Great Habits to Have!

“What’s your favorite basket?” I’m often asked that question so here goes…

It’s really hard to beat the Divided Caddies in our product line. I love the Signature Collection Divided Caddy because I can leave it on the counter and it looks great and I can easily tuck it away when company’s coming. I use them to organize hair products in the bathroom, office supplies by my desk, and kitchen stuff under the sink. Once you have one, you always find uses for lots more!

The same is true of the Storage Basket which is another one of my favorites. I have reorganized my closets with the new Classic Collection baskets and I love them! I have everything that used to be messy on my shelves neatly stored and labeled with our Classic Label Pockets. The Signature Collection Storage Basket is great for places where you can see it. I use it to hold magazines and work-related reading materials for those ‘spare moments’ when I’m trying to catch up. They always look beautiful in any room of my house and I can easily tote them from room-to-room.
And I love the Small Rectangular Caddies. We used to call them cracker baskets because they are the perfect shape to serve crackers. But now they are used everywhere to organize just about anything so I have them all over the house. I use the Signature Collection caddies in my pantry and I have the Classic Collection caddies in lots of drawers! It’s so easy to find everything that’s in the drawer. I think everybody has at least one junk drawer that can be made sane with these caddies!

Baskets have just been such a great help to me for every stage of my life. I got started using them when Cari was just a baby. There were so many little things that needed to be close at hand. When I went shopping I could find products that would neatly organize all her ‘stuff,’ but nothing coordinated or it was just plain ugly. I also wanted to be able to tote things from room-to-room of our small apartment.

When I started the business, I figured other people probably had the same challenges so I created the product line around the need for organization in my own home and in my life! Somehow as Cari grew, the size and volume of her ‘stuff’ grew too! You all know the challenges…toys everywhere and enough stuffed animals to start your own carnival!

When Cari and Cathi were little, they each had a Divided Caddy near their bed. It stored whatever was most important to carry with them at the time. For awhile they would take a particular small stuffed animal or a favorite book and then they would change to other toys. The basket went everywhere from room-to-room in the house and then to the car so they had their favorites things with them wherever we went. They felt very important to have their own basket!

All through grade school they knew where to put their school papers and important papers for me to read…of course, a Signature Collection Storage Basket! And I still have a huge wicker trunk full of math and spelling papers as well as beautiful works of art from those precious years.
During their teen years baskets helped to keep things somewhat sane in their rooms. I found out years later that Cathi had baskets under her bed with notes from her friends stored in them! She shared with me that she sometimes stashed candy bars so nobody else would eat them! I guess having special things in special baskets became a good habit to have!

And the legacy lives on! When my granddaughter Ashley was old enough to sit up, Cathi sent me a picture of her in our old country Carryall. At Cari’s house there are four Classic Cubes in front of the couch making a great ottoman or coffee table. But the kids know that stored inside are their toys and they each have their own special Cube!

Having places to put things is half the battle to keeping everything in its place and our Signature HomeStyles baskets have not just helped to keep our home organized, they have created habits that are being passed down to the next generation!

I would love to hear what your favorite basket is and some of your favorite ‘basket stories.’ We always say that Signature HomeStyles is where old traditions are celebrated and new traditions are born. What are yours?

Got Clutter?

Join the crowds! Seems like that’s the big title on magazine articles! There has even been a surge of new TV programs to talk about ways to declutter the house. And professional organizers are popping up all over. I’ve seen bumper stickers that ask, “Want to clear out the clutter?” with a phone number. It reminds me of the movie “Ghost Busters”…who ya gonna call?

Signature HomeStyles, of course! Most of our readily visible clutter is there because we want things close at hand. When we tuck it away, it just creeps back. That’s where our beautiful baskets come in. They organize all the things we want to have within easy reach in a decorative and tasteful way. If you want to test whether you need a basket in a particular spot, just watch what keeps creeping back!

When I need to get an area organized, I sort in three categories: Toss, donate (or garage sale) and keep. The best way to make sure the toss pile is larger than the keep pile is to ask myself, ‘Why am I keeping this?’ It’s especially true for the highest shelves in those cluttered closets. Things I’m not ready to let go of yet get moved up…maybe next time I’ll be more willing to part with them! And somehow donating or moving things via a garage sale feels better than tossing so I find that I am much more willing to get rid of things. After all, we have all this clutter because we have too many things!

As hard as it is to toss things, I also have a couple of ways to force myself to do this. When I have worn things, I put the hangers on the rod backwards. Then I can clearly see what I have not worn and make a decision to either wear it or donate it. I have baskets in most of my drawers and when one becomes full and I have to dig to find something, I set it on the counter and find 5 minutes to sort that basket. I also try really hard to donate an equal number of things I no longer use whenever I purchase something new.

