A little reminder

This weeks reminder from my Passion Planner sparked these thoughts so I thought I’d share them with all of you!

Here’s your reminder to be be mindful this week as you go about life.

The more we pay attention to the small the things the bigger of an impact we can have on the world around us. To me, that’s the core of self care, starting with the small things because they truly have a huge impact.

Our family is fitting this posh business into our crazy busy and chaotic schedules because we know the power in pampering. That power of slowing down to intentionally pamper our bodies or the quick moments of self care using products made with the very best ingredients. Many people are rushing from one task to the next right now feeling very overwhelmed and we know we have the power to teach them the very beginnings of self care by sharing this amazing product line.

Self care has to start somewhere and we can be the ones to start that for the people around us by planting that seed. Then it will grow into a glorious plant and they will learn to be still and refill in the other ways that are self care for them. Reading, walking, creating, napping, soaking, etc……

Before I found Posh products and the power of pampering I was a very busy military wife momma of 4 under 10 years old. Posh showed me how to fit pampering moments into my very chaotic schedule and then that grew into learning other ways of self care too. With using these quality products as a jumping off point and they will always be apart of my self care routines now.

What’s your self care journey??? Did Posh remind you to take care of you too?

Team Posh Blessings: Connection

A little yet powerful message I wrote out to my incredible team mates this morning and thought it might be nice for others to read it too. Team Posh Blessings is more than just selling soaps and lotions, the amazing connection that is woven into our business is absolutely cherished and we are so grateful to be connected to so many through Perfectly Posh.

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Today I hope you see this post and are reminded of the amazing power you have with your posh business. The power to see people, to truly connect with the world around you.

The products you share are fun, affordable, made with incredible ingredients and come with the message of self care. Reminding others that they deserve to take moments for themselves using a product that makes them feel amazing and brings a smile to their faces. Reach out today and connect with the intention of just bringing a smile to their faces. Of giving them a reminder of self love.

Our parties are another way to build this human connection, reaching more people who may need to hear your pampering message. People who are crazy busy and during the time you get with them for a party you get to make an impact on them. Showing them about self care and touching them even now while we are still social distancing. Everyone is craving that connection and you have a way to reach them.

Our incredible team here is another form of connection that your business offers. We have a wide range of amazing people here from all over the US. We are all crazy busy, have our own goal and yet we all love this product line so much that we share it with others and earn ourselves extra money. We’ve grown together over the years as leaders, posh lovers, friends and team mates—all of it is connection. Which is insanely powerful and has helped many of us through tough life situations with just having this happy Poshy place to plug in to during all of the chaos.

You are here because you love the products and have the power of connection in multiple ways with your business. I’m thankful you are here in TPB and look forward to watching you grow. 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

Love Brené Brown

Take a break…..

Take a break, if you’re a Hamilton-Fan too, now you’ve got this song stuck in your head.

Take a break. Often times I find myself overthinking this simple yet powerful task. I’ll talk myself out of taking just a few moments to fill up my cup by thinking about all of the other things that I should be doing in that moment. When in fact the time it took me to overthink taking a break could have been used in a simple pampering moment.

That’s why I’ve learned over the years to set up my products so that they become part of my daily tasks. Like this little hand scrub station right here next to my kitchen sink, I placed the sweet melon scented sugar scrub right next to the hand soap(I love shopping grove!) so that atleast once per day I can easily treat myself to a hand scrub. We are all washing our hands way more lately and that leads to drier skin which then needs to be scrubbed, so this simple set up leads to an easy peasy pampering session.

Of course after washing and scrubbing, my hands need that non greasy moisture packed posh hand creme so I be sure to set one there so it’s easy peasy to use it too. What’s your favorite posh hand creme scent? Is it current or retired?

This simple pampering set up is placed on a vintage hot plate which I’ve collected over the years. They have silly sayings that make you think and I just love them. This one is my most current findings and wow is the meaning so powerful for me. Anyone else feel it too? The hurrier I go the behinder I get.

Truly a lesson I’ve learned over this last year that has been filled with many lessons of being still in the busyness. When I would try to hurry through whatever I was facing it felt like things just got messier and messier. It wasn’t until I learned the true meaning of being still that life seemed to become more manageable, I was content and learned the power of being still.

So this little pampering set up helps me take care of this body that I have been given, which then fills up my self care cup, all while making it simple. Everything I need for a 1 minute pampering session is right there on that hot plate with the reminder to be still. Do you set things up for yourself like this? If not then I’d highly suggest to take a few moments to set up something like this for yourself. I’ll be sharing more of my set ups over these next few weeks and I hope that it inspires you to be still and refill.

