Warning! Reading this could bore you to tears:) or I've just put on my Big Boots

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.” 

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I love these boots.  This is their fourth winter season so they are old friends.  You know the kind, they're broken in and comfortable.  There are a few scuffs that give them character but all they need is a little bit of extra tlc every year to make them as good as new.  Last week I decided it was time to brush them off for an adventure so I took them to my local shoe repair shop and then to Palm Springs.

Indulge me as I take a trip down memory lane.  I started out in the business world fresh out of college with The Dial Corporation and later with Proctor and Gamble.  That first job was tough! I sold canned meat and soap in northwest Florida, south Alabama and southern Mississippi.  I was one of two women in the New Orleans region.  I quickly moved to P&G where I worked in their Patient Care Products division out of Dallas. I sold incontinent briefs to nursing homes.  My demo kit was lots of fun at parties!  That was in the 80's. The Dallas-Ft. Worth area was pretty exciting back then and I learned a lot about why P&G is such a well respected company.

Here I am making my first basket!

I met my former husband in Dallas and stopped working for about three years when my son, Andy, was born. After my daughter, Laura, was born at UNC Chapel Hill in 1990 I stumbled across the Longaberger Basket Company. It's a family owned company based in Ohio that sells handmade baskets using a direct sales model.  I loved the product and was looking for something I could do part time while I was raising my children.  I remember taking a walk with one of my neighbors while I was thinking about joining Longaberger and feeling very anxious!  It turned out to be a good decision.  I did that for ten years before returning to school to study art and interior design.

Fast forward...to California in 2001 when I started to paint. Within a year I had amassed enough paintings to have a show and established myself here in California as an artist.  Of course, I still have the joy of doing that full time.

Painting in Morro Bay, CA  Still pretty happy!

Rewind to that walk to Palm Springs;)  I attended a wealth management conference there sponsored by a company called Peak Potentials.  It was exciting to learn more about investments and budgeting and to hear about various opportunities from leading business  experts such as Bill Walsh, Courtney Smith, Alex Mandossian and Keith Cunningham.

I love where I am in my career but want to expand it and tap back into my business experience.  I've decided to start training with Bill Walsh http://www.ipowerteam.com.  I'll bring my experience in art and creativity to the business world and will work with him and his team on how to do that.  So that's under wraps while I develop it but I wanted to share the next step in the journey!

It's always funny to see how clearly one choice leads to another in retrospect.  It's far from clear when taking the first step.  So, my goal is to create, teach and enjoy my life! Let's see where this one takes me!

In the words of Anais Nin, "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."