Organized Attack

Now and then I’ll have an area that simply needs a full fledged “attack,” not just a small basket at a time, but big cardboard boxes at a time: One marked ‘garbage’ and one marked ‘donate.’ There’s something about having those marked boxes sitting just outside the door of the room when you sort it that forces you to fill them up. Why do we keep paint cans when we no longer have that color in the house? Last week I tossed wallpaper that is no longer in the house! I keep things I don’t need. We all do and we just have to take the time to toss and reorganize. I felt so good when I cleared the clutter out of my furnace room!

A recent research report on home organization states that organization products have grown at a rapid pace over the past five years because consumers have a penchant for purchasing a lot of “stuff” which has led to clutter-filled homes which has led to the need for organization in nearly every room of the house. The research further reported that consumers can’t bear disorganization in their homes and feel a sense of calmness when things are organized. They are looking for new ideas to rid their homes of clutter.

So Signature HomeStyles Clutter Busters are here to answer the call!

Shoot For the Moon!

This past weekend was the 40th anniversary of the United States landing on the moon. It was great to see the photos again and hear the famous words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” I can remember being glued to the television watching all the tense moments leading up to the landing and celebrating the accomplishment by watching the astronauts parading in New York City. When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land on the moon, many thought it would be an impossible, even a ridiculously outrageous vision for America.

Stories I saw over the weekend looked back at the process to make that dream a reality. Scientists at NASA were challenged, enthusiastic and focused on the goal. They worked extremely long and hard hours. Now stories show that they took many risks, even almost running out of fuel prior to the famous lunar landing. Ground control had tremendous challenges with communication and systems during the flight. All these challenges made the success even sweeter and set the stage for even greater future accomplishments in the space program.

So was it a ridiculously outrageous vision? Did JFK ever wonder himself about the dream a whole country had embraced? What about other dreamers? Historians have reported that President Ronald Reagan was advised not to include the portion of his speech that challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall. But Reagan’s mission for peace and vision of democracy rang out in the words, “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace...tear down this wall!”

Mickey Mouse, Microsoft & Madolyn
What about Walt Disney? He envisioned an entire enterprise that started out with a cartoon mouse! And Bill Gates envisioned Microsoft in his dorm room while still a college student! A good friend of mine started her multimillion-dollar international business in the basement of her home! And I started Signature HomeStyles out of my apartment! Was it a silly idea? Who would have ever thought that you could start a business with $1,500! Of course there were naysayers and challenges.

Every visionary is challenged. Every dreamer takes risks and works extremely hard. And dreams start to happen when they are fueled by commitment, passion and focus on the goal. Whether it’s landing on the moon or building a small business, the challenges and the steps to success are the same. Having a dream and making it happen sets the stage for even greater future accomplishments.

Never, ever let go of your dream!

Shoot for the moon and you will at least land in the stars!

I Like ME Best When I’m With You!

I read once where “I like me best when I’m with you” is the greatest compliment you can give to another person. Think for a minute about the people or groups of people that make you feel that way. Your time together is always joyful…just a warm fuzzy feeling.

At Convention I talked about the feeling that we have when we’re all together. There’s just nothing like it. You can’t really describe it; you have to experience it. And you can’t quantify the value because the feeling is priceless! We often compare Convention to a family reunion but it’s much more than that.

This year we saw what can be done in spite of all the bad news about the economy and the sea of negativity we are pounded with almost daily. The Awards Night ceremony was inspirational because others would say what they accomplished would be impossible in this economy and our Top Achievers proved that all things are possible with the right attitude and actions!

As I was traveling on the highway yesterday, I heard a commentary on the radio about shutting out all the media negativity and surrounding yourself with positive people and positive activities. (Of course, it did occur to me that the radio is part of the media, but I didn’t shut the radio off and continued to listen!) Wow! That just describes the Signature HomeStyles experience…the opportunity to be surrounded by positive people and doing Shows in a positive environment!

Part of being successful is learning to shut out the negative and find the source to fuel the positive. It’s taking that feeling when you can say, “I like me best when I’m with you” and strategizing ways to sustain that feeling and turning it into action.

The news may scare us, but it can’t stop us!

The negativity may persist, but positive action will always win!

When one door closes, another door opens.

Making a Difference…Our Mission

What a powerful story we have! To think that 38 years ago this multimillion-dollar international company started with $1,500 from my teacher’s retirement fund! And to make our story even more amazing, it started off so fast that just a few weeks later I was running out of money and my next door neighbor secured my future by loaning me $600 out of a shoebox she had tucked under her bed! Like so many of our Signature HomeStyles Representatives today, I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom with my first child, Cari and my business was launched!