Blessings,

Nicole

Greatest Numbers Fiasco….ever

C15-C15-C15-C15 I tell myself over and over as I’m waiting my turn as we board the plane. C15-C15-C15….then I sit in C13…..completely thinking I sat in C15 until the owner of the seat questions me and I realize I did it again, embarrassment washes over me as I gather my things and make my way to my seat C15.

I’m the worst with numbers and remembering them even when I’m aware of it. It doesn’t matter, my brain over thinks and pulls a fast one on me anytime there is pressure and numbers combined. Such a huge weakness of mine that I wish I could solve so badly.

This weakness reared its ugly head yesterday as I woke up full of excitement to attend a Hamilton show that Abbs and I were looking forward to since August. Abbs even worked hard to pay for her ticket by selling her string art, so many hours creating designs for others to earn the money needed.

We counted down the days to be able to purchase tickets and were able to buy some of the last two tickets crazy close to the stage when they went on sale. It was a frenzy and many didn’t even get the chance to buy tickets that day so we felt so lucky to get tickets for Dec 2nd for the 1pm showing, writing it in our calendars and were looking forward this day as we talked about it daily.

Waking up to tasty waffles and coffee made by my hubs, then heading off to get around for this big day. See neither of us grew up getting to attend concerts or shows like this, so today was a giant deal. We spent hard earned cash on this moment and we knew how exciting it was for our Theatre loving kid too.

I realized that I hadn’t downloaded the Ticketmaster app yet to get our mobile tickets so before I started my hair and makeup I sat down to figure that out. I pulled up my email that I remember coming in but didn’t read it and that’s when it hit me.

Dec 1st at 2pm…….ummmmm NO, that can’t be right I have written down Dec 2nd at 1!!! What is happening!?? How can that be?? Help!!!!

Oh. My. Gosh. I super imposed the numbers. We missed our show. In the really close to the stage, really expensive, great seats. I wanted to puke. I cried and screamed, this was a HUGE mistake, how am I supposed to fix this!? Abbs worked so hard to go to this show, we both are huge fans but letting down my kiddo was the worst feeling ever.

Not really knowing what to do next I posted a quick status to my Facebook account.

This was far more about praying for a good outcome for Abbs and not anything about the money lost or any material thing. I just wanted it to work out smoothly and not have to let down my daughter, she’s such a good and hard working kiddo.

I was going from bawling to screaming and truly freaking out as I tried to critical think my way of what to do next. The venue for the show was the Durham Performing Arts Center and their phone lines were closed this early so we decided to call Ticketmaster when they opened at 9am to see if they could do anything for us.

That didn’t get us very far because in my frenzy to purchase the tickets in August I missed the box to buy ticket insurance. Another mistake due to excitement. So we were completely out of the money we paid for the original tickets, the ones that I mixed up the dates and completely missed sitting in our crazy good seats. There was nothing they could do for us other than say there were a few tickets left on their site for the last two shows of this location.

Devastated and sickened that all of that money was gone, what do we do now? We don’t have the cash with the holidays here to just buy more tickets but really that was our only option to make this right for Abbs.

With my two businesses, selling pampering products and creating fun earrings, I knew that I could work really hard to cover the price of the second tickets. The seats were not even close to as good as our originals but they would get us there. Giving us those memories that will last a lifetime, so whatever I had to pay in total for this moment was worth it to me and I’d work as hard as I could to provide the money for it.

That’s where that status I posted comes in, as we were figuring out what to do and searching for tickets. My friends were going through the emotions and coming up with a plan of their own without me asking for help.

I just needed prayers for it to workout smoothly. They took it in their own hands, a few of my best friends even offered to get us tickets themselves. I told them I already snagged tickets and my plan was just to work my businesses really hard to pay for them. That’s where their overwhelming support started, they went to my site and began buying earrings. Then sharing my link to encourage their friends to do the same.

The support, friendship and compassion they showed was flowing and all I could do was cry. My phone was blowing up over and over with order after order. I couldn’t believe that people would rally with me over this crazy embarrassing mistake.

Post after post of friends showing their support and lifting me up during this time. As I got ready to rush up so we wouldn’t miss the show, more people were sharing and more orders were rolling in.

By the time we made it to DPAC, got Abbs her special program, took pictures and waited to take our seats the sales from all of that sharing was reaching the amount we had to pay for these second set of seats. I wanted to bawl standing there seeing the joy in Abbs’ eyes and knowing what my friends were doing for us.

The show was INCREDIBLE, if you ever get a chance to go, run. Enjoy. Sit there and take in the genius of Lin Manuel Miranda. Being super fans for years, the butterflies in our tummies were going overtime and we were smiling from ear to ear. Thank you.

