Pre-Paid Legal was the next opportunity I discovered. I got started with Pre-Paid Legal shortly after I completed nursing school. During nursing school I was not looking for any opportunity other than the opportunity to graduate with my degree. However, after nursing school I heard about a gentleman that was excelling with his Pre-Paid Legal business. So I did what any motivated person would do. I searched him out and chased him down. I wanted to find if he was legitimate and see if he would give me the opportunity to get started in business with him. So I spoke with this Pre-Paid Legal guru; felt he was legit and got started in business right away. It was kind of funny, in nursing school I met someone who was actively working with Pre-Paid Legal. He was brand new with the business and I felt at the time, that it was not a marketable business. Of course after I found someone who was successful I changed my tune a little.
I got a quick start with Pre-Paid Legal. My first week I put out an employment ad and had 2 people sign up right away as associates. I quickly found out that my new mentor in the business was not focused on Pre-Paid Legal as much as he once was. At that time he spent more energy on his real estate ventures. I decided that I would teach myself what I needed to know since I did not have much upline support. I started cold calling from the phone book, this was miserably tough at first. I believe I made like 20 phone calls the first night and they were all hang ups. I put the phone down and I was very discouraged. Then I picked it back up and told myself, "If this phone is the only thing keeping me from becoming a millionaire then I would conquer the phone and started dialing again". Again I made another 15 calls, of course most of them were hang ups too. I quickly got discouraged and decided that I had to find a way to tell interested people about Pre-Paid Legal or I would never make any money. My wonderful girlfriend who had some telephone marketing experience helped me to develop a script to use in which I was giving away a free drawing to win $100.00 in groceries. This simple but unobtrusive script worked like a charm I was able to book an appointment with about 1 in every 4 people that I talked to on the phone. I got very excited about my Pre-Paid Legal business, however, I found that I spent a lot of time making appointments and more time actually going on the appointments. Once you broke it down, it was not worth the $75.00 commission that I earned at the time. Sure with the Pre-Paid Legal pay plan, down the road the business could become very profitable. One thing that I have found out about MLM/Network Marketing businesses is that they appear very profitable with very complex pay plans. However, it always takes a little time before you can develop a full time income because you are partly depending on other people's efforts. Let's face it many people get started in these low cost businesses chasing a "fast" dream. Usually after 30 to 60 days their dream is fast over and to be successful you are always racing against your drop out rate. Pre-Paid Legal really was no different. I am not saying that Pre-Paid Legal is a bad business because I am certain there are many successful business owners in Pre-Paid Legal. I just felt that there had to be a better business model out there for me. So I left that business, however, I really like their product and still use/own it today. Off I went looking for another business venture that would suit me.
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Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Mary Kay, believe it or not!
Mary Kay, was the first business I was a part of believe it or not. As a 20 year old male I was recruited by a Mary Kay consultant to get started in the business. She did a great job recruiting me she even put me in the hands of an excellent director Ellen Mitchell. Ellen was great at what she did and had a solid organization. I am certain she is most likely still working her business very successfully.
Mary Kay is a great business however, I just did not have any interest in the products. I was sold on the idea that I worked with the perfect market; (tons of females) which was true. I just did not care much for the product. I was hoping I would began to develop a name for myself as a Mary Kay Consultant and would generate a little passive income from the occasional orders while I was in school. To be quite honest I did not have the time to put in the business. However, I did witness a top notch organization in action. Mary Kay, has tons of training resources available. It is actually good training material not just hype and excitement. I mean all of the Mary Kay cassette tapes that I heard and the video tapes that I saw truly taught actually techniques on improving your business; everything from scripts on setting up parties, to actual video tapes showing how to coach someone through doing their own make over. It was just excellent training material.
Even though it was a business that I did not succeed at. It was a great business and on occasion if I hear of a nurse who may be getting started as a Mary Kay Consultant I always re-enforce the fact that they are part of a great business if they choose to work it like a business. Overall I probably lost about $600.00 on my Mary Kay business and most of that was product that I ended up giving away. I didn't have any hard feelings; it was just a business that did not keep my interest. Don't get me wrong everyone hates to lose money. However, it was my mistakes. No one in Mary Kay ever mis-represented the Mary Kay business or it's products. I just chose not to succeed at it.
Feel free to comment on your experience with Mary Kay as a business or it's products.
Subscribe, and be notified when I update this blog
Mary Kay is a great business however, I just did not have any interest in the products. I was sold on the idea that I worked with the perfect market; (tons of females) which was true. I just did not care much for the product. I was hoping I would began to develop a name for myself as a Mary Kay Consultant and would generate a little passive income from the occasional orders while I was in school. To be quite honest I did not have the time to put in the business. However, I did witness a top notch organization in action. Mary Kay, has tons of training resources available. It is actually good training material not just hype and excitement. I mean all of the Mary Kay cassette tapes that I heard and the video tapes that I saw truly taught actually techniques on improving your business; everything from scripts on setting up parties, to actual video tapes showing how to coach someone through doing their own make over. It was just excellent training material.
