Disclaimer – this is a bit of a long one. Sorry. The first section tells you a bit about me. If you want to skip that scroll down to the where the photos start for simplified reasons…

I’ve always had an understanding of the joys and flexibility of running your own business from home. My parents still have the dairy farm that I grew up on. And I watched my parents work the business and be in control of their own success and also how they picked themselves up in the bad times. And at times my mum, a trained teacher, would go out and teach to supplement the income from the farm when times required it.

So I wasn’t adverse to running my own business. As a trained photographer I tried to run my own business photographing weddings, family portraits etc. Yet I didn’t (as a 21 year old) have the required skills to market and manage that.

So when I was asked if I’d consider being a Princess House consultant I decided to jump at the chance. Princess House was a company selling products made form crystal – ornaments, glasses, cook wear etc. I loved that they helped provide the marketing and resources and all I had to do was drive round to peoples houses and demonstrate the products. Over the years I’ve sold, by party plan, make up, jewellery, Tupperware (the later introduced me to the true potential of Direct Sales). These direct sales were a supplement to my day jobs.

As I began my family I knew that I didn’t want to do something that I didn’t LOVE and felt that it was hard work. Thus enter my life as a Papercrafting Consultant. I had a small customer base, mainly my friends that I liked to craft with. So we’d go to retreats, workshops, etc and have a great time and predominantly scrapbook the photos of our families.

In 2013 Close To My Heart came to Australia officially offering the chance to become an Independent Consultant. I feel in love with the products. Stamping, Bling, Paper and Glitter – what more could a crafty girl want? The beauty of CTMH is that they encourage you to make the business opportunity what you wish. They support you at every level – hobbiest, consultant, manager.

Reason 1 – the Product!

I absolutely love the product. I love the quality (I regularly describe it as the “Tupperware” of the paper craft world). I love the price point – I feel that for the quality you get it is reasonably priced.

Reason 2 – the Discount!

Who doesn’t love product at a discount? Not me. As a consultant I get a 22% discount on all my orders. This % goes up the more you sell each month. And for those that aren’t business minded you can still get a 10% discount as a Preferred Member. As an added bonus – as a consultant I get sneak previews of the products!

The discount was one of the main reasons I joined. But I’ve stayed for so many more.

Reason 3 – the Community!

From my beautiful customers (and most of these have become my good friends), fellow consultants, right up to the President of the Company. Everyone is so friendly and totally cares about you as a person. People are will to help you out with creative inspiration, plus extra besides (coffee dates, ears to listen to you when you need it etc). My crafty peeps are my TRIBE!! I feel loved and valued by them all.

Reason 4 – Training & Support

CTMH provides consultants with a FREE website that we don’t need to maintain in anyway. They provide lots of Promotional images that I can use on my social media, in newsletters, blog posts etc. So if life gets in the way I don’t need to be stressed about having to take create my own images.

Training opportunities – everything from Online training, including videos, and face to face training on all aspects of the business – creative and business focuses.

The creative training is my favourite. To match all the paper collections CTMH provide us with creative project instructions that we can use with our customers/classes. So you don’t need to create your own projects to use the product. That is a huge plus for me.

Reason 5 – the Rewards

CTMH love to reward us for the things that we do in our business. From little rewards – FREE products, product credits (to let me choose my own products), to more formal rewards (trophys etc), through to incentive trips. The later are my favourite. Last year I ticked off Rome from my bucket list. I earned a Mediterranean Cruise that was leaving from Rome. So I was able to extend our trip and explore the parts of Rome that I had studied at school (especially the Art). This year I am taking my mother in law with me to Argentina on CTMH. Next year I’m going to be taking hubby to Fiji. This is all for just working my business.

I certainly say that CTMH makes us feel appreciated.

If you’d like more info about starting your own CTMH journey you can go here or contact me.