Celebrate, Be Grateful, New Horizons
Jean Criss
It’s a New Year and that always means time for celebration — time to look back and be grateful for good health, family and life, and time to look ahead at what may be on the horizon.
Throughout 2022, I spent time on education and strategy. Podcasts, Radio Blog Talk shows, Webinars, market research, studying emerging technologies and innovative new trends. Things I have always enjoyed. I realized many wonderful new partnerships and ventures were in place pre-Covid and then, once things came to a screeching halt for almost two years, I learned to pivot and regroup. You’ll find it’s never too late to adjust and make changes to your business plan. Identifying new goals and strategy to ensure you stay focused on achieving your dreams will help prioritizing actionable and achievable results.
The time spent preparing to be on Podcasts, allowed me to put accomplishments into perspective while tweaking business goals, and reviewing plans about looking ahead before sharing experiences with others LIVE on air. These LIVE sessions are always a good drill to keep you on your toes, so to speak. My passion for writing about how to “create and innovate” became forefront, how to put products into play, and generating new ideas. All this lended to confidence building, while shaping existing products and programs. Networking (virtual or in-person), as example, allowed me to investigate new alliances and avenues to help achieve new brand heights. Honestly, what I had been doing pre-Covid was not always working well, especially at the local and specialty boutiques and shops. Many of those business owners desired free product from me as a start-up, and that sample inventory depleted early-on, so giveaway items cost a premium. I also found the distribution channels were no longer interested in buying by MOQ (minimum order quantities), per se, rather Drop Ship became the name of the game to most, as a low-cost, efficient way to take on new brands. Most of my affiliate partners worked that way already, and while that was fine and dandy, it was quite time consuming to work their unique back-end systems, and didn’t allow for the desired growth we had planned.
So side-step, shuffle and pivot, as they may say in dance, allowed me to regroup and change direction.
I got creative and selected new partners. CRISSCROSS Intimates acceptance and recognition, years in the making, with partners thru interviews, castings, collaborations, and certifications. Months of pre-applications, forms, and more certs. Armed with self-education and a deeper market knowledge shifting strategy and goals. In the fall, 2022, after 6 - 9 months after working on various projects I was proud to see these efforts pay off. CRISSCROSS Intimates became an official National Women’s Business Enterprise by the WBEC Metro NY, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). We hold WOBC, MWBE, SBE certifications, among others, for CRISSCROSS Intimates, and U.S. government awarded certs at the State and Federal level for Jean Criss Media.
Managing both companies simultaneously strongly enabled my ability to push thru the clutter and reach new heights in a competitive marketplace, where brands have existed for 25 to 60-some years or more.
Having experience in digital media, marketing, branding, corporate and entrepreneurship allowed me to enter the fashion marketplace with great knowledge at minimal costs to launch CRISSCROSS Intimates as a new brand. Self-education about sourcing, production, design and product development all seemed second nature after the fact once I got my bearings. I was not only able to cut start-up costs, but recurring costs year over year, for necessity and operational line items that small business owners like myself need. Knowledge across these fields helped me leap forward with new partnerships, licensing opportunities, alliances and distribution channels that were previously foreign. I drew upon my creative media services experience to reach broad and deep into the intimates market.
Looking ahead into 2023, the sky is blue and we are positioned with a slightly different Go-to-Market strategy that didn’t take me away from what I was already doing yet allows me to grow at a broader accelerated pace. One thing, you learn as a solopreneur, is to spend your money wisely. Do as much as you can yourself, until it’s time to expand and grow so that you are not in the red. I have always been proud of the fact, I’ve kept my woman-owned business afloat, self-funded on my own for a number of years, self-employed by outsourcing freelancers, contractors, and such, watching all expenses to ensure a manageable bottom line. The year ahead is ripe with an abundance of new beginnings on roads untraveled. As your horizons expand, these new ideas can give a whole new meaning to life. Let’s celebrate, be grateful and walk the road together.
I look forward to new beginnings, alliances, and partnerships, most of all, as we celebrate 2023. Shop CRISSCROSS Intimates. FOLLOW CRISSCROSS Intimates. Share and LIKE our blog and social posts. Stay Connected with us. Wishing you all the BREAST in the New Year!
Fondly, Jean Criss
Author, Breast Cancer Survivor, Entrepreneur, Fashion Designer & Innovator.
About CRISSCROSS Intimates: A utility-patented award-winning post-surgical brand, also worn as adaptive and active wear. Women and men’s collection available. Seeking funding and new partners. Contact info@crisscrossintimates.com for Press, Media, and Product inquiries.