In the Beginning

The task at hand, to begin my diaries to you, is a daunting one but one I face with excitement verging on unfettered gusto. We're here! You and me. We made it. Or are making it. Or are at least giving it a go. And that's what this is all about. The Effort: as the results can be both heart wrenching and ecstatic and sometimes simultaneously.

So why do this, you ask? Why diary my existence as the original "thickskinner"? Why document what could be (and often is) me falling flat on my face? To let you know that it can be done, and is being done, a thousand times a day by thousands of people. Owning your own business. Being independently "employed". Bagging the real job for one that is harder, more involved yet more rewarding than any you could ever imagine.

I'm ready, if you are, to nakedly stand before you and share my triumphs and pitfalls. Thickskin is my homage to resilience, in both people and product. And what good are we if we don't practice what we preach? It's about being impeccable with your word. And that's how it all began...

"Hi" this is Cordila Jochim. You don't know me but I have a brother who is insane looking and I know he won't call you on his own so I'll give you his number and you can call him, OK?"



Yep. That's the call I made to the Seattle Models Guild. They, in turn, called my gorgeous brother Raif who found himself in the world of modeling...and loving it. The problem was now that I got him into this, he had nothing in which to carry his photos and zed cards and, hello, if modeling isn't about the image...what is?! Problem = Solution. At least that's how I work. No worries, I, Big Sister, would buy him one. Enter Problem #2: nothing sexy in the market! I was shocked! Really, in the land of abundance you'd think someone, somewhere had come up with a modeling portfolio that was a color other than black. But, after beating the streets like a wild woman, and his birthday closing in, I had to act fast. In I trounced to Office Depot where I promptly bought your standard three-ring binder (in green plastic, if I remember correctly) and took it home.



TIP: In life you'll find the most unlikely of people will put you on a path you hadn't even imagined you'd walk down.

May everyone be so lucky to know a guy who knows a guy who may smoke a little too much but is good with leather and his hands (a winning combination). Chad introduced me to Eric who made the first Thickskin piece: an embossed crocodile portfolio crafted specially for one Raif Jochim.

And that was the beginning.