An unexpected opportunity

I’m sure you’ve already seen my Facebook posts and read my blog about upcoming changes. Most of what I mentioned hasn’t changed, though I did update that this will be my final week with Initials, Inc. rather than waiting until the end of the month. I’d love to refer you to my friend Regina, who can take care of all your Initials, Inc. needs! As far as everything else – it’s the same. I plan on sewing more, crafting more, using my Silhouette Cameo more, and eventually making our own soaps, body wash, household cleaners, etc. The biggest difference might be that the latter (home-made soaps, cleaners, etc.) may get pushed back a little. It wasn’t my intent to start it any time soon, though, since it was the last on my list, and the time it takes to build up an inventory via sewing, etc. can take a long time. I have to make a choice on my initial investment on materials, and that’s why the sewing and Silhouette projects win – plus I’d like to add an embroidery machine fairly soon, which definitely is an investment, too! I would say it probably won’t be until next year when I add the home-made soaps, cleaners, etc., though I’m sure I’ll start dabbling in the process for personal use prior to then to get the process down and discover the dos and don’ts that come only through trial and error! I am still SUPER excited about getting back to the “roots” of Pea of Sweetness and even got a BIG portion of the back room done! I can see my sewing machine again! haha WOO HOO!
Anyway, back on track, an opportunity presented itself that I just couldn’t pass up! You may remember I used to be with another company that sells “romance” products and after much internal conflict I decided to leave that company. I loved the idea of the educational perspective of intimacy post-cancer, despite chronic illnesses, etc. I also loved the idea that I could “set the tone” as in taking it from a conservative prospective because one thing that burdens my heart is the number of Christian marriages that are struggling – many due to misinformation or a misunderstanding of this subject. There are many great books written on the subject of Christian Intimacy. So ultimately, I like the ideas of presenting ideas in a professional educational way to help others! Plus, as a Consultant I could offer THEM a more Conservative, educational party if that was their need – or a one-on-one consult with no worries of things being “crazy” or “distasteful.” They knew they could trust me to present the products they were a) comfortable with, b) in a professional manner, and c) with educational value. That’s what originally drew me to the original company I was with. The subjects of post-cancer and living with a chronic illness aren’t exactly foreign to me either as my husband is a two-time cancer survivor, and I have a chronic pain disorder – Fibromyalgia. Everything seemed so great! I let the “idea” of this ability to help others get in my way, though, because I failed to acknowledge one thing – product ingredients! *GASP* I was hoping since they seemed to support post-cancer empowerment so much that they would also offer products without questionable ingredients like parabens. That just wasn’t the case. After reading all the ingredients I found ONE product that didn’t have parabens. I was devastated! I have seen so many people over the past year start representing products that were in TOTAL contradiction to what their lifestyle was and who they “say they are” or “what they believe.” It really made me question their TRUE passion. Do they truly want to represent a more natural, healthy lifestyle or do they truly believe synthetic products, artificial ingredients, etc. were suddenly OK? Were they doing it just for the money or did they really stop caring about what they SAID they cared about? All I knew was I didn’t want people to question who I truly am and what I truly stand for! I’m NOT OK with parabens in my products, and if that wasn’t going to change I couldn’t keep representing those products. So I made the decision to stick to who I am, and what a load off my conscious that was! I actually tried to do research and find other companies that carried paraben-free alternatives, and I found one that was in the Direct Sales business, but some of their other products, were, well, not exactly the type of products I wanted to represent (to put it tastefully). I gave up on my search because I obviously had enough other things to keep me occupied!