Picture worth a thousand people

I imagine many of you relate the world of online shopping. Scrolling through probably thousands of products, you barely look at the picture and you are already on to the next. Some products are by themselves and some are on models. But did you ever think about the amount of people it takes to get those products on the website? I certainly did not and last week I had my first real taste of a photo shoot.

Yet, this was not a glamorous photo shoot with beautiful models and exotic sets. The photos being taken were probably only going to be seen by a select few people, mostly editors from magazines and members of my team. I was handling products that would not be available for sale for months. During that time, the photos I take would be sent to editors that would perhaps request samples. There are probably only two or three products even produced at this point, all of which is my team's responsibility. The samples first come to the buyers, then to PR, then to editors, then back to the buyers. The clothing is not even on QVC and all this behind the scenes work is happening. From there, the samples are shot and re-shot, edited and re-edited for the perfect picture to go on the website.

Now think about the thousands of pictures we scroll through when online shopping. This cycle occurs for almost every object, at almost every company. Incredible.

My first week at QVC I learned the amount of time, people, and money that go into every aspect of our retail-driven lives. Everything I eat/wear/use has been a product of many people's hard work. When it comes to perspective and how integrated we are as humans.. it's pretty mind blowing. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes "Everything you do in life is very insignificant.. but it's very important that you do it." Meaning, when it comes to the big picture, you may be a tiny speck of paint, but the picture would not be complete without it.