Seeing the stage for the first time took our breath away and Abbs sat there telling me all about the stage. Sharing all of her theatre knowledge, chattering a mile a minute. We sat there excitedly, feeling the joy that was all around us. The lights darkened and I could hear Abbs let out a quiet giggle.

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore 
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot
In the Caribbean by providence impoverished
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

-Alexander Hamilton the first song of the show began and we were overwhelmed with emotions. I tried my best to keep in the tears while soaking in all that was happening on stage. Trying to watch the show and watch Abbs watch the show because her face was so priceless. Wow.

Intermission came, we stretched our legs and chatted about the actors, what we were wowed about and what we couldn’t wait to see in the next act. The boy sitting in front of Abbs turned and joined in our conversation as we geeked out that we were actually seeing Hamilton.

He was kind of shy and we could tell he was there by himself, getting to see a show that he’s loved just as long as us. The way he chatted you could tell that he just wanted a touch of human connection during this huge moment that we were sharing. I know that feeling all too well as an independent person who isn’t afraid of doing things alone but finding people to connect with makes that moment even better. We chatted with him more after the show and now I wish we would have connected in social media, but his kind conversation was such a joy in the chaos of yesterday. We hope we were able to be a bit of a blessing for him too.

The 2nd act was just as amazing as the 1st and it brought out all of the emotions perfectly. So good, more just wow moments. We clapped, cheered, laughed, cried and took in every single second. Wow.

After it ended we said goodbye to the people around us including that sweet kid in front of us that we shared that incredible experience and felt that magic with. Beginning to exit with the masses of people, some people had faces of awe like us and others of relief that it was over, ha.

We found a table and chairs to sit out and really let it all soak in. Creating a quiet moment so that we could really cherish what we just got to be apart of and share together. The look in Abbs eye was of wonder and something I’ll never forget.

Then as it emptied we were able to snap more pictures , read the signs and slowly make our way out of the theater. No rush, just taking it all in with the songs still ringing in our ears.

We got outside and started walking towards our parking garage. As we passed where they had the tour buses parked we heard an altercation happening with a tall man with bright red hair and the security officers. The man was screaming, threatening and going after them because they informed he couldn’t park where he was. The security guy was calmly asking him to calm down and just to move his vehicle. The two smaller security ladies were making their way to the sidewalk as we were passing and I asked if they were okay, they looked shaken but replied they were and that they’ve called the police. So Abbs and I kept walking, stumbling on the after show cast area.

Abbs face just lit up with excitement as she got this actors autograph. His part in the show was fun to watch. It was so cute to see her be so giddy. As we were just so excited, the sirens went off and lots of commotion unfolded right behind us.

The police arrived and that guy got back in his car and tried to flee. The security and police right on his tail got him to pull over right near where we were standing. Everyone around us asked what was going on and I briefly told them what we saw.

Then one of those sweet security ladies walked up to the crowd to see if we were all okay and asked if I had seen how he was acting. I replied I did and asked if she was okay. She said this time that she wasn’t and looked a bit scared. So my gut told me to ask if she needed a hug, when she replied she did I wrapped my arms around this stranger and could feel her whole body shaking.

Other people there also reached out to give her hugs and connect with her on a human level. You could see there was a ton of fear of the tall man going through her. When the last person gave her a hug, she shared that she was in a car accident the night before so it was just one bad thing after another. That’s when the words “would like me to pray over you?” spilled out of my mouth and her eyes softened from the fear for a moment and she replied “Oh yes, would you???”

She came in for another shaky hug, others standing there gathered around us and I prayed with all of these strangers, all different races, words of love, comfort and peace. Such a powerful moment. Her shaking stopped, she thanked us and went back to where the police were with that man. Boy what an impact this moment had on me for sure, not even thinking I just jumped in, that had to have been the lord using me as his hands and feet for sure.

We went back to getting autographs and soaking in all of the good vibes that seemed to be following us everywhere we went. Abbs totally geeking out to meet these actors up close and realizing how friendly they are. They are people with a love of theatre and have a dream just like her. Exactly what this amazing teen needed, making all of the work to get here worth every single second.

Getting back the van, I pulled up social media and realized that people were still sharing. People were still ordering my designs. People all over the United States were still showing love for me during one of my biggest mistakes ever. What grace and love that is.

We listened to the Hamilton soundtrack on the drive back home and had some of the best conversations as we watch the sunset in front of us. Such a fab ending to a chaotic day but boy was it filled with joy.

We may be out all of that money for those original seats but the memories we were able to make yesterday. The unexpected impact we had on complete strangers. The wonder of seeing a true professional show full of passion. Made every bit of embarrassment, shame, frustration wash right out of me.

Realizing this was a perfect example of how God uses all things for good, in ways you’d never expect. We were meant to miss our original show because we were meant to be there for that kid to connect with, for that security officer to pray with and for Abbs to feel the wonder with this exact show.

