Dancin' on the Avenue

Yesena and Shelby from Hassett Hardware hosted a children's activity booth for the second year in a row at Willow Glen's wildly popular Dancin' on the Avenue event, and we are so happy they did! 

We are all grateful to Jerry and Mary Perry, (pictured below) who graciously supplied the wood again this year. Their help and support really made this the best crafting experience! We had kids sitting everywhere they could find a spot, including the ground.

The crafters went through eight small bottles and one large one of wood glue and even got a nice piece of 2x4 stuck to one of the wooden work tables! We tried and tried to get it to come undone, but it took Jerry and a few good strong whacks with a hammer to set it loose.

Thank you to everyone who helped and everyone who visited our booth! We are so proud to be a part of such a great community.

I just had a wonderful meeting about culture with two young women (who work for another company) who are used to being in a typical hierarchical workplace where showing up to work with joy and excitement was quickly shut down by co-workers and leaders, and where they felt very much like they needed to show up with their game faces, keep emotion down and "get the job done".

They shared that now that they are in a work environment where they are asked and encouraged to share their thoughts, to disagree, to explore ideas, where they are allowed to feel safe, share personal experiences, feelings and emotions; they are needing to relearn how to feel and express that joy for work and how to feel safe sharing who they are in a work environment. They find that they are often second-guessing themselves as to whether they showed up "right" or said "too much". When they share with their friends what they talked about at work that day, their friends are incredulous that they shared something personal or vulnerable with co-workers: "You told them that?!" is often what they hear.

What came up for me while listening to them share, was a realization that we as culture creators, are, on a very basic and vital level, helping people reunite with their innate, childlike wonder and joy and with their own "weird selves" and that we are helping people to reconnect with the deep inner knowing that at our cores, we are trusting, loving beings - and that in doing this, we create a ripple effect that is boundless.

Sometimes, at the end of the day, I feel like I haven't done nearly enough (cosmically, not tactically) but watching these two young women struggle with being themselves, and worrying when that's too much, or when that's not enough, I realized that every day, I have the opportunity to help someone connect a little bit more with their joy, their weird self, their real self, and that that is a truly important thing for me to accomplish each day.

-Jocelyn Lovelle

Casey Hornback Delivers Amazing Customer Service

Casey at work with a Stihl chainsaw

We often get compliments and great reviews on our customer service. We have one employee, however, who consistently goes out of his way to offer spectacular customer service. Here is a letter we received from a very happy customer.

"Hello Hassett Hardware-
Thank you for the email, I am glad my new saw is registered and I look forward to long and excellent use of it. I used it last weekend to deal with the tree branch that had fallen part way onto my house, and it performed just superbly. It starts so easily and runs so well, it does everything the manual stated it would do which is nice to see. It was a pretty long branch, good sized, and when I was done I found I hadn't even used a half tank of Moto Mix in the saw! Outstanding, I am very pleased.
I wanted to take a minute to thank you for having an employee like Casey Hornback on board. When I had decided to purchase a STIHL after doing a lot of research and speaking with more chain saw experienced friends I started calling around to the dealers nearby to find one I wanted to buy from. I am in Mountain View, so there are about 5 or 6 dealers nearby to choose from. Frankly, I was looking for someone I could establish a rapport with for this purchase and future needs, and even though I was able to find the saw elsewhere for a few dollars less I was happy to spend the extra money to deal with Casey and Hassett Hardware. He is extremely knowledgeable about STIHL, personable, an excellent salesperson. In these days of people working hard to tell one what they actually do not know it is great to find someone who does and tells the straight story. He did an excellent job, did what he said he would do, and when I picked my saw up the day after speaking with him on the phone it was set up and ready to go. An excellent shopping experience all around.
You guys are lucky to have a resource like Casey on staff; I will be steering friends and family your way, and look forward to visiting you for my future hardware needs.
Cheers!"

-Jim A.