After selling Tupperware for three years (and enjoying it) I never thought I would join another direct selling business until I found Isagenix. With just a quick review, what has attracted me to the business model of Isagenix is the following:

• Personally while taking these products  – all the testimonials are consistent with weight loss and vitality and if you start consuming the products you may as well earn money too.
• The company is based on a product targeting the health and wellbeing industry. A massive industry in weight loss and energy. It is rewarding to help people reach their health goals.
• Isagenix is a $800 million-dollar company. Has been around for years and growing.
• At Isagenix, their products offer a whole-body approach to health and wellness that is revolutionising youthful-ageing. From the inside out and the outside in, Isagenix products offer nutritional cleansing, cellular replenishing and youthful ageing.
• The Isagenix offers a consumable. Which means you have repeatable business instead of one-off  products like Tupperware (my kitchen is overflowing), jewellery, Bras (like with Intimo)
• Isagenix has six different business models to earn one very generous commission.
• You are given your own website to promote the products at retail or recommend people to register for wholesale as an Associate.
• You don’t have to earn money by selling products at parties taking away your evenings and weekends attending someone else’s house, time away from your family.
• Unlike Tupperware where you needed 3 recruits before you were promoted out to a Manager (only if you wanted too) it was still a fairly hierarchical business where you had to manage many other Tupperware Consultants. In this business it is binary. You only ever have two referred Associates and it is automatic – called a left and right team. Any additional Associates you invite to open a wholesale account will be matched with an Associate in your left or right team, which benefits everyone. At any one time a new Associate will be added to your team.
• Every Associate has an equal opportunity to earn an income. It is network marketing. The income is paid to you by the company once a week.
• There is wonderful training, people are PASSIONATE, there is network group support, state of the art website back end and transparency.

I am sure I will think of many more over the next month but at the moment I am just really excited to be apart of it.

If you have any questions please email me or please check out: http://lisadlastdegree.isagenix.com/

Genuine mistakes do get made by everybody. I have made a few and although I don’t like to focus on negativity and knock myself down on a permanent basis, it can be stressful as you try to negotiate a resolution. Once upon a time I remember always living in one drama after another. Maybe it was something I said or did but I it was a constant feeling of guilt, panic and stress as I tried to solve my problems and everyone’ elses. Today I can’t specifically remember what all the problems were but as I have launched into my own eBay retail business one factor you need to consider is CUSTOMERS. Not all customers are nice and forgiving, most have high expectations and unfortunately you are in the mercy of their attitudes and  feelings and have no disregard to you as they hold the mantra “the customer is always right” and “I can contact A Current Affair” (not to me thank god but it has happened to a fellow estore collegue).

So upfront – I make mistakes. I am sorry. And I will do my best to resolve it.

So I was thinking of some past work mistakes that I have made and learnt never to repeat.

1. When I was 17 I started working for a supermarket at the checkouts. It was a responsible position scanning your groceries, making conversation and handling cash. I once had a customer return and say I had short changed him $50. Naïve and unquestioning and a little off guard, I handed him $50. Consequently my till did not balance at the end of the week. I had thought myself as a trustworthy employee and there are strict consequences to stealing so honesty and understanding what do in if this occurs again (immediate counting of the till with accounts before giving the customer money) was discussed with my employer.
2. In the early days of my corporate career, I need to design my own events flyer for a workshop I was managing. So what most of us do, I headed to Google and downloaded a few different flyers for ideas. Designed and marketed, the public started to RSVP. Unfortunately I had not changed the Fax number from a flyer I had copied. Hence another poor business started received almost 100 faxes RSVPing for an even they had not heard of. Very embarrassed. Apologised and promised to have further attention to detail.

In short

• While in the lab, I have misplaced samples, and forgotten to courier complete samples overseas for processing.
• I have given the wrong directions many times. One significant directing our overseas party to the wrong Washington airport (did not know there was more than one that are miles apart) almost missing our flights.
• I have downloaded market research reports without knowing my employer pays $100-$1000 for each report.
•  And recently, I copied the wrong measurements for a pet bed I am selling. The irrate customer is demanding a refund because the item is too small for his pooch. Better to give a refund then take nasty emails to heart.

So I am genuinely sorry and please know I will do my best to resolve it.

