Hi there! I'm not active on any other web site, but found this one looking for party ideas for my children! I am very family centered and this just looks like such a great group of people.
I am divorced, husband lost it and left, not my choice. Kids were 1 and 3 at the time, both being evaluated for special needs care, thank God one has a severe speech disorder but is very intelligent, the other seems fine...life hasn't been easy but we're on the right path now. I am a very faithful Christian, but also have some Jewish relatives on my Dad's side. So, I respect all faith, and pray everyone finds a path to God. My parents were very personally connected to God, and my kids are too, my daughter recently listed "Showing me how to love God and Jesus" as her number one of eleven-things-Mom-taught-me list for Mother's day, so I feel confident that I'm giving them that foundation.
My parents taught us to go to college, but my Dad died suddenly without enough life insurance to make that possible. My parents loved each other very much, my fondest memories of them are together in the end. My Mom died recently, I'm sure they are together now. My Mom left the state after my Dad died, devastated and not herself. She took my younger brother, but left me behind just turned 18 to care for my 16 year old sister. I was terrified, overprotected I thought I would transition gently to adulthood through college. What followed was just horrific, on so many levels that I should just not have survived. I think that's why I'm so faith-filled. If God didn't exist, I would be dead. So many close calls, for both of us. Things that I didn't even understand were dangerous at the time, I was saved from. I am proud to say that I did not bend any of my values or personal principals, no smoking or substance abuse, no promiscuity. Just me working day and night to keep us fed. My sister often says, that some people say they would never break their value system to survive, but I've proved it. I feel the loss of my twenties, though. I grew up too fast. Never had the luxury of being irresponsible! I don't like to talk about those times, unless it can help someone else.
I didn't ask for help, because I was terrified of 'loosing' my sister. Instead of going to college, despite being identified with a very high IQ and 'gifted' I took several jobs at once, and made sure my sister finished high school. It hurt, knowing the way out was school but physically not being able to go. They say everyone has someone, I had no one at all. No help financially, barely anything emotionally, since the day my Mom left. Without exception.
Divorce was a shock, never anticipated with the family I came from. A stay at home Mom, I refused to put the children in day-care, and started a company instead. Helping people find jobs, an employment agency. I took the children to work with me, or worked from home. I only did as much as we needed, as long as it didn't take time away from them.
I know not everyone can do that, but I was determined and did it anyway. I have suffered, don't get me wrong, and even as recently as three years ago when the employment market shifted, things have been really hard for me. The focus has always been the children, that's kept me going. I can honestly say that when you don't have any control over what's going on, you can always control your reaction. And you become grateful for anything and everything that comes to you.
My Mom died, and I returned to school when the children did. Now, I'm almost finished with an RN degree, I will be a nurse in December. I'm very blessed and happy to be able to take what I've learned in my life, all the trials and upset, and use it to help others get through their personal challenges. I love nursing, it's my passion and my calling. I will still do some agency work, too, finding people jobs is a great thing and I know I'll continue.
I found Mary Kay cosmetics as a way to help me through school. Working on my own schedule, demonstrating skin care products and making 50% upfront was a good deal. I have started a lot of women with no sales experience do the same, it's not really sales. It's more demonstration, someone always seems to buy something. I've had two corporations, and all I did was employment. But I never was able to offer women a good alternative to leaving their children to work. I wanted to create something like Mary Kay, for women, because I know it's rare for someone to be able to start their own business like I did to avoid leaving the children. But when I found Mary Kay I started offering that to women instead, and the results have been incredible. This company not only pays well, no pressure, no quotas to speak of and lots of optional training. But you don't have to do any of that, you can research via DVD's, CDs and training materials on line. It's all about your choice, taking what you need of it. Mary Kay is taught in the Harvard MBA business program, confirmed by my son's Godmother who just finished her master's at Harvard this year, all due to the success of Mary Kay's 40 years using a unique faith centered approach to truely serve women. Even women who are not Christian or faith centered in their approach tell me the human kindness principals speak to them. The point is they operate differently than most companies, and I find that's been good for women I know. She didn't like the way women were not given the same chances to do well as men, and that corporate America didn't support women's priorities with family etc. Not only in a no limit earning opportunity, but they are positive and encouraging and supportive on every level. I would NEVER work for anyone else, unless I was sure I had an exceptional thing going, and with Mary Kay its really your own business. They say you're in business for yourself, but not by yourself. They operate on the value structure of "Golden Rule" in everything, and 'God first, Family second and Career third" and they stand by it. If you want more information about it, I'm working on getting a team together across the country as a director, you don't have to worry about where you are. You can work out of anywhere with this company. As much or as little as you want. My Web site has all the info, and you can contact me through that. www.marykay.com/masteckorains.
