Chapter 17: My Life In Business – On An Island (2019)

My life as Co-Founder of Thirty-One

20 chapters from my 20 years

Including never before shared stories

The year 2019 began with a return visit to Laguna Beach, CA with our sales field leadership for a training and connection event. To have the opportunity to go to work each day in an environment as beautiful as the Montage hotel two years in a row was not lost on me. I took it all in and enjoyed the king size bed in a room to myself. Having the chance to be face-to-face with the people who I normally only interact on Zoom with due to my remote working arrangement was a welcome change of pace.

The move from our Home Office that we had been occupying since 2010 was the first move where I was not involved due to my remote working from Tennessee. Ironically, this new facility was only a couple of miles from the house we had lived in during our time living in Columbus. It would have been such an easy commute.

At home we were celebrating our first teenage driver in the house (Jordan) and a brand new 13-year old teenager (Jacob). Our baby girl, Jozie, was in Kindergarten and as time seemed to be flying by I was all about living without regret and enjoying the moment. It’s a easier concept to talk about than to make happen but if made a priority it can have a huge impact.

In April I was fortunate to travel to Jamaica for an event with top Thirty-One leaders and brought my husband along. He’s always been more sociable than me and I joke that he makes more friends at gas stations and fishing ramps than I do anywhere. Having the opportunity to hang out with some of our leaders and their spouses was a blast and we really enjoyed people watching at the cliff jumping at Rick’s Cafe in Negril. Jason didn’t hesitate to get on the cliff and give it a go, but I wasn’t even tempted to try.

My husband and I celebrated a big milestone in 2019, which was our 20th wedding anniversary. We took a family to O'ahu and loved every part of the island! We had never been to Hawaii and to visit the islands twice in a few months was more than i could have ever expected.

The annual conference was in Columbus, Ohio with nearly 9,000 Consultants joining us for a great event once again. Like I’ve mentioned before, when you work remote for a living and you get to finally some face time with people you usually see online it’s such a thrill.

One of the biggest travel highlights of my career with Thirty-One was going to Maui to host our incentive trip that was a focal point of our 15th anniversary celebration. Jason traveled with me and got some free time to himself while I worked. When you work with on the side of the event host you have fun jobs like assembling 800+ registration packets for the travelers who will arrive to the resort.

The time change was hard to adjust to so it was easy to be awake and ready to go by 5:00am so we took advantage of the opportunity to drive the coastline as the sun rose over the ocean.

We drove the first 12 miles of the road to Hana and visited Old Lahaina which as of the time I am writing this in 2024 has all but been left desolate from a wildfire in 2023. A site where two million people visited annually was lost along with over 100 people who died in the fire.

One of the excursions we went on was a drive up to the dormant volcano called Haleakalā where we watched the sunrise and then took a 23 mile bike ride downhill from 6500 feet. It was an amazing sight and the bike ride was exhilarating.

Another excursion we went on was a Catamaran ride to Molokini crater for snorkeling and Snuba, which is a blend of snorkeling and scuba diving. The underwater view was amazing and we had a lot of fun.

While we were only a few months away from a pandemic that would take the lives of over one million people, we were having yet another strong holiday season with no idea what the future was going to hold.