When bad things happen, know that we have the choice to seek the joy. Often times joy surrounds you in ways that you never even realized.

Blessings,

Nicole

PS: not sure how I’ll ever repay my friends for jumping in and believing in me in ways I just never imagined. The joy and hope they created yesterday is so beautiful. The only thing I know for sure is that I’ll always be here to share joy, believe in them and support them in whatever ways I can. Thanks, pals-you’re the best!

Happy Friday!

Today has been a joy, getting to see people achieve their monthly goals with their posh biz, listening to podcasts, the sun is shining, chatted on the phone with a long time friend and finished up designing these 6 sparkly earrings.

Also got them posted in our store, so if you want them head there to get them ordered. A few of these designs will be limited and not remade any time soon but they sure do bring me joy just looking at them and hope they make you smile too.

Blessings,

Nicole

 

19JOY Just for You.

This is our first holiday shopping season with this new line to our brand. It’s been such a joy to me to get to share my designs with you and see how much joy they bring to you as well. As a thank you for all of your support, we’d like to offer a shopping code for you to use starting today and ending Sunday evening.

Use the code 19JOY when checking out to get 19% off your cart total, until supplies last!

Feel free to share this code with your friends!

Our designs make the perfect gifts for yourself or to give.

We chose the code 19JOY in honor of the year to come and 19 is also the day I was born, fun, right?

We’ve got quite a bit of stock loaded into the site, over 29 different designs so we hope that this stock lasts for the entire sale.

As always, I look forward to sharing more designs with you this holiday season so be sure to keep following our line for what is to come.

We are looking into creating a referral rewards program, if you’re interested in that. Comment below!!

Blessings,

Nicole

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Love yourself first.

Love yourself first, yep. That’s my message for today, maybe you need to hear that you need self care. Maybe you need to hear that it’s not selfish to invest in taking care of your body. Maybe you just need these words today.

When taking the time to take care of the body you were given, it’s not all about the physical appearance. It’s more about acknowledging the amazing gift you’ve been given and actually loving it. For God calls us to love thy neighbor like you love yourself. The key there is that you need to love yourself. Truly love the body and person that you are. I believe that we must love people where they are and not where we expect them to be. The same goes for loving yourself, love where you are in this exact moment no matter your weight, anxieties, health issues, emotional baggage. How can you focus on loving yourself more to achieve more balance in your crazy busy life?

Pampering is about connecting with that power of self care each day. Less about what the products are doing for your skin. Sure it’s nice to use a face wash that keeps your skin clear from acne or an eye creme that smooths out wrinkles but the true beauty is the feeling you get from actually washing your face or taking care of the skin under your eyes. Pampering is a deeper connection with the vessel you’ve been given to go through life with. The positive energy you get from putting on a hand creme and feeling like your mood has been lifted isn’t superficial, it isn’t selfish, it’s joy-peace-love tapping you into the fruit of the spirit within each of us. Making sure your cup is filled by soaking in a warm bath or tossing on a face mask is essential to living a balanced life. There is a deep meditation and grateful practice that can come when you slow down in the chaotic life around you to make sure you are tapping into the power of pampering.

Pampering is about giving you really great products, made with the best ingredients that allow you to connect with yourself and with the world around you in such a needed way. You must love on yourself, love on your body, love on your soul. If you are not doing this then you may feel unbalanced, rushed, uneasy, and lacking in many areas of your life. There’s a reason when you are on a plane and they tell you to put your oxygen mask on before helping others. If you try and help others first then you are putting yourself at risk. Why would you choose to do that in normal life too? By leaving yourself last on the list you are shorting yourself in every relationship around you.

What’s the relationship you have with yourself? What’s that chatter that you replay over and over in your head? Is it kind? Let go of any negative words, literally stop them as soon as they start and focus on the joy all around you. Of course we all have our baggage, scars from hard times and our perspectives are all so different but each and every one of us is surround by joy. Joy that you just have to slow down and intentionally look for, this is what helps you grow into the person you were meant to be. You are here on this earth to build a relationship with God,  be the best human you can with the gifts you’ve been given and to impact this world by growing from all of the relationships placed in your life, which it all starts with you. The way you treat yourself is one of the biggest keys to happiness, success, balance and building strong relationships.

How about how you treat your body? Are you washing with love? Slowing down to pamper is just one way to focus on growing your self love. Use products that make you feel great and intentionally set aside time to use them. Clear your head of all of the stress, laugh at the names, feel the textures, notice your skin and fully allow yourself to tap into the moment you’ve created, even it’s just 10 seconds of applying a hand creme. If you don’t love yourself how can you expect to love others without feeling drained? You need to make sure your bucket is being partially filled by yourself, just like putting on your oxygen mask first.