Please understand, I've been in employment as an industry since 2000. My ex husband's family has been in employment for two generations, and I can make anywhere from two to five thousand plus finding someone an entry level job, paid by the client company. When I offer someone Mary Kay as an alternative, I loose money, but it's a good for many women. It's my dream of finding a way for women to do what I had to do, stay with the kids and make money anyway, but in a way that anyone can learn to do. Mary Kay is offered as an opportunity to women who really need to make something on their own and either add to a job they have or avoid having to go the traditional route. My goal is to become a director as soon as possible, so I can connect with thier international teams and bring Mary Kay to women all over the world. Mary Kay is active in many countries. It works well because of all the optional help they give you, and the company average is $75 an hour for in person appointments, but with the web site now, it's higher overall. I've found one consistant theme in people I talk to, they wish they found it sooner, and I include myself in that. Some people have come in just for the supportive positive environment, the networking is unbelievable. Or to learn the basics about how to actually run a real business. the training in sales and business management and people and how to support others to success that they have available is very solid. Per Harvard, and per me as someone who spent years finding people work. If I had started with Mary Kay other business things I've done would have gone better from the start, they teach in a simple easy to understand way what I took years to figure out trial and error on my own...you don't have to recruit anyone, and you can do as little or as much as you like of it, off and on even. Yes, I've found people who have come into Mary Kay other full time jobs along the way, because I get to know them and everyone hires people they know over people they don't, that's natural. The point it, I'm so impressed with this company, that I'm involved expressly to be able to offer it to other women. It's not a multi-level thing either, it's a safe real and solid opportunity, and I researched them all before I settled on one. I'm very careful what I put my name on, and I have business interests riding on my choosing well> I chose well with Mary Kay. The reviews support that. They want $100 to get started giving you $323 in actual products plus demonstration supplies and training materials, business cards, etc.
I'll be an RN in December, and with that very financially stable, employment is a good business but it depends on job trends, nursing is stable and we need that. I'm very blessed to be a part of the projects that I am right now. The children are eight and ten now, and really show the time and effort I've put into them. Remember, they won't look back on how many times you went on vacation so much as they will think back and know you were there for them. Mary Kay can bring that to more women, I'll continue to use that as my means to offering women an alternative. Mary Kay as a company also has a foundation that dontates to cancers that affect women, and domestic violence prevention. I've donated a lot of time to various causes along the way, so I respect them for that focus.
I am good at finding ways to help people, in all that I do, and I'm thrilled to be entering the nursing professoin. The children are my focus, and that gives me lots of freedom to plan around their schedule. I don't know what part of nursing I'm going into yet. The great thing about nursing is that you can move around through the profession as you want to. I'm very well respected at school, and have won scholarships and been able to show the children how hard work brings results. They ask me to write for the newsletter, the school has had me speak at several events about my challenges and how I've come through it. The children are in the school play every year, and I've choreographed that three years now as a volunteer. I just love giving back, because I know what it would have done for me to have had any help at all. Just knowing someone has faith in you, sometimes, is a huge help. I can't wait until I'm a nurse, I intend to offer a scholarship in my parents' names. I also will be able to insure that the children get their dream of a college education, right away not like I did so much later. My little girl has always wanted to be a Vet. She loves animals and is very sweet and loving. She wants to take care of children and their pets, and she's very sensitive and smart enough to get there. My son, knows that a college education is a given, but other than being a professional ball player or owning a team, he's not sure what he wants to do!
I was pre-med at first, but nursing is better. I would encourage anyone who can get into a program (it's not easy) to think about nursing as a career path. It's foolproof related to the economy, it's always in need, and it's a way to really help people. I'm glad I found it. Not sure where I'll work yet, but I'm glad I'm in nursing.
Thanks for giving me a chance to chat a bit about me. I never have done this before, but it's been theraputic! I think this web site is a great idea. I hope to find lots of answers here! Maybe contribute a bit, too.
What is life if not the opportunity to share your experiences and help others? I know that focus has kept me from taking my negative live experiences and letting them poison my future. I'm uniquely capable of seeing the best in people, and believing that each situation has a reason. We don't know now, or here why. But everything happens for our growth. I constantly ask God to keep me on the path he wants for me, and here I am. The great thing about keeping God's will in your prayers, is that whatever you find you'll know caries His blessings!
Take care, if you took the time to read this, Thank you!
