Several months ago, back in the fall, Avon had a contest for something called Makeup Maven. I talked with my manager about it and she thought I should go for it. Honestly? I thought I was too old. I figured that everyone who was entering, and likely to win, would be 30 years younger than I am. I put it off.
Then about a month before the deadline, I decided to give it a shot. After all, I thought, all I could do was lose to someone awesome. We had several choices and I decided to do full-face makeup. I practiced for days. Did I mention that we had FIVE minutes to do this? For those of you who do your makeup every day, think about how long it takes you. For me, it's normally 7-8 minutes. I had to do it in FIVE minutes.
The day arrived when we did the taping. My manager, Meredith Woolverton, offered to use my little Flip camera and we started. To save time, I used the concealer and foundation before the taping started. I smiled (which is difficult when you're nervous), and did every step perfectly. I left out a tip or two that I wanted to add, but I didn't have a script and wanted it to be natural. And it was. Take a look at my tape right now!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4Ze6FeJXnw
I entered my video and waited. And waited, and finally decided to give up and I went on with my life, which includes being a Rose Circle representative. I work a LOT on my business, which includes lots of color and skin care sales.
Then in December I got an e-mail saying I was the divisional winner! (There was also an online voting contest for the four regional winners. I didn't win that, unfortunately.) I was so excited! The letter included information on the gathering in New York City in February. I signed up right away, sent them the information they required and I was set to go. We got an itinerary and I started planning what to wear right away. I was to be going by train so I could take LOTS of things to have some choices.
The month of January crawled by. February started and I was gearing up for this awesome experience. And then something happened. Six days before my trip I woke up with a tight chest. Six hours later I was down for the count with a serious case of bronchitis. Fever, coughing and loss of appetite. This went on for four days and then I went to see my doctor the day the fever broke. She told me I could make the trip in three days if I (a) didn't have a fever and (b) I didn't feel any worse. That weekend I got my stuff together, got my hair done, started packing and then Sunday night, about 10 hours before I was to go on this once in a lifetime trip, I started coughing. And I couldn't stop. And the fever came back. At 6:00 in the morning, two hours before I was to leave, I did one of the hardest things I've had to do lately. I sent e-mails to everyone, telling them I was sick and unable to be there. I cried the entire time. In fact, I cried most of the day. I was down for three more days. I knew I had made the right decision, but I missed out on all the tips, education and cameraderie that the rest of the Mavens have today.
But I'm taking advantage of my title. My manager has me teaching classes for our district...color analysis, color application, skin care, selling tips and professional image among others. I don't get paid but I enjoy sharing what I know with others.
So here I am. I'm going to post as often as I can and share my knowledge with Avon in all areas, but especially with color. If you have questions, ask me. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out. I'll share what I learn from other Mavens too. And I hope the other Mavens will read this and add to anything I share. This isn't all about me-it's all about sharing to help not only customers, but other representatives as well.
Welcome to my world of color and skin care!!
