It was 2001, and the beginning of the 28th year of my career in finance, treasury, investor relations, and executive communications in the fast paced Silicon Valley. It was also the beginning of the 12th year of single parenting my four children, ages 19 – 24 at the time. When the last of the kids announced that he had been accepted in college, I felt like I’d crossed the finish line of a twelve year marathon. I walked into my boss’s office at Cisco the very next day and quit. I had no idea what I would do with the rest of my life, it just couldn’t be what I’d been doing anymore.
At the end of May, I traveled to Italy to attend the wedding of a friend. At the wedding, the bride asked me to take Polaroid photos of the guests, scotch tape them into scrapbook and have the guests write a short sentiment to the bride and the groom. It was a great way to mingle with a purpose, a fun activity for the guests, and at the end of the reception, Clare and Micheal were off on their honeymoon with vivid memories of their wedding in pictures and words – “now” – which is what “Adesso” means in Italian.
On a train from Florence to Rome a few days later, I sketched the design for what would become a commercial Adesso Album. By the end of 2001, seven months after that train ride, Adesso Albums was formed and the first instant photo guest books were brought to market.
By 2007, the Company had invested in and built out an infrastructure of B2C e-commerce systems, and resale, domestic and international distribution and manufacturing partnerships and generated $1 million in revenue. We were giddy with our achievement and enthusiastic about continuing the five year pattern of growth and profitability.
Until January 2008, that is.
The confluence of three unexpected events caused an immediate, rapid and ongoing decline in revenue:
- Polaroid announced that it would discontinue the manufacture of its iconic instant cameras and film, which were the very foundation that Adesso Albums had been built upon
- Virtually unknown in the US market, Japanese Fujufilm introduced its line of Instax instant cameras and film into the US market but didn’t market as the alternative to the then defunct Polaroid
- The U.S. banking crisis in late 2008 had, and continues to have, a negative impact on the Company’s business
As I turn the final page of the Company’s history today, I do so with a great sense of pride in having brought a product to market that captured so many memories for so many people at so many events. And I take great joy and satisfaction in knowing that Adesso Albums will live on in our customers’ lives for generations to come.
“Man in the Arena” is an excerpt from a speech that Theodore Roosevelt gave in Paris in 1910, and sums up the 10 year journey Adesso Albums, the concept, the product, the Company and I have traveled together:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
And so, with a heart that’s full of fond memories, the fulfillment of bringing a dream to fruition, and gratitude for supportive friends, family, business associates and customers, I’m off to find my next arena.
Lesley Mattos