Editing The Pen Addict 413/transcript (section)

== Career Impact ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Like when back in the day when I was working at the bank, I ended up getting a marketing position with having no experience, training or qualifications because I was podcasting and as well. Right. So like I was able to show that I could do something. I was a self-starter and could show like, oh, by the way, when I start something, I keep doing it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But, you know, yeah, that's it's pretty wild when you think of all the real world implications are now work has has has led to. It's it's yeah. If you think about it too much, it kind of breaks your brain. So one thing I wanted to talk about, which you do very, very much is travel to a lot of pen shows. I know we're in the quarantine times right now and none of us are getting to travel and I know we all miss it very much and miss seeing our friends. But can you tell me kind of how you got started, like first attending pen shows? Do you remember the first pen show you went to and how did it escalate from there to where you're going to probably five, six, if not more shows a year?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Well, the first show that I went to was Atlanta to record the pen addict.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And that was a huge experience. I actually found photos. I don't know what I was doing. I must have been digging for through my, you know, my photo stream or whatever. And I found the photos from that that year. Mm hmm. Atlanta show and just yesterday. And it was, I mean, like it practically brought tears to my eyes. Look at those photos because that was the first time that I met so many people who to this day are still so important to me. You know, I met Le Reyes at that show. I met Thomas. I met just like so many people. We went to the knock shop.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm hmm. God, that was the party year.

'''Ana Reinert:''' That was the party year.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' One and only. That was a big deal.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. Leigh and Thomas kept me up so late showing me Nakayas that I fell asleep holding a Nakaya in my hand at a table. Like, it was just that. I mean, like that was a true turning point when I realized how amazing the Pen community was.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Just really a gobsmacked year.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I will. I have a lot of stories from that year. Now that you say that that was a huge turning point year, I think, for a lot of us. But the thing I remember the most is that was our first live recording and we didn't have an audience. It was just the three of us and the Hackett brothers. And I've never been so nervous in front of a microphone than for that recording. All the audience stuff doesn't phase me. All the, you know, guesting on other shows. For some reason, I vividly remember being an absolute wreck trying to record that show in that room. Like I felt just like undue pressure for some reason. I don't know why. But that was a weird one for us. And then we fixed it next year with the, we started having audiences. So that was a, that was a weird moment for sure.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah, that was crazy. And since that, that show, like after that, I think that was the show that then you, was that when you suggested that I should start helping Lisa Van Ness?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Probably. Because we had, I had just met Lisa like at the Atlanta show previous to that, where I was just a person, you know, like walking around. Like I didn't have knock to bring to the show or anything like that. And I had just met her. And like that was when she, Atlanta was like one of her first shows too, like in the previous year or two. And she had decided that she wanted to do more. And I think y'all just kind of hit it off. And then she was asking you and myself to, to travel with her to, to go to shows. And that, that was, had been a great experience for me. I'm sure it was for you too.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. Yeah. So then I started helping Lisa at a lot of shows just in order to help sort of fund the opportunity to go to shows. And so I think that year I ended up going to like four shows. And then for the years after that, I want to say I was going to at least six, seven, eight. I think last year was nine.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Wow.

