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“That's what we were discussing yesterday. And as I recall, you walked out, saying you weren't willing to put money into the company.”
“Perhaps we misunderstood each other,” I said. “What I was proposing was to bring Tiffany's under the Quigley-Fulton umbrella.
Her eyes hardened.
“We'd like you and Sam to continue doing the good work you've done in growing Tiffany's. With our capital and your determination and ideas, I think Tiffany's can be quite successful.”
She slid back on the couch, her mouth a hard, thin line. “What is it aboutnothat you don't understand? We are not interested in being under anybody’sumbrella,as you put it.”
“What’s so bad about having our capital at your disposal, and free reign to run the business as you see fit?”
Her countenance softened. “Complete autonomy?”
“Within reason,” I responded.
She huffed. “You see, that's the problem. You and I are never going to agree on whatwithin reasonmeans. I'm afraid our organizations are just incompatible.”
“What makes you think they’re incompatible?” I asked in a voice raised more than I’d intended.
“Do you have on-site daycare?” she shot back.
She had me there. I shook my head. I had to get this dialed down. “No, I'm afraid we don't. But that doesn't mean we can't,” I added.
“Do you have a private nursing room for women with infants?”
I had to shake my head again.
“You see, Sam and I are running a women's business——run by women for women——and that's just the beginning of the incompatibility.”
This was too important an opportunity to let go so easily. “Those both sound like extremely good ideas. I'd be happy to implement them here.”
“You say that now, but if we sell to you, you and your board will be in charge, and we won’t. We’ve come too far to give up our independence.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way at all.”
“And what guarantees do we have? Huh?” Now she was the one getting agitated. “I’ve seen how big companies operate.”
“Not ours.”
“That’s what they all say, but in the end, the corporate machine steamrolls over any objections, and the people from outside that don’t fit in get riffed. My previous job was at a startup that got bought out, and it wasn’t pretty. Six months later, half of us were out of a job.”
I needed to keep this from deteriorating further. “I can understand your reluctance, but that’s not the way we operate.”
“So, you happen to be the one tiger that knows how to change his stripes?”
I pulled out my coin and rubbed it between my fingers under the table.
I leaned closer. “Amy, trust me. I understand.”
“But that’s the crux of the problem. Don’t you see? You’re also a mere cog in the machine. You can’t make any guarantees that bind your board.”
She’d hit the nail on the head. I was in charge up to a point, but I could be overruled. There was no way to argue my way out of her statement.
“What if we up the price?” I didn’t hold out a lot of hope, but it was worth a try.
“You don’t get it. The price is not the issue. We’ve started something important to us, and we intend to see it through. This is more than a business for us. This is our life, it's our adventure, and we're not willing to give it up.”
Her passion was palpable and admirable. No matter what, these women were determined. As she’d said, price was not going to sway them.
