Eldred Gray
My high school self spent summers working at the family company that my dad took over and eventually shut down to a small (tiny) consulting business. The Eldred Company was created by my great grandfather to design and create efficient machines for the glass industry. Our family called it ‘the shop’. And at the shop they would create machines that added the perfectly placed paint on Pyrex measuring cups. They would add the bead of glass around the rim of cups so that you didn’t go all Julia Child with a ‘mere flesh wound’ cut with every sip.
4. They still make Lava soap. While at the shop, my role was to paint each part “Eldred Gray” before it was put to work at it’s final destination on the machine. There were always parts to paint. My skincare routine consisted of scrubbing with Lava soap and rinsing with Mineral Spirits. I think both products have age defying properties 🙂
5. Marketing 101: Eldred Gray paint builds a brand. Once a company discovers its branding icons, they become staples. The kind of thing that you don’t ever deviate from. The kind of thing that you put on every single piece of your product. It stands for something. Eldred Gray paint color was our thing at the shop- every single part that went into the whole was painted Eldred Gray. Period.
6. Find your people. During the difficult years at the shop when it began it’s decline, my dad worked really long hours. I saw him work though difficult leadership issues. He took over the company from his father, who still maintained his office but with dementia starting to set in his sole responsibility soon became checking the mail. My dad had one person to work through company dynamics with- Rolland. Rolland was smart and an advocate for him. He needed that. For my dad, Rolland was his ‘people’. Wherever I am in life, I’ve always sought out my people.
More on what I learned at Eldred later…. this blog post is long enough.