Well, I guess this is well overdue and I hope some of you find this interesting to read, albeit a bit long. At our recent Stampin' Up! 2010 Convention in Sydney, we were encouraged as Demonstrators to share our Stampin' Up! story with others. Telling my story via a blog post seems the best idea, because honestly people would kill me if I repeated this at each workshop.Lets go back a few years to 2005. My family had finally 'crawled' its way back to Brisbane after spending 5 years in Melbourne & Canberra. To be honest we thought we'd be gone from Brisbane for 1-2 years, so 5 years absent was not our original plan. Of course this extended absence was 'meant to be' because we met the most lovely people, making some treasured friends and having experiences that have shaped us. Having left Brisbane at the end of 2000 for Melbourne, we then relocated to Canberra in 2002. It was in Canberra that my paper-craft hobby became my work also. I was offered a teaching role at a Scrapbooking Store as well as a contracting role at an Australian Wholesaler called Aussie Scrap Source. I primarily taught heritage scrap-booking using Anna Griffin products at the store and designed samples for paper-craft magazine advertising at the wholesaler. I also was a bit of a multi tasker - aren't all women this - at Aussie Scrap Source, filling orders, answering the phone and attending trade shows. I loved this job and I also loved the people who I worked with, Cheryl Durey being my boss. I had more or less given up on returning to Brisbane and had thrown myself fully into Canberra, my friends and my wonderful jobs. But then as you know, life doesn't stay constant and changes when you least expect it to. Work had dried up for my husband in Canberra and we went through a time of financial & family/marital turmoil. Interestingly, my paper-craft gave me the release I needed from the stress I was suffering - I honestly think it saved my sanity. Things got a bit exciting when Cheryl asked if I would like to go to CHA, which is the Craft & Hobby Association Show for businesses/wholesalers in the US. My goodness - this was a dream come true. I never imagined Cheryl would ask me to go with her and I was very excited.
But then, my husband got work in Brisbane! OK, this was good on one front, but as it was a contracting role the longevity is always in question. So I limped along with 4 children by myself in Canberra for about 6 months until we could be sure it was worth relocating permanently. Time came to relocate and telling my boss Cheryl I was moving was really hard as we got along so well and I was looking forward to continuing to see & be a part of her business growing, as well as also going to CHA. Cheryl was very understanding and even offered that I still travel to CHA with her even once I had moved to Brisbane. Sadly I had to refuse this offer as my husband contracts, so no work means no pay and that just wasn't an option with the huge relocation costs we were facing. Still, I was lucky enough to still be on the Aussie Scrap Source Design Team, which meant I was working on innovative cutting edge ideas & projects designed by Cheryl such as the 'A-Z album', 'Everyday Moments' and wholesale class program. Even once I was back in Brisbane, every month I would create scrap-booking layouts using product that was sent to me. How neat was this! Free products to create layouts for magazines. Sounds perfect, doesn't it? However there were two problems. Firstly the person who had replaced me when I left Aussie Scrap Source was obsessed with punctuation amongst other things, and quite frankly it used to really annoy me how I would receive critical & curt emails addressing my supposed lack of punctuation and slackness at not having the latest publishing software! This did not help my creative mojo at all! But first and foremost, there was something really important missing and that was 'human contact'! Really, it doesn't matter how much product you have, if you are paper-crafting alone, it is pretty lonely and somewhat meaningless. I missed teaching classes and sharing the fun of paper-craft with others.
So in 2006, I dragged myself along to a Papercrafts Festival in Brisbane. I wasn't particularly sure why I had gone as I sort of figured I'd seen it all and trust me the ridiculously long 45 minute wait in the hot sun whilst I waited in a ticket queue where only 2 people were serving, almost had me turning on my heels - I actually got sunburnt that day! However, there most certainly a glowing silver lining in that day - Stampin' Up! were there and I had definitely heard of them previously. Not only had I seen them in the US magazines, but I had also heard about them first hand by a US citizen who was also a colleague of my husband's whilst in Canberra. She had come along to my classes whilst visiting Canberra on assignment from her software company. She came to dinner one night and said to me, I should be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator! How funny is that? I have lost contact with this lovely lady but I'd sure like to catch up with her again and let her know what has since happened! (Stampin' Up! wasn't in Australia when she made this comment)
That very day I took the paperwork at the Papercrafts Festival and then went on to attend the Brisbane information evening. Fate then intervened for a while and a rather painful condition called Chostochondritis had me in extraordinary pain and unable to really fulfill my role as a Design team Member for Aussie Scrap Source. Ultimately, I resigned from the design team and became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.
My only 'reservations' were that I did not consider myself a 'direct sales person'. However, this did not matter at all because I love the Stampin Up Products but more importantly I love sharing my love of all things papercraft with other people. Basically if you love what you do, it truly does not matter about the rest. I have learnt to present more confidently in front of new people to the point that people mistake me for a confident person! I'm not that at all, just someone who was lucky enough to find the right 'vehicle'.
The next 4 years as demonstrator really require another essay, so lets save that for another post. Suffice to say, I am so happy I decided to become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator because I am a firm believer in the philosophies (Statement of the heart) of Stampin' Up! and it has been responsible for me meeting the most wonderful people & having the privilege of making a difference in other people's lives. I do not speak often of what I have 'achieved' in the past 4 years as I am always looking forward and not back. However, I will share with you that I have achieved the (top 25) Demonstrator of the Year for 4 years running (2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010), as well as the last 3 Incentive Trips & the 'Heart of Stampin' Up!' Award in 2009 which is given to one demonstrator in Australia. These achievements would not have been possible without the wonderful team of demonstrators, to which I belong - the 'Paper Angels'. Belonging to a fun, cohesive group of creative souls, has made all the difference in my life and I am grateful to each & every one of our team, whether they are discount, hobby or career demonstrators.
Pictured above is Rebecca Ross, Shelli Gardner (Co Founder & CEO of Stampin' Up! and myself). If you have any questions about my story, I would be happy to answer them.
