Reflections | lululemon at Mt. Princeton
If I’m being honest, when I was asked to be an ambassador I was nervous about having recently found out that I was pregnant. Some of my first thoughts included, ”I won’t look my best” “I’m not as fit during pregnancy as I am the rest of my life.” “Will I feel soft for my entire ambassadorship.” Oh, how naive of me. And then they told me there would be a retreat (while I was 20 weeks pregnant) with ALL of the other ambassadors in Colorado. And I was like uuuuuuhhhhh.
I couldn’t have misjudged the crowd that would be surrounding me more…
It’s rare that I feel nervous walking into a group of people. It’s never been in my make but this trip came with a side of dread and my overpacked suitcase was my biggest red flag. I brought 3x the times that I took to Italy for ten days. I change clothes a lot when I feel crappy…. apparently. In an environment where people could justifiably be in a place of critiquing or less inclusive because I literally could not keep up, it couldn’t have been more opposite.
I wanted to post a little note of encouragement today about not doing others’ thinking for them. About remembering to just show up as you are to the places you go. To remember that no matter the season you’re in, people will love you and embrace you. It’s not about a facade or projecting something you’re not- a reminder that there is something really good about just being you…
“They’re changing things culturally on a global level and they are inviting people in to help get behind the movement. I think that’s big.”
While mentally preparing for this trip, I anticipated a lot of working out and a lot of photos being taken, a few connections and some good old fashioned forced conversation for the two nights and three days that I was there. What I received were warm hugs, big smiles, quality time with really wonderful entrepreneurship that are walking through similar struggles and successes in their business’ as me. And guess what, they only loved me more for my pregnant stomach and offered me grace when I represent my usual self during individual and group workouts. That was so encouraging to me. I made new friends, stretched tired muscles, laughed, danced, ate and indulged in the opportunity to do some inward looking. lululemon strives for personal development and this well curated retreat revealed so much of the effort they pour into this mission. The individuals who make the company up as a whole pour countless hours into developing and executing a beautiful program for their ambassadors, the humans they work with and the communities they’re rooted in. I was impressed with each new bit of information and motivated to be more mindful of the larger picture in my business and personal life.
lululemon is doing big things- more than giving all of us ass-shelves in their pants and producing squishy yoga mats. They’re changing things culturally on a global level and they are inviting people to help get behind the movement. I think that’s big.
During an abbreviated version of their vision and goal building session the Rockies regional manager, Kelly Moore, walked us through a visualization practice and while ten years ago I would’ve felt like it was so hokey, in my present day I really loved it. It offered me encouragement and helped me reframe some of my thinking around bigger life situations that I’ve been working through. What a gift.
Did you know the company’s mantra has nothing to do with clothing at all? There isn’t a mention of fabric or retail at all. It’s about connecting humanity together.
The heart of the ambassador program is to connect, sweat and grow. I love these three calls to action. It’s promoting overall health and they don’t just talk about it, they prepare space for it, equip us with tools and encourage us to act instead of just talk and think about it.
Headed in, I obviously felt nervous, thinking I’m the only “entrepreneur” ambassador in CO that doesn’t have a sweat component to my career and I’m so pregnant and won’t keep up, I’ll be put into a box of less than out of the gate… what I realized in a short 72 hour timeframe is that I was surrounded by other entrepreneurs that parallel with me in so many ways… and I was being honored along side of them by being welcomed into this community that will continue to push me during the next two years.
“My encouragement for you today, is to be bold in who you are.”
My encouragement is to be bold in who you are. To be aware that even in the mundane of the day, how we treat people, what we say and how we carry ourselves can make someone feel wonderful and different. Moments matter and the way we treat others helps us to grow our community, to be connected and creates space for us to be a part of something bigger. I left impacted with so much more than a superficial difference. I want to make people feel that way. I encourage you to set goals, the big lofty kind. To think big and do the work. I’m leaving you with a favorite quote of C.S. Lewis’ just below. Enjoy today.
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the seat. We are far to easily pleased.”
#thesweatlife #lululemonambassador
