Back in Business

It just took unpacking my office to remind me that I am running a home business that has been put on hold since leaving Chicago on June 12.

My office has been the last room to get any attention whatsoever since we moved into our new home on June 16. That's not to say that all the rooms in my house are done. By no means.

However, my office was the last room full of unopened boxes. Here it sat. Untouched. Ignored. For one, it was just overwhelming to think of all the stuff I would need to unpack and sort and house. The task seemed like a mountain to me.

Secondly, unpacking meant that, yes, I indeed planned on continuing my Mary Kay business in a new town where I only know a handful of people.

From scratch, baby.

Today, the Lord gave me rain. See, it has been absolutely gorgeous each day since move in - with one crazy thunderstorm. Crazy storm aside, the weather has been amazing. Sunny, but not too hot. Yes, humid, but not unbearable. The weather has seen me on the porch, or walking to town, or jogging, or doing WHATEVER outside. Anything, BUT, unpacking my office due to reasons #1 and #2.

Today, however, I asked for rain so that I could finally enter my little square footage of solace and attack the clutter that was overtaking it.

I conquered.

Product? On the shelf.

Desk? Uncluttered.

Empty baskets and containers? In the corner to be used for inventory.

Baskets full of "office stuff"? Will be sorted tomorrow.

Books? On shelves.

Dorothy wig?

Yes. You read that right.

My Dorothy wig, from playing the role of . . . come on, that's just much to easy, is now sitting on my file cabinet wearing a pink cowboy hat.

Everything is in place for me to begin working. Those items which still don't have a definite home will have one by the end of next week. There is nothing, however, barring me from beginning to build my business here - except nerves.

Tomorrow night I'll attend my first meeting here in PA with my brave mother as my guest. We got my red jacket out of storage and hung it up to get out any wrinkles. I emailed my team to tell them that I was ready to re-open by giving each woman from the businesses in the area who assisted me with several details of the move a "welcome" gift bag. I encouraged my team members to do the same with businesses who have provided extra special service towards them.

Emailing both my team and my Director gave me a sense of accountability to get one foot in front of the other and get to work.

It is interesting that I've not been asked by ANYONE here what I do. I think it is assumed that I do not work. Funny, for in Chicago, that was always the first question, "What do you do?" Now, I seem to be offering up the information myself.

So what do I do? Several of you are new readers, so here's me in a nutshell. A coconut sized nutshell:

After acting and teaching acting for a number of years, I have since "shelved" that area for a time. I do desire to dust off my SAG and AFTRA union cards at some point - perhaps when Zane begins Kindergarten or First Grade. As for teaching, directing, and privately coaching young actor's - I'm not sure. What I do know is that I must be doing something creative. Currently, writing is where it's at for me. My dream? To write a weekly column. Somewhere.

To fill in the financial blanks, I am an independent consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics. With a nice customer base in Chicago, my goal for the remainder of the year is to retain all 100+ customers. My new challenge? Building a customer base here. I currently have a team of 5 women and desire to continue encouraging them in their businesses as well. Some of my closest relationships are with my Mary Kay gals. I'm proud to be a part of a solid company and will make every effort to continue my strong business here in PA.

I write and I sell Mary Kay.

Pink Ink, I like to call it.

What do you do?