Even though it was a business that I did not succeed at. It was a great business and on occasion if I hear of a nurse who may be getting started as a Mary Kay Consultant I always re-enforce the fact that they are part of a great business if they choose to work it like a business. Overall I probably lost about $600.00 on my Mary Kay business and most of that was product that I ended up giving away. I didn't have any hard feelings; it was just a business that did not keep my interest. Don't get me wrong everyone hates to lose money. However, it was my mistakes. No one in Mary Kay ever mis-represented the Mary Kay business or it's products. I just chose not to succeed at it.
Feel free to comment on your experience with Mary Kay as a business or it's products.
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Monday, February 07, 2005
The Start of my Entrepreneurial Thoughts
I can not exactly pin point exactly when I decided I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I am not sure I ever decided on this it may have simply been something that I instinctively always knew I was going to do. However, I don't always remember having entrepreneurial thoughts. When I was younger I do remember having lemonade stands with my friends, we walked dogs, washed cars, cut grass, ect. Just to make some extra money. I have always had hopes and dreams. Even though my family was relatively poor I just always felt that I would have and be able to enjoy all of the nicer things in life.
Early on I can remember listening to my Papa at his kitchen table talking about money and past financial decisions. Papa had made many hundreds of thousands of dollars in his life time that he squandered. His whole life Papa work a regular J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) but he basically just made horrible financial decisions. He had a brother that also worked a regular J.O.B. however, he made excellent financial decisions and investments. In his later years his brother enjoyed a comfortable life taking many vacations and traveling all over the US and other parts of the world. The conversations that Papa had at his kitchen table were usually directed towards my Nannie but were for his benefit. I often listened to him say things such as, "..In 1956 if we would have invested X amount of dollars here or put in there today after taxes we would have..."(the whole time he would be punching away feverishly on his calculator). Papa talked quite abit about how he wished he had invested in that or had money to invest in this now. At that time in the late 80's early 90's he wanted to invest in Wal-Mart. Which by the way would have turned out to be an excellent investment. My brother and I at 10 and 11 years old would pick up the newspaper and try to read and understand the Financial page. We would try to make sense of all of those numbers and symbols. Papa simply explained, "This is the buy price and this is the sell price and this is the symbol for the company". He would go on to say, "You want to buy the stock when it is low and sell it when it goes up". That sounded simple enough.
When I started college I was still curious about the financial world. I would browse through investment books for beginners and try to makes sense of all that stuff. The first book I ever read that motivated me was The Complete Idiot's Guide: To Getting Rich. I hated the title but this book spoke in plain English and was easy to understand. This book spoke mainly about investing with an emphasis on mutual funds. It explained the result of compound interest. Overall I just got really excited about what I learned in that book. I often picked up random books and browsed through them. However, another book that really impacted me. Was written by Robert Kiyasoki titled What the Rich Invest in That the Poor and Middle Class do not. I remember thinking I was getting a book full of investing advice. Robert Kiyasoki, believes the rich invest in their business. Not exactly the investment advice I had been looking for. This book was focused on starting a business and the lucrative advantages that business owners have over others. For example corporations are taxed at a rate of about 18%, that is lower than the lowest tax bracket for personal income tax. Businesses can write off many of their expenses on their taxes.
For example if your business earns $100,000 in a year and you have to spend $20,000 in advertising. Many non-business people would assume the businesses earns $100,000 they are taxed say hypothetically 30% they are left with $70,000 and will have to pay their advertising bill of $20,000 and will profit $50,000. However, this example is very simplified but a more accurate picture of what happens is this. The business makes $100,000 the advertising is a tax write off so they will take their advertising amount out of their gross of $100,000 ($100,000 gross - $20,000 advertising = $80,000 profit) Since the business only shows a profit of $80,000 that is all they will be taxed on, not the full $100,000. Instead of paying $30,000 in taxes they will only pay 30% of $80,000 which is $24,000. Basically just because an entity is a business and not a person paying income taxes they are able to save $6,000. That is an extra $6,000 in their pocket. Disclaimer: This is primarily for an easy example about the benefits of owning a business. This is some of what I learned in the above mentioned book. Tax codes are very complicated always consult a tax advisor as I am not one.
Something else that Robert Kiyasoki talked about in the book was the ultimate growth of a business; which he seems to feel is for the company to be able to go public successful. In other words trade on the stock market. Prior to reading this book I was under the impression that people earning $100,000/year were rich. Mr. Kiyasoki motivated me to increase my personal goals and to change my way of thinking. In his book he talks about earning your first million being the hardest and the other millions would come a little easier than the first. I began to think maybe my goal for when I started a business should be 100,000/month. However, at that time I was in nursing school and starting a business was going to be a little ways off.
I distinctively remember walking home from school one day (this was during the period that I didn't have a car) and I was thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in my life financially. I started this thought process because I wanted a car and I was thinking if I were out of school and working as a nurse I could get a car . Then I began to think of other things I wanted when I became a nurse. I wanted to have the home of my dreams bought and paid for by the time I was 40. I wanted a Dodge Viper bought and paid for in the garage by the time I was 30. I wanted to have the option to retire at 50 if I so choose. Then, I began to calculate what my nursing salary would be (about $35,000/year). I started calculating how much I could possibly save. It was then for the very first time I realized that I would most likely never hit my goals if I expected to do it from a nursing salary. Those goals would have been almost impossible to hit even with a nursing salary and good investments.