Best, Lxx

How many keywords can I add in a title! Haha well a little highlight to my blog is a few free samples at my door to do product reviews. Last week I received a much-needed box of NuviaCafe Instant Healthy Coffee Ganoderma sachets and I truly confess they taste quite good. My box is almost empty as I succumb to about 4 coffees a day starting off with that morning coffee (in lieu of breakfast some days) as I rush around in the mornings getting the twins ready for day-care and myself ready for work. The past week my NuviaCafe  (white with one sugar thanks) has followed me from the kitchen, to the bedroom to the bathroom and if I still have not had time to finish it, it is poured into a travel mug to be consumed on my way to work. At night as I toil away on my computer it sits warm and welcoming at my fingertips leading me on in the night.

So what’s so good about this coffee? It wasn’t until I had consumed half a box, offered it my mother and a house guest did I pick up the box and read a little closely about what I was drinking.

This is what I found – ingredients, health benefits and taste. This coffee Nuvia is a Sumatran Arabica coffee infused with a trifecta of legendary ingredients:

1. Ganoderma (an immune enhancer),
2. African Mango (a natural appetite suppressant) and
3. Pomegranate (a super antioxidant).

In regards to taste, the box reads, “Sumatran coffee beans are roasted to perfection yielding a superior flavor that is rustic, yet rich and full bodied. “ What do my taste buds say?  For an instant coffee the taste is quite rich and smooth. Fine like a hot chocolate which is probably why I keep drinking it.

My only complaint is the sachets. They are very difficult to tear open which has caused a painful incident involving a knife, a finger and many Dora the Explorer bandaids. Use scissors.

You can buy a box here http://www.nuviacafe.com/

Happy Easter everyone. It is April 2012 and the girls are getting bigger. I am amazed on a daily basis on their communication (we can now negotiate and bargain), learning and interaction to the world around them. We have our tantrums, are battles over dinner and the non-interest in toilet training… (another post for another day. How many potties, training pants and toilet seats do I need to buy to encourage them!).

But the past few months have not been idle. The year of the Dragon has certainly been busy. I start a new job as Senior Project Manager in a fortnight. With the impetus of a new job means we are moving back to town so I will no longer do the long commute home. Sad as it is to leave the beach I decided I was sick of my life being an isosceles triangle and would rather an equilateral thanks. Work and home and daycare/school all within a close distance is what I need. So with moving back I need to start the childcare round-about. Do I find a daycare first or a house in a location close to work? Do I buy or do I rent? I have submitted an offer on a little house that I am waiting on finance to see if I am successful but that is another project – a renovation project. I am in the market to buy a new car with my new job and only just became a user of a smart phone. My little pet store is a fun pastime but ticking over in the nights. So life is certainly not dull.

Happy Easter! A few pictures of my girls on their first Easter hunt. The tantrums of today a clear indication of too much chocolate!

My little online pet store has been plodding along nicely in the background. It has been fun sourcing local product but most of all I am really enjoying finding products from overseas to trial in the Australian market. As well as the Cinderooz Cuddle ‘n Carry, I have also started to sell the Surf’s Up Dog! Coil Retractable Leashes. Living by the beach there is a huge network of dog walkers and I thought this product would be a perfect fit. However you don’t need to be on the beach to buy it!

Inspired by the surf industry these coil leashes are made from the same materials as surf leashes for humans. Produced in a range of lovely bright colour they are excellent for a stroller, water, dirt and sand friendly and a safe hands free alternative to a retractable leash. High tensile strength and top notch quality.

IF you have any pet products you love tell me about it! In the meantime feel free to drop by my store..

 Jumbo Green Coil Dog Leads Retractable Leash Surfs Up Dog

AU $29.95 End Date: Saturday Jun-16-2012 9:45:00 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $29.95 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

Medium Solvit Dog Car Seat Vehicle safety Harness Collars Pet Supplies

AU $39.95 End Date: Sunday Jun-10-2012 15:22:20 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $39.95 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

Solvit PupZip Zipline Car Vehicle Dog Puppy

AU $27.00 End Date: Saturday Jun-09-2012 21:29:06 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $27.00 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

Many years ago when I was doing my research on the prevalence of Chlamydia in the koala population, I spent some time out at the Moggill Koala Hospital. Besides learning about the hospital, it was the volunteers that impressed me most of all. This hospital is one of many that accompany zoos, wildlife centres and sanctuaries and people volunteer their time to care for sick, injured and orphaned native Australian animals. They spend their rostered times cleaning out cages, feeding, collecting, data entry, supervise and training and reintroduction of animals back into the wildlife.

