Being a mom is hard. Being a stay at home mom is hard. I became a mom when I was 19 years old. It wasn't planned and my husband and I had only been married for a few short months but I could not wait to be a mom. I loved kids so much. I was going to school for Family Life and Human Development and I was working at a Day Care. I absolutely love kids. Being the best mom I could be became my life. However, with becoming a stay at home mom a lot of things had to go on the back burner.. I got my associates degree but then stopped. I stayed at home and took care of two beautiful girls. We all know what it takes to be a stay at home mom and the tasks that go into it. It is hard work. It is repetitive and it can even be boring. Folding laundry, making dinner, potty training, kissing owies over and over and trying to raise children can be rough. Everything I did was for them. The movies we watched, the games we played, all the coloring, puzzles etc was all for my kids. Like it should be. However in the years of me being a stay at home mom as much as I loved it, as much as I loved my kids- I felt like I had lost myself. I was so focused on the day to day things that the Old Cortney was soon gone. I felt like I didn't really do anything. I felt like I didn't have "a thing". I had friends who did hair, who were waitresses, who had jobs, who had all of these talents and I found myself wondering what it was that I did. It was really hard for me. I asked myself, "What am I good at?" I had no idea.. "What are things that I enjoyed?" I didn't even know.. What makes you happy and proud that you do for yourself? Besides being a mom and those little moments.. I couldn't think of anything. I had no idea who I was, what I wanted to do, or who I wanted to become. Feeling like that was hard. I honestly didn't know what I was doing with my life except for being a mom. I wanted so badly something to call my own. Something that I could do for me. A little hobby maybe or a project but I hadn't done anything in so long I didn't even know where to start. I thought about going back to school but I didn't even know what to go for. I was lost. I had no idea what I was doing with myself. It was a really low point in my life. Then one day after feeling like that for way way too long I was invited to an Usborne Book Party by my great friend Ashley. I didn't pay too much attention to it. Money was tight and I had something going on that night so it wasn't really even on my radar. However she posted a picture of the book
"Look Inside your Body" the day before the party . It was a picture of a book with flaps, within flaps, within flaps of incredible information and facts about the inside of our bodies. I thought it was the coolest thing and wanted that book! I had never heard of Usborne, I didn't own any books (I was going to the library like once a week so buying books seemed silly to me). The night of the party I logged into facebook when the party started just because I was curious - and I was blown away by the books. I became so excited and within 5 minutes I knew I wanted to do my own party for free books. I mean lets be honest.. every single person that has seen an Usborne book or has seen a video of some of the books is immediately impressed. They really are the best kids books on the planet. I saw that right away and knew I needed lots for my kiddos. What mom doesn't want great books for their kids? So I booked a party and was excited. A few days before my party the Consultant (now my amazing team leader Brittney)asked if I wanted to do it and get the commission and the free books from it. WHAT?! so I can sign up, get more books, and then get paid on top of the free books? UM YES PLEASE! I asked a million questions to make sure there wasn't something I was missing. I didn't want to get screwed over in the long haul or there to be secret fees or something. but no.. you get to buy the kit which comes with over $300 of the most popular books for only like $119.. um that already is an amazing deal. DONE. Then i invite my friends, get double free books, and get paid. OK. SOLD. it really was that simple. So I signed up! I decided to do it for all the free books and maybe make a little money off of my party. Just within that one week of me signing up and doing my party I had over $550 worth of the books and I paid practically nothing. I was able to book some parties which I did and make a little money. Once I got all of the books and really saw how amazing they were I was sold. I became obsessed and passionate about them. I realized that I wanted this to be "my thing". I felt like this was going to be perfect for me. It would help our financial situation, it would help my children's lives, it would help me. It would help me grow and help me accomplish something for myself. I could finally have something that made me proud of myself. The feeling of having something you are so passionate about and love so much makes me so happy. Being able to literally "change kid's lives" makes me happy. You might think how can books change lives? I can tell a huge difference just in the last 12 weeks what this company has done for my kids. We read 1-2 hours every day. They have always loved reading but now they are learning. The difference is incredible. Brooklyn is reading so extremely well, Avrey is asking questions and memorizing books quickly. They LOVE the books. They absolutely love them. For a few weeks I gave them the option of reading books or watching a movie. Every single day they picked books. These books are so unique and different that I am learning right along side them. It has been great.
Fast forward a few months. In the company you get 12 weeks of incredible rewards/incentives to keep your business going. I didn't really set any goals. I just wanted to keep it going. I thought it would be cool to do 2 parties a week. All of a sudden 12 weeks were up and I reached the highest level of the Write your Own Success program. I was able to get the first promotion to become a Team Leader. I was so excited and so proud of myself.
Last week I was able to go to convention for the very first time. It was so incredibly exciting and so inspiring. Hearing women who had similar stories that I could relate to was great. Seeing where people started and how long they had been with the company and what they had achieved made me say "I want that". Hearing the CEO Randall White and the founder Peter Usborne was life changing. They are such genuine good men. They both talked about being fathers and I just felt so grateful to be a part of this company. They were funny and sweet but most importantly, they loved having incredible books for kids. They have such a passion on why books are so important in our lives and I feel the exact same way.
I finally felt inspired . I finally felt like I had something to do. For me... but not JUST for me. This is changing my kids lives, and I love having a product that I am so passionate about.I love sharing these books and want everyone to own all of them.
I am usually a really shy person. I don't like going out of my comfort zone. However, at convention I felt good about myself. I felt proud to be there and I felt like I belonged. I met some great people that I know will be friends for a long time. I felt like my journey was just about to start. I felt more confident in myself and feel like I am finally contributing. I get the best of both worlds. I get to stay at home with my kids, and I get to do this on the side. It is perfect for me. I finally felt like the old Cortney was coming back. The girl who is passionate, who is a hard worker, who is a good leader, who is strong and capable. The girl who can do hard things. It hasn't been easy by any means but I am ready for this adventure.
Next year Randal is taking those that earn a trip on a 7 day cruise to Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel for free. You better believe that I will be working hard so I can go on that trip. I want to earn something!! How cool would that be?
On the drive home from Oklahoma I just felt so incredibly blessed. I felt like Heavenly Father had literally put this in my lap for me and wants me to succeed. I had this overwhelming feeling of comfort that this was "my thing". I really hope that it is. I really hope I can continue working hard and growing. I honestly love what I do. Maybe it wont be permanent, maybe this will just be a short term thing. Who knows, I might fail and be awful. But WHAT IF I do amazing? What if I do succeed. What if I learn and grow more than I ever could imagine? So if you want to do a party so I can get you some free books or have any questions let me know. I love helping people succeed. I truly do. I want to share this with so many people because it really is that incredible.