In the hustle and bustle of life all of these lessons can quickly get lost. Here’s your reminder to tap into the powering of pampering to truly focus on loving the body you’ve been given. The benefits of being intentional with self care are worth every penny you spend on great products and every second you use to experience a few moments of pampering time. You deserve it, you are worth it and always remember that above all we must show love to ourselves to truly be able to show love to the world around us.

Blessings,

Nicole

Crazy Busy Work at Home Mom Life

Any boy moms out there relate to these dudes giving me a tough time about wearing pants today? They would be content with wearing their athletic shorts daily, no matter if it’s been raining or the temperature has dropped significantly. But today I had to push them to put the pants on just in case they needed to walk home from the bus, I needed to make sure they’d be warm. Normally I pick them up daily from the bus stops in my #poshmomtaxi but hubs car was hit in an accident yesterday so we are down to one vehicle. Yep, the hubs has my #poshmomtaxi and I’m keeping busy here at the house, the car wasn’t taken to the shop today so I could carefully drive the car to get the kids from the bus stop. So the jeans weren’t absolutely needed today but it did make me feel better knowing they’d be warmer, totally worth the battle.

 

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After getting kiddos off to school, I then start my day each day by going over what needs done today by checking into my planner. I use the Law of Attraction Undated planner that I get from Amazon, this is my second year using it and my creative brain just loves it. I’m a paper planner girl for sure, I’ve tried using apps to keep it all together but I just can’t get my brain to work well with digital planning. Are you a paper or digital planner? Or not really a planner kind of person? I’ll do a whole blog on my planning habits because I truly feel like it helps me keep this crazy busy life somewhat together with far less stress than when I don’t plan.

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Abby pulled these hand cremes from our vendor event luggage last night so that we could showcase one of our favorite gift sets for the holiday season this year. We love getting to come up with fun pampering gifts for our customers to give out. Self care gifts are often cherished long after the holiday ends so giving a pampering gift with us will truly make others feel special and cherished.

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How sweet is this hand creme with a hearty hand towel just tied with a simple bow? We will be giving these to everyone on our list and invite you to do the same. If you’re interested in ordering a few, email us at poshblessings@gmail.com or joining our VIP group on Facebook!

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Every month Perfectly Posh launches a fun exclusive product and November’s was this old school product. It’s a lip plumping lip balm, full of mint, shea butter and menthol which leaves your lips tingly yet highly moisturized. While I began designing earnings for today it launched and was so fun to share with our team and our customers. If you’d like to shop for your own Smoocheroo then head to our site, we’d love to spoil you for ordering with us.

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Daily design time, something that I’ve been scheduling for myself for the last few months and have noticed a significant drop in my stress level. Being a creative person, I’ve realized that I need to feed that part of me often or my life feels very unbalanced. That’s why I’m so pumped that these sweet earrings fill others with joy and we’ve been able to smoothly add them to our brand. The whole process is soul filling for me, picking out the fabrics, opening the rings, cutting them out and putting them together. Often while I’m doing it, I’m praying for the person who will be wearing them. Podcasts have become my fave to listen to while I’m designing as well, especially self help podcasts. I’ve been thinking it would be so fun to start one of my own, do you listen to Podcasts? What’s your favorite one?

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These three designs were completed today from start to finish and even posted online for purchase. Jump over to the store to grab yours today. If you’re headed to the happiest place on earth over the next few months these would be the perfect accessory. Snap some pics while you’re there, we’d love to see them in action.

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The biggest thing that happened today is we got some huge good news. They said YES!
I can NOT believe it! (Said in my best Little Einstein voice)
But the hub’s command said YES, we really thought they’d say no.
So I  accepted an all expense paid trip to Puerto Vallarta for the two of us for FREE. Well we worked hard for it but still everything will be paid for by posh! Everything. Flights, food, hotel, gifts while we are there, everything.
As military teen parents we never got a chance for a honeymoon 15.5 years ago or any kind of fancy vacay before so I am so stinking excited right now to get to share this experience with him.
I’ve got to go on my fair share of free posh vacays, you can too by joining our team  and choosing to work to grow a biz like us. All of the trips I’ve experienced were all by myself and Travis was at home with the kids. Always knowing how this guy has been such a huge supporter of this biz and how much I wish he could come along because Posh trips are so well planned and memorable. Now he gets to experience a trip and it’s going to be so much fun.
Thank YOU for your support whether you pamper with us or are on our amazing team!!!!

Now to figure out who’d like to watch the kiddos for us and to book flights for us to get there.

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These are just a few snippets of my crazy busy day but love getting to share with y’all. May you be able to feel the joy that is all around you today!!

