Hi friends,
The past few months, I’ve been on a personal journey where I have felt connected to the underlying reason why I started this company. It has been a time of growth and one where I’ve peered inwardly to find my worth.
Growing up, I was always the child who would work extra hard on that paper or project and shoot to get an ‘A’. If I performed well that meant I was important and valuable.
This summer, I was on the road selling to stores on the west coast, an experience that proved to be full of learning and growth. Through all the phone calls and visits to boutique stores I found my self-worth in jeopardy because for every store owner that loved the meaning behind TMOOH there were ten stores that thought otherwise. All of the rejection, however, left me feeling unimportance and worthless through the process. To compare life to academia, it felt like I was getting a grade of a ‘D’ or ‘F’ in the real wold. I reached a point while in San Francisco where I broke down and could no longer continue on because I believed that all of the “no’s” meant that I was a failure. I know this was an entirely unhealthy form of thought but alas, it was my own.
The irony through the whole experience was that I was selling TMOOH as a brand where people find their worth within. I would recite the quote to buyers by Elisabeth Kübler Ross who says, “People are like stained glass windows, they sparkle and shine when the sun is out but when the darkness sets in true beauty can be revealed only if there is a light from within.” This life lesson couldn’t have come at a more opportune time because it reinforced my personal mission with the company and helped me feel important for reasons other than my performance.
To me, TMOOH is a platform for people to come together and share their life journey with others, instill hope in the lives of others, and reinforce that our beauty and worth in this world begins inwardly. A young woman told me recently that for the first time ever, she looked into a mirror and actually believed it when she told herself she was beautiful. Somehow TMOOH had a part in her discovery of her beauty. There is power in those words. My journey to discover my infinite worth within has been sparked by some unique learning experiences coupled with the inspirational words of people in the TMOOH community. Thank you to all who have helped me see the source of my true worth.
From Within,
Brett
