Many clients schedule their window covering appointments at the end of their design process.  We have become experts in tying all the pieces of the puzzle together.  The paint is on the walls, the furniture and flooring are already in the room.  Our job is to work with the hand we have been dealt and make the most of it.  Some of our clients that are redecorating a room take advantage of our skills as certified color specialists.  This makes the entire project more successful and removes lots of stress from our clients.  The end result is a room that makes you feel just how you wanted it to.  It’s just as important to us.  We just don’t sell draperies, shades, blinds and shutters.  We help create rooms that say, “wow”.  And most importantly, our clients really appreciate what we helped them create.

We just installed draperies at the Mastro’s Restaurant in Thousand Oaks.  We used a deep claret colored fabric to accent their upscale steak house motif.  The end result was a warm inviting feeling. Mastro’s knows it’s just not about the steak (although it’s the best I’ve had), it’s about the experience.  If you haven’t been there I highly recommend you do. If you do go during the work week, ask for John, and tell him you read about the restaurant on Galaxy Draperies blog.  I’d like to know about your experience. Please e-mail me, rick@galaxydraperies.com and tell me about it.

At my second appointment we discussed custom draperies on iron rods and various Hunter Douglas products. I took measurements and photos and will turn the information over to the interior design firm in Encino that scheduled the appointment. I then drove all the way to Canyon County to meet with Bea to do some Hunter Douglas Palm Beach shutters for her. Bea is a new client that found us by going to the Hunter Douglas website and searching for dealers in her area. She told me that of all the companies she called we offered the most help and were the most pleasant to deal with. It’s good to know that “the King” has an outstanding “court”.

My last stop of the day was by far the most important. I picked my mom up and headed back to Westwood to attend the memorial of our extended family member, Steve. Dr. Steven Rado is my brother in law, Ron’s, second father. Ron’s father passed away in the early seventies and Ron’s mother Rochelle married Steve a few years later. I have known Steve for more than 30 years and to me he was always just Steve, a soft spoken lovely man.

My nephew Brandon has worked at Galaxy Draperies for just about a year now. Steve Rado was Brandon’s grandfather and I thought it would be a good opportunity to let Brandon know how much I respected his grandfather and maybe at the same time sneak in a little worldly advice. I planned on telling Brandon how important it was to take good care of your body. His grandfather played soccer well into his eighties. I wanted to tell Brandon how important it was to have a quest for knowledge. His grandfather was very bright and I would soon learn how bright he really was. Lastly I wanted Brandon to remember how much Steve loved his grandmother. I used myself as an example and told Brandon that I would hope that I could be like Steve. If I could only be one tenth as good as his grandfather I would consider myself successful in these areas of my life. I had the good fortune to see Steve at family gatherings at least once a year. Whenever I had the opportunity I would seek out a little private conversation with him. I would always get real close to him within whispering distance. Steve spoke softly and had a strong Hungarian accent. I got close so I made sure to not miss a pearl of wisdom he would artfully slide into our conversation.

There was a beautiful slide show and story about the life of Steve Rado. I was about to learn things about Steve that will forever be with me. My goal is to be “King of my Castle”. I was about to find out that all those years I was around Steve, I was in the presence of a true King of mankind. Steve was born in Hungary in 1920 to a Jewish father and a catholic mother. As a young man he worked for MGM pictures in Hungary making the titles for films that we see in the beginning and at the ends of movies. He enlisted in the army in 1938. Soon after enlisting the Nazis army took control of Hungary and sent all soldiers of Jewish descent to work camps. Steve saw the writing on the wall and quickly escaped. Back home he put the talents he learned from working at MGM and established a forgery operation. Both Jews and any other group of people that were being persecuted by the Nazi regime were provided forged documents that allowed them to escape the grips of the Germans. He saved thousands from the fate of the death camps. A few years later when the Russian army came storming through he joined the underground and once again helped countless numbers of people escape into Austria. Here I was, having spent over 30 years knowing this man and not knowing about this part of his life. I was in the presence of a true king. A king of humanity.