'''Ana Reinert:''' I think the topper was the year we went to Toronto. I went to nine shows that year.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think I remember you saying that it's just like getting to the, that was kind of the end. And we did a lot on that event. And that was like one of my favorite events that we, we did books. We did a, we did a New York stop on that trip too. And it was just crazy, crazy cool. So, um, but yeah, to, to wrap up a year of nine shows in October, I think it was late October, early November is just like, that's a lot. Like I couldn't see doing that. Yeah, that's, that's fantastic. So I know we're all anxious to get back to, to show going here pretty soon. So hopefully you will see Anna and myself and Myke at shows in the future. We just don't know exactly when. Um, I want to talk about the current setup of the desk. See what I did there? That was an accident, but it came out pretty well. Um, you have added writers to the desk. You have added a shop to the desk. Um, tell me what it was like to bring on kind of your first, uh, partners in writing, writing blog posts there. So, uh, all good, good, awesome people, Laura, Jesse, Tina, tell me about bringing them on. What that was like and, uh, how that's, uh, helped things out over there.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Well, um, the first person that came on to help me was Tina, um, from, uh, fueled by pods and coffee. And she started doing some reviews sort of periodically, um, just to sort of help provide a little bit of additional content between doing shows and a full-time job. I was starting to feel stretched really, really thin. And she gladly came aboard and brought in a little bit more of the sort of creative content because she does a lot of urban sketching. So she was, um, doing more sort of pencils and like sketch materials, sharpeners, sketchbooks, um, that kind of thing, which I thought brought a different spin to the blog than some of the other stationary community. And so I really liked having that perspective and thought it was a great addition. And then maybe about, I think it was probably about a year later, I brought my friend, Laura Cameron, um, who actually is, um, a local friend of mine. She's a knitter and she does, um, the corner of knit and tee, which is a vlog for knitting and spinning. And she was just getting into pens. And so I kept kind of sort of giving her different things as she was expressing interest. And after a while, I'm like, you know, if I give this to you, you're going to have to write a review. And she's like, okay. And so that led her into starting to, to add content as well, because the longer I was writing, the less I felt in touch with sort of the experience of someone who is new to fountain pens and new to sort of the, you know, sort of all of the stationary product. And so it's been interesting to watch Laura sort of go through a lot of sort of what we went through when we first started of like, oh, I only like this one thing. Oh, wait, no, I really like these, you know, cause it's like, I think we all go through that where it's like, nope, I just like this one type of pen or this one type of nib or this one type of material. And then as you develop your experiences over time, you're like, no, I like lots of different materials depending on the circumstance or the situation or even the maker, you know? So it's just been nice to have that brought back into it, you know, because as you know, it's harder for us. Cause it's like that, again, that whole thing, once you cross that a hundred dollar threshold, you're like, you know, it's hard for me to like get real upset about the quality of a $29 pen. Like I know what to expect with a $29 pen, but for someone just getting into the hobby, like $29 seems like a lot of money to spend on a pen. Absolutely.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And you're going to get that email is like, Hey, I bought this pilot metropolitan and like I'm ticked off and it's like not working. And you, you lose sight of that sometimes that, you know, that's, you know, there's, there's new people reading the site every day.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And then Jesse came in about a little, just about a year ago. And as our resident Estherbrook, vintage Estherbrook expert and ink enthusiast. Um, and so I had her take on more of the ink review responsibilities, um, which just helped to sort of spread everything out a little bit. And so as that has progressed, um, it's allowed me to sort of kind of funnel things in different directions and give everybody, let everybody sort of take a different focus sometimes. And also find things that I know specifically people will enjoy, um, reviewing, you know, so it's, it's that kind of thing of like shifting things around a little bit or giving people new opportunities to try different products. I don't know if you have that experience as well.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Absolutely. Absolutely. And like one of the things that I think about it in that, you know, over the years of having people write for me, I've definitely gotten past and I think you have too. But in the beginning it was very, not difficult, but it was a weird feeling to give up some of the kind of creative control, like to give up the byline on the post, right. To like, this is like my blog, it's, you know, represented by me and then to have this other content created, um, to understand that, Hey, this is only going to make things better and not to like overthink, like adding new people to the blog. Did you have a challenge? Like with just some of the control things in the beginning of like trying to, I had a problem of like being overly cautious and now I'm just like completely like they're a hundred percent on their own. And, and have like no guidance from me whatsoever. So how has that been for you?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I think initially my biggest concern was when people commented and they addressed their comments to me, whether they were good or bad. And I really wanted them to, to know, like if they were bad comments, I didn't want the writer to take it badly just because I've sort of built up a little bit thicker skin about that. But then also if they were compliments, I didn't want people to think that it was, you know, like directed towards me. I wanted them to understand like, no, this was Jesse's post. Like, please like direct your, your accolades towards the writer, whether it was Jesse or Tina.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I've seen that kind of stuff a lot with like friends that write online and end up bringing on help in the tech space as well, where people get used to it all being one person. So they don't look at the byline because they just think it's all you, right? Because they've been reading you for years and it was just you. So they're just like, oh, so everything that comes from this site, it's all Anna, right? Yeah.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. So, and that's probably the biggest stumbling block. And early on, I think I did go through and make a point of like reading through each of the posts, you know, just as an, from an editorial standpoint, making sure there wasn't any issues. And now if I do at all, it's a cursory glance to make sure there aren't any, you know, it's more just like double checking, make sure there isn't anything. But it's not, I don't find tooth comb like I might have in, in the beginning.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Like I'll, I'll manage the, I'll make sure the links are going to where we need the links to go. And then that's about it. Right. Yeah.