Blessings,

Nicole

Joyful Blessings

 

A few years ago my sweet friend Diane messaged me after seeing I had just got a Cricut machine for free with our Posh Business. Her and I chatted about fun crafting projects quite often, she was a special friend from our home church in Titusville, PA. She gave the best hugs and her smile absolutely lit up the entire room. This message was about some material that she had gotten from grab bags that she’d never use and insisted that I take it. So the next time we made it back home she was sure to stop by to see us, give me one of her famous hugs and said “I can’t wait to see what you come up with to make with this stuff, I’m sure it will be neat!.”

Well life got crazy as it always does and I put that material in the Cricut suitcase, never really thinking about it. Last December we got the news that Diane had gone to be with the Lord that she loved so much, which was so hard for everyone whom she ever hugged. She was a special bright light, so full of joy. Several weeks ago I thought of that material and decided to pull it out to see what I could make with it. When I pulled out the 4 rolls of material I instantly could feel her hug from that day. Why was she so confident that I could create something neat?

 

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As I pulled the tubes out of the suitcase I instantly realized it wasn’t a sort of vinyl, like I had thought it was, instead it was faux leather. Feeling the softness of the leather and the woodgrain look I immediately thought that leaf like earrings would be so fun to create. I gathered supplies, calmed my brain and made my first pair which quickly led to my love of design to be sparked. Before I knew it I had made a bunch of these angel wing like faux leather earrings that are uber light on your ears and decided that I would add them to our Posh Blessings brand, offering them to our friends who were interested. So they too could have a piece of joy and fun jewelry to wear too. I was blown away as every batch we’ve posted sells out so quickly, such a blessing.

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She was right, I sure would make something neat out of that material. Every step brings me such stress relief too from the tracing to putting the jump rings through the material. I’m a crafter at heart for sure, my very first business was crazy successful as I made custom designed crocheted hats without patterns. Adding this to our blog just made sense to me and I hope it does for you too. Each pair is hand cut, a little imperfect in it’s own way but truly designed with love and joy. Just like Diane’s friendship, they light up any day, make you smile, and brings you so much joy.

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May these creations make you smile too, they are made with so much joy. Check back often for more designs and feel free to send your friends our way. Friends like Diane are so cherished and my prayer for you is that you have a few friends just like her. Remember to tell them often how special they are, how their hugs are the best and their smile lights up the room. Surround yourself with friends like her that see the potential in you even when you may not see it yourself.

Blessings,

Nicole

PS: You can shop these creations by clicking the tab Joyful Blessings right here on the blog!

 

 

Bringing Dreams to Life

 

Sharing this speech that I wrote for a leadership conference I spoke at in July of 2018 with all of you in hopes that my story may help you in even of the smallest of ways.

Can I get real personal with y’all, like uber deep to share a bit of where my heart is???

Some of my earliest memories always included some sort of dreaming. Dreaming to get through whatever rough patch I was going through has been a default mechanism for me to overcome it. Focus on something good, something bigger than myself, something that I would work towards. Like watching the Wizard of Oz over and over as a three year old, getting lost in the story of a beautifully colored dream and the storyline of having everything you need right there within your own backyard. Or by coping through my parents divorce by dreaming up all of the amazing places I’d go, the life I would build as an adult and people I’d connect with when I got older, was how I taught myself to deal with hard times. Learning from my childhood that thoughts are powerful, dreams are a necessity, and you are in control of how you look at situations. Gave me the wisdom to know that no matter the circumstances we face that we all have the ability to do whatever we set our minds to. Dreaming big dreams like wanting to travel the world, starting a foundation to bless others, having my own store, adopting kids, giving my kids the best life I could truly propelled my life towards experiences bigger than myself and has driven my life to where it is today.

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Can I get vulnerable with you and share a little background of my story that has made me into the person I am today?

Sometimes we unfairly face consequences from things we didn’t have any control over and how you respond to it-shapes the person you become going forward. Like for me my Mom came out of the closet when I was 10. It was the 90’s and being true to yourself wasn’t something that was wildly accepted like it is today, quite honestly it was dangerous at that time. I was tormented in school, lost all of my lifelong friendships and eventually we moved to a new town. A town where no one knew me and instead of being honest with my home situation, we lied. Shelly was just my Mom’s roommate, but in reality was filling in a role as raising me into the woman I was today. This experience totally propelled me into the genuine and compassionate person I am today because it was such a confusing time.

