Has it really been a week since I packed up my car after the Nursery Trade show in Portland and headed north to Seattle?? It seems longer than a week and yet like just the other day that I pulled into Emily’s driveway and hugged my baby girl as she came out to greet me. Whew…here I sit, ensconced in my little (big by SF standards) apartment on a cloudy Saturday morning, jasmine tea to the side of me, ready to recap the week.
The Nursery show overall was good, positive feedback + enough orders to pay for the booth. One of my favorite comments wasn’t really a comment at all, more of a visual comment. Last Saturday a woman came by my booth who works as a Nurse, she was at the show with her husband who owns a Nursery. One by one she would pick up my cards and read the sentiments. She asked “You write the words too?” When I assured her I did, I looked at her and she was wiping away a few tears in her eyes! She’d been reading the Inspirational and Comfort cards. I’m not sure which one truly “touched” her but was grateful to realize that my cards could elicit such emotion! She was thrilled with the cards and purchased quite a few for herself.
As I was driving on my “road trip”, I listened to quite a few Success CD’s. Mark and I have a subscription to SUCCESS magazine and each month they send an audio CD inside the magazine which contains a few interviews of the people showcased in that months issue. I LOVE to listen to the inspirational interviews/stories. It’s such a shot in the arm for me as I fill up with confidence, belief and a knowningness that I too can accomplish great things!! I was considering my priorities (one of the topics) as I drove and realized that now was the time to quit Weight Watchers. I joined Weight Watchers as a Leader almost 2 years ago. It was a great learning experience for me (learning to facilitate a meeting…a skill I will continue to use as I do workshops) and yet I realized that I no longer could keep doing it. While at the Motel 6 in Grants Pass, OR, on my return trip to SF, I emailed my WW boss and told her the time had come for me to leave because my business was taking more and more of my time. That was a HUGE thing for me to do. I loved inspiring people each week and didn’t want to leave my two meetings but realized in order to follow my dream I needed to make the change. I was surprised at how relieved I felt once I made the decision! Funny, big decisions can be like that….once you make them, you feel the relief!
One of the reasons for my busyness increasing in the business was the fact that I signed on 2 new rep groups last week. I’m thrilled to say that I will now have representation in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota) and the Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska)! I have a goal to get rep coverage throughout the country by the end of the year. I’m getting there! With more reps to get orders for me, I’ll be able to exponentially grow the company. That plus I’m hoping for a few licensing deals for my artwork on product. I’ll write more about the rep groups later…it was a big part of last week!!
Last but not least, I had a lovely, lovely, time hanging out with my kids in Seattle. We BBQ’d, played miniature golf, canoed at Lake Washington and just enjoyed each others company immensely. The three of us (Bob, Emily and I) were so very tight the many years I was a “single” mom and we lived in our big house on 40th Ave. It still seems strange to me that I up and changed my life so completely when marrying Mark. Had I not, however, Words and Watercolors would still be inside of me rather than out inspiring others! It’s all part of that “let your music out” I wrote about a few weeks ago…that and I was shocked to realize that my arms were really sore after canoeing!! enJOY the 3 day Labor day weekend!! (Thankfully Summer is just beginning here in the Bay Area!)