that. So, what could she do?
Brook put her head back on the desk.Ethan half expected Bradley to not show up for their meeting. He popped to the front desk and told Kim to give him a call if Bradley came in. ‘He has an access card, but I guess he’ll have to sign in.’
‘I haven’t seen Bradley in ages,’ said Kim. ‘It’ll be nice to see him. What’s he doing now?’
That’s what he wanted to know too. Ethan bit back his bitter reply and instead said, ‘I’m not sure. Partly why we’re meeting.’
Kim flicked a curl out of her eye. ‘Did you catch up with our Brook yesterday?’