Part XI: The Universe is My Publicist…
Friday the 13th, 1984, and the newspaper hit the stands and doorsteps. What I recall the most – besides the thrill of it all, of course - is the absolute inundation of phone calls. I had never seen anything like it.
One call right after the other… I think I only had one telephone line. The minute I hung up, the phone would ring again without skipping a beat. It was unbelievable. I was glued to the phone for days. You heard me - days. I don’t remember how many days but it was a lot of days. My friend, Heidi, came over to help me take calls so I could take breaks. It was certainly exciting.
Calls, calls and more calls. Some were buying. Some were selling. Some stood out or made an impression and I remember them now as I write, so many years later. A law firm administrator called and in conversation told me that “everyone in the city now knows what you’re doing.” I don’t think I was aware of the extent of the exposure I was getting until she said that. Do you know how large the city of Los Angeles is and how many doorsteps I graced that day?
Companies called me for their corporate parties or holiday parties later in the year. I remember one was Chicago Title Company. Brides and grooms called for wedding locations. A department store called and asked if I would speak at a seminar as a role model for female entrepreneurs. I recall that I decided not to do it – I think I was just too overwhelmed at the time and wanted to get my bearings. I think I was also shy because I had never done anything like that before. I wish now I had done the seminar. But you know, being a media darling does take its toll. :-)
Oh, and I remember the man who called and asked who my publicist was. I told him I didn’t have a publicist. He said nobody can get publicity like that without a publicist. He said you have to pay for that kind of coverage. I remember distinctly telling him that, yes, I paid for it - with 40 years of my life. I told him I attracted the publicity with my mind. I’m sure that went over big. He probably thought I was lying…or nuts.
Then there was the guy with the sexy voice who called to …
Truthfully speaking, I wasn’t very pleased with the photograph. It was too dark, the castle didn’t show well, my hair had been blowing all over the place, and I just didn’t think the photo was flattering. But I was smiling in that photo and I was too busy reaping the fruits of my metaphysical labors to care at the time. The caller with the sexy voice thought I looked pretty good. :-) There has to be one in every crowd.
The rest of the calls were a blur but you have to believe me when I tell that there may have been thousands of them because although the frequency tapered off, the calls went on for more than two years. Not all of them turned into business of course, but enough business was booked to put me on the map. I discovered that many people had clipped and saved the article for future reference. Others remembered the concept if not the name…which brings up a point I recall that seemed truly amazing at the time...
During the years following the appearance of the article, I would get phone calls and the caller would often express astonishment at one particular aspect which they always told me about it. The caller would tell me that they had remembered the article from the past and had called the Times to research and find “the woman who rented locations for parties.” And instead of being transferred to a research department, the Times operators would rattle off my telephone number, just like he or she had memorized it. So many phone calls had come into the newspaper to find me over time that they had my telephone number taped to the switchboard!! Some of the operators had indeed memorized it. I even remember the number myself after all these years: 213-852-1651. (Back then area code 213 was the area code for Beverly Hills; it has since become 310).
Remember that I said I wanted to make a “statement?” I’d say I made one. :-)
But if you think THAT was the statement, then just wait ‘til you see what else the Universe had in store...
To be continued…
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