Let me start this by saying you guys are seriously amazing with all your love and support! We haven’t yet heard back from The Big Find to see what the future holds, but sharing all the deets of this journey is such a blast…so here goes. I think we left off with getting the email that we were selected as finalists…
Seeing my moms face on the phone when I told her we were selected was totally priceless!!! It was such a huge moment of validation. Because let’s be real, we could all be called crazy for quitting our day jobs to go make headbands🤣🤣 but we always knew deep down it was more than that. All of you get that, too! That’s why you’re reading this and why you’re a part of our tribe! Insert giant virtual hug to you!
We celebrated and laughed, she called my sister who was away on vaca to fill her in and I went back to the email to read the deets again. It was a whirlwind of emotion so I wanted to make sure I got this right.
Upon reading, it said only 2 people could attend the in person presentation. Hmmmm. We’re a team of 3 here, folks. I was so bummed we couldn’t all share in this incredible experience together! I contemplated just going on my own, and then my mom insisted that Kate and I go and share the WAE love. You know, the whole “let the birds fly the nest” kind of feel! Done.
But not quite. We had to then select what city we would visit to have our meeting. New York. Philly. Seattle. And one other one I can’t remember because it was far away. I clicked New York. Closest in location, easiest to get to, and who doesn’t love a little trip to the Big Apple?! Done.
Ummmm hold up. The meeting date: August 14. Smack dab in the middle of our family vacation down the cape. All good. We decided to be grown up business women and just take a little day trip for a meeting. Done.
Everything was falling into place, and the excitement was huge. But then you know how it goes guys…excitement can feel like anxiety. Which can lead to doubt. And feel like pressure. It’s amazing how quickly those snarky feelings can try to swoop in and steal the joy of the moment. So every time I felt it, I reminded myself that they saw something special in the WAEband. Just like US! Just like YOU!
I reminded myself that when I filled out that application, I kept it totally real! And it felt so aligned to share how we make these bands in my parents garage and how we take the time to name each one and give it a meaning for our peeps to feel divinely connected! Every time I shifted my energy, it felt exciting! Lesson: anxiety is just a feeling that you have the power to shift! It doesn’t define you.
I didn’t take crazy amounts of time planning a presentation with power points or fancy charts showing our sales and demographics. I knew we just needed to share that the WAEband is a product that was born in a moment. The moment my mom decided to tie a tank top on her head and see it as something more. Something that people could benefit from and love! I knew that we needed to keep it simple and just be US! I knew the message of BELIEF needed to be front and center!
I also knew that we needed to figure out how the F we were gonna get to the city! We didn’t wanna drive and deal with that chaos! Did you know how expensive the train is?! I was shocked! I mean, we were more than willing to invest in this day, but we also wanted to have a good travel budget!! So my sister was searching flights and found one out of Boston for super cheap…but here was the problem! We weren’t finding out until the week before the actual time of our presentation! It could have been anywhere from 10am-4pm!
Sunday came and we packed up and headed to the Cape! We still didn’t have a travel plan set, but we had a bag full of WAEbands and the faith it was gonna work out exactly as it was supposed to! The first couple days of vaca were totally amazing! So many laughs and moments together…I was unwinding while also staying in a present and clear mindset for this presentation. All the while, we were still searching for the best travel options! We found out we needed to be in NYC at the Qurate headquarters by 10:30am!!
We were all sitting out on the back deck in Falmouth after a serious wiffle ball game and decided it was time to make the final plan. I mean, the meeting was in 2 days. Funny side note: I always thought I was a TYPE A person, because I’m pretty organized and I like things neat and tidy. My house is clean, I despise clutter and everything has a place. But other than that, I am so NOT type A! I wing it like 90% of the time! This trip included 😂
On the deck, we realized that there is a small airport in Worcester, MA. Never even knew that! We also learned that on Wednesday, August 14, we could fly to JFK for $49 a person, one way! Abundance bruh! Done.
Then we found a train out of Penn Station to Providence at 4pm to give us plenty of time to get back home. Penn station was only a few blocks from our meeting! Done.
With the help of our Papa-Uber, our dad, or we like to call him Poober 🤣, we had a ride at 2:30am to Worcester…which is kinda far from cape LOL but bonus…NO traffic at that time!! We also scheduled Kate’s hubby to pick us up in Providence which is only 20 minutes from home and he was bringing us back to the Cape! Done! See, everything falls into place when you just ALLOW! That’s another powerful lesson, guys!
We arrived at Worcester Airport, which is a little hidden gem for anyone living in MA!! It was so quiet and everyone was so nice! We hopped a flight to NYC which only took about 31 minutes! In fact, Kate and I watched one episode of Full House! It was the one where Stephanie is being peer pressure to smoke in the girls bathroom. Anyway, we landed in NYC and were so giddy. And also, starving.
We found a taxi and realized we had an hour long drive ahead of us to get to headquarters. We ate mints and took in the sights. New York traffic is CRAYYY! But I have always loved the city! Something about it! Our lovely taxi driver, who could also probably be a very successful race-car driver, dropped us off about a block from the building.
We hopped outta the cab, and broke out the google map. I felt like Joey on Friends when he’s in London and wants to stand in the map to figure out which way to go. Yeah. The walking map thing can be so confusing, but we FOUND IT! We also needed to find food and a bathroom like ASAP, but wanted to go in and figure out where to be so we weren’t lost!
Let me also share that we were both in leggings and flip flops and WAEbands of course! The info said to “dress your brand” so we knew if we showed up in anything other than our day to day uniform, it just wouldn’t be authentic!