These thoughts sparked other thoughts. I began to realize that many people would say; one day I want this or one day I want that but they never really meant it. They never truly made the decision to turn those dreams into goals. I made a consicous decision that I was going to reach my goals. I was 20 years old at the time, and I knew I had to get serious. It was like an epiphany, I can remember exactly where I was at on my walk home when all of this began to hit me. I knew from that point on I would have to get serious about a business in order to reach my goals. I wasn't sure which business, I knew that I had several ideas that could become businesses. First of all I needed to finish nursing school. Then I would work at becoming a serious entrepreneur. Since that day my daily thoughts have almost always been saturated with the idea of entrepreneurship.
In the next several posts I am going to discuss several business ideas I have had in the past and several businesses I have attempted to start up thus far in my life.
Be notified when I update this blog
Early on I can remember listening to my Papa at his kitchen table talking about money and past financial decisions. Papa had made many hundreds of thousands of dollars in his life time that he squandered. His whole life Papa work a regular J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) but he basically just made horrible financial decisions. He had a brother that also worked a regular J.O.B. however, he made excellent financial decisions and investments. In his later years his brother enjoyed a comfortable life taking many vacations and traveling all over the US and other parts of the world. The conversations that Papa had at his kitchen table were usually directed towards my Nannie but were for his benefit. I often listened to him say things such as, "..In 1956 if we would have invested X amount of dollars here or put in there today after taxes we would have..."(the whole time he would be punching away feverishly on his calculator). Papa talked quite abit about how he wished he had invested in that or had money to invest in this now. At that time in the late 80's early 90's he wanted to invest in Wal-Mart. Which by the way would have turned out to be an excellent investment. My brother and I at 10 and 11 years old would pick up the newspaper and try to read and understand the Financial page. We would try to make sense of all of those numbers and symbols. Papa simply explained, "This is the buy price and this is the sell price and this is the symbol for the company". He would go on to say, "You want to buy the stock when it is low and sell it when it goes up". That sounded simple enough.
When I started college I was still curious about the financial world. I would browse through investment books for beginners and try to makes sense of all that stuff. The first book I ever read that motivated me was The Complete Idiot's Guide: To Getting Rich. I hated the title but this book spoke in plain English and was easy to understand. This book spoke mainly about investing with an emphasis on mutual funds. It explained the result of compound interest. Overall I just got really excited about what I learned in that book. I often picked up random books and browsed through them. However, another book that really impacted me. Was written by Robert Kiyasoki titled What the Rich Invest in That the Poor and Middle Class do not. I remember thinking I was getting a book full of investing advice. Robert Kiyasoki, believes the rich invest in their business. Not exactly the investment advice I had been looking for. This book was focused on starting a business and the lucrative advantages that business owners have over others. For example corporations are taxed at a rate of about 18%, that is lower than the lowest tax bracket for personal income tax. Businesses can write off many of their expenses on their taxes.
For example if your business earns $100,000 in a year and you have to spend $20,000 in advertising. Many non-business people would assume the businesses earns $100,000 they are taxed say hypothetically 30% they are left with $70,000 and will have to pay their advertising bill of $20,000 and will profit $50,000. However, this example is very simplified but a more accurate picture of what happens is this. The business makes $100,000 the advertising is a tax write off so they will take their advertising amount out of their gross of $100,000 ($100,000 gross - $20,000 advertising = $80,000 profit) Since the business only shows a profit of $80,000 that is all they will be taxed on, not the full $100,000. Instead of paying $30,000 in taxes they will only pay 30% of $80,000 which is $24,000. Basically just because an entity is a business and not a person paying income taxes they are able to save $6,000. That is an extra $6,000 in their pocket. Disclaimer: This is primarily for an easy example about the benefits of owning a business. This is some of what I learned in the above mentioned book. Tax codes are very complicated always consult a tax advisor as I am not one.
Something else that Robert Kiyasoki talked about in the book was the ultimate growth of a business; which he seems to feel is for the company to be able to go public successful. In other words trade on the stock market. Prior to reading this book I was under the impression that people earning $100,000/year were rich. Mr. Kiyasoki motivated me to increase my personal goals and to change my way of thinking. In his book he talks about earning your first million being the hardest and the other millions would come a little easier than the first. I began to think maybe my goal for when I started a business should be 100,000/month. However, at that time I was in nursing school and starting a business was going to be a little ways off.
I distinctively remember walking home from school one day (this was during the period that I didn't have a car) and I was thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in my life financially. I started this thought process because I wanted a car and I was thinking if I were out of school and working as a nurse I could get a car . Then I began to think of other things I wanted when I became a nurse. I wanted to have the home of my dreams bought and paid for by the time I was 40. I wanted a Dodge Viper bought and paid for in the garage by the time I was 30. I wanted to have the option to retire at 50 if I so choose. Then, I began to calculate what my nursing salary would be (about $35,000/year). I started calculating how much I could possibly save. It was then for the very first time I realized that I would most likely never hit my goals if I expected to do it from a nursing salary. Those goals would have been almost impossible to hit even with a nursing salary and good investments.