'''Ana Reinert:''' There's a good deal of trust that I, I'm familiar with their writing style and how they write. So I, I don't have to, you know, unless someone specifically asks, like, I'm not sure this, like this part right here makes total sense. Can you look it over really quick? Otherwise it's.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Exactly. Exactly. Well, I think it's, it's a great fit and it's a really good feel to, to the blog. Not that it was ever not a great feel, but I, like, I think you've done it right. The way you've kind of integrated new writers over time, they each kind of have a general area, not meaning they can't do. Anything on the blog, but you know, like Tina is going to do a lot of sketch and art stuff. So like, I know when I read Tina's stuff, I'm like, Oh cool. I'm going to learn something about this today. So yeah, it's, it's, it's a really cool setup that you have going. And I, I definitely glad that that's a part of the desk now.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Thanks.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Thanks. The other thing.

'''Ana Reinert:''' I also love that three out of four are lefties.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That is pretty funny. We have, uh, I, I guess we're, we're like predetermined to have a greater percentage of lefties in our, in our midst. But whenever like I talk with you and talk to Myke and, or I'm sitting with you at a bar, you know, at a, at a hotel pen show, it's just, I'm surrounded by lefties. I'm definitely outnumbered on more occasions than not when I'm with you. All right. So one of the things that you've added to the shop is you've gotten into the merchandise and the creation of products. And you're very, very, very well known for the highly successful coloring. And I just wanted you to talk a little bit about deciding to make your own stuff to sell.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Well, um, you, we've talked repeatedly about how the coloring came out was there was a hole in the market and we figured out that we had the capacity to fill it. So we took a chance and we, we did it and it worked out. Um, and then from there we just sort of continued trying different things with the same paper and that's seemed to work out for us. So I say that very tentatively, every, like the coloring has been the most successful, like the color decks is a little bit more specific. Um, the oversize we have not made, um, as widely available just because we sort of did it on a smaller scale, um, in terms of our original production run. Um, just because it was like, we just wanted to see how it would perform. Um, so we may do a larger production run soon and then make that more widely available to some of our retailers. Um, we're still sort of in debates about that just from a standpoint of whether or not our retailers would be interested in it. And then, um, we did the dipper most recently just for picks. Yes. And that, that we've talked about before, I think, um, in that we probably won't ever have that available to retailers because it really is, um, labor intensive for its price point. It's just such a, just such a small, like it really is. We, we don't want to waste paper. It seemed like a really good way to make the best use of the paper and create a product that served again, another purpose for our community. So it was like lots, you know, many pronged solution and it's fun and it's cool and we dig it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So it's one of those things like when you're actually making stuff that I've had to explain to people many, many times over years, the smaller you make something, the more relatively expensive it's going to be compared to your other products. It just is. It's really challenging to make it small and inexpensive. Yeah.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. I mean, that's, it's that whole volume thing. It's super fiddly. It's super fiddly to make, like it takes literally it's me hand assembling each one of those and putting the little ball chain and closing it and sticking in the little baggie for each person who wants one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, yeah. Well, the color ring.

'''Ana Reinert:''' You are paying me to assemble that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, exactly. Well, the color ring itself is the canonical, you know, ink swabbing book these days. I use, I tend to use the oversized a lot because I have a big honking stamp that someone made for me. So, I like the space I have on there, but I do love just the traditional color ring. I think it's pretty, pretty freaking fantastic.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So, yeah. And since then we have added more things like, you know, and one of the things like, and I haven't talked in great detail about it in the past, but partially because of the job that I had before. I was a little, my hands were tied a little bit about the type of paper products I could make. So, my hands are no longer tied in regards to the kinds of paper product I can make.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Uh-oh.

'''Ana Reinert:''' That's not to say that we will make a lot of paper products because I think the market is very saturated in terms of paper products, but it does open up the possibility. It just, like, the list of things that I could not make was very long.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And just for people who might be listening the first time, Anna was a former Hallmark designer for many, many, many, many, many years.