This would be an amazing story if it was to end here, but it didn’t. I always new Steve was smart but I had no idea how smart. I remember telling him that my oldest son, David, with taking physics in college. His eyes lit up and he started asking all sorts of questions about David’s class. I couldn’t answer for David and David wasn’t at this family function to answer for himself so the topic changed to something else. Now I know why. Turns out that Steve wrote a couple of books about physics. This is a story about a quiet soft spoken man that I know as just Steve. Quite a man in deed, and quite a life story. The story of a life well lived. I only hope that I can live up to just one tenth of the man Steve was. If I can, I too can say, that I had a life well lived.

I was very fortunate to have the best relationship with my in laws I could hope for. The truth is, they were way too good to us. We bought our first house in 1985, about a mile from the house my wife grew up in. As our family grew they were always there to lend a hand. The best way to describe my mother in law is demure. She, quite frankly, is the sweetest women that I know. She was always supportive and never judged us, even if she didn’t agree with us.

I remember coming home from a long day at work to see my house turned upside down by my kids. My wife was exhausted from chasing them around all day. All I wanted was a home cooked meal and a quiet place to unwind from my stressful day. This was what my dad got when he came home from work. Why can’t I have the same? My mother in law, witnessing the situation would put her hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry Rick; someday you will be the king of your castle”. This advice came from a woman that I trust and admire. I could always count on her guidance. She was committed to help bring stability to our home. She loved me and would do anything she could for me. This scenario repeated itself many times throughout our child rearing years. I would look at her and always ask, so when am I going to be the king of my castle? She would always say, “Be patient, it will happen”. Those reassuring words gave me hope. This went on for years. A few years back I cornered her and begged, “I give up, when, for the love of god, will I ever be king of my castle?” She looked me straight in the eye, and in her calm loving manner said, “I’m sorry, I lied.”

Within a month of learning the devastating news that there was to be no King of the Castle I met a women by the name of Sandy Gooch. Sandy was a client of one of the outstanding interior designers that I work with, Wendy Weiner. (www.wendyweiner.com).

Wendy has a gift of creating rooms of luxurious elegance for extremely discerning clients. My job is to advise her on all the different options that I think are appropriate for different window applications. By the way, if that name, Sandy Gooch sounds familiar to you, it is. She is the original Mrs. Gooch from the natural grocery store chain. Years ago she sold her business to Whole Foods. She is a terrific story of success. She is a guest lecturer at some of the most prestigious universities including the USC Marshall School of business. Sandy got to know me over the years through all the various projects I assisted Wendy with. One day Wendy and Sandy were discussing another project and Wendy told her that I suggested she treat some windows in a certain way. Sandy said to Wendy, “Well if the King thinks that is the best solution, that that’s the way we’ll do it!” The King is back! If I’m not king in my own home, than at least I am in the eyes of such a prominent client.

The people who run Exciting Windows have gotten to know me pretty well over the last eight months. We’ve worked closely analyzing Galaxy Draperies and are in the process of developing a plan to help us get to the next level of success. As many of you know, I’ve been in the window covering business for over 35 years now. Since becoming affiliated with Exciting Windows, I’ve realized I have a lot of room to grow and improve everything we do on a daily basis. My focus has always been on our clients experience and they have shown me ways to even make that better. Not to mention all the other areas of running a successful business that I deal with on a daily basis. I guess they are pretty impressed with me, although they haven’t referred to me as “The King” yet, because they asked me to make a speech at the conference. The topic of the speech is running a successful “family” business.

When my wife, Diane, and my assistant, Anabel, heard about the topic they both broke into laughter. “Are you really going to talk about what goes on between you and your mother? “Of course”, I said. At least it will be entertaining. I’ve been told that someone should write a sitcom about what goes on between the two of us. I am an only child and I certainly love my mother, but during business hours we’ve been known to disagree occasionally. OK, frequently and at times quite loud. We play a game called, who gets the last word and let me tell you she is a tenacious player. I’m no slouch myself. My frustration with her comes from having to quickly bark out requests during the little time I have between visiting clients. She gets frustrated, because lets face it, she’s getting up there, and now in her mid eighties it’s too much to handle. This is the situation Anabel walked into about 3 years ago when she joined our business. She had no idea that she would end up in the unenviable position of referee. If any of you have spoken to Anabel you know she is much too sweet to be thrust into this position. Mom and I had to learn how to break old habits and become more civil to each other or risk losing Anabel. By the way, Diane was no help. She was smart enough to stay out of the way between her husband and her mother in law. But when I got home she certainly let me know about it.

