Shared Ideas
"Knock, Knock." Valentina knocks on the door of the room in Jabot that Monty was sitting in. He had arrived to work early and was working on his and Mattie's ideas regarding promoting the summer collections. He smiles when he sees Valentina.
"Hi, Valentina, how are you?" He asks.
"Hi, Monty. I see you are here early putting in work." She gives him a big smile. "As usual."
He laughs. "Yeah, I was just itching to get some more work done regarding these collections."
Valentina comes in and sits on the couch beside him. She glances at his notes and some of the stuff he is working on regarding the collections.
"So…." She says leaning towards him. "Have you had success reaching out to your celebrity friends to help market clothes from the summer collections?"
Monty nods and smiles. "I have. And I talked with Billy about this. We are going to send some of them some items from the collections like some swimwear. They are going to wear them and upload pics to their social media accounts promoting the products." He informs Valentina. "They've agreed to do it on an upcoming date where we really are going to push promoting these collections on Social Media."
"Ah, I wish had celebrity friends, who I could count on to help me with work." Valentina teases him.
"Well a lot of them are friends of my brothers, but I've gotten to know them over the years." Monty informs her.
"Lucky, you." Valentina says smiling. "Must of have been fun growing up around famous brothers and all the perks that come with that." She muses.
"It was fun a lot of the times and interesting and even a bit scary at times." He reveals.
Valentina raises her eyebrows. "Scary?" She asks curiously.
"Yeah, football is fun, but there was always that risk of one of my brothers getting hurt. As is the case in a high contact sport. And then a few years ago, when Lincoln suffered that serious injury, that ultimately ended his career…" Monty pauses for a moment, a thoughtful look coming across his face. "That was a scary time for him and for us… but thankfully everything ended up okay." He says looking at her. "Linc's career was over, but he was able to get into another career that allowed him to meet his wife. And now he's got a baby on the way… things worked out fine."
"That's good to hear." Valentina tell him sincerely. "Is that why you didn't go into sports like your brothers, the risk of getting injured…" She asks.
Monty shrugs his shoulders. "I just wasn't into really playing them like they were. When I was young, I played around with them a bit. And participated a little in playing basketball, and football." He pauses and continues. "But it was mostly just playing around with my brothers and some friends. In our back yard, in the park. It's not something that I wanted to pursue as a career or anything." He admits to her truthfully.
"Yet, you're still in very good shape." Valentina remarks coyly and reaches out and squeezes his bicep.
"I try to do enough to stay in shape. I love to exercise, I hit the gym, run and love to bike." Monty remarks. "I may not be the athlete that my brothers are, but that doesn't mean I can't stay in shape…" He states with a grin.
"I hear that. You said you like to bike; you know I like to bike as well. And I like to hit the gym… You know maybe sometimes we can..." Valentina's voice trails off as she is interrupted by Mattie coming into the room. Both her and Monty look up at Mattie.
"I'm here." Mattie announces. She looks at both Monty and Valentina sitting together looking kind of cozy. She makes a face and goes and puts her stuff down on the table and looks at Monty.
"Are you ready to get down to work?" She asks looking at him.
"I've been working, that's why I'm here early." He tells her in a matter of fact manner.
"Oh, yeah, because it seemed like you were talking about personal stuff…" Mattie replies a bit curtly. She had witnessed some of his and Valentina's conversation and once again didn't like how flirty Valentina was being with him. She had frowned when she had saw Valentina squeezing his bicep.
Monty makes a face. "I was definitely working." He insists. "The conversation may have turned to some other stuff, but I have definitely been putting in work Mattie." He states firmly.
Valentina nods her head, supporting him. "Monty was just telling me how some of his celebrity friends are going to be rocking and promoting Jabot Collective gear on an upcoming date." She interjects. She looks at Monty and they smile at each other.
"Well, that's good…." Mattie says. "And now that I'm here him and I can talk some more about that and some other ideas…" She gives Valentina a pointed look. "You know since it's our project together and he is my partner." She affirms strongly.
Valentina makes a face at Mattie's tone. "Un-huh. Yeah, okay." She then smiles. "You're right he is your partner for this project…" She then gives Mattie her own pointed look. "Maybe in the future things will be mixed up a bit and him and I will also get the opportunity to work together." She looks at Monty and flashes him a smile. "That would be fun…"
"It would be." He says returning her smile. He then looks at Mattie. "We're probably all get the opportunity to work with each other at various times here and there. And we'll get opportunities together as a group with all of us and Boyd too." A thoughtful look then crosses his face. "The most important thing is that we're all a team here and it's good to help one another out." He reminds them.
