Why Go To Conference?
So many of you have emailed me personally regarding the post I sent to the lists this
week - kinda my own "testimonial". Thank you so much! There are, believe it or
not, a few readers of this website who do not subscribe to the lists, so I will post it
here as well. The biggest reason? Perhaps it will convince some of you who may have
already decided NOT to attend National Conference that you just CAN'T NOT GO!
This post was a reply to one sent to the lists by a consultant thinking of leaving
PL. It's NOT me! Sorry - you're stuck with me!
RE: I just wanted to let you all know that it looks like I won't be
selling PL anymore.....
Best of luck to you ! You know you can start back up whenever you are ready - you are a
consultant in [company]'s eyes for the next two years, even though you may be inactive.
Perhaps after your move in June you will be ready to try it out again - stay on the list -
keep getting ideas & support! If there's any way you can still keep conference on your
summer schedule - I'm telling you - please try to do it! EVEN if you don't think you will
ever sell another candle in your lifetime!
Conference isn't just about learning how to do [company] better, what you learn there is
LIFE-CHANGING for YOU, as a PERSON! That sounds so corny, but I can't say it any
different. I went to conference last year with one show on my calendar - not to learn
[company] - but to meet all the people I had been emailing back & forth - I guess a
little ego-boost. Really had no intention of doing any more with [company] than staying
active so I could buy my candles at half price. From day one at conference, I basically
planned to sit back, listen, and prove to myself that it was a bunch of hype, and rah-rahs
with people who just didn't want to work a REAL job....
Around half way through day 2, I started to feel something change within me. THEY were all
real people, choosing to work a different REAL job...and choosing to have a better
standard of living. Even on day 3, when Dianne challenged us to commit to leadership - all
around me, people were signing the commitment slip. I KNEW it was not something I
personally was interested in even remotely, but I felt some peer pressure and signed my
slip...so I could wear a ribbon too...ok I'm a little shallow sometimes! I figured, what
the heck, no one will know when I get back home about that piece of paper, and no one will
be calling to check up on me when it doesn't happen, but I won't feel so left out right
now.
And at night after the day sessions, I continued to meet people who I have emailed back
and forth, we went to supper together, sat around in the lobby of the hotels together,
went to the Hard Rock & happened to meet Kevin & Billy & take pictures with
them, stayed up way too late talking to everybody, had a few drinks, had a great time! But
still, I knew I would come home after conference and go back to life at my real job, my
real responsibilities, and a show here and there.
I bought the set of three conference tapes while at the company store, and on the way home
from the airport - a 1-1/2 hour drive - popped the first one in. What the heck...might as
well listen to them since I bought them. I cried nearly the whole way home. Even had to
stop once because I was so moved. When I got home, I felt like there was nothing I could
do EXCEPT 2+2 - I HAD to do it. Why would I spend all that money without even giving it a
chance to work? (I am a realist as you can tell)
I booked 3 shows that afternoon - 2 of which were starters. The one show I already had on
my calendar was a starter that had been planned earlier in the summer - my first Team
member - Nancy - who is also one of my closest friends now.
Things just started happening. I continued to work my full-time govt job, prepared for a
yearly trip with the American Legion Band that I attend National Convention with every
Labor Day, got my 6 year old ready for 1st grade, and did a few shows. I had sponsored 3
by the second week of September, and finally had more than 2 or 3 solid shows on my
calendar for a month. I started to think maybe that leadership commitment that I signed
could actually happen...
I wanted that sweatshirt in September REALLY bad....so I did my first $2500 month and GOT
IT! $2500 month meant I met & talked to a lot of people....sponsored another in
October, and helped one of my already qualified consultants sponsor two in October also. I
DID PROMOTE to Unit Leader of the Candle Net-Wick November 1!!!! And, by the way, left
that full time govt job that I was very comfortable in - also Nov. 1.
It hasn't necessarily been easy the last 4 months...but our unit HAS remained active - and
we are up to 10. April 5 is my one-year anniversary with [company] - I would never have
believed I would spend a year with this company. My personal business is not as strong as
it should be - but I know I can turn that around. Have I considered letting it go? Of
course. Remember I'm a realist. But I gain so much inspiration and motivation from these
lists, and from doing Best of the Boards, any time I get close to letting it go, I read
some entries in my guestbook, or read some posts to the boards & lists, and realize
that I AM making a difference in some people's lives, and know that I HAVE to go on!
I also see what a difference [company] has made in my consultant's lives, and know that I
want to continue to be a part of that, and make it possible for others to do the same. You
can do that too, but only if it is right for you.
Belinda