These thoughts sparked other thoughts. I began to realize that many people would say; one day I want this or one day I want that but they never really meant it. They never truly made the decision to turn those dreams into goals. I made a consicous decision that I was going to reach my goals. I was 20 years old at the time, and I knew I had to get serious. It was like an epiphany, I can remember exactly where I was at on my walk home when all of this began to hit me. I knew from that point on I would have to get serious about a business in order to reach my goals. I wasn't sure which business, I knew that I had several ideas that could become businesses. First of all I needed to finish nursing school. Then I would work at becoming a serious entrepreneur. Since that day my daily thoughts have almost always been saturated with the idea of entrepreneurship.
In the next several posts I am going to discuss several business ideas I have had in the past and several businesses I have attempted to start up thus far in my life.
Be notified when I update this blog
Many More Thanks...
There are so many other people I could thank in my life. My 4th grade teacher at Brogden Primary Mrs. Doris Smith. Mrs. Smith was my teacher during the time that my Daddy passed away. She was awesome, she had the class make cards for us. She came by to visit why we were out of school. She helped us get caught up on our work when returned to school. She just went that extra mile that teachers don't have to go.
My Royal Ranger's Commanders (Royal Rangers is a boy's youth group in the church similar to Boy Scouts but concentrates more on the doctrine of the church) who came by very shortly after my Daddy passed away. These guys were Rex Hood and Dallas Waters. I will never forget how they took us outside in our Nannie's driveway and just sat there and talked; it was very comforting. I remember Commander Waters said we had to make a pact that we couldn't tell anyone about because it was a secret but he said that we now had something in common. He told us of someone that was close to him when he was younger that had passed away (I don't remember who it was) Commander Rex also did the same. Although I don't see these guys often they are never forgotten. Commander Rex (they will always be my Commanders) is a real estate agent now and I see his picture in the paper and on local real estate advertisements; I pray that he has much success.
My Nannie and Papa, for allowing us to move in with them the year after Daddy passed. They both were like a second set of parent to my brother and I. We spent a lot of time around them growing up. We had our first itch of financial independence sparked in us most likely by overhearing many of their conversations about money. More about this in another post.
Dorothy Boyette, my Sunday School teacher since I was 15. Her spiritual guidance, teachings, and encouragement will never be forgotten. Mrs. Dorothy taught me prayer works as we prayed for many things in her class and always saw them come to pass. Mr. Lee Kerney, also belongs in this group as he started helping Mrs. Dorothy when we were about 17. Mr. Kerney does most of the teaching now. He taught me that it is OK for a man to express his feelings.
Donnie's family, they quickly accepted us as part of their very own family. We have never felt as if we didn't belong. They are special people and I will always love them. I have to thank a specific couple from that family; Jennifer and Jesse. This is Donnie's Sister and Brother-in-Law. During some of my most stressful times in nursing school they would invite me out for lunch after church. They would usually listen and allow me to vent my stress on them. I truly appreciate the time I spent with them and I will always love them for that.
Maureen Loomer, who was in Anatomy with me. She has one of the most brilliant minds I have ever met. Maureen encouraged me to stick up for myself when I was wrongly accused of cheating on a Anatomy lab practical. Thanks for believing in me Maureen and encouraging me.
Melissa Smith, she was Melissa Taylor when I first met her in nursing school. Melissa believed in me and genuinely cared about me as a person. She was a friend in a time when I did not feel as if I had many friends. She is a beautiful person inside and out. Melissa is "the one that got away". She was single for a brief period in nursing school; I wanted to date her in the worst way. She never knew that and eventually started dating Shane Smith, who seems like a great guy. Melissa and Shane went on and got married and now have started a beautiful family. Melissa ended up becoming an awesome nurse, so I am told. I think that is great she deserves everything good in her life. Now I know life has a funny way of working itself out. I am glad I never started dating Melissa; if I had been with her I may have never met Carmen. I could not imagine life today without Carmen. I wish Melissa the best with her life.
The Palumbos, for allowing me to move in with them even though I was a complete stranger (rent free). For allowing me to stay there even when I failed out of school. Ms. Jean for helping me study and prepare for clinicals even when she had to go to work and had not slept much. Thanks guys for your tremendous sacrifice.
Gary, who has become one of my best friends. We become friends while I was in the computer lab typing notes from nursing class. Gary was the monitor in the lab. Gary is a great guy and incredibly smart. Unfortunately even today he fells to apply himself to even a little of his potential.
