Thank you for visiting my blog. I decided to start this to keep everything in one place for my visitors. Some of you probably asked, why in the world does she join all these companies?! Here's my story and my reason for each.
Prior to 2013 I had never really known anything about Direct Sales. I pictured it as a get rich quick scheme and wanted nothing to do with it. My first exposure to any form of Direct Sales company was Melaleuca back in 2001. Someone came to my house and gave me a demonstration and I thought, oh these products are pretty cool, we'll try it out. I didn't pay attention to the business side of it and only purchased products here and there. I did not realize that I was on an auto-ship and then quickly cancelled my membership. Now let's forward to 2011, my mom was diagnosed with Leukemia. As I started learning about her illness and the possible causes of her illness, I realized right away what Melaleuca was all about. I realized that for 10 years I went back to using harmful chemicals in all my products. I called Melaleuca back and asked to renew my membership. I had a different purpose in using their products, and it all made sense to me. I started clearing out my home and my children's products and replacing them little by little with Melaleuca. My husband called them Mela'LOCA (Mela'crazy in Spanish haha).
In November 2012, my mom was admitted into the hospital when she contracted a very critical throat infection. She had become severely ill and we didn't know what the outcome would be. That week when my mom was in ICU my close friend from high school gifted me an Origami Owl living locket. I remember a month prior I had sent her a message asking about those cool lockets she sold and how I could get them for my sisters, my mom and I. When I opened my gift that week, I had tears in my eyes, in my locket was a heart mom charm, a leukemia ribbon, a cross, my mom's birthstone, and a Love charm. It represented everything my mom was and meant to me. A few days later, on December 3rd my mom passed away. It was such a hard time in my life, I was devastated and I didn't know how I could go on, even though I had a family of my own, and children who I had to take care of. The pain was so unbearable. I felt sad, depressed, angry, disappointed, lonely, I had lost my best friend, the one I had talked to every single day on the phone was no longer there. All I could think was "Cancer, I hate you!" I was angry at the devil and his tactics. Life had a new meaning, but one thing was for sure, my fear of death that haunted me for decades immediately disappeared. I started paying attention more to those affected by cancer (even though my brother had fought and beat Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma many years before at the age of 31). I realized so many more people were fighting cancer, and it wasn't just adults, it was children too! I couldn't believe it, the #s were just growing and growing. Weeks later my dear friend posted on her Facebook wall about looking for individuals to join her Origami Owl team. I thought this was a perfect fit for me. I wanted to start blessing people the way she had blessed me that night. I hadn't heard of it here in Chicago and figured, hey I'll bring it to Chicago and give it a shot. I joined in February of 2013. It has been a tremendous blessing since. I have had the opportunity to be able to gift a number of lockets to cancer patients and families who have lost loved ones from cancer. It's not so much the friends and additional income I have gained through Origami Owl that's been the blessing, but more so seeing the smile on other people's faces when they see just how personal their lockets are. I continue to love Origami Owl's mission. They truly are a force for good and as Bella Weems (founder of Origami Owl) says "A force for God".
In December 2013, my daughter was starting to wear make up. I approved of only certain products because I didn't even like the fact that she was interested in wearing make up at all. After all I never wore make up (only when I absolutely had to). In fact I hated wearing makeup, I hated the way it felt on my face and I'd always rub my eyes and smear my mascara, so it was useless for me, I looked like a clown. I came across this company called Younique. This company was still brand new, less than 10k presenters company wide. I read about it and looked up their products, and thought hey it's not so bad, they are natural based, some all natural, but it's much better than most industry standards, better than cover girl, Maybelline, and all the other chemically filled products out there. So I decided to give it a try and figured I might as well make some commission off of my own purchases right? Younique has been a blessing to me and my family. Although I do not agree with some of the ingredients, I have to say that I am glad I have options of choosing what I want to put on my face and that they are so open about their ingredients in their products. Every time a new product comes out Co-Founder Melanie Huscroft goes over the product details and their ingredients making us very aware of what it contains and why, which then gives us the opportunity to look these ingredients up ourselves. Nothing is ever hidden from them and I admire them for that. To this day I still use Younique products (not all, but most). My most favorite are the Rose Water, Mineral Pigment eye shadows and their #1 seller, the 3D fiber lash mascara of course! Their Facial Cleanser and Moisturizer is amazing, it has helped some people with stretch marks, eczema, psoriasis, etc, so I can't say enough good things about Younique even though I choose not to use everything.
As my journey continued to living a toxic free life, I began questioning some of the ingredients in Melaleuca's products. Ingredients that were either not known, or listed as "Other ingredients", "fluoride", "fragrance", "antiperspirant", etc. and I started questioning whether I was really getting the real information I needed to make my own decision as to whether or not I wanted to buy that product for my family based on the ingredients list. I remember calling and asking why certain ingredients were being used, and I could never really get an honest answer, besides, "well there aren't enough studies to say it is a toxic ingredient". It wasn't too long after that I found a brand new company called The Mommy's Club. I researched their products and also researched some of the club members. The first thing that caught my eye was that they were founded on Christian Faith. I saw Jesus everywhere. I seriously knew this was an answer to my prayers. I spoke to a wonderful member who told me all about their company and their vision and concern and desire to start a toxic free movement. I decided to get the membership which was dirt cheap and try out one of their bundles. I received my shipment and was in love! I was so happy I found a company I could trust and not have to question their ingredients. The three things that drew me to them was their foundation on Jesus Christ, their Toxic Free Seal (Not many companies can carry this seal, as it is very hard to obtain), and their partnership with Environmental Working Group EWG.ORG , a group that strives to inform the public of harmful chemicals. I knew I had found the perfect company for me to continue to replace my home products with. I still continue to learn so many things through them that I had never known before.
It wasn't just non toxic cleaning and health products that I was seeking for. I wanted to also start replacing the use of harmful medicines that we also take when we get sick. I started looking into essential oils. It took me a long time to decide which company to start buying from as I had heard so many great things about a few of them. I prayed about it and eventually chose to get my membership with Young Living Essential Oils. I started using essential oils for many things, from sinus issues, to cysts, to headaches, to bug bites, to controlling ants, to rashes, to relaxation, the list goes on! I am so glad I have found alternatives to medicine and popping pills and antibiotics. It's made such a huge difference and I continue to learn new things each and every day through my lemonade library lemon dropper friends on Facebook! If there is something wrong in your mind or body, I betcha I have an oil for that so let me know ;-)
This is why I do what I do. Although I do not work all companies as a business, half I use just as a consumer. I never know where God will lead me, I just know I picked some pretty amazing companies to be a part of =)
I will tell you this though...I am so happy to say that I have not walked down a Detergent, Home Cleaning Product, or health and beauty aisle of any grocery store in over 2 years!!! Wait I take that back, I did walk down the home cleaning products aisle at Target just a few months ago, but that was only to buy a small mop to use my "clean" product with and replace my Swiffer wet mop =D
If you'd like to know more about any of these companies, feel free to reach out to me at any time either here or through my Hotmail account.
Thank You for listening to my story and my reasons =)
Catalina Diaz
colalde80@gmail.com
colalde80@hotmail.com
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