In addition to these groups there are the animal fostering groups who rescue dogs and cats providing temporary accommodation until a permanent home can be found. Thankless and loving tasks.

So I was very excited when I found online the innovative Cuddle ‘Carry Shirt. A specially designed garment pet carrier, this shirt can carry your pet in a special pouch. The pouch is designed so it sits between the outer layer of the short and the payer that is against you. Hold pets less than 10 pounds it is an idea garment for fostering small kittens, puppies or small bread animals.

I have imported a few select stock from the US in Medium and Large and Black and Blue. My stock is available for purchase on my ebay store under Pet Carriers: FaddySwoosh Pets.

Do you currently volunteer at a Pet Refuge?

Black with Dog Pet Carrier Cuddle n Carry

Kitten Pet Carrier Cuddle n Carry Shirt

Today’s post is guest-written by Michelle Jameson. Enjoy and all comments are welcome.

It is just common sense to many: positive thinking is the way to be happy, confident and achieve your goals in life. In the last decade, there has been a growth in scientific research which backs this up. Positive psychology is an emerging science, founded by Dr. Martin Seligman. Seligman is the director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The center carries out research into how the ways in which people think influences the lives that they have. That includes the study of issues such as whether positive thinking can extend people’s lifespans, or whether it can contribute to drug abuse treatment programs.

Positive and Negative Thinking

Children are perhaps the biggest potential beneficiaries of positive thinking. They have their whole lives to do so, after all. Among the benefits of positive thinking for children is that it can improve their educational potential, and therefore their life chances. Thinking positively at the right time in their lives could mean the difference between being able to have the career they want, and failing their exams and spending their lives frustrated.

We know that negative thinking impedes academic and social performance for children at school. A well-known experiment carried out in the 1960s by Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott helped prove it. Her experiment started as an exercise in teaching her class of white children about racism in the context of the civil rights movement. She told her class that it had been established research that blue-eyed children were superior to those with brown-eyes. She encouraged them not to mix, playing and eating separately. Almost straight away, the children absorbed the roles they had been given. Blue-eyed children who had previously been struggling in class suddenly found their work easier, and brown-eyed children who had previously been good performers suddenly found tasks that they had previously found easy difficult. The blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment was intended to teach the children in Jane Elliott’s class about racism, but it had a the side-effect of demonstrating that children absorb both positive and negative ideas about their potential very easily. Since then, further research has been carried out which supports the findings of the blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment.

Children, Parents and School

Recent research has shown that the benefits for children of positive thinking start young, and that their parents had a significant influence on their positivity. The study looked at children from five to ten years-old, and as predicted, those who were older were more likely to think that positive thinking could benefit people. The other thing that influenced whether they would realize that positive thinking could beneficial was whether their parents did. Children who had parents who believed in thinking positively were more likely to do so themselves, at any age. As a result of their study, the researchers suggested that children could be taught to recognize that positive thinking could help improve their emotional wellbeing.
At the Positive Psychology Center, they are thinking along similar lines. They say that ‘there is substantial evidence from well controlled studies that skills that increase resilience, positive emotion, engagement and meaning can be taught to schoolchildren’. They have developed the ‘Penn Resiliency Program‘. This program is designed for use in schools, and teaches children and teenagers how to develop good coping skills, assertiveness, creative brainstorming and other skills which help them feel happier and become less susceptible to depression. At Strath Haven High School, near Philadelphia, they have developed the Strath Haven Positive Psychology Curriculum. The curriculum is designed to help promote resilience, positivity and meaning. They discuss these strengths and related issues in weekly classes, and carry out exercises designed to help them reflect and apply these strengths to their lives. The curriculum was evaluated by the US Education Department, and was found to have had a significant positive effect on the students. They enjoyed school more, had better grades, better behavior and improved social skills. The study used a control group to ensure reliability of results.

Positive thinking is important throughout our lives. It is never too late to develop positive thinking, but if it can be developed in childhood, then the benefits could be huge. Few schools are likely to develop programs like that at Strath Haven, so parents should be thinking about how they can contribute to their children’s future wellbeing through positive thinking.