Vicky Brikic, a friend that I met when I transferred to Wilson for nursing school. Vicky and her mom were very encouraging to me. Vicky encouraged me to face opposition and move past it. She encouraged me to do better in school; she helped me to set high standards for myself. I always competed with her to see who could get the highest grades. Vicky beat me almost everytime but I was usually in second place when it came to the whole class. Vicky rushed to my aid when she discovered that I was being discriminated against by another instructor. I never knew this was going on and I didn't know Vicky had rushed to my defense till sometime later. Vicky went on to become our class Valevictorian. She is currently an ER nurse and will soon become a Nurse Practicioner. Way to go Vicky!!
To my nursing instructors at Wilson who believed in me. Especially Ms. Robbinette for giving me a chance to get in the program and giving me another chance to succeed. Also, Mr. Bynum who taught me Microbiology. One particular day I was unusually discouraged and I went to him and shared my feelings with him. I will never forget his response, "Jackie, I only make bets that I am sure of and I am willing to bet that next Spring by graduation many people in this program will fail out, but you will be there and you will walk across that stage". I remember after graduation I went to him and reminded him of that day and he simply responded, "I only make sure bets".
Two other nursing instructors in particular Mrs. Godwin and Ms. Clark (Ms. Clark was pretty hot by the way) both of these ladies believed in me and when I was reported by an unnamed instructor for being incompetent they both were objective and waited to see all of the evidence before judging me. They both believed in me afterwards and became very encouraging. I can remember one conversation in particular where Ms. Clark could tell that I was not confident in my nursing judgment she pulled me to the side and said, "Jackie, believe in yourself. You are smart, you know what you are doing. I believe you but you have to believe you. You have to believe in yourself and be confident in what you are doing".
Thanks to Debbie Allen my current nurse manager. Debbie was also my nurse manager when I was in school. She support my efforts to become a nurse, she always worked around my schedule and was very flexible. Debbie, has always been very fair and although I don't agree with all of her decisions; for the most part Debbie could be the manager in which all others are judged by.
Also I can't forget my charge nurses who have been my mentors and have been very patient as I have began to mature as a nurse. Thanks Polly, Roger, Linda, Laura, and Dorothy. They are all awesome.
My Royal Ranger's Commanders (Royal Rangers is a boy's youth group in the church similar to Boy Scouts but concentrates more on the doctrine of the church) who came by very shortly after my Daddy passed away. These guys were Rex Hood and Dallas Waters. I will never forget how they took us outside in our Nannie's driveway and just sat there and talked; it was very comforting. I remember Commander Waters said we had to make a pact that we couldn't tell anyone about because it was a secret but he said that we now had something in common. He told us of someone that was close to him when he was younger that had passed away (I don't remember who it was) Commander Rex also did the same. Although I don't see these guys often they are never forgotten. Commander Rex (they will always be my Commanders) is a real estate agent now and I see his picture in the paper and on local real estate advertisements; I pray that he has much success.
My Nannie and Papa, for allowing us to move in with them the year after Daddy passed. They both were like a second set of parent to my brother and I. We spent a lot of time around them growing up. We had our first itch of financial independence sparked in us most likely by overhearing many of their conversations about money. More about this in another post.
Dorothy Boyette, my Sunday School teacher since I was 15. Her spiritual guidance, teachings, and encouragement will never be forgotten. Mrs. Dorothy taught me prayer works as we prayed for many things in her class and always saw them come to pass. Mr. Lee Kerney, also belongs in this group as he started helping Mrs. Dorothy when we were about 17. Mr. Kerney does most of the teaching now. He taught me that it is OK for a man to express his feelings.
Donnie's family, they quickly accepted us as part of their very own family. We have never felt as if we didn't belong. They are special people and I will always love them. I have to thank a specific couple from that family; Jennifer and Jesse. This is Donnie's Sister and Brother-in-Law. During some of my most stressful times in nursing school they would invite me out for lunch after church. They would usually listen and allow me to vent my stress on them. I truly appreciate the time I spent with them and I will always love them for that.
Maureen Loomer, who was in Anatomy with me. She has one of the most brilliant minds I have ever met. Maureen encouraged me to stick up for myself when I was wrongly accused of cheating on a Anatomy lab practical. Thanks for believing in me Maureen and encouraging me.
Melissa Smith, she was Melissa Taylor when I first met her in nursing school. Melissa believed in me and genuinely cared about me as a person. She was a friend in a time when I did not feel as if I had many friends. She is a beautiful person inside and out. Melissa is "the one that got away". She was single for a brief period in nursing school; I wanted to date her in the worst way. She never knew that and eventually started dating Shane Smith, who seems like a great guy. Melissa and Shane went on and got married and now have started a beautiful family. Melissa ended up becoming an awesome nurse, so I am told. I think that is great she deserves everything good in her life. Now I know life has a funny way of working itself out. I am glad I never started dating Melissa; if I had been with her I may have never met Carmen. I could not imagine life today without Carmen. I wish Melissa the best with her life.
The Palumbos, for allowing me to move in with them even though I was a complete stranger (rent free). For allowing me to stay there even when I failed out of school. Ms. Jean for helping me study and prepare for clinicals even when she had to go to work and had not slept much. Thanks guys for your tremendous sacrifice.
