I think we are so fortunate to live in Canada for many reasons!  I am so impressed by Canadians and the way we buy.  We are all making such an effort to buy locally and support our neighbourhood retailers.

Small town Ontario is thriving again, and although some took a hit this year on the whole I have noticed all of the wonderful retailers that buy from us are increasing their orders and selling boat loads of sparkly julz!

What an amazing feeling it is to be supported by all of you.  Its so rewarding to see the julz disappear off of the shelves!  Wow!  Just fantastic!

I have shown a picture here of a beautiful store in dowtown Paris, Ontario called The Cheshire Cat.  Irene is the owner and she is just wonderful to work with.  She looks gorgeous everytime I go in to visit her and her store is so beautifully merchandised.  She really takes pride in all of the beautiful jewelry and gifts that she showcases from talented artists and suppliers over the world.  It is such an honour as a Canadian designer to be represented so well. Did you see all those shelves with glamjulz???? Irene is just amazing!

Enjoy shopping in your neighbourhood boutiques!  Oh and by the way if glamjulz is not carried at your favourite store, please let me know!  Everyone needs glamjulz!

Why is it so difficult to delegate sometimes?  It seemed to be one of my struggles, especially in my business.

It’s not that I don’t trust my team to get work done efficiently, it’s something that comes from me.  I think it’s a combination of a desire to please, trust in myself and still wanting to control all of the facets of my business.

I have learned that lack of delegation does a couple of things.  Number one it really makes me procrastinate.  I am the owner of the company and my priomary roll is sales!  When I am focused on what everyone else is doing I am not selling, without sales the company can not sustain itself!  With further introspection I realize that all of this involvement in my team’s job’s, instead of my own, identifies a fear of not being busy…..what if everyone is doing their job and I’m not busy????YIKES!!! That means no money is coming in!  That annoying voice in my head says, well maybe if you keep doing unproductive tasks, like doing everyone else’s jobs you will feel busier. STOP!!!!!

A couple of months ago one of my super-star employees, Jessica, only 21 years old and a real go-getter came into my office and said to me, “Monica you seem like you have a lot on your plate, but I would like to spend the day with you re-organizing your office! ”  Hmmmmmmmm…..I hesitated for quite a while and finally surrendered myself to this young girl with a vision.  Eight hours later and 3 garbage bags full I felt like that heavy weight on my shoulders had been lifted.  We made files for everything, we organized my calendar, we made TO DO baskets for me to delegate to my staff…….is it really this easy??? Yes it is!!!  We can all do it!

I’m not as busy as I was and you know what?  I LOVE IT!!! I am working smart, I have a life, I am not working until midnight every night and my sales have increased!  Eliminating all of these unproductive tasks has made me see a bigger vision for glamjulz!  I am so excited about it and my team is exceeding all of their targets because they really know that I can trust them!

I wanted to share an amazing experience I had last week.

I was fortunate enough to have my Aunt and Uncle visiting from Germany for the past 6 weeks.  They stayed with my Mom and Dad, who live close by so I got to spend a lot of time with them.  They were so much fun!  We laughed, we ate, we drank, they told great stories and kept practicing their English, as I did my German.

They are both fantastic cooks and my Uncle is a chef. The Friday before they flew home my Uncle and I spent the day together.  We shopped, we chopped and we cooked, beautiful fresh food for the whole family.  For me the experience was priceless.

I feel so appreciative of the amazing family that I have and all of the fantastic memories we have together. I am also recognizing how important it is to create new memories.  To spend time with the people you love and to make one another feel good.

Think of a special person in your life that makes you feel good and spend some time together.  Maybe it’s time to play hooky from work and have a little playtime!!!

Enjoy your freedom!!!

Okay ladies!  So which one do you prefer?  I don’t think I have ever met any woman that likes to be called Ma’am.  Having turned 40 this summer I am extra sensitive to it to say the least!  I suppose there is some point where Miss will expire but why Ma’am???

I was at the grocery store this weekend and the cashier, at least 20 years older than me called me Ma’am…..totally unacceptable….don’t you think?  To me this Ma’am business is worse than the day I stop getting carded.

I, for one don’t recall ever calling anyone Ma’am.  Those words could never leave my lips.

I am all for aging gracefully, I’m not into Botox or any of that stuff.  As a matter of fact I feel like the years get better as I get older, I am just better to myself all around.  It’s just the Ma’am thing that I am having trouble with.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject or if any of you have a suggestion for something more pleasant that we could call one another.
Hey Rockstar would be my preference!  Does anyone call
Gwen Stefani Ma’am??? I don’t think so!

This is my friend Audrey.  Not only is she a beautiful person inside and out but she is an amazing Mother.  Audrey is one of those friends that I wish I could see more often.  Because of our hectic schedules, usually mine, we sometimes go for months without catching up.  Audrey recently had her second child.  A beautiful little girl.  Every time I see Audrey she inspires me.  Her skin is beautiful, her hair looks great and her body bounces back to it’s original shape immediately after having children.  I would say most of us would have a little twinge of jealousy looking at Audrey but I have learned to have nothing but admiration for my dear friend.

Audrey is, in my eyes, 100% committed to her physical and mental health.  Everything she eats is pure and comes from the earth, she is never tempted to eat anything loaded with preservatives or sugars.  She exercises because it makes her feel good.  She has such a friendly disposition and always seems centered.  This is not because it comes easily to her it is because she has made the commitment to herself.  Audrey is a woman that values herself and exudes confidence.

I had the pleasure of spending time with Audrey and her two children this week.  My visit was so enjoyable, the kids woke up at 9am, Audrey made us all a beautiful healthy breakfast, Audrey changed her daughter using cloth diapers and her 3 year old son was already looking forward to helping his mom work on the garden that day.  I felt like I was living in this amazing world that Audrey had created, calm, peace and happiness.

Whenever I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed I often think of my friend Audrey and how committed she has always been to creating a world that is right for her.  Keep believing in your self Audrey!  It inspires me to believe in myself everyday!

I know I am the luckiest because I have Dawn!  Everyone needs a right hand man/woman in the office and I think we all strive to find that perfect match!  Fortunately for me I have known Dawn my whole life….since we were babies!  We are not related but grew up like cousins, our parents being good friends!

Dawn and I have such a special connection, it’s hard to describe but I feel like we read each other’s minds all the time.  When our next glamjulz collection is being launched Dawn and I will talk about where the inspiration for the next collection is coming from.  I will start getting all excited about things like, 80’s rollerskating movies, Xanadu, Roxy Music, neon lights….etc etc…whatever has inspired me through the years that I want to translate in beautiful julz.  Dawn just looks at me and says…leave it with me!  Bingo…the magic starts happening. Everytime!  Ahhh Dawn you got me again!  She always does.  Next time you are wearing a beautiful piece of glamjulz and wondering how did they come up with that colour combination?  Who thought to put those beads together?  You can think of Dawn!  Dawn takes what is in my head and makes it better!  That’s why she is irreplaceable to me and to glamjulz!  She’s also a total babe!  Don’t you think?

How exciting!  My first blog!  I know many of you are pros with facebook and all the other social networking sites that are out there but I have to admit right now my wonderful husband is responsible for all of our glamjulz posts, I am not a pro in this yet!

I thought it would be appropriate to start my first blog by telling you all how wonderful my husband Wayne is!  I honestly don’t know what I would do without his support.  I am lucky enough to not only work with him in the business but I also get constant praise and reassurance about what a great job he thinks I am doing and how much he appreciates me.

I want to celebrate all of the wonderful partners, friends and relatives out their that help all of us to thrive and succeed!  What would we do without people who believe in us!  The sky is the limit!