We asked the bell hop which floor. He said 18. We hopped in the elevator. The doors opened. And there was a sign that said THE BIG FIND. We looked down a short hallway. There was a check in table and a gazillion peeps already in there. There were cameras and video and holy shit go back in the elevator we need to go pee first! Haha!
I’m not lying, we literally went right back in the elevator and down to find food and a potty, for the love of all that’s good! We knew our destination. And we still had plenty of time.
We found a little coffee shop. Grabbed an iced mocha and a yummy vegan sandwich. Guess what. No bathroom! So we found another place and hung there for a few to just regroup and freshen up. We had a few papers and docs to sign and I made sure we had the WAEbands to share. We were informed to bring at least 2 products. We had a couple WAEbands and a couple WAElites. And guys, I didn’t want them to get all smooshed in my bag, so we totally bought a shiny pink pencil box from Walmart and that’s what the WAEbands were in! I told you…no frills!
We walked back to the building. We survived off google maps 100% that day. We were ready. We got off the elevator and checked in. It was so amazing to see a room filled with so many different types of people all sharing their big ideas, their dreams, their love and passion! They gave us these really cool lanyards and we felt official. I was also getting so freakin nervous!
Everyone at HSN and QVC are legit the nicest people ever! Such great energy! And they did an amazing job at getting us relaxed and fired up to share. They said something really cool that will always stick with me…”we need you! In order for us to have successful networks, we need creators like you to bring your products to the world!” How cool is that!?
There were people from all over! Like the U.K., Cali, Texas, and one lady that traveled all the way from 49th street 😂😂 We met the kindest people as we all waited for our biz to be called. Such amazing ideas! Everyone was so supportive of one another! That’s what entrepreneurs do you guys! We’re like kindred spirits, we get each other!!
As we are waiting, this adorable host and a big ol’ camera crew start coming around and interviewing peeps. Insert cotton mouth and shaky knees. I looked at Kate and said, “I don’t think I need to be on tv right now😳.” We scooted off to the side and watched others share their product. Little did we know, that adorable little host came and scooped us out of our corner to do an on screen chat. She said we were looking all “namaste” in the corner and she wanted to learn about why everyone needs a WAEband! Can’t make this stuff up guys! Moral of the story: things happen the way they are supposed to happen!
The lights were so bright and I was def sweating like a hog, but we did it! I told the story, Kate crushed a demo of tying the band. We talked. We laughed. And that little interview totally helped us calm down and get centered for the presentation that could be happening any minute!
All the while, people are being called into the back rooms every few minutes! And like 6 businesses got what’s called a BIG TICKET! That was basically a guaranteed call back! We wanted that ticket! Bubbs and Chuck even texted me to bring that ticket home!
Every time someone came out with the ticket, everyone cheered! We were hugging strangers and congratulating them and truly so thrilled for them to have an additional opportunity to move forward! We were also told numerous times that if you don’t get the Big Ticket, you still have a chance to go forward. Insert deep breaths.
I think I put lip gloss on like 82 times as we were waiting. And then it was time. “WAEbands,” they called.
That’s US! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
I grabbed my pencil box and Kate and I went up the elevator. The lady with us gave us a few pointers and said, when the doors open, the panel is right there, so just begin!
The doors opened and there they were. I honestly can’t remember right now if there were 4 or 5 women, all I know is they were so nice and so FUN! One of them was tying WAEbands on herself the whole time! It was amazing! I don’t remember what I said or what Kate said, but I know we were authentic and truly ourselves! They commended us for our energy, they smiled the entire time and they thanked us for coming!! I wanted to hug them all but I couldn’t get around the table! You know me…I’m a hugger!
No Big Ticket. But honestly, we weren’t even bummed about it! We were SO grateful for those moments, and so excited for how connected it all felt!! We were on cloud 9! We checked out, left our lanyards and headed out to explore NYC and call the fam! We shared the whole experience, we were talking a million miles an hour and legit so honored, humbled and excited for such a cool experience!
We were so bummed that Mima wasn’t there with us, but I will also cherish that experience with my sister. We had the BEST DAY! We laughed all day! We explored Rockefeller Center, had lunch in Times Square, and the coolest part…entered St. Patrick’s cathedral just as a mass was beginning. We lit 3 candles and took a moment to express gratitude for this opportunity. Another lesson: gratitude is everything.
By 3 pm, we were toast. Hot. Tired. Crashing from the high of the morning and ready to get home to the fam. We hopped on the train, which if you have never taken the Acela from NYC to Prov, it was actually a lovely ride! Beautiful views that I caught in between dozing on and off and jumping every time I fell asleep!
We left NYC with a full heart, and arrived back in the Cape to our fam with an even fuller heart! We shared more ins and outs of the day, showered off the travel, and hit the pillow with more LOVE than ever!!
We finished out our vaca in such a great head space and here we are, headed into a new season, back to school, with SO much passion to help you Find Your WAE!!
Experiences like this come into our lives for reasons bigger than we may know in the moments…so if you’re on the brink of something epic…hold on tight, breathe it all in and soak it all up!! We will be sure to fill you in when we hear back from the peeps at the Big Find and no matter what happens, we are THANKFUL and totally excited to continue sharing the WAE LOVE!
Speaking of that…it’s 15% OFF sitewide RIGHT NOW, so go grab your bands and be a part of the WAETribe! Use coupon code summer and send us pics of you rockin your WAE!
Love you SO MUCH!!
~Ta xox