Sunday, June 29, 2014

I'm coming out

Months ago I sat down with a friend, Susan Rochefort of the very successful Lime Green Realty, and asked for her advice on how to market myself. I was hesitant to put it all out there and was committing a cardinal sin of life... worrying too much about what people would think about me. She suggested starting a blog, letting a little bit of my vulnerability show, and it took a good long while, but I decided that without action, there is no result. So I sit here, exposed, palms up and want to "come out".

I spent the majority of my adult life working my way up the retail corporate ladder, with my first job out of college as a cashier at a leading grocery chain. It wasn't long until I was dissatisfied and looked for new positions with other leading companies. In the end, after about 15 years I ended up proudly managing an entire store for a small Alberta company. I loved my customers, but working for a small business didn't afford me the financial luxury of continuing to work for the same wage and pay for daycare for two small children. I officially could not afford to stay working.

The solution: open a dayhome, then I can be at home with my boys and earn an income at the same time! Brilliant! Now I was self employed. How wonderful to not have a boss anymore micro managing me, quotas to fill, sales goals to achieve, store audits to survive, inventory to control. Now I was in charge of my time, but what I didn't realize was that, essentially, I had bought myself a job. Maybe I didn't have someone over my shoulder every day, but what I did was just transfer my dependence to the parents of the children I watched. 

Job stability = 0
Each time a parent got laid off, moved, had a baby, or the children came of school age I watched my income walk out the door and began to stress over replacing it. 

Paid Health care, Sick days and vacation time = 0
Anyone who owns a small business can tell you that if you don't work, you don't get paid. There's no such thing as paid time off. In fact, if I took any time off I had people asking me to give them discounts, so I lost money if I ever took any time off.

While I got to stay home with my children, I didn't get to give them the attention that I thought I would or that they deserved. While I took my role as a caregiver very seriously and loved all the children that were trusted to me, I was so tired of kids by the end of the day that my own boys didn't get the best of me ever. 3 years into running the dayhome I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown. I was not happy. I was now a struggling single mother who knew she needed to make a change, but I could not see putting myself back into a position where I was working for corporate America, giving my time and energy to continue to work paycheque to paycheque while some CEO at the top of the ladder cashed in record profits from my hard work.  I couldn't afford to go back to school. I needed something that would allow me to still be a mom and put my family needs first. Not an easy thing to accomplish

I knew I needed to find something, but I felt stuck. 

That's when I was given the opportunity to change it all.

For the past two years I have been studying, learning and training in the financial sector with a company that is progressive, puts their people over profits, gives everyone a chance to have their own successful business regardless of their background and is on a crusade to leave no family behind. I am extremely privileged to be able to sit across from families no matter their financial situation and teach them how money works so that they don't have to continue leading quiet lives of desperation, sinking in debt, unsure how they will be able to keep their standard of living after retirement, pay their bills, EXPERIENCE life instead of watching it pass by. What better business to be in than one that is geared towards serving people?

 “When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity.”  - Dr. Wayne Dyer

I truly believe that everything that we attract in our lives is a by product of how we conduct ourselves. Help others and everything else is a by-product

I have had the honor to be able to already hear the words "I can't thank you enough. You literally saved me and my kid's lives by sitting down with me" and I am going to make it a goal to touch as many lives as I can.

I am determined to leave a legacy. I am determined to make a difference. I am determined to leave every situation better than it was before.

I have been blessed with the means to be able to do that and instead of hiding behind the old me, I wanted to introduce the new me.

Shellie Michael, crusader.






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