The other bone of contention my mother and I have is the issue of change. I feel in order for our business to grow in the fast paced world that we live in, we must adapt with it. The drapery business is a low tech industry. When Galaxy was started we basically sold two products, draperies and mini blinds. Today, as a Hunter Douglas showcase dealer we have over 23 different products in just their line.

Three years ago I implemented a customer database management system. Oh my god, I thought she was going to strangle me. Three years later we can’t live without it. She still hates it mind you, but nothing can now get lost or should I say, misplaced. My mother’s famous catch phrase is, “I’ve been doing it this way for thirty years, why are you making it so complicated”. I try to tell her that businesses that don’t change die. We are not changing just to change. We are changing to be better. We want to be the best window covering company out there and in order for that to happen change is inevitable.

Exciting Windows asked me to include in my speech about how I got started in the family business. I found and brought with me the first tool I got when I started installing draperies. It’s called a Stanley driver. Back in the olden days when I installed drapes there were no portable battery powered drills. We did it the old fashioned way. Use a little muscle and my good old friend Stanley. I showed it to a couple of my installers and they looked at me like I was from a time where TV was black and white and there was no such thing as a remote control. See everything changes.

If after the speech anyone asks me how I made it through all this I’m going to take out an airplane size bottle and tell them about my friend Mr. Belvedere. A little ice, a twist of lime and now mom and I get along great.

In the beginning of the week I received my friend Helen’s e-newsletter.

I met Helen a few years ago and quite frankly while I admired her as a person, I didn’t understand her business. Over the past few years as I opened up my narrow mind and other outside sources reinforced the significance of what Helen does, I have embraced her abilities and what she has to offer. Not only that but I really admire her for having the guts and determination to leave her comfy corporate job and follow her true passion. I have heard stories about this, but she is one of the few people  I know that has done it. Like many of us that have News Year’s resolutions, the tips Helen provided in her e-newsletter inspired me to rededicate my efforts and follow through with mine. The resolution that many of us have- and the one that I have had for most of my life- is to lose some weight.

Even as a child I was known to be called “stocky.” I can use the excuse that I am predetermined by the genes I inherited from my parents, that this is just how it is. My parents, in their mid eighties, both suffer from hypertension and type two diabetes. I am already on high blood pressure medication, and have been for years. I’m sure it has to do with my genetics and not the fact that from time to time life in and out of the window covering business can be stressful.

The truth of the matter is that three years ago, I discovered my holy grail of weight loses. For the first time in my life I actually felt good about the way I looked. I discovered my trifecta that led to my success. Then, after an unfortunate event that was out of my control, my secret weapon was taken away from me. In utter disbelief I watched it unfold before my very own eyes. I am the type of person that it’s all or laziness and excuses. Since my secret weapon was gone, the laziness and excuses won the battle of my mind.

Its been 3 years and 34 pounds since I last saw my secret weapon. Last week, on the same day that I read Helen’s inspiring newsletter, my secret weapon walked into Galaxy Draperies looking for me. I came out from my office and immediately started yelling at him for abandoning me and blaming him for those 34 extra pounds. We spent the next hour talking. I found out that like many people these days, due to many different reasons, he was living on the streets. You read about these people, but here was one standing right in front of me that I personally know and like that made a wonderful difference in my life. He came looking for help with nowhere left to turn. If you haven’t guessed yet he was my trainer, Nino.

He couldn’t get a job as a trainer in a gym because he didn’t have the money for insurance or the money to pay the gym to be a trainer there. Many gyms charge there trainers rent for the privilege of offering their services. This allows the trainer to work independently and contract direct with the person that wants to hire them to be trained. Nino is as hard working as they come and deep down inside, I knew that if I gave this man a fishing pole he would be able to feed himself for a life time. Nino told me that as long as he had insurance and his first months rent at the gym he would have a job. I’m a pretty good judge of character but I decided to go to the gym and make sure everything was on the up and up before I dished out the money to help. Right before the incident three years ago, I paid Nino $400.00 for training that I never got. He was already in debt to me and I wasn’t real comfortable throwing good money after moneythat I had already chalked up to as lost. The gym manager confirmed his story and of course put on his sales pitch and tried to sell me a membership. I took the obligatory tour and to be quite honest, it was very clean and pretty busy for late afternoon. There was one thing that I noticed. I was the only Caucasian in the gym. This gym, you see, is not like the one near my home where I look like almost everyone else. This gym is in the same neighborhood that I grew up in. It’s the same neighborhood that my mom still lives in, because she doesn’t like change. But like many neighborhoods around the valley, this one has changed.

