Dear Girl Talk Gals,
It has taken me a while to write about this. Many of you have been long time Femail Creations customers and supporters and readers of The Barefoot CEO blog, and are really like part of my big extended Femail family. And our family has lost our beloved Airedale Zoë. Sadly a few days after her 14th birthday on May 2nd she lost her battle with cancer. She had a wonderful life and we miss her dearly.
Almost by accident Zoë became like the Femail Creations mascot. In the very early days of the catalog when I had to do one of my very first photo shoots, the photographer arrived at the 
house and much to her shock she found me wearing jeans, and—as usual—I was in my bare feet. The photographer asked me when I would be changing into my business clothes for the photo shoot. I explained to her that wasn't really my style. I was a more casual CEO, in fact a Barefoot CEO—literally! Well, that just seemed to startle the "professional" photographer who found me to be less than professional sans my business suit and all. Eventually, I ended up putting Zoë in the pictures with me—so I could hide behind her! I have always been somewhat camera shy, and Zoë came in handy as the ultimate prop! And the customers loved her! Soon she was getting her own fan mail! Zoë went on to appear in hundreds of catalogs.
Zoë has been the perfect pet for our family at every stage of our lives. It was as if she knew exactly what we needed at every stage of our ever-changing lives. When the kids were little, she was there, playful and protective. When the kids went off to college and the house felt empty she mellowed out and spent her days keeping me company at my desk. If I was having a bad day, she never left my side. And in the end, we never left her side.
I have thought long and hard about ways we could honor Zoë, this gal who has done so much for so many and brought us all so much joy. I recently saw a segment on Oprah featuring a non-profit program that trains dogs to help injured veterans returning home. It was very moving to see what a difference these dogs made in their lives. I thought that might be a great way to pay it forward. So I will be donating 10% of the proceeds to the Dog Tags program in honor of Zoë, on any purchases of in stock items placed now through July 5th. Puppies Behind Bars is a not for profit organization that trains prison inmates to raise service dogs. One program within the Puppies Behind Bars organization is called DogTags. Under the DogTags Program inmates train puppies to become service dogs for soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. Ordering now will help a wonderful charity, and honor our beloved Zoë and the blessing our four-legged friends bring to our lives.
Simply place your order now by clicking here—and yes that includes Clearance and Online Only items too!
Thank you for helping us Make a Difference!
Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO®
P.S. Be my friend on Facebook and follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/thebarefootceo
