If you have been hanging out in my world of late, you have felt the flurry of excitement as I introduced my new book, EnVision YOU: UnStuck and Confident, to my world. Two months ago I began inviting women into the launch team to help this little butterfly take wing. But as is usually the case, so much was happening long before the blitz of the Launch.
I want you to meet some of the people- mostly women - who have been part of this process with me over the past year. I know i have mentioned some of these in the acknowledgments for the book, but I want to say again how grateful I am for them.
Pat Hixon and Kathy at the EnVision YOU Book Launch Party
The first person I mentioned the book idea to in October 2018 was Pat Hixon. Before I had the sentence completely out of my mouth, her response was “How can I help make this happen?” Her reaction was the affirmation I needed to make the commitment to the birthing process I was familiar with since having written my first book, Lovely Traces of Hope. Pat showed up time and again, listening to random thoughts, asking probing questions, reading yet another version of the manuscript. She has used who she already is to make a difference in my life- again!
Janice Rayl, using her gifts with her style.
Janice Rayl was another woman who showed up in the beginning sharing her life with me while I was in the writing process. So many of the concepts shared in the book went through our conversations first- even if she didn’t know it at the time.
She showed up in the end with her amazing ability to capture lists and make decisions, both of which I needed desperately. She even learned new skills to help me take credit cards at the book launch. This girl is owning the uniqueness she offers to her world and has come alongside me and a host of others - from teens to the elders in her world to make her difference.
From the time I started writing till I held it in my hands as a book there were people investing in this process with their own skills and abilities. Many of them are listed in the acknowledgements near the back of the book. From coaches, editors and design formatter, to beta readers, reviewers and endorsers, this project would not have happened without them.
But I really want give a huge SHOUT OUT to the REMARKABLE WOMEN of the EnVision YOU Launch team. The team was about half local friends and connections, and half that lived out of state. As their applications came in, I wondered what role each one would play. It was amazing to see different ones come to the surface just when I needed her.
For instance, Michelle Borckardt from Dallas had just launched a book of her own called Encounter: Simple Techniques to Ignite Your Walk With God. We had a long phone call just sharing ideas that might be useful. You can check out her book here.
Hazel Dahl, Nancy Booth and Tamela Pitts are girlfriends the TRIBEWRITER world. We connected over the weekend of TRIBE Conference and shared ideas. They gave me insights into how the book had been speaking to them, which for an author was so very meaningful to hear from my writing and coaching peers.
Stephanie is a busy, busy momma, but was determined to help as she could. In many ways, she was just trying to find her way through stuck so she could do her next thing. She was amazed at the spiritual journey EnVision YOU took her on.
Coach Cheryl Thacker, Successful Coaches Enterprises, didn’t feel like she was helping much till she was THE RiGHT PERSON who could host my first webinar interview. Not only did she do a great job of interviewing me, but she helped me understand how to do it myself two days later when I interviewed Nancy Bouwens of Intentional Life Blog who wrote the foreword for the book. Both of those interviews can be found in the EnVision YOU: UnStuck and Confident Community FB group.
Debbie Thompson, Denise Mooney, Olga Rode, Mary Hoke, Cindi Offenbacker, Jenny Sowers, Abby Gould and Deb Gyetvai helped by sharing posts, commenting in the launch FB group, giving suggestions when I needed ideas.
Cortney Mumaugh, of Little Monkey’s Kitchen, made the delicious cookies with my butterfly on the front. And they are gluten free to boot!
Julie Honigford, of Touches of the Heart served as a gracious hostess and set a beautiful refreshment table.
There are more on the team, and some who weren’t that were so faithful to pass on the word about EnVision YOU and the events surrounding the launch. As I said, to see their unique ways of touching my life and my world, and the influence they have in their own was once again a reminder of the beautiful way God created us for community. When we are not comparing ourselves to one another, and instead being ourselves, amazing things happen much greater than anyone of us could do ourselves.
For instance, Meet the dream team of women who made the EnVision YOU Local Launch Party happen. Each one brought to the team their special contribution.
A Dream Team for sure! Meet the ladies who made it happen! L to R: Deb Gyetvai, Janice Rayl, Kathy, Barb Flynn, Jenny Sowers.
Barb Flynn created, entered addresses and sent out personal invitations to a large group of women through her business at Send Out Cards. Many have commented on the personal touch that is so true of Barb anyway. I was so grateful that Barb was there to make that happen.
Jenny Sowers couldn’t just cut out the book marks. She added colored ribbons too and made special thank you cards for our give away sponsors. She created a stone that said STUCK? for each woman to have to remind them when they are stuck, there is a way to get unstuck. AND she brought her special mints that are fast becoming tradition at Green Hope Coaching events.
Deb Gyetvai and I haven’t known each other long, but she jumped in with both feet right from the beginning. She was a beta read, endorser, launch team member, cookie picker upper, and encourager. She even sent me the beautiful butterfly scarf top I wore to the event. Her story and mine share the loss of a daughter, but her joy is contagious.
Janice Rayl, I have already mentioned above. I have always needed a Janice in my life to help me create order and make big dreams realities. I am so grateful for her.
So many times I couldn’t imagine being able to make something happen- and someone was already doing it. What a gift each one has been to me and to the women who attended the event.
I wish I could list a host of other women who have been part of this journey. Thank you one and all for your gift to me. I treasure each of you Launch team girlfriends!
I will close with a few of the pictures from the Local Launch Party. If you were there- thank you for coming! If you weren’t, we missed you!
Enjoy a taste of EnVision YOU! I did!