Photo courtesy of The Power of Positive Thinking

So it is already end of Febuary andI have committed the bloggers sin of no regular posts. It is twice the sin when you open a new post with an apology. However here I am. So what I have been up to these past two months since Christmas? For one I have opened an ebay Pet store.  I have some other ideas of niche markets but I thought I would give this one ago first. I am actually having a lot of fun with it; sourcing wholesale and learning all about dropshipping and new innovative products. I am focusing on quality, and individual product lines that are not available here in Australia as well as complementing the store with well known brands as long as I can compete on price. There is a suite of books and strategies on ebay from how to bid and sell so here is my little store. Drop by! If you have an ebay store let me know and tell me all about it.

Isagenix IsaLean Shake Chocolate Meal Replacement Chocolate 854g

AU $45.00 End Date: Tuesday May-29-2012 17:00:33 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $45.00 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

Dog Cat Pet Carrier Transport Soft Crate Supplies Barkwell Classic

AU $65.00 End Date: Sunday Jun-17-2012 13:27:49 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $65.00 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

Small Dog Cat Pet Carrier Stylish Traveller Weekender Bark-n-Bag Soft Crate

AU $60.00 End Date: Sunday Jun-17-2012 13:25:46 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $60.00 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

LARGE Dog Saddle Backpack Outdoor Black/Grey Pet Supplies Doggles

AU $64.95 End Date: Saturday Jun-16-2012 9:45:00 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $64.95 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

 Jumbo Green Coil Dog Leads Retractable Leash Surfs Up Dog

AU $29.95 End Date: Saturday Jun-16-2012 9:45:00 EST Buy It Now for only: AU $29.95 Buy it now  |  Add to watch list

Happy Holidays.

This year to celebrate my girls 2nd Birthday we had our photos taken for a Christmas card and as I love supporting local businesses I would like to do a Big Shout Out Thanks to:

• Rachel from the Atomicbutterfly Photography. It was a challenge to get the girls to look and try to smile at the same time at the camera but we got there in the end.
• Jess from Belle Bazaar Boutique. Belle Bazaar Boutique is a beautiful boutique located in the leafy suburb of Upper Mt Gravatt. Jess sources the world trying to find the best unique gifts around. While at her store I bought my lovely blue dress (can’t stop wearing it).
• We also bought the red Christmas headbands the girls wore from Lila Designs.
• My ear-rings are crochet little masterpieces from Eumundi markets and lastly
• The girls Christmas dresses were hand made from Born Gorgeous.
  

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

xoxo

Yesterday I watched that Sarah Jessica Parker movie, I Don’t know How She Does it. I know in my last post I was a little frustrated with the tag line but it has been a few weeks and time does start to heal wounds and well today I decided that yes, I can do it. Today is Halloween and with the daycare notices notifying it was “Pirates and Fairies” day, I decided that my little girls were not to miss out. So I trawled the local craft market yesterday to find my Gold Coast retro creation filled with tie-dye, lace and glitter. Another stall made $5 wands and I dug up head bands that matched. Ta-Da 

This morning as I awoke and reached for my phone for the time it read 7:58AM. 7:58AM!!! Never in the past two years have I been able to sleep past 6:30am and I am supposed to on the freeway on the commute to work by now. But just a hint of my mornings with the added pressure of lateness and getting out the door here I go:

• Bowl of cereal for the girls. Not that healthy but at least they eat it.
• Race to my bedroom to throw on a skirt and not so matching top.
• Necklace and a ring – forget the ear-rings today.
• Cheap foundation (can really tell the difference from the nice stuff) and spitting on my fingers to rub in the jaw line. Slap on some lipstick and too bright pink eye-shadow.
• Moana has been coughing and sick. Decision made to go ahead with daycare taking risk that may be called later today to take her home. Give panodol and a kiss.
• Daycare bag packed yesterday. Bonus.
• Work bag pulled together. Lunch a $2.50 Lean Cuisine that was on sale.
• Try to dress girls as they run away and pull off shoes.
• Write letter to babysitter with list for dinner.
• Pick up one child and one bag – out in car
• Return to house, pick up second child, second bag and huge bag of garbage as trying to turn off lights, and lock doors and carry it all out to car.
• Drive to daycare.
• Take one child in, sign in.
• Rush back to car, collect second child. Speak to carer. Take Photo. Click.
• Speak to Director who confirms girls have been accepted in for a third day next year.
• Back to car. Turn on Blackberry. Lights flash. 20 messages and 2 missed calls. Crap.
• Notice ladder in stocking.
• Notice pale white stain on skirt – toothpaste?
• Notice hair a mess and need new shoes.
• Blackberry beeps – first meeting 9:30am.

Oh well. It is now 7:54pm. The house is Silent.

Lisa xox