My 22 Year Journey

Wondering what this photo is about?  Hint:  my journey with Close To My Heart began because of this!  Read on for more info....

January is my anniversary month with Close To My Heart. On January 12, I celebrated 22 years as an Independent Consultant with Close To My Heart.  What a journey it has been! I thought it might be fun for you to hear a little bit of my story.

If you'd like to begin your journey as a Close To My Heart Consultant on my team, click here.  At the end of this post, I'll tell you a little bit about what being a member of my team means and what you can expect from me.

September 1992: I was the room mom for my daughter, Kori's (she's 28 now!) first grade classroom. Her teacher had the most darling catalog on her desk. I took a look at it and asked her how I could purchase some of the cute stamps and accessories. She told me, "Darn! I just had a party. If I had known you liked this kind of stuff, I would have invited you. Why don't you call the consultant on the back of the book and schedule a party of your own? That way you can get free stuff too!"  So, I did.  I had a great party. At the end of the party, the Consultant said, "Karen, you had a great party! You would be so good at what I do. You should think about becoming a Consultant."

At the time, I had just decided to enter the Mrs. Utah pageant.  The entry fee was $600, plus I would need an interview suit, evening gown, etc.  When my CTMH Consultant suggested I join, I thought about the $ I needed to compete in Mrs. Utah, and in...

January 1993: I joined as a Consultant. My plan was to earn the $ I needed to pay for my pageant and then get out. Little did I know that I would LOVE what I was doing. I earned the money for the entrance fee my first month, and the extra I needed for my wardrobe shortly thereafter. But, I was having so much fun and I was making GOOD money by going out and teaching people the craft of stamping a few nights per week. I was hooked! I thought I'd stick around a little longer.  In 1993, I had 3 children, the youngest of which was 1 1/2. He is now 23.  I had one baby after I became a CTMH Consultant. Dawson is now 20 years old.  My, how time flies when you are having fun!

Dawson was born in April of 1994, a little over a year after I signed up with CTMH. He is my "CTMH baby."

Fast forward over the next 22 years.  In those 22 years I have:

• built an amazing, award-winning, million dollar team with CTMH

• promoted from Consultant  to Supervisor, Manager, Executive Manager, Senior Executive Manager, Director, Sr. Director, Executive Director, and finally to Senior Executive Director (which is what I am now)
• been able to meet and get to know the amazing lady who founded and owns CTMH, Jeanette Lynton. They say that the climate of a company is determined by the ownership and leadership of it. That is so true with this company. It is a wonderful place to be because of this lady.

 

• taught at numerous national conventions
• had my artwork published in catalogs and magazines

• earned 11 incentive trips (Hawaii {3 times}, Alaska {twice}, the Caribbean {3 times}, Europe, and Mexico). I have taken my hubby on several and have been able to take each of my children on at least one trip with me, just one-on-one with them and me.  I also took the whole family on an Alaskan cruise. In fact, my hubby and I are headed to the Disney Aulani resort in Hawaii in less than 2 weeks, courtesy of CTMH!

The first trip I earned, to Hawaii

Dan and I on our 2nd trip, this one to Alaska

We took the whole family to Alaska in 2007

 

• watched team members become Directors and above (so fulfilling!)

 

 

• appeared on a national TV show

 

• appeared in scrapbooking videos
• done motivational speaking for CTMH and for other companies
• organized and held stamp camps, crops and other fun events for my customers and for my team members

 

• been awarded the highest award available in CTMH, The Spirit of Close To My Heart

 

• have earned sales awards
• have earned team sales awards
• have served 2 terms on the CTMH Advisory Board 

• have made thousands of friends

 

• have learned skills I never would have learned otherwise
• have made a significant contribution to our family's finances
• bought several cars and paid for my children's braces
• paid for dance lessons and private training for football, basketball and baseball for my children (which led to college scholarships for all of my children)

 

• paid for dance competitions and sports tournaments across the country
• supported our family during a time of unemployment for my awesome hubby

Trust me when I tell you that I NEVER would have dreamed all of this would come from that little decision to join and make a bit of money to pay for the Mrs Utah pageant (I did win, by the way. I think a lot of went into my win was my interview skills. I learned so much about self-presentation and confidence through standing in front of customers and my team members with CTMH). I went on to place 6th at the Mrs. USA pageant as well.  Thank you, CTMH for helping me fulfill that short term goal of becoming Mrs. Utah (and being able to represent our state as I promoted parent involvement in education).

Joining CTMH is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I invite you to join me and begin your own CTMH journey. Whether you want to just pay for your "habit" of papercrafting, make a little extra money, or create a career, CTMH is for you.

As the leader of the Pacemaker team (I named my team this because I believe "We keep the HEART {as in Close To My Heart} pumpin'!), I provide team meetings, weekly training emails, contests, challenges, one-on-one mentoring and so much more.  I'd love to have you join us!  Again, you can easily begin your CTMH journey by clicking here.  Once you've signed up, I'll contact you to welcome you, find out what it is you want to accomplish with CTMH, and how I can help you do that.