Thursday, June 25, 2015

Staying Positive in the face of Daily Struggles

We all live with daily struggles, some are small and some a large! Over the last couple of months mine have seemed very large!  I know on the grand scheme of things, they are relatively small but for me that are HUGE!  As a single woman, my struggles are mainly Financial, I never seem to have enough money to cover everything that I need to pay so I am always late on something.  Truthfully it sucks!!

I work full time, 40+ hours a week, at a job that I used to love, and now dread.  I am no longer happy with my position or doing the same stuff day after day after day.   I know this will change, I know that I have a great position with an amazing income for someone with only a high school GED and limited college.  I am just in a funk that I cant seem to dig myself out of, but I WILL, I always do!

In August 2013 I made the conscious decision to attend the first ever Younique Convention, and I LOVED IT!  I do not regret that decision one bit, however, the money it took for me to get there, that should have went to pay bills instead, is a mistake that i have not yet been able to fix. Around this same time, my refrigerator died, my dishwasher died, and then shortly there after my Washer and Dryer both died. and I got behind on some payments, and then somehow I was a month or two or more late on everything!  I have tried to catch up and for the last 2 years I just keep falling further and further behind!  

Almost 5 months ago my friends decided to take the trip to Mexico that I had been asking them to take for several years, but I did not have the funding to go, so they went without me.  I was so happy for them and so very pissed at myself for letting my situation get to that point!  I pulled a copy of my credit report from every agency and made up a spreadsheet that outlined everything. I then estimated what my pay check would be for every payday between then and the end of the year.  I went through all my expenses, and changed what utilities I could to save money, then budgeted out how much I would have extra each month to put towards my debts.

At this point I was confident that I could get a handle on it within a year.  Then I got the court summons from an attorney hired by one the collection agencies.  That took me to my knees instantly!  I reevaluated my plans with them being the first priority, and contacted them to start payments.  Luckily it was small and I had three pay checks in May so I paid them off with the last check in May.  I also paid off my car, Yipee!!!

I reevaluated my spread sheet and had a plan in place to start on the next set of bills, while saving for the next convention and was feeling so much better, then I was hit by another court summons from another collection agency!  I have now once again set up a payment plan, not for the one I had intended to pay off next, but for the one that took me to court! My financial life is a mess!!! and because of it, I am sick all the time! My health is at risk because of the stress and fear that I am dealing with on a daily basis!

By now I am sure you are wondering why I am telling you all this, I mean really why would you care about my financial struggles?  Sometimes I don't even care!! 

Well through this all I have had Younique!  My small income from my Younique business has allowed me to still go to the movies with my friends once in a while, go to lunch, or dinner or heck even just buy groceries, and gas for my car!  Without my Younique income, which is very small because I have not built a team and do not work it like I should, I would be asking my family for help with groceries, or going to the food bank for whatever I could get from them.  But through all of this, my posts on facebook and the way I interact with people is positive!  I am trying to stay positive and in order to do so, I act positive in everything I do!!

Some posts something negative on my wall - Delete! - Someone says something negative about someone or something - Ignored! - A fellow presenter makes a negative comment in our group about the company, Delete - My LIFE has no room for negativity, I WILL NOT live that way any longer!  I WILL SUCCEED! I WILL OVERCOME my financial difficulties and I WILL turn my daily struggles into daily TRIUMPHS!!  

You are what you do and believe and I BELIEVE THAT POSITIVITY BREEDS POSITIVITY and negativity breeds negativity, which would you rather have in your life?

Younique has been such a blessing to me, and now I get to go on a Jamaica Cruise for FREE with a friend, so that I can get that time away that I so desperately need.  I know that after this vacation, I will be back to loving my job and my life and all my daily struggles will seem just a little smaller. 

I will continue to pay off the debts and work my Younique business, while focusing on my health.   I will continue to assist my customers to best of my ability and train my team to do the same! 

I also know that no matter what the lord has in store for me I will face it with a positive attitude! 

Stay Positive my friends!!!

 






Sunday, June 14, 2015

Three Little Words and One Amazing Company that Changed my Life!!!

In October 2012 I made a spur of the moment decision to spend my last $112.00 ($99 kit plus tax and shipping) to join this company called Younique, after reading a simple story about the founders and then reading the Mission Statement:

Younique's mission is to uplift, empower, validate, and ultimately build self-esteem in women around the world through high-quality products that encourage both inner and outer beauty and spiritual enlightenment while also providing opportunities for personal growth and financial reward.

