Reflecting Confidence

20 years ago today my sweet mother passed away at the age of 43 from breast cancer. She was beautiful inside and out. I sadly remember the cancer eating away at her, she had to have double mastectomy, her left arm filled up with fluid (the doctors were unable to drain it), she became so frail her skin would slightly hang off her bones. She had wisps of grey hair on her head trying to grow back, it was unsuccessful due to the chemotherapy and massive radiation. With all of that in mind, in public she held her head high and made jokes so that she would lighten the mood and help others not to feel uncomfortable. I know she wanted us to see her strong so that she wouldn't worry her four young children. 

We all at sometime in our lives have that feeling of "if I had only known then what I know now" maybe I could have done or changed the outcome. In reality we know that's not the case, but it can be a hard pill to swallow when thinking of the past. My memory takes me back to being 14 years old. My mother had just come home from picking up her new wig at the salon. She was in the bathroom sitting on the edge of the bathtub crying. I asked if she was ok? She was frustrated and pulled her wig off her head and threw it across the bathroom. "They did a horrible job cutting the wig, I look awful." she said. I had never heard or seen my mother upset over her appearance before. I was used to her making jokes and laughing. I could see the dark circles under her eyes, she was tired. 

My heart breaks over that memory. I think to now how I've graduated from hair school and have been doing hair for 10+ years, I could have helped her I think to myself. I could have helped her with so much so she could have that feeling of confidence. 

As I have been reflecting over this I found my key word....Confidence. I know my mother had it, you could see it when you talked to her. She was a strong, smart, resilient, a courageous woman. I know I acquired these attributes from her, by her example. 

I have been asked at times, how do you do it? How do you carry such confidence, how do you hold your head high when you have gone thru what you have? I really have never had an answer to respond with, I just thought well how do you not have it? I have started to contemplate over what brings me confidence, in my mind there are 2 parts. The outer and the inner. When I do my makeup, hair and have a cute outfit on, I feel amazing, and that rubs off on people. It may sound silly and some may roll their eyes and say you should have confidence without that stuff. But for me a good mascara and a great pair of shoes can make my week that much better! As for the inside, reading a good book, learning a new skill,  or walking up a flight of stairs without passing out (I promise for me that is a major accomplishment, I hate exercising). These are all little things that you can look yourself in the mirror and say, I'm pretty, or look I baked that cake and it came out perfectly. These are the small little things that help fill the bucket of confidence. 

What helps you to build your confidence????

The beginning of My Journey.....

Hey everyone! So I have started this blog with the intent of showing off amazing products from the new company I just joined....Younique.I love make-up, hair, fashion, and nails. I love being creative and I thought this would be the best way to show it all off, and have you all join in on my journey with Younique.

For those of you that do know me, you know my husband and I have joined many multi level marketing companies. I've never found anything that I have really been passionate about. So I have let it fail. I always thought it was about the products, who wants to drink a bottle of gross tasting juice that costs $120? How am I supposed to sell that? Crazy thing is my husband and I are learning that it isn't about the company or the products that make you successful, it's YOU. When you have the correct mindset and attitude for becoming an entrepreneur THEN you become successful. I have started listening to Loral Langemeier, that woman is incredible. When asked what she does for a living she tells you that she creates millionaires. Say What??? Yep it's true. You see how it's possible in the stories she shares. She gets your mind thinking, thinking possibilities. The more I listen to her the more I believe and know I can be a millionaire. Her mindset and the way she talks to people speaks to me, I feel like I can do what she says. I can follow her steps. She is no different than you or me, she grew up on a farm in Nebraska.

 I grew up in Southern California with 3 siblings. My earliest memories of a multi level marketing company was my parents who were in the infamous Amway. We had Amway everything. It was a little embarrassing as a kid having Amway chips and juice boxes in my lunch at school and kids wondering what the heck was I drinking and eating. I remember my father writing positive sayings on his bathroom mirror, him and my mom talking about "going diamond" and when they did we were going to Disneyland. My dad loved to talk to people about "the business" as I remember him calling it. Unfortunately my father passed away of cancer at the age of 40. I was 10, it was a very hard loss. My mother had to raise 4 kids on her own and two years after his passing had found out she herself had stage 3 breast cancer. After my father passed my mother walked away from Amway. My mother passed away at 43 years old. I was 15. I finished high school, went to two years of college and realized how much I hated school. It wasn't for me. I decided to go to hair school where I could put my creativity to use. I loved it! About 4 years after graduating hair school I met my husband. He always had a dream of owning his own business, he was involved in an MLM company, I thought it was a joke. I was supportive of him doing it, but as long as I didn't have to be involved. I had a horrible attitude. Fast Forward thru 8 years of marriage, we became a part of 5-6 MLM companies. But again never stuck with them. However there has been a great lesson I have learned from these companies, they were all different in their products, nothing was similar in each one we joined. I learned they all had the same lessons. It wasn't about "the product". It was about your mindset. It was about empowering yourself, having a positive attitude, and helping others. Sad that it took me 8 years to figure that out, but I guess better late than never.

About a month ago my dear friend Brandi started posting pictures of her new make-up. I thought wow I have never seen Brandi post on facebook like this before, this has got to be some good stuff. Next thing I know she was doing a virtual party on facebook, I thought oh noooooo, she has been sucked in. I couldn't believe how passionate she was. She continued to post more and more about her makeup. I was loving the before and after (I always love those) pictures. I started thinking, I could do that, but the voices in my head (yes I have them and I know you do too), kept telling me don't do it. You know what's going to happen, you won't get far, you'll quit. Then I thought well this time I'll do my homework. I've never done that with other companies. So I did, and in the mean time, my hubby came home and tried to talk me into joining another company that deals with skincare products telling me that I really should do that one instead since I was looking. My gut then decided to show up and start talking (yep that happens often too). My gut kept telling me, go with Younique, I could see endless possibilities. When all the ideas started flowing  I knew it was what I needed to do. I got excited. I called up Brandi and said "I'm in, sign me up". My excitement hasn't stopped, every day I look forward to putting on my makeup and sharing it with everyone I know and want them to feel as excited and beautiful as I do.