The Welcoming Committee
When I first moved to Los Angeles, CA in January 2011, I wasn't sure what to expect. The only time I had ever visited the city was the week prior to moving here to find a place to live, and I was very uncertain as to what my new life would be like. I was grateful that a friend from my hometown was vacating her one bedroom in Beverly Hills and I was able to take over her lease on such short notice. Knowing that I had a residence secured, I was anxious to see what my first day on the job in my new city would be like.
Being promoted out of Arizona to Co-General Manage a retail location at The Grove I was eager to establish rapport with my staff and run my store as I had run stores in Boston and Arizona... with enthusiasm that was aspirational and motivating. What I learned about LA on my first night was, in this city, the standard rules "need not apply" to certain residents.
I was notified minutes into my first shift that we would have a "special shopper" who would need special accommodations and security. Not having been trained in this, I rang the head of security for the center and asked for him to advise me on what I would need to do to ensure the guest had privacy while shopping in my store. We roped off the third floor of the store which is the children's level and I requested my new assistant to pull the most professional, poised and mature members of our staff to assist us with the customer's store experience.
We received the call from his assistant that he and his family had arrived and security of The Grove escorted him and his family through the swarms of paparazzi into our private entrance, up to the third level, where myself and my new staff were waiting to greet them. Being a day old to living and working in LA, I wasn't sure how a celebrity would treat my staff, what the proper greeting was or how to insure they had enough privacy while attending to their needs...so when the elevator opened I had my first real life movie moment of watching the one and only Johnny Depp stroll towards me (in what seemed like slow motion) with two beautiful, eager, excited children leading the way into the store. He had just finished filming one of the Pirates of the Carribean movies and his teeth were capped with gold and black crowns. He grinned warmly exposing his dental work and immediately gave me an open arm hug to express his gratitude like I was a long lost friend.
Half an hour into his precious daughter modeling every article of clothing on the kids level to get our approval, Johnny requested if there was a location "where he may light up a smoke" without being bothered by the papparazzi. I looked at the security guard, who simply said, "only place to go is up." Moments later, I'm standing on the top of The Grove with Johnny Depp as he worked his way through a smoke while repeatedly thanking me for making accommodations for him and his family. The conversation begin with "So Steph, I hear this is your first night in LA, I hope you don't mind that I came to personally welcome you and I hope we haven't been too much trouble." As I'm standing looking out onto the rest of The Grove from the clock tower next to Johnny Depp and security I thought well, I guess this is one way to start my adventure. I responded to Johnny by saying, "You have excellent timing, the day hasn't been a disappointment by any means." After two hours of playing dress up, Johnny's daughter left with armfuls of shopping bags requesting that I employ her when she was of age and gifting hugs to every member of our staff. Johnny followed suit by thanking every staff member with hugs, kisses on the cheek, compliments and countless "Thank you's."
His assistant left us with cash to distribute to each of the staff members who had assisted with the visit and then they disappeared through the back way confusing the papparazzi and maintaining their sense of privacy. On my drive home after a long first night full of excitement, I thought about how rare it was to have the opportunity to spend that sort of intimate time with such a well known celebrity my first night in the City of Angels. I parked, exited my vehicle and began my walk up to the extended stay my company was housing me at.
Worn out, with little to no make up left on my face from the day, hair tied back and "bundled up" to cope with the LA winter, I was not in any form to be seen by anyone I knew. As I walk closer to my building, I see lights, cameras, waredrobe and a crew busily running around the facility. And then there he was, Jay Leno was sitted on the steps to my building and all that came out of my mouth upon locking eyes with him was "Well, what are YOU doing here?" His response was "I just wanted to insure you made it home safe and had a nice night."
As any proud tourist would, that evening I immediately posted my photos with "my new friends" with the caption "It was so nice of Johnny and Jay to welcome me to LA." The next day at church, my parents were approached by our "mutual friends" on Facebook inquiring about my seemingly "close relationship" with Johnny and Jay. You can imagine the confusion on my parents face's as this was the first time they had ever been approached in regards to their daughter's friendship status with A-List celebrities.
Since this night, I have met, dined and shared venues with more celebrities than I can count for and the "Magic of Hollywood," celebrities and stardom, have lost its glimmer. However, I will always remember that night and laugh at the fact that the people of my parents church thought I had a "Welcoming Committee" of Johnny Depp and Jay Leno, where I am simply an Arizona girl who was running a retail store at The Grove in Los Angeles.
"Shopper to the Stars,"
OoXx,
Steph.
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