what i've learned

I was reading my twitter feed the other day, and saw a post that said social media is about building relationships and interacting with others, not a constant barrage of buy my stuff. I admit for the last few months I have forgotten that. I got wrapped up in the need to fund my new equipment and travels to upcoming tournaments, and so my social media comments became less about creating relationships, and letting the social media would get to know who I am and why I do what I do, and more about buy my stuff. This abrupt change has lead to a huge slowdown in orders, and all because I stopped doing what worked and got caught up in the pursuit of the bottom line.

Let me introduce my self. My name is Rick Zengler, I'm a northern transplant in Atlanta who has developed a taste for sweet tea and barbeque, I'm big baseball fan, history nut and voracious reader, I’m a wheelchair fencer with the Shepherd Swords , with aspirations to compete on the international stage, and to make it to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. I sell shortbread cookies and toffee to help offset the cost of gear, and competition fees. One day Id like to see the cookie business grow from a home-based entity to a larger one, that will not only fund my fencing dream, but also provide me with the ability to live the American dream, and to provide employment opportunities to other disabled individuals, and help them gain independence and confidence.

So that’s a little about me and my dreams and aspirations in the long run. In the short term I am getting ready to attend the UCO Endeavor Games in Edmond, OK June 10-12. Wish me luck.

The next step is to get my wheelie butt out from behind the computer, out of the kitchen, and take a short break from practice and introduce myself to my friends and neighbors and tell them who I am and what I’m about. Farmers markets and craft fairs are the ideal market, but unfortunately the ones that I have found take place on days when I have practice, so all I can ask is that all who read this to spread the word about this crazy guy you have heard of that sells cookies and play with epee's, and kindly direct them to www.wheelingchef.com

365 days +1

So yesterday was my 34^th birthday. It was a quiet day, not like in the past when its been a night of drunken debauchery. No this year it was a day of reflection I found myself thinking about how things have changed for me so much in the last 365 days. This time last year I was recovering from my 1^st fencing tournament, and I had only flirted with relaunching wheeling chef. Here it is a year later and I am preparing for my 5^th tournament and sitting trying my best to expand my simple cookie business into a thriving cookie enterprise. This year has had its share of challenges as well as triumphs,but its those ups and downs that make life fun.

Following my first event in May I knew that fencing was a good fit for me, yes it was hard work and extremely frustrating at times, but the feeling of accomplishment that comes from participating in such a sport has helped me in more ways then I can express. With all the benefits that come with fencing, there is a cost, not only the physical cost of the workouts, but also the financial cost of the sport, in order to continue in the sport that I had fallen in love with I needed to do something to raise some capital, but what?

A few years ago I was at a small Renaissance festival in Michigan where I saw a vendor selling homemade welsh cookies to the masses. Seeing this I thought I could do something similar. With the encouragement of friends and family I started Wheeling Chef. The 1^st attempt at a cookie business was not very successful, but I knew it had potential. The idea would be shelved until I needed it. I resurrected wheeling chef in July and I haven’t looked back since. July started slow but a friend picked up on the story and introduced me to a friend of his who wrote a blog about “this guy who sold cookies to support himself in a sport that most people have never heard of.” That exposure gave me a push in the right direction. I dove head first into the world of social media and started to gain followers on twitter. My followers challenged me to push my cookies away from the traditional flavors of my original line to flavors that fit my personality and fed into the “inner pirate” that was starting to unleash itself through fencing and following my own path by selling cookies. Guinness cookies, maple bacon cookies were born! About this time I was contacted by a local radio station personality and did a podcast talking about the strange connection between cookies and fencing. 

I started generating sales and was able to pay the entry fee to my 3^rd tournament, and buy a new sword.. My coach was seeing development in my fencing and told me to start thinking about going to an international event. This was a huge wake-up call, not only would I have to continue to develop as a fencer but also reequip myself with an internationally rated uniform and weapons. This would mean selling 200 dozen cookies no small task but after a little more exposure on thilllist and some scrimping and saving on my own I managed to purchase the gear! I was so focused on the gear that I came up short on the entry fee, it stung a bit to come that far and still fall sort, but I proved just what I can do when I put my mind to it. So that’s how my last 365 days of my life have been . I still need a new mask and a of course some funding for my next campaign but I know I can make it happen. Sales will boom and sales will dry up to nothing, practice will hurt, I will doubt my resolve and the wisdom of this whole shortbreads and swords a I will just put my head down and solider on, and thats the fun part.