Gary, who has become one of my best friends. We become friends while I was in the computer lab typing notes from nursing class. Gary was the monitor in the lab. Gary is a great guy and incredibly smart. Unfortunately even today he fells to apply himself to even a little of his potential.
Vicky Brikic, a friend that I met when I transferred to Wilson for nursing school. Vicky and her mom were very encouraging to me. Vicky encouraged me to face opposition and move past it. She encouraged me to do better in school; she helped me to set high standards for myself. I always competed with her to see who could get the highest grades. Vicky beat me almost everytime but I was usually in second place when it came to the whole class. Vicky rushed to my aid when she discovered that I was being discriminated against by another instructor. I never knew this was going on and I didn't know Vicky had rushed to my defense till sometime later. Vicky went on to become our class Valevictorian. She is currently an ER nurse and will soon become a Nurse Practicioner. Way to go Vicky!!
To my nursing instructors at Wilson who believed in me. Especially Ms. Robbinette for giving me a chance to get in the program and giving me another chance to succeed. Also, Mr. Bynum who taught me Microbiology. One particular day I was unusually discouraged and I went to him and shared my feelings with him. I will never forget his response, "Jackie, I only make bets that I am sure of and I am willing to bet that next Spring by graduation many people in this program will fail out, but you will be there and you will walk across that stage". I remember after graduation I went to him and reminded him of that day and he simply responded, "I only make sure bets".
Two other nursing instructors in particular Mrs. Godwin and Ms. Clark (Ms. Clark was pretty hot by the way) both of these ladies believed in me and when I was reported by an unnamed instructor for being incompetent they both were objective and waited to see all of the evidence before judging me. They both believed in me afterwards and became very encouraging. I can remember one conversation in particular where Ms. Clark could tell that I was not confident in my nursing judgment she pulled me to the side and said, "Jackie, believe in yourself. You are smart, you know what you are doing. I believe you but you have to believe you. You have to believe in yourself and be confident in what you are doing".
Thanks to Debbie Allen my current nurse manager. Debbie was also my nurse manager when I was in school. She support my efforts to become a nurse, she always worked around my schedule and was very flexible. Debbie, has always been very fair and although I don't agree with all of her decisions; for the most part Debbie could be the manager in which all others are judged by.
Also I can't forget my charge nurses who have been my mentors and have been very patient as I have began to mature as a nurse. Thanks Polly, Roger, Linda, Laura, and Dorothy. They are all awesome.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Thanks Carmen
Carmen is my girlfriend and the love of my life. She has been amazing. I never intended to meet anyone quite like her. We met when I was in nursing school. In nursing school I would spend a couple of hours each day typing up my notes so they would be more legible and easier to study. I usually did this in the computer lab at school. Sometimes I would take breaks by chatting in chat rooms or on yahoo messenger; it was during this time that I met Carmen. She was simply one of those many people I had met when chatting on yahoo. I would chat with her on rare occasions and usually on superficial topics. We chatted on things such as how is life, how is school, and what are you doing tonight. It was never anything more than platonic. Let's face it, who in their right mind would go and seek a relationship online.
Several months went by and I had bought a cell phone through Sprint. I had nationwide long distance and thought it was so amazing that I could call the whole world and I wasn't charged. Ok, so I could only call people in the US but, it seemed like the whole world to me. The worst part was that I didn't really know anyone outside of my state that I wanted to talk to. So I just gave my phone number out freely to my "chat" friends. Carmen was one of these friends but no one including Carmen ever really called me. Until one day about 6 months later in the fall of the year I was headed home from getting my assignment at the hospital. By this time I had transferred over to Wilson for school. I picked up my phone when it started ringing. I was driving home and I heard someone on the other end introduce themselves as Carmen. It took me awhile to figure out who it was.
Carmen told me that she was home with her parents studying for exams and was extremely bored when she accidentally came across my number that she had scribbled down several months ago when I gave it to her. After that night we would occasionally speak over the phone but not very much, as time went by we began to speak more and more. By January of that year we were speaking every night on the phone as much as 7 or 8 hours per night. Although most conversations averaged about 2 hours. In May I graduated nursing school. By October of that year I went to meet her she lived about 13 hours away in Michigan. We became a couple on November 1st. That was over two years ago and I still speak to her every night and I see her usually for a week at a time; about 8 months out of the year.
Carmen has inspired me and motivated me to reach for greater personal heights in my own life. Carmen is very goal oriented and that helps to keep me focused and motivated as well. Carmen has supported me in almost every entrepreneurial venture that I have had. She has always helped me to reach higher stages of personal growth and accomplishments. She usually does this by listening to my needs and interjecting her opinions, thoughts, and ideas. Carmen herself is a very motivated entrepreneur and she is well on her way to success. It is very possible that she will reach her entrepreneurial goals before I do.
I find comfort just by being around her. My thoughts are usually consumed by her. Even my entrepreneurial thoughts are centered on creating a life for the both of us. She has a very big heart and is a very caring person. I find this to be attractive but I do worry that others are quick to take advantage of her kindness which I don't think that would be too hard to do. I am not sure exactly what the future holds for myself but I am confident with Carmen in my corner I will be OK. I look forward to seeing her grow as a person and an entrepreneur. I feel fortunate to be able to witness her life and to share in it with her.