"Exactly." Valentina says. "We're all a team really. And it's fun to share ideas." She reaches over and touches Monty's arm. "Monty and I have been doing some brainstorming about our collections and we've been helping each other out." She gives him a look. "Did you tell Mattie about our idea for the Summer collection?"
Mattie looks at them curiously. "What idea?" She asks curiously.
"We thought it would be a good idea for Jabot to have a photoshoot showcasing some of the summer fashions for our summer collections." Monty informed her. "Especially our swimwear."
"And Billy totally liked the idea. He said he was thinking of doing something along those lines already." Valentina adds.
"Valentina and I talked about it with him, and it's something we will be helping plan to happen with the next couple of weeks." Monty says smiling. He continues.
"It's something we can all contribute on. I would love to hear your ideas about where we can hold it. We could possibly hold it here or maybe on location somewhere." Monty suggests.
"Hmm…." Mattie says thinking about how Monty and Valentina had come up with this idea, without her involvement. "I can come up with some ideas for that."
Monty nods. "Good. I think that is another good way we can promote our summer collections." He smiles at her.
Mattie nods. "Yeah…" She looks at him and Valentina again, thinking. "I can think of some suggestions we can go over today. I'm ready to get started…"
"Cool…" Monty says. He looks at her and then at Valentina.
"Well, I guess I will go and find Boyd and discuss our own ideas for the fall collections." Valentina says reluctantly. She stands up and smiles at Monty again. "It was nice talking to you and brainstorming about ideas." She tells him. "I look forward to talking to you more and I think you can probably help me, and Boyd come up with some ideas for the fall collections. Like you said we're all a team right." She winks at him. "See you later." She turns to walk away but looks at Mattie. "See you later, Mattie." She says and exits the room.
"Bye." Mattie says. She then goes over and sits beside Monty on the office couch. He looks at her and smiles. "So, like I was telling Valentina I got some of my celebrity friends to agree to help market some of Jabot's clothes… like you and I were discussing the other day. I've got five people to agree to do that and they are some popular names. Hopefully, together they can help get things trending for us…" He predicts optimistically. "And I of course will be retweeting their stuff to all of my followers as well…"
Mattie nods. "That's good. And I do believe they will help us." She thinks. "I can also get Fen Baldwin, who is engaged to one of my family members to help us retweet stuff…" She offers. "I talked with him the other day about this and he said he could help. Him and my family member are going to be going on a honeymoon soon. They will be on a beach, so he might post some stuff from there." She pauses thinking for a moment. "Granted, maybe him and Ana might want to keep some of the photos for themselves. But I do believe I can get him to post pictures of himself in some of our swimwear, even if it's after his honeymoon."
Monty smiles. "Awesome. A pop star retweeting pics of them wearing clothes from Jabot Collective will definitely help us boost the visibility of these collections." He remarks.
"And I talked with another music star, Xavier Dorsey's who's in town for Fen and Ana's wedding." Mattie adds. "He also said he is willing to wear some of the clothes from our summer collections and post those pics on his Social Media."
Monty smiles again. "Good stuff." He laughs. "And you were acting like you didn't have any type of connections. You have the hook up, Mattie." He states teasingly and gives her an impressed look. "Coming through with the support from the pop stars. I love it. And Billy will too." He says knowingly.
Mattie smiles at his comments. "Well, I may not have multiple famous siblings...but I do know a couple of people."
"You uncle is incredibly well known in the music industry…" Monty reminds her.
"I know, but he's not on tv all the time like your brothers were. Or have movies coming out all the time like your brother Darryl…." Mattie states in a matter of fact manner.
"Yeah, but he still is well known and so is Fen and Xavier. And good on you for getting them to help. That is great." Monty praises her. He writes something down for a moment and then looks back at Mattie. "And I know you mentioned Fen was going on a honeymoon, but we should be able to get him and Xavier promoting some clothes before the new collections are officially out for sale." He makes a gesture with his hand. "The more buzz we can drum up for the collections before they are out the better."
Mattie nods. "Right." She agrees. She thinks for a moment and then continues. "And you said that you and Valentina came up with the idea for the photoshoot?"
Monty nods and writes something else down. "That's right. We think it would be a good idea to showcase some of the clothes like the swimwear." He comments. "And of course Jabot has done photoshoots before. So this is a way to promote the news clothes that is a tried and true method."
Mattie nods. "Yeah, Fen and Kyle actually helped participate in one a couple of years ago and it was very successful." She tells him.
Monty nods. "And I think if we did another one showcasing clothes like the swimwear, it could be successful again. You think that Fen would be up to doing another photoshoot?" He jokes.