The story and the progress in the beginning years formed the foundation for a business that would become an award-winning company and one of the most highly respected in the direct sales industry. The values that drove the company in the beginning: home, family, financial stability, honesty, integrity and faith are cemented in our mission and our value system. They are the cornerstones of our strong foundation and the driving force of our bright future.

Our New President Cari!

And I am proud to announce that our future is further cemented as my daughter Cari takes on the role of President of Signature HomeStyles. She will have full responsibility for day-to-day operations and implementation of our strategic plans. I will continue as Founder and CEO focusing on the things I love: people, products and telling our incredible story!

Cari has been with me every step of the way absorbing the values that built this great company and exemplifying the work ethic that has driven us to success. Most companies don’t have this incredible opportunity and I believe that we are unique in our mother-daughter ownership and leadership of a direct selling company.

We also are unique in that Cari is taking on this role as part of a long succession planning process that began over 10 years ago. She has worked in or supervised every department in the company and for the last several years she has taken on a leadership role in sales and marketing. I’ll never forget Cari’s kitchen table tour to meet with our Leaders with six-month-old Joseph in the car seat!

As we enter into the warm summer months, followed by the beautiful fall months and culminating in the season of giving, I am proud of our company’s history, thankful that I will continue this incredible journey with my daughter at my side, and grateful to all of you who continue to honor the values of the company.

I truly thank God for blessing this great company and keeping us in His Hands as we journey together into our bright future.

Our mission to make a difference is in great hands.

Ready, Set, GO!

WOWEE!

Things are really hopping here as we get ready for Convention!

The excitement builds as each project gets completed and the final statistics come in. What a Convention this is going to be! Belinda can’t wait to get here and Frank is excited to be coming back.

And what an Awards Night this year is going to be! Company historic records have been broken, and many Representatives have set new records! Top achievers will be leading training in workshops for all attendees to learn their secrets to success.

I thought you’d enjoy a sneak peek at what we’re doing. We’re all like a bunch of busy bees…

At the office we have product all over the place being boxed up to take to the hotel.

Sneak previews are getting stuffed in envelopes.

We’re busy with final details for registration.

The workshops, meetings, and speeches are being fine tuned.

And the power point presentations and videos are being finalized.

We have staff practicing dance routines.

We’re crunching numbers for final tallies.

Preparing our greenery!

And counting out cash for the cash machine!

We’re ready for a fabulous Signature HomeStyles Convention that will bring out the best in everyone and inspire you to Reach New Heights in the years ahead!

I know you’re just as excited to get here as we are to see all of you!

Roots and Wings

Last Wednesday we had ‘Baseball Day’ at work. Employees could wear shirts of their favorite baseball team to work. Stacy brought popcorn and peanuts to share and it looked like the Cubs won over the Sox! When Cari was getting ready to leave for work, she said goodbye to Joseph and he said, “Mommy, you need to get dressed!” Cari was in her Cubs T-shirt and ball cap and Joseph knows that she never wears that to work.

Our children observe everything we do and say. They watch our actions, they listen to our words and they even observe how we dress! Without saying a word to him at age three Joseph already understands that Mommy goes to work every day…and she doesn’t wear a T-shirt!

Role Models
When we have the monthly promotions where we call Hosts at their Shows, her children have overheard her on many calls. One evening as she called, I heard Emily saying word for word what Cari was speaking into the phone. “Hi, this is Cari from Signature HomeStyles”…in a very perky voice, of course! Cari’s children not only hear her words, see how she dresses, but also they observe her work ethic. Like all mothers, she is their role model.

Every Signature HomeStyles Representative who has children is a role model to them as they watch her drive to her Shows, go to meetings and make calls to her Hosts and Guests. They hear her words as she tells her story and why she loves her job to a potential Start-Up. They hear the conversations as the family discusses how the money will be spent or which trip Mom is working to earn. They get excited when they know they will be going on a family cruise that Mom earned!

And every step of the way they are learning things that are rarely taught in school. When you work hard, you reap the benefits. When you stay positive, a world of possibilities will open up around you. It’s okay to dream…for everybody!

Earlier this year Senior Executive Director Carol Romkema forwarded an e-mail to me that was sent by her daughter, Lisa. “I am writing my review for 2008 and thought of you…I sort of hit the ground running with TARGET like you did with Signature HomeStyles. I am looking at all the things I have done since last year and it feels GREAT! Thank you for giving me motivation to succeed and a sense of pride in that success! And thank you for taking me to all those leadership conferences and meetings, and for all of those books…I wouldn’t be where I am without you!”

We set the pace for our children. We influence how they feel about work, what they want to do with their lives, and most importantly how they feel about themselves. Our homes are the foundation for the cornerstones of their lives. It’s where they get their roots.

How we live our lives is where we give them wings!