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Best Job Final Chapters (Part 1)
Best Job Final Chapters (Part 1)
So I made it. That feeling of sheer exhiliration of achieving something which almost seemed beyond reach is something I will never forget. Many at Tupperware didnt believe a brand new baby Manager would even attempt the challenge, let alone achieve it. Only two baby managers from my distributorship made it...and very few others from Australia and New Zealand made it.
It just goes to show, if you really want something and are prepared to work for it, there is no limit to what you can achieve. I have used my story to recruit new demonstrators into my ever-growing team. When I left for the States, my team was now 72 demonstrators strong. Half of these I recruited myself and the other half were recruited by my girls...and I couldnt have been more proud of them.
Of course we had an amazing celebratory Sales Meeting....remember, this is the very first Incentive trip scheme Tupperware Australia had ever undertaken...and I think they were a little bit overwhelmed at how successful it was. More than a thousand Managers from all over Australia and New Zealand...some with husbands in tow....headed on a massive exodus to the US.
It was a huge under-taking in itself...logistically, it was quite a nightmare. Everyone had to meet in Sydney a few days prior to the flight that would take us ALL to Los Angeles. Managers were coming in from all over New Zealand and all the cities in Australia. We booked out rooms in two big hotels, we had drama like only a whole bunch of women could dream up....some were delayed....some got lost...luggage went missing...hotel room sharing became a war of unbelievable proportions....many cried, and even many more bitched about anything and everything.
The amazing thing is, from day one in Sydney to the day we all arrived home to our respective cities...everything was paid for. The hotel accomodations, all the meals (alchoholic drinks excluded) and all transport costs to and from the airport and sightseeing trips. Entry to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and we had choices of different places we could go to on our "itinerary free" days....the few days we could do whatever we wanted away from their schedules.
My little group of "best friend" managers decided we wanted to fly to Las Vegas over night...spend a few hours at some casinos, and fly back the next day. But Tupperware Executives said NO WAY!!! We protested and begged and pleaded..but because they were responsible for each and every one of us insurance-wise, they could not allow us to go. Of course we had the option of buying our own airline tickets and going anyway, but if anything happened, Tupperware was free and clear of any obligations and their Insurance Company would not cover a single cent of any costs. Plus Rose (our Managing Director) came to us personally and very rigidly expressed her opinion of what we were planning and asked us very firmly to reconsider.
I felt gutted, this is probably the only chance I would ever get to see Las Vegas in my whole life....the return ticket was only $147.00 (Aus dollars) and it was just soooo unfair. But, being the coward that I am....the others had already reconsidered.... and I didnt want to go alone. So I missed out.
The flight to Los Angeles was a nightmare for me.....I hate flying at the best of times....and more than 4 hours on a plane, I am ready to don a parachute and jump out. I am claustrophobic, and air-sickness to me is condition I have lived with all my life. So the best thing I could do for the 14 hour flight was to knock myself out with a couple of valiums....curl up in my seat and zonk out for the entire trip.
And zonk out I did....I had never taken 2 valiums at once...ever...and I didnt realize what they would do to me.
I have absolutely no recollection of arriving at LAX....no recollection of collecting my luggage and going through immigration, no recollection whatsoever about the trip from the airport to our hotel in Santa Monica (The Fremont). I dont know if the customs officials thought I was a druggie or what...but because I was in the company of this massive group of "Tupperware Executives" from Australia, I guess we all got processed through and I was too insignificant (Thank God) to be noticed....lol.
My first recollection after my "drug induced coma" is waiting in the lobby at the Fremont Hotel for our rooms to be ready. It was around midday and we were told we could check in but our rooms wouldnt be available until around 2 or 3pm.
We were given a room (like a board room or a meeting room) near the reception desk where we could sit and wait if we wanted to...or another room with a bathroom where we could freshen up.
And here's the first amazing thing I remembered after that....Rose, our Managing Director called us all together and started handing us envelopes...in these envelopes was $15.00 US we could use to buy lunch outside the hotel if we wanted to. Remember there was about a thousand of us there. And she announced that on days where they did not have anything planned (our "free to do what we want" days) we were to meet at the lobby at 8.30am and she would hand out envelopes with lunch money ($15.00 US) and/or dinner money ($25.00 US) and the first ten to show up in the lobby at 8.30am precisely, would receive an exclusive piece of Tupperware gift, not available in Australia/New Zealand.
Was that enough incentive for WOMEN to get out of bed, get dressed and made-up and rush downstairs at 8.30am every morning???
Well it was for these women!!!.....I made it (ONCE) and received my little gift....but at least I got one!!!...lol.
I cant remember whether it was at the Fremont in LA or the Sheraton in San Francisco....but we were waiting for our rooms in the lobby when we saw Anthony Hopkins at the reception desk...checking out. I'm pretty sure it was the Fremont in LA.....I was still quite groggy and fuzzy so the memories arent very vivid...lol.
I was already paired up with another manager to share a room and right next door to another pair of managers who were great fun and we (four of us) hit it off and were best buddies from day one.
We decided to ask the reception desk if we could have his (Anthony Hopkin's) suite instead of two rooms....we were even prepared to pay extra to (hopefully) sleep on the same pillow his head layed on the night before....lol......how crazy is that? We were completely blown away when they said yes...and it was a huge suite where all four of us could stay together.....we were the envy of all the other Managers, I have to tell you!!!
To be Continued.
posted on Dec 16, 2009 7:45 PM ()
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