What do you say when out of the blue you’re asked to create custom rain coats for both HRH Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall? No, I've never done it before....or Yes! But I have no clue what I am doing.... but I will figure it out... For the simple fact that I am sharing my story, you can tell I chose door number two. With a once in a lifetime opportunity placed in my lap, how could I say no?

During Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation hosted a meeting with the HRH Prince of Wales and the nation’s top entrepreneurs. As 2009’s CYBF Chairman's Award BC Best Business winner, CYBF thought that it would be very appropriate to present a gift from GumDrops, something that was very indicative of the West Coast lifestyle: an umbrella, rain coat and Wellies (all Canadian made, from Canadian companies)!

With security tight and no information allowed to be released, it made it extremely difficult to express the magnitude of the responsibility, as well as get the required efficiency from suppliers; they seemed to forget what the word IMMEDIATE meant. My team couldn't know what I was up to either, but were perplexed at the craziness that I ran around with during this time.

With three days to go, the royal visit was now public and I could share it with the world. However, I was frustrated to discover that the boots that I specially ordered from my Canadian manufacturer only dealt with US accounts on the particular boot that HRH had requested, so I had to order from a fellow retailer. But… that also didn’t pan out, as the boots wouldn’t arrive until a week after the event!

It was now two and a half days before the event and I still had no boots! I again called my manufacturer telling them who these boots were for and had them rushed overnight with all the cross border PPW taken care of, not to delay any more time. I received the boots at 3:30pm - with a 9:00am presentation the next day, at a top secret location!

I called my go-to person at the manufacturer and thanked her for all her efforts on the second pair of boots. While discussing the issue of the first pair, it ultimately came out that even though I told them who the boots were for, THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE ME!

The actual visit was extremely brief and for all the preparation it almost seems like a blur. However, the idea that I have custom made product for royalty is definitely an experience that will live with me for my lifetime. I think it became even more significant when I saw the sparkle in HRH’s eyes when he met me and my fellow entrepreneurs.

Written by Shanda Jerrett, GumDrops Wet Boutique