This mission statement centers around three little words: UPLIFT, EMPOWER, VALIDATE, and this company, the founders and the employees, and the independent presenters, Live and Breathe this mission.

At the time I joined there were no products available, no website, no anything, but an inspirational Mission Statement that made me want to be a part of this company.  BEST DECISION EVER!!!!!

With Younique I received a new family, over 200,000 presenters world wide, that have become my #YSisters (and brothers), they support and encourage me as I support and encourage them.  We all work to help each other because together we will all succeed.

I went into this with the idea that starting at the beginning of a company, the ground floor, I am presenter #83, would allow me the time to build my business in order to supplement my retirement from my everyday job.  I can officially retire in 2029, so I have lots of time.  I have not pushed and worked my business as much as a lot of the other presenters have.  As of now, I have only advanced to Pink Status, and been paid as Pink only once, but I did it! I have lots of time to keep advancing and I will hit Black Status before I retire!

So by now I bet you are wondering just what #Younique has done for me that make me say Younique has changed my life, am I right?  Well I have spent the last 2 years and 8 months, learning about myself, and stepping out of my comfort zone, and for someone like me this is HUGE, and I still have a long way to go.

Since joining Younique I have had so many blessing bestowed on me, that I am forever grateful to Derek Maxfield, his wife Shelaine Maxfield, Melanie Huscroft and my sponsor, Nichole Smith, and so many others that I can't name them all.  They are each responsible in one way or another for my increasing self confidence, and feeling of self worth, and for that alone I love each and every one of them!

In addition to bringing me out of my shell, Younique and given me a small supplemental income. Since I have not build a huge team it is not a large income, yet, but I know that it will be.  Up till now it has allowed me to pay my bills with my paychecks and use my awesome purple debit card to pay for things like dinner with friends, lunches, movies, and one month my income was large enough to cover my entire Maui vacation!

I have now, thanks to my little purple Younique debit card, paid off my SUV, so I no long have a car payment; it has also helped me pay off another debt, and I hope within the next 12-18 months to be completely out of debt, with the exception of my home.  For me this is AMAZING!!!!

Since the start of the company Younique has done incentive trips, this year it is a cruise to Jamaica.  We had until the end of May to acquire enough points, through a number of methods, to secure a spot on the cruise.  We needed 25,000 points for one person and 40,000 points to bring a guest.  I worked my business like I never had and because my team is still so small, no matter what I did, I was not able to get the necessary points.  I ended up with less than 5,000 - but it was so much fun watching the posts on facebook and celebrating with all my #YouniqueFamily their success in earning this cruise.

Younique announced a couple of days ago that everyone who earned the cruise will get to take a guest with them, which is amazing; but they also announced that ALL the Black Status Presenters would be given 2 packages for a presenter and a guest to go on the cruise also, that they could distribute to anyone in their team in any manner they wish.

Nichole, my incredible sponsor made a video describing how she would be handling this give away, she split her tickets up and gave one for things the presenter was doing, and the other will go to the presenter with the highest PRS this month.

The video starts with her saying all these wonderful things about this presenter, and as I am watching it I keep thinking, that sounds like Lindsey (a fellow team member, who is simply awesome!) and then she says something along the lines of "So I just have to ask, Pamela Graham who are you taking to Jamaica with you" and I honestly had to back up the video a couple of times to make sure that she had really said my name!!!!

I AM GOING TO JAMAICA!!!!! and I GET TO TAKE A FRIEND!!!!!  All we have to do is make it to Miami and Younique is paying for the rest!!

I am still in complete shock that all the nice things she was saying were about ME!  It stuns me that someone described in such a nice way, could actually be me!  Who knew!

I decided right away that I am taking my friend Amy Marlett.  I met Amy when I was 7 years old, she was 6, and now 39 years later, she is still my best friend.  She knows all my secrets and loves me anyway, and no matter how much distance and time has separated us over the years, we always pick up right where we left off.  Now we get to spend some time just relaxing on a cruise to Jamaica!!!

Yes Younique has changed my life, for the better, in small and large ways.  I will forever be grateful to all those involved with Younique for helping me to live up to those three little words!