This past week I had the privilege of joining about 800 other amazing and inspiring Epicure consultants in Victoria, BC. I believe I have mentioned my Epicure business in one of my previous posts. I know direct sales often times come with a lot of negative stigmas. I just ask you to keep reading and keep an open mind. Today I want to share with you my ‘epic story’ and some of the things I have learned this week, because this is not just a direct sales company to me. To me this is a clean eating movement. To me this has become a major part of my life, that I am hoping will only grow as time goes on.
My Epic Story
Before I started my business with Epicure, I was struggling with many of the diets that were recommended for me and my cancer fight. Often times it wasn’t tasting well or not tasty at all. It was often bland and anything I would want to add to it, was so incredibly unhealthy that it would defeat the purpose of eating it in the first place. So I stopped. Why would I continue eating something that was supposed to be healthy that only tasted somewhat bearable by adding the unhealthy stuff? In January I was invited to a cooking class at Jeff’s cousins where I was introduced to Epicure. By the end of the class, I wanted to buy just about everything in the catalogue, obviously that would have been quite expensive. Which is the reason I decided to host my own cooking class and get most of the things I wanted for free. At the end of my class, Jeff turned to me and Laura (who has truly become a great and inspiring friend) and said ‘why don’t you join them?’ I had and hadn’t thought of doing just that since I was introduced to Epicure. I was looking for something to do, but hadn’t found the right option yet. At that time, I had been at home for over 7 months without working. I was going slightly insane. I was sick of watching TV and I was sick of knitting. I was sick of just doing nothing and waiting for my shoulder to get better so I could go back to work. I signed up that night still and have loved every moment of it. In a way Epicure saved my sanity. Getting out of the house and under people again, pushed me out of my comfort zone in many ways.
Yes, I share my story pretty openly on this blog, it’s a whole other story though when it comes to sharing it in front of strangers in person. I have learned how to share my story without getting chocked up. In a way I am able to raise awareness for this rare cancer. Most people would never hear about it or hear my story and maybe know what to look out for. Another reason I have loved this new career of mine is that I have been able to help people in a more preventative way, but still help people as I would in my job as a nurse. I love sharing and teaching others how to eat healthy meals, prepared with clean ingredients in no time at all. I get to experiment with cuisines I usually wouldn’t even dream of touching and it’s made it so easy. Think Thai or Indian.
God has not only blessed me with clean eating solutions and an additional income, but he has blessed me with an amazing group of women, who are an inspiration for me to keep going and keep sharing. The next me, the person struggling to find healthy food options to fight a disease and the person who is going insane at home, might just be around the corner, waiting or needing to hear my story.
This past week at conference, I got to meet so many more of these unbelievable women who make up the Epicure community, in person. I got to hear their stories and why they started, why they keep going and how the products and changes to their diet have helped them or their families.
Susan
Susan started using Epicure to see if her son would be able to tolerate them and be able to add some flavour to his diet. At a very young age her son was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy that does not respond to any medications. At the worst point in time he was having over 100 seizures a day. Susan and her husband started noticing that food seemed to have a major impact on his seizure activity. They slowly stared cutting out certain foods such as gluten, dairy and other potential allergens. Over time the seizures slowed down. Today he has less than 10 seizures a day. Susan was able to use Epicure products because they are free of these allergens, but yet still allow you to have a very delicious balanced diet. Susan joined forces with Epicure to help others who may also struggle with food sensitivities or allergies find solutions for their families.
Laura
Take my amazing Leader Laura for example. She shared her story at conference as well and let me tell you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. She shared how she had been using Epicure for most of her life, but didn’t consider joining the movement until the week her baby was due but never arrived due to a miscarriage. She let us all in to see her struggles as she made her way out of feeling depressed. With the help of Epicure, she found purpose again. The business let her stay home with her two absolutely precious little girls who I have come to adore. She is now one of the best selling consultants who is earning a meaningful income. She has been sharing what Epicure has allowed her to do with so many others in the over 100 cooking classes she has done in the last year. I am so grateful to God that he put Laura into my life. She isn’t just my upline, I consider her a great friend and an inspiration to share what I have learned and reach more people with healthy eating tips and tricks in my cooking classes.
These are just two of the incredible stories shared at conference this past week. There were so many more stories, from Nancy who lost over 100lbs using Epicures Good Food. Real Results program. To Benny who is able to stay at home as a single mom but still make a meaningful income. To the amazing woman who founded this company in the first place, 20 years ago in her kitchen, Sylvie.
Sylvie
20 years ago, she decided she wanted to feed her kids healthier foods and started making spice mixes. Eventually she started selling her little jars at the farmers markets, until she found success and decided on the direct sales marketing style. In the 20 years that the company has been around, it has become a multimillion company that focuses on given people clean eating solutions. Sylvies Vision 20 years ago has allowed countless people to change their diets and join the business to go into business for themselves but not by themselves, thanks to the amazing support from the community. At conference Sylvie gave a couple of speeches and it is inspiring to see the understanding of trends she has. She gave a talk about exactly that, the trends she anticipates over the next year. Speaking to Laura about previous trends she has predicted its crazy how right she is with them.
On our Gala night (the biggest of our celebrations) Sylvie spoke about the self-imposed glass ceilings so many people put on themselves, especially woman. She spoke about how when she was getting successful the people she had shared so many days with at the farmers market, started treating her differently. Being successful often times comes with being treated differently. She quoted Marianne Williamson saying:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous, rich’. Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others the permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”
This has stuck with me since then. Why am I hiding what God has clearly put in my life? I was often somewhat uncomfortable telling people I am working in the direct sales industry on top of my nursing career. I would say something along the lines of working for a ‘spice company’. But as I said before it is so much more for me. It is a clean eating movement. The sky is the limit as Sylvie was trying to tell us, as long as we smash through that glass ceiling. So many Canadians have not heard of Epicure and what it can add to their life. That is my new goal… increase awareness of Epicure across Canada. By doing so, I also increase awareness for my cancer. What a win/win situation!
Again, I am so grateful for finding meaning in something that was supposed to be a side gig until I could return to work. I am grateful for God for putting me in touch with so many incredible people and allowing me to share my new knowledge.
Joining Epicure has truly been a major blessing in a time of darkness for me.
So, thank you Laura, for stepping out of your comfort zone and letting something like Epicure pull you out of depression after such a loss. Thank you for sharing it with so many people including me. Thank you for being patient with me and teaching me everything I need to know. Thank you for making this journey a learn as you grow, and a failing forward process. It has been a joy and I can’t wait what the future might hold.
To conclude, just a few pictures of our amazing time in Victoria!
From right to left: Amelia Warren (CEO and daughter of Sylvie), Laura, Alicia, Sylvie Rochette (Founder of Epicure and Amelia’s mother), me
Nuit Blanche (white night)! We got to earn an incentive trip to home office, for a delicious dinner and a peek behind the scenes. We got to take a look at how the products are made and packaged and arrive at our customers doorstep. It was simply unbelievable!
Amazing picnic lunch on thee front lawn of the Empress hotel in Victoria! We even made the front page news in Victoria!
National Division Night! We graduated from the career launch program! Woot, woot!
Gala night and Roaring 20s after party! It was so fun getting dressed up. It was also fun cheering on Laura as she was honoured on stage multiple times by Sylvie and Amelia!
As you can see we all had a ton of fun. If any of this has peeked your interested, if you are struggling with food allergies, or struggling with making healthy cooking easy and fast, I would love to help you! Just give me a shout! Either in the comment section, via email (christine@stronginweakness.com) or find me on Facebook! There are so many tips and tricks i would love to share!
