I would like to welcome Megan Whitman! She is our first W.O.W guest blogger. I challenged her to book 3 parties in a week. And these are her thoughts!!!! Enjoy!!
A week ago I was asked to write a blog post for this great unit. I thought I would write something I’ve connected with at one of our meetings or maybe how happy people have told me I’ve been since joining Mary Kay. However, Michaela had something different in mind. For this post I was given a challenge, a week to book three parties. I had until February 4 to do this. Now this may not be that huge of a challenge for anyone else but for me, it was. Since October/November I have not given a party. So I guess because of that long period of time with no bookings or parties, I’m scared. It’s a vicious circle, I’m scared to book or give a party since it’s been so long since I’ve done one and I haven’t done one because I’m scared. So you might be asking yourself, well why even accept this challenge? Well that is simple; I don’t like to lose/let people down. I’m a very completive person. It comes from 22 years of playing sports and having a coach for a father. So I had accepted the challenge and I’m happy to say, I have successfully completed it.
Trust me; this was not an easy task. I had no idea how I was even going to approach this let alone have it completed in the time frame. Going into this challenge the first thing that came to mind was who am I going to ask? When it comes to anything dealing with me asking for help, I feel like I’m bothering that person. So with this mentality, I thought I had already bothered people about my Mary Kay business. I felt as though I keep bugging people to do things for my business whether it’s buying products, taking surveys, signing up for things, etc. I was trying to find those people who I haven’t “bugged” yet and would be willing to help out a friend. However that was my problem. I kept feeling like an imposition on people. I had to get that out of my head. These people are my friends and family, they should want to help me and thankfully I was right.
When I received this challenge the second thing that did come to my mind was my getaway in Williamsport the last weekend of February. A group of my friends who live all over PA decided we would go to Williamsport to see the new house our friend moved in to last year while having a girls weekend. This was perfect. These girls had always wanted to try the products, so why not give a party while I’m on a weekend getaway. I called my friends just to make sure this was alright, and they were thrilled. I was so happy to get the first booking done and so quickly. So one booking down and two more to go.
For the second booking I decided to ask a new co-worker. She just started a month ago so I haven’t said much to her about Mary Kay. I went in there explaining the challenge and how it would really help me out. I explained how it could be a chance for her and her friends to hang out without the kids. She agreed right away after that. It seemed pretty easy. Within a couple hours I already had two bookings for February. Why was I so scared to do this before? Why did I let my fear get in the way for so long? Of course, not every situation is the same so not every booking will be this easy. The third booking was the hardest one. This booking took more time and patience. I did receive a couple no’s but it was more because of timing then not wanting to have a party. Since it wasn’t a flat out refusal, I didn’t get discourage and I tried to push along. I decided to reach out to someone I haven’t seen or talk to in awhile. Thinking maybe this would be a great way for us to catch up as well and it worked.
I called my cousin Courtney who I have been close with but haven’t seen or talked to much lately due to work schedules. I asked if she would like to hold a party and she said yes. Simple as that. She gave me a date, I gave her a time. I was so excited! Not only was this a chance for me to book a party, see my cousin (and possibly other family members) while showing them the great products of Mary Kay and coming up with a party theme but I just completed the challenge!
I started out being scared and thinking no one would want to do this and ended up booking three parties in February. By completing the challenge I learned that if I just try and put time into this business, things can and will happen. I just have to get past my fear of refusals and of course my shyness. I need to put myself out there and when I do, great things can happen.
Now that the bookings are done I am excited for what’s to come however in the back of my mind is a different fear. This fear is of public speaking and the potential of messing up. I know that this is something that will go away with time and more parties. I just have to trust myself and remember that I have an entire unit behind me and they are cheering me on.
