Editor’s note: This is Part II of a blog series written by Sarah Browning, Team O2’s vice president of operations and service. In the series, she revisits her experience during O2’s first (and hopefully last) inventory emergency.
HIGHLIGHTS
Now, where was I? Oh yes! I’d received word from our New York production team that they had the machine part, it was installed, and they were ready to rock. And, so I repeated my steps from Part I: booked a hotel, planned for childcare, and packed a bag - but this time I hit the road.
My five-hour drive to New York is filled with true crime podcasts, audio books, and random songs I love to sing like no one’s listening. It’s a lovely drive, actually - beautiful rolling hills, fun switchbacks, and never anyone on the road.
Just as I’m starting to enjoy the trip, my phone rings. It’s the production team! And, Murphy’s Law strikes again, right in my ear: “I don’t know how to say this, but we can’t complete the production run.”
What the actual #$%&!?
The dream killer on the other end of the line tells me one of the ingredients they ordered was miscalculated BY A DECIMAL POINT. Which, turns out to be a lot, because … science!
In fact, it’s the kind of science that knocked our run of 70,000 cases down to 3,500. I’ll be honest - I don’t know how a decimal point decimates our run by 95%, but I think it has something to do with this …
I tried to get more ingredients shipped overnight, with no luck. So, we ordered them first thing Monday morning, but it meant I’d have to come back to New York the following Thursday.
Then Thursday got pushed to Friday, which got pushed to Saturday, then Sunday … and then Monday. Meanwhile, I’m trying to get email updates to you beautiful people, but every time I hit SEND the phone rings with more bad news.
Monday was not a sure thing, but I decided I needed to be in New York to put the pressure on no matter what. So, I called in the reinforcements - my mom drove four hours to watch the kids for a week so I could go back into the lion’s den …
Check your email for Part III soon! In the meantime, think about sending your mom some O2, and she’ll also get a $20 gift voucher to Born Primitive, while supplies last.
Tell her to look for the voucher above in her box of O2!