JEFF AND ELIANA FRANKLIN

There is something about this story that makes me want to sign up for Latin Dance Classes and break into the Merengue! 

Eliana Casillas loved her job being clinical manager to an optometrist. She’d been with the eye surgeon for seven years, but had worked in the medical field since high school. The one downside was the long hours the job required. Having to work weekends on occasion made it more difficult for Eliana to date. 

“I could probably count my previous boyfriends on one hand,” Eliana said. “I got bored very easily. If I didn’t see a future or if things didn’t click after a month, I would break it off. Then I might go a few years without a boyfriend.” 

There is no mincing of words when Eliana professes, “Sometimes having a boyfriend was like work. I would get questions like, ‘Where are you? What are you doing? Why haven’t you picked up the phone?’ So when I did have free time, I would hang out with friends.”

Being needled with possessive-type questions had become a nuisance. 

Then there was Jeff Franklin, fresh out of college with a degree in business from Kaplan University. Instead of landing a job in sales or owning a business as he had desired, he found himself working odd-and-end jobs at a promotional products distributorship his brother-in-law owned. 

At the age of twenty-three, Jeff’s sister and brother-in-law had heavily tried to recruit him on multiple occasions to join their distributorship. Jeff recalls that one point in time when they basically said, “Hey! Just come out to Vegas, go to the show, and have fun.” 

The one stipulation was to do the education sessions and walk the show. They made it clear that if it was something Jeff was interested in doing, he could join their company. If not, then it was a free trip to Vegas. 

“I never really understood the industry fully,” Jeff said. “People explain it by saying, ‘I sell t-shirts, hats, mugs’ or whatever, and it never really clicks. After attending the education classes, walking the show floor, and reading a book my brother-in-law gave me to study about the industry, I caught on. The wheels started turning, clicking, and falling into place.” 

The only downside was the business was located about an hour from where Jeff lived, which made for a long and tiring commute. “I was looking for something to do in the evenings to avoid sitting in traffic after work every day because I loathe it. So I looked into Latin dancing: Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, that sort of thing,” he explained. “By the time the classes ended, the traffic had cleared so I could get home quicker.”

“Long story short, I found a place and met a bunch of people. One of those friends reached out to me and said, ‘Hey! I was just talking to my girlfriend, and I thought you guys would hit it off really well.’ So of course, I was skeptical and said, ‘Great. What are you guys setting me up with?’” Jeff laughs.

“I told my friend to send me her Facebook page, and I’d check her out. When I looked Eliana up, I said, ‘Dang. She’s pretty cute. Maybe this will work out.’”

After a week of chatting via Facebook Messenger, Jeff and Eliana met in person. For a hard-working woman who didn’t date much and was cautiously selective when she did, it was quite a stretch when, just two months after her first date with Jeff, Eliana moved in with him. 

When a woman finds a good man, she lets him know it! 

Not too long afterward, Eliana treated Jeff to a Steelers game for his birthday. In the middle of a play, she threw some M&M’s onto his lap. The candy came out of nowhere, and Jeff was shocked. 

On one side was an image of Jeff and Eliana. On the opposite side were the words, “Would you marry me?” 

“At first, I took the M&M’s as her proposing to me; when, in fact, it was her letting me know she was ready,” Jeff said. “She used a promo product—not through our industry—but she used a promotional product to actually ‘propose’ to me, which I thought was pretty cool.” 

“A couple of months later, Jeff did officially ask Eliana to marry him during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.”

Like floating bubbles that are so close but don’t touch, Eliana points out the intriguing: “Jeff—before we met—literally worked a couple of blocks away from where I worked. We hung out at the same places but on different days of the week. He used to go to the Barking Dog on Tuesdays and dance the Salsa, and I would go on Wednesdays because I played kickball on Tuesdays. And then he went to the Salsa Room on Fridays, and I went on Saturdays. So we never crossed paths yet we were so close to each other—even working in such close proximity to one another.”

In 2012, Jeff left the industry and took a job as corrugated purchasing manager for a box company, which was closer to home. “I was purchasing corrugated sheets that they make boxes out of, and it didn’t take long for me to quickly decide I wanted to get back into the promotional products industry.”

Having a good relationship with Tony Karlicek, who was the President of Headwear at the time, paid off when Jeff asked if he had any positions available. Headwear didn’t; however, lucky for Jeff they created a job for him. 

Meanwhile, Eliana was still working overtime at the optometrist’s office. So when Jeff left a couple of days early to head to Vegas for the January 2014 Expo, he took Eliana with him. This was his first trip to Expo as a supplier rep and her first trip ever to Vegas. 

Quickly, business turned into pleasure. Already engaged with an April wedding date set in Cancun, on a whim, Jeff suggested, “Why don’t we just get married today?”

Why not? Eliana was on board. After all, she wanted to avoid having to go through the court paperwork and all of the legality hassles that marrying internationally requires.

Around ten o’clock that night, they began calling places that were open. In a blink, the two became one on the evening of January 11th, 2014. Aside from the Justice of the Peace, their parents and their siblings knowing, no one else had a clue Jeff and Eliana Franklin had married.

However…that was only the beginning of a twist of events. Jeff and Eliana married again—before family and friends—in Cancun, Mexico, on September 12th, 2014. 

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes Jeff and Eliana with a baby carriage. 

Her social life had been almost extinct from putting in so many long hours at the optometrist’s office, so it was through the hands of fate that Eliana met Jeff through their mutual friend. Now trying to raise a family, be a good wife, and work extended hours was taking its toll on her. 

Angels come as human messengers. At the time Dana Geiger was leaving CPPA, Jeff was the Vice President. They got into a conversation and Jeff asked Dana how she got into the business. She shared that she became involved in the promotional products industry when her kids were small because it allowed flexibility and gave her more time to spend with her children. She could see them off to school and be there for them when they returned home. 

Dana’s testimony presented a light bulb moment for Jeff. “Wait a minute,” he said. “Maybe my wife will be interested.” 

Time after time, Jeff heard Eliana admit being overwhelmed with the amount of hours she was working, which only gave her a small window of time to spend with their children. 

What evolved from Dana Geiger’s conversation with Jeff: Eliana is now the executive director for CAAMP, Carolina’s Association of Advertising and Marketing Professionals. Jeff is the national accounts manager for Headwear.

The promotional products industry never disappoints. One couple with two weddings in two different parts of the world on two different dates with two different career paths that both wind up in the same business. What are the odds?

Fate moved its magic hand, first leading them to each other and then together into Promo Land, and the two couldn’t be happier!