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| Beautiful lake view at Fern Resort |
This weekend I attended the semi-annual
momstown conference at
Fern Resort
for some serious brainstorming and idea sharing. I never expected that
it would be a life changing experience! I get a little emotional as I
think about all the new friends I made and all the kind words of support
and encouragement I received from my fellow
momstown chapter owners
.
If I have ever been feeling overwhelmed, scared or nervous about
becoming an entrepreneur, I have the comfort now in knowing that I have
an entire support team and sense of family with these inspirational
women from across
Canada.
Only a few months ago, while camping in the
Finger Lakes Region with my sister Jillian, she mentioned this
wonderful organization to me and we immediately felt the need to bring momstown to
Niagara. Becoming a mom at a young age, I can totally relate to
the feeling of disconnect from friends, being at home on maternity leave and feeling bored and isolated.
I was inspired by so many ideas and success sharing stories from other
momstown owners this weekend that I can't wait to start implementing in
Niagara, so I can provide moms in my community the same
sense of family and support that I received from my fellow momstown mamas.
We arrived in style in our
Honda CRV, provided by
Honda Canada at the picturesque
Fern Resort in
Orillia, ON, where we were absolutely spoiled from the moment we checked in until the moment we checked out. They are such an
amazing family oriented resort, open year round. I highly recommend every family make
Fern Resort their next
family getaway. Did I mention that it's
all inclusive? There are so many
activities for everyone. My arms are still sore from the
zip line, which is probably
geared towards the kids since my feet were dragging on the ground, but that's the kid in me! Perhaps a
fitness challenge will be implemented into our
calendar of events this winter? It's pretty sad that my arms are this sore from a seven second zip line ride!
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| Another sister team - momstown Edmonton |
We also got down to business, boardroom style and I can honestly say I've never seen
brainstorming and collaborating like this before.
Brilliant ideas bouncing
off one another and productivity were apparent. So much was
accomplished here that I'm sure that boardroom had no idea what hit it!
Maybe it was the sugar high provided by
Black Magic that created such a
high level of energy! Delish! I think it was having
so many brilliant minds all in the same room!
The
creativity kept flowing, even into our fun time. Try playing
Mattel`s Apples to Apples
with this creative group. Not an easy win, but I tend to get pretty
competitive and don't like to lose! We also received a variety of books
from
Scholastic, but with so much info packed into each day I was
too exhausted to open them. I can't wait to read
"I Love You, Little Bear" to my two year old this week. And of course, you can't take a trip to Orillia without visiting
Casino Rama! We didn't win anything but that's okay. We all
came out as winners due to the
success of our conference.
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| Jillian, Erin & Ann-Marie Burton - Founder of momstown.ca |
We're headed for an
incredible year in 2013. It's amazing how
momstown has grown in just five years, since it was founded by
Ann-Marie Burton in 2007. We're all so lucky to have a
true leader in her, who
works so hard to ensure our success and is so
passionate about creating a difference
in the lives of families across the country. This experience for me
was one I will never forget. I learned so much this weekend and feel so
confident in my decision to
pursue self-employment, because I truly believe in what momstown's purpose is -
"to connect mom's in our community" and I can't wait to share it with all of you!