Carmen, thanks for supporting me, when others have not. Thanks for encouraging me when I did not feel like moving forward. Thanks for letting me know you loved me even when I did not think many people did. Thanks for celebrating my accomplishments with me no matter how small they were. Thank You.
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Several months went by and I had bought a cell phone through Sprint. I had nationwide long distance and thought it was so amazing that I could call the whole world and I wasn't charged. Ok, so I could only call people in the US but, it seemed like the whole world to me. The worst part was that I didn't really know anyone outside of my state that I wanted to talk to. So I just gave my phone number out freely to my "chat" friends. Carmen was one of these friends but no one including Carmen ever really called me. Until one day about 6 months later in the fall of the year I was headed home from getting my assignment at the hospital. By this time I had transferred over to Wilson for school. I picked up my phone when it started ringing. I was driving home and I heard someone on the other end introduce themselves as Carmen. It took me awhile to figure out who it was.
Carmen told me that she was home with her parents studying for exams and was extremely bored when she accidentally came across my number that she had scribbled down several months ago when I gave it to her. After that night we would occasionally speak over the phone but not very much, as time went by we began to speak more and more. By January of that year we were speaking every night on the phone as much as 7 or 8 hours per night. Although most conversations averaged about 2 hours. In May I graduated nursing school. By October of that year I went to meet her she lived about 13 hours away in Michigan. We became a couple on November 1st. That was over two years ago and I still speak to her every night and I see her usually for a week at a time; about 8 months out of the year.
Carmen has inspired me and motivated me to reach for greater personal heights in my own life. Carmen is very goal oriented and that helps to keep me focused and motivated as well. Carmen has supported me in almost every entrepreneurial venture that I have had. She has always helped me to reach higher stages of personal growth and accomplishments. She usually does this by listening to my needs and interjecting her opinions, thoughts, and ideas. Carmen herself is a very motivated entrepreneur and she is well on her way to success. It is very possible that she will reach her entrepreneurial goals before I do.
I find comfort just by being around her. My thoughts are usually consumed by her. Even my entrepreneurial thoughts are centered on creating a life for the both of us. She has a very big heart and is a very caring person. I find this to be attractive but I do worry that others are quick to take advantage of her kindness which I don't think that would be too hard to do. I am not sure exactly what the future holds for myself but I am confident with Carmen in my corner I will be OK. I look forward to seeing her grow as a person and an entrepreneur. I feel fortunate to be able to witness her life and to share in it with her.
Carmen, thanks for supporting me, when others have not. Thanks for encouraging me when I did not feel like moving forward. Thanks for letting me know you loved me even when I did not think many people did. Thanks for celebrating my accomplishments with me no matter how small they were. Thank You.
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Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Thanks, Donnie
I will use this post to thank Donnie and the effects that he has had on my life. To be 100% honest I have not always agreed with much of what this man has said or did. Donnie, is my Mom's fiance. I have no idea why they have yet to be married they have only been engaged for years. I have to thank Donnie for a few things though. He has definitely had a big impact on my life. First of all he helped Mom financially and emotionally when we were growing up. Sure, he made plenty of mistakes at first but he straightened up. Mama did not believe in herself much as we were growing up but Donnie was like her rock she was able to lean against him. That support must have given her the confidence to move forward in life.
A couple of other things I can thank Donnie for; he forced me to work harder than I have ever had to work in my life. I pray that if God allows I will never have to work that hard physically again. The phrase "work smarter not harder" is one I can truly live by. Donnie, also reminded me that I did not want to be dictated by a boss for the rest of my life. Donnie, is a perfectionist, and probably one of the best tobacco farmers I have ever met. He keeps his stuff in order and he works hard at it. When I was young I would hear people comment on how much money he probably made and how tight he was with his money. I have no idea how much money he makes but one thing is for sure, no one has given it to him and he has definitely worked hard for anything he has. However, working for a perfectionist is a whole other story. It's like working for a dictator. The problem was we couldn't just clock out heck, we couldn't even get fired. You had to eat, sleep, and breath in this man's house and he would remind you of that if he felt the need to. The worse part was that Donnie and Mama could make the decision to keep us from going out on the weekend which was our only sanctuary of freedom. We would do just about anything to make sure we could go out for those 6 hours Saturday evening and 5 hours on Sunday afternoon. Working around his strict authoritarian attitude I was certain I never wanted a boss like him and if at all possible I didn't want to have a boss. In other words, I wanted to own the business.
Through his doubts of who I am and what I was capable of; made me affirm to myself who I really was and what I would eventually accomplish. He has not always agreed with my decisions in fact he never wanted me to be a nurse. He blatantly insulted me for applying to nursing school. He called me a 'pussy' for trying to become a male nurse. Those were his issues not mine. Please understand I do not dislike this man. In fact, I respect him quite a bit. Regardless of whether I agree with him or not is a mute point. I understand that he was brought up in a different time period than I was. I truly think he did the best he could. I do not think he was ever out to make my life hell. I think he just expected out of me, what was expected out of him growing up.
