a loving spoon

I have never considered myself a lucky girl. In the August edition of HERLIFE Magazine (with my story on the cover), Editor in Chief, Kimberly Mullen, states (on page 12),

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

And again, I’ve never considered myself a lucky girl.

Everything I have in life, I have worked really, really, really hard for. Earlier in life (in high school), I made it to the National DECA (an International Association for Marketing Students) Conference (coincidentally in California) not because I got lucky, but because I worked hard. When others were on the bus (headed to the state conference) talking and playing around, I was studying for the written test I knew we’d have to take upon arriving (because written tests are a weak point for me).

“Luck” perhaps got me on the Nike+ Human Race Ambassador Team, but winning wasn’t luck. It was purely hard work + a ton of intentional effort.

When I got sick with SIBO, adrenal fatigue, low thyroid, extremely low B12, and perioral dermatitis, I wasn’t healed due to luck. I didn’t sit around and make excuses for why I couldn’t get better. I took action. And then I realized what had really happened.

I didn’t get lucky with building a thriving health coaching business. I studied long and hard at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (and years prior to and after) to ensure that those who worked with me would start to see their own light at the end of the tunnel. I wrote several e-books to ensure success, and proved it with testimonial after testimonial.

A Loving Spoon nut butters definitely have not made me a lucky girl. If you only knew the sacrifices I have had to make to keep my business running so that it can contribute to the greater mission of giving to foster and orphaned children, you might think I’m nuts (though, you probably already do!) For the most part, I am the only one running the company. I drive over an hour to produce the product in a Commercial Kitchen. I hand label each and every single jar. I source all ingredients. I maintain all inventory and manage the shipping department. I do 100% of the sales, outreach, PR (although my friend Karen is the PR diva who landed me this front cover story) and marketing. I put every single last penny I have back into the business (because no I still have not taken $1 from it, not even to cover the time I put in).

The physical things and possessions I have in my life have been obtained through means other than luck, and so I’ve never considered myself a lucky girl. (As such, telling you the above is not to paint me as wonder woman. I am so far from that, but I do hear frequently that I have been “so lucky,” and that has simply never been the case. I am just the SHERO in my own life. And by the way, you can be, too!)

I’ve never considered myself a lucky girl until I read Kimberly’s forward to my magazine article.

I cried.

In that moment, I too, felt like a lucky girl.

For many years, we put in so much hard work with attempts to conceive our own child….naturally, artificially, IVF, all of it. The hard work didn’t pay off, and that’s exactly what finally made me a lucky girl.

In her article, Kimberly describes all the “what if’s.” She then concludes,

The only answer I can land on is simple. I am a lucky girl.

By these same tokens, with our angel Samarah Josephina Hoffman, I can officially admit that I too, am a lucky girl (and probably more importantly – that the Lord makes everything beautiful in its time).

I really hope you love the article. If you are in the Central Valley, look for it at your favorite local shop/store! Click HERE to read it! Click HERE to share on Facebook, and click HERE to share on Twitter. 

Xox,
SKH