Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542297
going on. Don't be mistaken, he lived part of his time in Mississippi, and even when he would spend eight months in Mississippi, I was still on calls with him weekly about how things were going, and aer a brief conversation, he would say, 'Okay, I've heard enough. Let's talk about something else.' So he knew what was going on, and then I was able to take care of things by myself. My dad was very good about giving me the confidence to be able to stand on my own." Foster didn't take this charge of responsibility lightly. "This company is his heart and soul. It's his whole life. He built it from the ground up. He knew every piece in here. He was so passionate about it. And if he didn't think that I was doing a good job, he wouldn't have been gone. He would have fired me, I don't doubt he would have fired me in a heartbeat. I think he knew I could do it, and that is really all the confidence you need. Once I realized that he thought it, then I just took the reins and I ran with it." Longevity was important to Bayless, just as it is to Foster now. The maintenance of their collections and the care of instilling knowledge in their staff have served American Costume Company and its customers well for nearly 50 years. "The philosophy that I have continued with is that it's not so much about how much money we can make off of a product or a project. It's about making sure that your clothes are in the right hands, that they are being used in a correct manner, that they're going to come back safe for other people to enjoy in the future. That you're building the stock that you're puing back into the company. That's what we were founded on, and it's my dad who always used to say this company is a work box for the Costumers. This is their work box, they add to their work box, and they take from their work box. He provided this company for them, for their careers, in a way. So, when you're doing a show, and in the end you have something, you put it back into your work box so it's here for you in the future, it's here for other members. We keep the stock up; we are constantly producing items to add to the stock so that it is here for people in the future." MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 45