Some Days You Have to Change Your Plans

Kay, me, Patience, and Cindy at OnStage Live

I have a blog schedule (I do fairly well sticking to it, LOL) and decide at the beginning of each month what I'm going to blog about in each post.  This one is supposed to be about the July Paper Made Prettier Team Meeting, but I have something else I want to blog about (don't worry, I'll recap the meeting in my next post).

Today I want to talk about my upline.  One day back in August of 2013, Kay Cogbill invited me to a workshop that she had.  She had just been to Convention and was super excited. I think we decorated journals.  She led us in making them and told us about Paper Pumpkin.  I immediately signed up for Paper Pumpkin (I have to say that I was a pretty easy sell for that!).  On the door prize form I checked that yes, I was interested in becoming a demonstrator.  I think Kay panicked!  But she called m, I signed up, and we've never looked back (I call myself Patient Zero!).

Kay and I bumped along, she got a few demos and we had some team meetings along the way (mostly just her sister, Kathy, and me for a while!).  We went to Stampin' Up! Convention in July of 2014.  We had a blast!  Kay got to walk across the stage for earning the smaller of the two trips (she and Clark went to Washington, D.C. for a weekend that year) and we hollered and cheered for her.  But then they announced the next incentive trip...a Mediterranean cruise.  Well, Ms. Cogbill decided at that very moment that she was going to earn it!  She worked her little butt off.  We went to Leadership in Orlando in February of 2015 and learned a lot about running our businesses (and maybe went to a couple of Disney World parks with Linda!)

Cindy, Kay, Sara Douglass, CEO, and me!

About that time, my world at work fell apart and I lost all motivation to stamp or do anything with my business.  Kay kept me going.  She made sure I stayed involved, met my minimums, she checked up on me, and she was there for me.  Meanwhile, her business boomed and yes, she earned the trip!

I didn't go to Convention in 2015, nor did I go to the first OnStage Local event in Dallas in November.  I just wast interested in them. But she kept on bugging me to do stuff.  I had even stopped going to the Team Meetings. But still she wouldn't leave me alone.  (And there were times that I wished she would!)  I mostly kept my card class going and did piddly things here and there.

As soon as the dates for the April 2016 OnStage Live were announced she started asking me to go.  I relented and said that I would.  I still didn't really think I wanted to do much with my business, but I just thought I'd shut her up!

But then I started planning my swaps.  And then I recruited help to make my swaps...120 swaps!  And then she talked me into ANOTHER swap, so I made like 50 more swaps! Sheesh, was I tired of making cards!

And then I was back into it.  I stopped letting work control how I felt about myself.  I know Kay's smart (she went to Medical School after all!) so I started listening to what she said about me.  I guess having a psychiatrist friend can be a little dangerous to those who are stuck thinking poorly about themselves.

We went to OnStage Live, had an amazing time, and got incredibly motivated.  I started working on my class schedule at OnStage; I actually booked a class and made plans to stamp with two friends in May while I was still in Salt Lake City.  I made two other good stamping friends (shout outs to Cindy and Patience) and we have continued to support and encourage each other since we got back from OnStage.

Kay continues to motivate and encourage me.  She tells me fairly often that I encourage and motivate her!  I don't see how, but there you go...psychiatrist!

I was thinking about applying to be a sample maker at the next OnStage Local event...she encouraged me, helped me with project ideas, and then was just as happy as I was when I was selected, even though she knows that I can't show her any of the new products that I get!

Three cards...when one would work

Kay is a great upline.  She celebrates our achievements (even the little ones) and makes us all better uplines through her great example.  She actually sends thank you notes.  I got THREE today!  She could have put it all in one card and saved $1.00 on shipping.  But no, I had three successes so I got three cards.

She is determined to help us grow our businesses and to help me get to Silver Elite before the end of the year (she might promote to Gold at that point, just saying).  She got us a discount to sign up for training on how to hold better events.  She's willing to sit down with us to help us figure out our goals and how to meet those goals.

Anyway - this is my shout out to Kay Cogbill for being my friend, my biggest fan, my role-model, my confidence booster, and the best upline ever!

Love you, Kay.