Vacation, Sort Of!

I'll be away for two weeks in Kansas City, starting tomorrow.  It's Orientation for our trip to Bolivia, which I blogged about a while ago.  I know that it's going to be work (we'll be in class from 8:30-4:30 every day), and it will be challenging and character building, but I am very excited to go.  My husband and I are resident managers at our apartment building and one other, and these past couple weeks have been stressful.  There are so many little disturbances every day, and so much multitasking that my brain hurts...I'm very glad that I'm not in the midst of wedding season right now, or life would be totally crazy!  So I am looking forward to concentrating on one thing all day, every day for two weeks.  That said, any With a Flourish emails will still be responded to by me or my delightful partner-in-style, Adrienne.

Continuing on a personal note, I started this business a couple of years ago because I thought I would be good at it.  I knew I wanted to help people plan events, do project management, and create a beautiful and stress-free atmosphere where family and friends could enjoy events.  I knew event management was my thing, but I didn't quite know why.

For Orientation (where I'll be for two weeks), I had to do an online assessment of my strengths.  Before the assessment, I didn't know how to put into words what my strengths were.  Now, I know.  My strengths are: Restorative, Developer, Strategic, Input, and Connectedness.  According to the assessment, I'm good at taking unfinished projects and finishing them, developing ideas and potential, thinking of what will happen next and choosing the best path, collecting information and things, and I think that everyone is connected.  These are all traits that I use in business, and the connectedness strength is why I specialize in eco-friendly and fair-trade events (I believe we're connected to the people who make our products - it's a chain that we're all part of).

I don't want to sound conceited - afterall, nobody starts a business doing something that they think they'll be bad at, and I didn't even know how the assessment would pick five strengths before I started it!  I feel refocused and energized, and the assessment confirmed that I'm in the right job!  I just love planning events, solving problems, creating timelines and punching in numbers.  I love the feeling at the end of a successful event, when the adrenaline wears off and my body hurts, but I'm so happy.  I love the diverse organizations, people, and cultures that I get to work with, and I'm thankful for all of it.  I hope you don't mind this personal blog, but I started the blog as a personal journey through my business.

I hope everyone has a great two weeks, and blogging will be sporadic while I'm away.  Oh, who am I kidding?  Blogging has been sporadic for months now. :)  See you!