Spring Fling 2006!!
What a great experience!

Spring Fling 2006 Pictures and Video

Spring Fling 2006 Through the eyes of Kari Andersen

This is not going to be easy to convey how great this last week at Spring Fling was... not at all.

Just a little background. I joined this candle company almost a year and a half ago without ever being involved with another network marketing company or anything like it. I was a middle school teacher and then stay-at-home-mom.

I have never been to a company convention or any type of convention other than church related activities. So this whole experience was new to me.

My sponsor said I should go to company events so I do. The last two Flings were wonderful and I even brought my son to the last one so he could meet everyone and see how the candles are made.

But this Spring Fling was like none other for me...

I arrived at the resort on Wednesday evening and I was very glad for that. I was able to get rested up for what was to come!!

On Thursday, we had a pre-Spring Fling team meeting with Jackie. Charlie Umphred, the company VP and co-owner, told us the story of the company and the vision he has the future of this amazing product and company. He has such a gift for sharing the vision.

Then it was off to the factory and company headquarters for a tour. WOW!! You can smell the candles a block away! I knew we were getting close. When you walk in you are greeted by the amazing scents and warm greetings from a staff that is dedicated to make this the best business experience for the distributors. They make each and every person feel as if they were the only one in the building and as if they were life long friends.

After the tour, it was off to lunch with a group of friends that I had met at the last Flings and also some new friends. We laughed so hard and the energy from like-minded people who are a heck of a lot of fun is just intoxicating!!

The next day, Friday, was the first official day of the Spring Fling and it started with a bang. I was asked to be a guest at the leadership breakfast which consisited of Corporate, Directors and Double and Triple Diamonds! I felt so honored and I was looking forward to this breakfast more than anything else!!! I thought that this was going to be the highlight of the Fling for me and the rest would just be gravy. It WAS great but I found out that it was only the beginning!!

After breakfast we went to restaurant area for Jackie's meeting and she had so much to share with all of us and then we honored her with a tiara, feather boa and a "Queen of Diamonds" award. We were all crying because we appreciate her so much for all her hard work and care for us.

Then it was off to the big gathering and the opening ceremony. There were greetings from Carmen and Lynn, the candle makers and from Charlie and Bobby, the owners. Bob Schmitz always is the Master of Ceremonies and does a fabulous job with that.

What happened next was very surprising and thrilling. They gave out beautiful plaques to those in the company who aren't quite at the Double Diamond level but who are building large teams and working their business really hard. I WON ONE OF THOSE AWARDS!!! It's called the "Rising Star" award. I was so shocked and very humbled because I stood on stage with people who I consider giants in this business.

The rest of the day was dreamy with training sessions and guest speakers. I was in awe of all the talent and passion in the room. We have so many wonderful people in our company and I have so much to learn from all of them.

Then it was cocktails and appetizers in the evening and lots of great laughs and conversations about business and fun.

I woke up on Saturday feeling very uneasy because I knew that I had to give my speech..... ugh! So scared and my stomach gets queezy just remembering how I felt that morning. I read over my speech and had a peace about the content but I was still really nervous.

That day was another fantastic day of training, product give aways and guest speakers. I just love hearing how to set goals by Kelly Wissink and make tear-off flyers with scent samples attached by Lise Mac Fadden. Charlie shared how to bring in Top Gun Business builders into our businesses and once again gave me goose bumps when he showed the graph that illustrated how well our company is doing.

Then it was time................

I told Rochelle, who was sitting next to me that I hated the way I felt right then and that I would NEVER do this again. But Bob Schmitz introduced me and I had no choice but to go up.

I got up and told my first joke and people laughed so I calmed down a little. I also noticed that everyone was smiling at me.... really. I have never felt so loved and supported by so many people at one time. I found Jackie and a couple other people in the audience and they were my happy faces. I felt calm when I looked at them.

When I sat down, Charlie came over and whispered that they are extending my speech time limit in the Fall! Ugh.... I guess you should never say never!!

The rest of the meeting that day was a blur and I don't remember much until dinner. The big dinner dance is always fun and I usually have a great time.

One of my goals for this Spring Fling was to sing karaoke. I've been a singer my whole life but I'm always to shy to sing at the Fling. I wanted to push myself to do something uncomfortable and step out of my comfort zone so I made myself do it.

The Directors and Senior Directors had to pick a partner for the Karaoke Contest and Deb Warren chose me to be her partner. How fun to see people's expressions when they heard us belt out "The Greatest Love" by Whitney Houston. We tied with Jackie and John Mac Fadden and were each given a $100 credit to our accounts with the company!!! Woo hoo!! I did it!!

The next day we went over to the warehouse to pick up some product before heading to Philly to catch a plane to go home.

But before Cherrie and Mitch dropped me off at the airport, we went into the heart of Philly and went to world famous Jim's to get a Philly Cheese Steak. OH MY GOODNESS!! That is good food!!!! Thanks Cherrie and Mitch for humoring me and taking me there!!!

So this is just my account of Spring Fling and there were hundreds of other people who were there and each one of them has their own story. Ask them to share it with you. You will be blown away by the common thread of what an amazing company we are involved with and how lucky we are to have found it when we did.

See you at the Fall Fling.

Read more about the Spring Fling here!

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