Thanks Donnie for the many affirmations that you gave me in life. You helped me to affirm that I did not want to work but so hard physically, I did not want to have a boss my entire life, and I became certain of who I am and what I am capable of.
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A couple of other things I can thank Donnie for; he forced me to work harder than I have ever had to work in my life. I pray that if God allows I will never have to work that hard physically again. The phrase "work smarter not harder" is one I can truly live by. Donnie, also reminded me that I did not want to be dictated by a boss for the rest of my life. Donnie, is a perfectionist, and probably one of the best tobacco farmers I have ever met. He keeps his stuff in order and he works hard at it. When I was young I would hear people comment on how much money he probably made and how tight he was with his money. I have no idea how much money he makes but one thing is for sure, no one has given it to him and he has definitely worked hard for anything he has. However, working for a perfectionist is a whole other story. It's like working for a dictator. The problem was we couldn't just clock out heck, we couldn't even get fired. You had to eat, sleep, and breath in this man's house and he would remind you of that if he felt the need to. The worse part was that Donnie and Mama could make the decision to keep us from going out on the weekend which was our only sanctuary of freedom. We would do just about anything to make sure we could go out for those 6 hours Saturday evening and 5 hours on Sunday afternoon. Working around his strict authoritarian attitude I was certain I never wanted a boss like him and if at all possible I didn't want to have a boss. In other words, I wanted to own the business.
Through his doubts of who I am and what I was capable of; made me affirm to myself who I really was and what I would eventually accomplish. He has not always agreed with my decisions in fact he never wanted me to be a nurse. He blatantly insulted me for applying to nursing school. He called me a 'pussy' for trying to become a male nurse. Those were his issues not mine. Please understand I do not dislike this man. In fact, I respect him quite a bit. Regardless of whether I agree with him or not is a mute point. I understand that he was brought up in a different time period than I was. I truly think he did the best he could. I do not think he was ever out to make my life hell. I think he just expected out of me, what was expected out of him growing up.
Thanks Donnie for the many affirmations that you gave me in life. You helped me to affirm that I did not want to work but so hard physically, I did not want to have a boss my entire life, and I became certain of who I am and what I am capable of.
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Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Thanks to the Greatest Man I Knew
Thanks to my Dad. The man who helped Mom get me started in my life. I hope he is proud of who I am today. Daddy was a strict disciplinarian. He nor Mom tolerated much nonsense from us growing up. Politeness was expected at all times. Yes Sir, No Sir, Please, and Thank You were words deeply ingrained in our vocabulary. I have fond memories of my Dad. He taught me a great appreciation for nature; he himself was an avid fisherman. I remember one time when my brother was sick and had a temperature at school, Daddy had to go and pick him up. Daddy asked him what would make him feel better. He said he wanted to go fishing. Daddy quickly responded OK; and off they went. Mama was not too happy about Dad taking my brother fishing when he had a fever. When he got him the fever was gone and Daddy's defense was "It made him better".
Daddy was a playful guy he use to come home from work and if my brother and I were outside playing he would come over to us and start playing right along with us for a bit. Of course then he had to make sure he gave Mom some attention. Daddy was a hard worker and he worked long hours to provide for us. Usually he had to leave at night for a couple of hours to make sure he locked up at work. He was a dispatcher at a lumber yard and he had to go back out at night and make sure all the gates were locked after the drivers got in and he had to let the guard dog out.
The night Daddy passed away it was completely unexpected. He literally went to sleep and basically did not wake up. To this day the autopsy is inconclusive, when I became a nurse I read a copy of the autopsy that my Grandma had. I am not sure what I thought I was going to find it was just one of those things that I had to do. Daddy's death as well as my current profession as an Oncology (Cancer) Nurse has taught me; we are never ever promised tomorrow. Make sure you seize the day because you may not be around tomorrow. I wish my Dad was here so I could thank him personally for giving me my start in life. For the little things he did that meant so much. I miss him and I can only hope he is proud of who I am.
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Daddy was a playful guy he use to come home from work and if my brother and I were outside playing he would come over to us and start playing right along with us for a bit. Of course then he had to make sure he gave Mom some attention. Daddy was a hard worker and he worked long hours to provide for us. Usually he had to leave at night for a couple of hours to make sure he locked up at work. He was a dispatcher at a lumber yard and he had to go back out at night and make sure all the gates were locked after the drivers got in and he had to let the guard dog out.
The night Daddy passed away it was completely unexpected. He literally went to sleep and basically did not wake up. To this day the autopsy is inconclusive, when I became a nurse I read a copy of the autopsy that my Grandma had. I am not sure what I thought I was going to find it was just one of those things that I had to do. Daddy's death as well as my current profession as an Oncology (Cancer) Nurse has taught me; we are never ever promised tomorrow. Make sure you seize the day because you may not be around tomorrow. I wish my Dad was here so I could thank him personally for giving me my start in life. For the little things he did that meant so much. I miss him and I can only hope he is proud of who I am.
Be notified when I update my blog.
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