Page 57 of Go Deep (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)
Both the investor and Gladys shook their heads.
“The answer is too many. Now, a few shelters have higher adoption rates, such as The Pet Adoption House, which was what led us to you on our first visit. Part of the reason is that you have a higher than normal marketing and advertising budget than most, and dedicate much of that to adoption campaigns and other public awareness initiatives. My question to you is this. What if you could cut that budget in half and still end up increasing your pet adoption rates?”
The investor raised an eyebrow. I had him.
We worked our way through our presentation, and our two-person audience was engaged from beginning to end. The adrenaline of closing the sale coursed through me. I read their responses and made adjustments as I went and Cassidy aced her pitch as well by wowing them on the analytical side. We were a solid match, and I could tell that whatever we were selling, they were ready to buy. There was always logic to improving the bottom line especially when it was paired with cutting cost with no loss of quality outcomes.
At the end, Mr. Lewis looked over at Gladys, nodded and stood up to shake our hands. “Thank you for taking the time to do your homework, and also to focus on such a worthy project. I enjoyed your presentation. Gladys will head back to her office and take a few minutes to fill out the evaluation form for your professor if you’d like to wait downstairs for it.”
“Of course. Thanks. Yes, we’ll wait.”
“I’ll take you back down to the main waiting area.”
On our way down the hallway, he reached into his pocket and handed both of us his business card. It was a classic, simple and of high quality stock. It read,Matt Lewis, CEO, Lewis Holdings Incorporated, New York.
“I just wanted to tell you again that I was impressed by your presentation. I’m headquartered in New York, but Dr. Taylor and my late father were good friends. I help run a few national retail chains which have departments devoted to pet brands. Some of what you presented has direct application potential for us there, and could also help other shelter communities across the country. Just so you know, retail is not my specialty.”
“Do you mind if I ask what you do full time?” I asked. I had to know what the guy did. He may have been the only non-NFL player I’d seen with guns like that. I was pretty darned impressed.
“I’m a firefighter.”
That was interesting.
“Getting back to this initiative, I can connect you with my VP of Stakeholder Relations if you’re serious about making a go of your business idea.”
“Yes! Thank you,” Cassidy replied. “We’d love to look into this further.”
I nodded politely. It was an interesting proposal, but I was on the NFL track. I couldn’t begin to look at starting a real business for at least a few years, even if this pet adoption thing was originally my idea.
“No problem.” He nodded and looked back and forth between us. “I have to head back to New York today, but if either of you are ever looking for opportunities after you graduate, give me a call. Dr. Taylor spoke highly of you both, and you won me over with your passionate and polished presentation.”
“Thank you, Mr. Lewis.”
With a nod to each of us, he pushed through the front door and walked down the steps.
I held up my hand to give Cassidy a high-five. “Nice job, Cass. You impressed him. Maybe this can turn into a decent entry-level job for you.”
“You impressed him too.”
“True.” I held up the card to the light. “See that guy? He’s loaded. This is probably the best business card stock I’ve seen. And he thinks our adoption drive business would be great.”
Cassidy was glowing. “You do understand that he just offered us both jobs, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I can’t think of that right now, for obvious reasons. But you should look into this company. I have a good feeling…you could turn this into something big.”
It was hard to suggest that to her. After all, I could end up on pretty much any NFL team, the way things were going. If we had a chance to turn what we had into something more I’d want her all to myself, and close, not all the way in New York if I ended up somewhere else. Still, what kind of guy would I be to screw up her chances to make something of herself, especially so early on?
A few moments later, Gladys came out with her evaluation form for our project.
“You two did really well,” she said. “I’d really like to see this project get off the ground. It’s a viable idea, and frankly, you two could start a business just doing pitches, the way you did today. You’re a fantastic team.” She handed Cassidy the form. “Here you are, dear. Thank you for coming in today, and please let me know if you want to take this idea further. Good luck to you both.”
She shook our hands and we left on a high.
“You hear that?” I said, nudging Cassidy’s arm. “We make a great team. Maybe Dr. Taylor knew what he was doing by pairing us up.”
“Maybe,” she agreed as we walked through the front door.
We were so pumped when we left there. Cassidy was beaming, and it hit me that before today, she hadn’t smiled like this since before Thanksgiving. What happened with Shawn had really left her bummed out. I needed to try a bit harder to get her past that, and hopefully win her over again.