All from a decision that wasn’t mine, it had nothing to do with me but I certainly felt the consequences bearing down on me and it was extremely heavy to carry. I learned when facing something heavy like this you get 2 choices: 1 to let it destroy you, using it as an excuse of why you’re bitter or angry or 2 to move forward seeking all of the good you can find, even it seems small at the time. Thank the Lord for guiding me to move forward, I learned to overcome by finding Joy in the dark times by dreaming of the life I would make as an adult and it truly shaped me into a stronger human. Realizing by always searching for the good you can easily tap into the power of dreaming big and choosing to keep a positive outlook no matter what.

Many of you may not have something similar in your story but we all have had to deal with living through issues that you did not cause, I know this because we are humans who are connected to other humans. Humans are messy and imperfect. It doesn’t matter what the mountain or obstacle was that you had to overcome, the choice in how you react is all yours. Think back on those times, would you agree that the outlook that you chose either hindered or helped you to get through it? Finding the good then focusing on my dreams truly helped me get beyond the situation in front of me. Learning to do this as a kiddo truly shaped my life going forward.

Overcoming obstacles by dreaming big and working hard has been a running theme in my life, the same goes for the last 5 years. Lots of growth, frustration, joy and tears, building a business is certainly hard yet rewarding work.  Honestly I’m just now coming out of one of the darkest times for my posh story because life threw so many curveballs all at once, I found myself questioning everything. Let me share with you a few pivotal moments that helped me find the light again, that helped me find myself again.

On the plane the other day I sat next to a man in a business suit, we exchanged routine small chat and he shared that he was a HR Executive for a Fortune 500 company. Neat.  Then he asked. “So what do you do?” I felt like time stood still and 719 answers ran through my head. Do I say stay at mom of 4? Direct Sales Consultant? Posh Blessings Inc owner? My mouth opened and “I’m in Sales and I manage a multimillion dollar per year sales team.” I’ve NEVER said that OUT LOUD before, he looked shocked and began asking tons of questions. I shared with him the details of what I do and mentioned how I felt I needed a degree to go with my experience, (isn’t it weird how easily something that’s been tugging at you comes out of your mouth with a stranger who doesn’t even know you?) He quickly interrupted me “Wait a minute so you are a work at home mom of 4, Army wife and volunteer, attend church, manage a multimillion dollar sales team, clean your own house, and travel. How? How do you all of that? Where do you find the time? I’d hire you right now based on your experience. I can’t see where you’d fit time to get in a degree and to me that wouldn’t matter.” WHAT in the world?? This guy had no clue that I’d been really struggling with where I was supposed to be and yet he snapped me out of the self doubt fog that I’d been carrying in that single moment. That is when I started to realize what a God given conversation I was having, what a blessing.

See 2017 was hard for me and no not all Posh related, actually Posh wise it was great my amazing team hit Platinum, I went to Greece and Hawaii, we moved into my dream home, relationships were strengthened-that’s what happens when a family faces something hard together, right?

2017 was hard because it began with me unable to walk for almost 6 months from a botched knee surgery, this was so tough for me as a self efficient and independent person. Letting others help me was one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as an adult and it shook me to my core. 

Also my bonus mom passed away suddenly from a quick illness at the beginning of January. As a woman who had grown up in a two mom household and had an amazing bonus mom, I know that I was blessed in that department but Eve was my uber maternal mom. Even though she never physically had children of her own, she adopted a special needs son when she was single and rocked being the the best bonus(I dislike the word step as you can tell) mom ever. She taught me that you truly can overcome anything thrown at you and I wasn’t ready at all to live life without her daily influence. 

My whole world shaken in just a few short weeks and add to that Posh life, Mom life, Army wife life, LIFE—man, 2017 was rough and I didn’t handle it well. I managed my feelings and pain with alcohol which is never a good decision. I could feel all of the work I did of finding who I truly was meant to be slowly slipping away. So I chose to rise in 2018 no matter how hard it would be, I realized how shaken my business was even though I had always worked so hard, it was like a perfect storm happened, it clouded my thoughts with a bunch of negativity which made me doubt that I was where I as supposed to be. Do I get a job outside of the home? Do I leave Posh? Do I go to school? For a couple months these thoughts kept rushing through my head, they say the devil attacks the most when there is something incredible on the other side of it and I truly believe that was the case. I felt this deep tug that I should be doing more, more with Posh, sharing more of my story, being more.

One day a wave of peace came over me as I was driving my Mom Taxi and thinking about this tug of more, it was the Lord reminding me that I was where he put me, to never dig up in doubt what was planted in faith. He pointed me back to the reason I started with posh and working from home, flooding my focus to when I first started going after my dreams.

He reminded me of the time in 2010 when I started to feel myself being lost in the hustle and bustle that was my army wife life. Choosing to stay at home with the kids was important to our military family to give them stability which meant I was always striving to learn how to be a better parent, plan exciting adventures, create fun crafts, I was a pinterest mom before Pinterest was a thing. As my kiddos got older I started dreaming up ways to provide for my family without disrupting the life we sacrificed for.  I felt this calling on my life to connect to something bigger but wasn’t sure what that looked like.