I went online and bought Nino his insurance and gave him his first months rent. He looked at me like I had just saved his life. It was a great feeling to know he now had his fishing pole and would be able to make a living and get off the streets. There was just one more thing he needed to do. He needed to convince me to give up my suburban gym membership and come train with him in the ‘hood. It was his way of repaying his debt. He wasn’t looking for a hand out, just a helping hand. I do not believe I am any better or any worse than anyone else, so I joined the gym in the ‘hood.  Most importantly, I have my secret weapon back. It is kind of funny-as I sweat through my pre-workout cardio, Nino’s voice yelling from somewhere in the gym behind me, “Rick Baker in the ‘hood! Work baby work!

Did anyone notice my t-shirt?

In an effort to completely humiliate myself, here is a picture of me taken last week before I started this journey along with a picture of my starting weight. Click here to view the King’s starting weight.

Notice the newest Silhouette fabric from Hunter Douglas. It’s the Chateau collection and the color of the fabric really offers some warm day lighting in the room. The original shades were white and this change really warms the room.

A wise and wonderful woman whom I greatly admire (and it’s not my wife) has repeatedly told me over the years that someday I will be the “King of my Castle.” Well this morning “The King” awoke to an unusual experience.

My wife’s cell phone rang at 5:45am and it was her sister telling her that their mother had taken a spill and was being taken to the hospital.  Before you get too alarmed, it turned out to be 6 stitches in the eyebrow and various bumps and bruises.  It’s nothing to scoff at, but at least no broken bones.  My wife’s last words to me as she ran out the door were, “Feed the animals! The cats now get 2 cubes of something broken up on their food.  I said, “text me the instructions so I don’t mess it up.”  She replied, “don’t be an idiot, its not rocket science.”  I will let you be the judge of that!

The cats get fed upstairs in my eldest son’s old bedroom. Their food is served in a vacated space in an armoire where a TV used to be.  Here is what I think I am supposed to do:  take a plastic grocery store bag from under the sink and a paper towel.  Wipe the spilled dry food on the ground so the dog, who is watching this whole routine, can eat it.  Refill the dry food tandem bowl.  With the paper towel, wipe the tandem moist food bowl clean.  Throw the paper towel into the grocery store bag.  Open a can of cat food (today’s selection is Grandmas Pot Pie).  Put ½ can in each bowl.  Throw the empty can in the plastic grocery bag.  Take 1 cube of Stella and Chewy’s Chick, Chick Chicken Dinner For Cats, and crumple over the top of the canned food.  Refill the water bowl.  Grab the pooper scooper and using the same plastic bag, clean the litter box.  Since the litter box gets cleaned daily, you would think (or at least I would!) that there wouldn’t be much to clean.  Surprise, surprise.  After gagging my way through, I finally managed to finish. Now out to the trash and on to the dog.

The dog gets fed downstairs in the kitchen.  Oh my, how unusual.  Her breakfast starts with a can of Wellness brand chicken stew with peas and carrots.  Sprinkle a little prozyme supplement and a scoop of plaque off powder, mix it all up, and then crumple 2 biscuits of Chewy’s Chicken Dinner For Dogs on top.  I present it to the dog, and she takes 2 sniffs and walks away unimpressed.  I then check to make sure she has enough dry kibble and fresh water.  By now the cats have come down from their breakfast upstairs, and they check out the dogs’ breakfast.  Seeing what’s going on, the dog runs back to her bowl and lets the cats know they are unwelcome.  The cats run outside, the dog takes a couple of bites, and eagerly waits for leftover scraps of whatever I am having for breakfast.  Today there was no table scraps, and as I was cleaning up and getting ready to leave for work, she stood at attention in front of the pantry.  Oh my god, I almost forgot to give her 2 jerky like strips of Happy Hips.  All I want to know is whatever happened to Friskies and Alpo.  And when my wife reads this, I’m sure she will let me know how “The King” screwed up. What does it take to do something as simple as feeding your pets these days- a degree in nutritional science? Come to think of it, I wonder what she is slipping into the meals she prepares for me!