Mattie smiles and shakes her head. "I don't know. He's moved on since then…" She says a bit unsure.
Monty laughs. "I'm just kidding." He admits. " I know he probably would rather do something other than that like enjoy his soon to be married life. And…. Billy already mentioned he is going to hire professional models for the shoot." He smiles again. "I'm just glad you were able to get him and Xavier to agree to promote some of the clothes."
"Yeah, I was going to mention it to you at first, before I did it." Mattie tells him. "But I just decided to go ahead and ask them both while they were in town. Fen's been busy helping plan his wedding and then he's off to his honeymoon. And Xavier is in town only for the wedding and then he'll gone for a bit more. I saw them the other day together and decided to seize the opportunity."
Monty listens and nods. "Understandable. There is nothing wrong with you taking an opportunity while it presented itself. I think that's okay for both of us to do, when things like that happen. We can always touch base with each other later and hash out official stuff with Billy." A thoughtful look comes across his face. "Just as long as we don't make any official big decision without clearing it with Billy first."
"Right." Mattie agrees, thinking. "If we get an idea, when we're not around the other one we can always touch base with each other later..." She pauses thinking a bit more. "Like you touched base with me today with the idea that you and Valentina had regarding the photoshoot."
"Right."
"When did you guys come up with this idea about the photoshoot?" Mattie asks him curiously. "This is the first time you've mentioned it to me..."
Monty shrugs. "We've talked about it over the phone. We have bounced ideas off of each other when we talk sometimes after work." He reveals to her. "And I often come in early and Valentina's here and we talk about different ideas for the collections." He smiles. "She's a fun person to bounce ideas off of, she's very smart." He looks at Mattie. "Why do you ask?" He wonders.
Mattie shrugs and makes a face. "Uh... just wondering." She says. "You're right Valentina is very smart and um... persistent..."
"Which is why we should be happy to collaborate with her." Monty says gratefully. "Like I said we're all in this together." He gives Mattie a look. "There's nothing wrong with any of us offering ideas to the other one. It's alright..." He looks down at his notes again, thinking.
"I think all of us trying to have a positive attitude about things is the best way to go, because at the end of the day... we all work for the same company. And we shouldn't be competing with each other." He looks up into Mattie's eyes, a serious look on his face. "No need for us to be overly competitive with each other, and we should try and treat each other well..." He cautions.
Mattie makes a face at his last comment. "Okay...Well of course we should do that." She agrees.
A thoughtful look comes across Monty's face as he thinks some more. "Un-huh..I just think... that us getting along with each other is something that is very important especially if we all want to be successful here."
Mattie nods, wondering what he really wanted to say. "That's right..."
Monty nods and thinks a little more about saying something else, but decides to opt against it for the moment. He hoped that what he said was enough and that she had gotten the hint.
"Cool." He said. "Well, let's talk some more about this photoshoot." He says changing the subject. "Do you think it should be here, or maybe someone else?" He asks.
Mattie thinks for a moment. "The rootop bar of the athletic club that my Uncle owns is a place that a lot of people like to hang out. Especially during the summer." Mattie confirms to him. "And I know that GC Buzz has shot segments up there before, including during the Summer."
Monty listens to her and nods. "I did some research on different projects that Jabot has done in the past. And I think that their Birthday Suit campaign was shot up there." He remarks trying to remember. "Or at least one of their campaigns was."
Mattie nods. "Yes it was. I remember that. Kyle actually led that campaign. And there were also models going around the athletic club promoting the sunscreen Birthday Suit." Mattie says remembering the campaign for that Jabot product. "Of course I wasn't working here then, but I do know some facts about it." She informs Monty.
"Okay, so maybe we can talk with Billy about possibly having the photoshoot at the rooftop bar of the athletic club. And of course talk with your Uncle about it as well." Monty suggests.
"That sounds good." Mattie then smirks when she remembers what happened during the Birthday Suit launch. She laughs as she remembers how Kyle had ended up naked on GC Buzz.
"What's so funny?" Monty asks looking at her curiously.
She shakes her head. "It's just the Birthday Suit campaign, made quite a splash..."
"That sounds good." Monty remarks and then he notices her expression. "Right?" He asks.
Mattie shakes her head again remembering that campaign. "Uh...I don't think we want to quite make that type of splash..." She warns. "But I do think that the rooftop bar at the GCAC is a good place to have the photoshoot." She states.
"Sounds like a good place." Monty agrees. The two young people then talk a bit more and make plans regarding the photoshoot and other ideas to promote the Summer Collections from Jabot Collective.