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Using my creativity and skills that my Grandma Shreve taught me when I was 7, I started up my own crochet business that really took off and within a month I had a full waiting list for custom hats. I learned on the fly about business-customer service and all that jazz, it was really so much fun but I knew physically, I couldn’t keep up with it all. So I starting looking for the next step and dreaming bigger, I was introduced to a group of old school direct sales ladies, I joined their company soaking up all of the knowledge I could. I did really well but then moved to Texas and it fizzled, the lessons were invaluable and I still use many of the concepts I learned from them in my business today, especially with my team. Seeing this type of business through their eyes actually sparked me to dream about what direct sales would do for my family and for others out there like me.

Sept 2012 I was given Perfectly Posh samples which I kindly took but left them in my purse for 3 months. Honestly though because I started out as a teen mom I never even realized the need for self care because I was always so busy doing for others. Until that moment when I tried a hand creme, noticing the scent lifted my mood and made me smile. Then using a chunk bar in my quick mom showers made my skin feel great. These moments gave me a boost that I never felt before and when the kiddos spilled juice all over the floor, instead of freaking out, I was able to breathe and quickly clean it up. This was a lightbulb moment for me,  if just a little relaxing moment was able to give me this renewed mom spirit then what could it do for others? Not only did I realize the power in pampering, the products were fun and I couldn’t stop thinking about the impact that this company could make.71969_4884554985019_631283403_n

When I purchased the kit, I did it so I could get a discount on my orders. As a military family with 4 kiddos our budget was WAY tight, so I used my yearly “splurge” from our taxes to pay for it. I had no idea what was about to happen as I fell in love with this company, reconnected with the woman I was meant to be, started dreaming bigger again and realized that growing a business with Perfectly Posh had huge potential. I was the only person on my entire friends list that even had heard of Posh, but my husband was about to deploy for a year so was I actually able to do something with this bigger vision that I seen? I knew that I wanted to work from home, was this my chance to work towards my dreams?

Sharing the products made me realize that I’d be able to touch people’s lives with a product that made them feel good, the blessings from just this alone were huge. Travis left his deployment and I was managing all of the craziness that happens when your soldier leaves with 4 kids and 2 dogs in a new area, but somehow starting up this posh business fit in so naturally. The kiddos immediately jumped in to help out with any task they could and the joy that posh brought to our family during that time was exactly what we needed. When Travis called the convo would always turn to Posh, it was our distraction from the unknown and crazy of this deployment. He challenged me to achieve the rank of Premier before he came home, I realized that this may be the chance that I get to bring my dreams to life.25507772_10212413960277373_213060293304556566_n

Even though my plate was full and I was nervous to fail again, I wrote out a plan, set my motto as “Build it and they will come” focusing on filling party slots, recruit packs and sample sets and got to work, every single day-no matter what-whether the kids were sick, dogs ran away, our house was broken into, having to be on crutches, selling a house states away, kiddos emotions were high, moving, helping out spouses in need—yes all of this and more happened during this year. When times got tough and things went comically wrong, I’d imagine all of my dreams and chose to find the good. As the year was closing in, Team Posh Blessings earned the title of Premier in Feb 2014,  just in time, Travis would arrive back from his deployment 2 weeks.  Even after feeling like the devil was throwing everything at us to distract me from this path, we did it. Thinking about this first year and everything we overcame, how blessed each moment was and the dreams that came true, still gives me goosebumps.

Having the Lord remind me of all of the dreams he planted, passion, hard work and joy of this first year of posh truly centered me and further solidified that I’m exactly where I am supposed to be. Having the Lord remind me of all of the dreams he planted, passion, hard work and joy of this first year of posh truly centered me and further solidified that I’m exactly where I am supposed to be. Dreaming big crazy things to impact this world, working from home, sharing a product line that makes me smile, helping others grow life changing businesses, being creative, and putting my story out there to inspire others. 

When I think about our potential going forward the joy I feel is overwhelming, the impact we can have on our selves, our families, our community and on this world by tapping into the power that is already within us, is exactly what I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little girl. Each of us can be more by choosing to see the good that surrounds us and spreading joy like fairy dust. Dreams are so important, if you don’t have something to work towards then how are you going to grow? Staying the same should never be an option, why not dream of a storefront you’ll open, places you’ll travel to, foundations you’ll open then get to work because the dreams excite you into actions. Remembering that those dreams are far bigger than any storm we will face. May you realize the power in dreaming and tap into the potential that is within each of you.

 

Blessings,

Nicole