Saturday, May 21, 2011

A GIANT THANK YOU!

WE DID IT!  We made the Top 10 in The Sleeping Giant's  "Are You The Next Million Dollar Entrepreneur?" contest.  We just wanted to take a moment and thank each and every one of you for taking time out of your busy lives to vote for us!  You are all helping us pursue our dream and that, my friends, is priceless!



I found out about this Facebook contest several weeks ago and contemplated entering it.  Actually, I filled out the entire form, wrote my paragraph and then chickened out.  However, I kept thinking about the contest. I talked to my husband about it a little bit and then I decided to go for it.  I'm pretty sure I entered the contest on the last day possible. Even so, I still entered. And now I'm in the Top 10!

What happens next?  I'm so glad you asked!  I was sent  a questionnaire with several questions about my business, what I wanted to get out of having a mentor and why I should be the next million dollar entrepreneur.  I have to admit that was a hard question for me to answer.  My husband and I have been fighting with all our might  to keep this business off the ground.  We've made mistakes, we've lost valuable friendships, but we've learned something new every step of the way.   We've personally gone without.  It's humbling.  Sometimes it's humiliating.  So to have someone ask me why I DESERVE to have a million dollar company is hard for me to answer. But this is what I came up with: 

In the past year my family and I have made many sacrifices.  We’ve gone without heat in the dead of winter, sold my designer hand bags and tried to pawn my diamond ring just to put food on the table and to provide for our two girls. I’ve been shaken to the core, I’ve questioned my purpose on this planet and I’ve been brought to my knees time and time again. I’ve been taught to appreciate everything I have and I’ve been humbled.  It’s hard for me to feel deserving of the honor of being The Next Million Dollar Entrepreneur. 

I will tell you this.  I’m not a quitter and I am a fighter.  I’ve got guts, I’m not afraid to take leaps of faith, and I’m passionate about what I do.  I’ve worked my butt off to try and make my dreams a reality and most importantly I count my blessings each and every day. The desire of my heart is to be successful enough and financially stable enough that I can sow into others lives and be a blessing to them when they need it most!

When I started this business several years ago I used to dream about a big house, fancy cars and all the “stuff” that comes with having money.  Now I yearn for financial security for me and my family.  I want the ability to pay all of my bills at the end of the month and not have to ask for assistance.  And I want to prove to myself and to those that have supported me along the way that Unbowlievable is as big, if not bigger, than I’ve been dreaming it could be!  It’s not about the money for me.  It’s about doing something I love each and every day, putting a smile on people’s faces, and taking care of my family in the process.  Starting a business from scratch with essentially no outside funding is SO HARD!  And I am beyond proud of how far I’ve come! I tell my husband all the time that the reason there isn’t another bow store out there is because no one is as crazy as we are to deal with all the things life has thrown us.  But we keep pressing on no matter how hard things have gotten because we know, without a doubt, that we have something HUGE.  We’re just waiting for the right person to believe in us, to mentor and guide us, and to help us fulfill our potential.

If I were The Next Million Dollar Entrepreneur I know I could make a positive impact on our world.  We will be creating hundreds of jobs as our company grows, we will continue to spread hope through our story and we look forward to giving back through charities and other organizations and foundations.

Am I deserving of such a prize? Maybe. Maybe not. 
Am I in need of a blessing? Yes!
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I also had a Skype interview with the author of The Sleeping Giant, Ken McElroy and his team. I enjoyed every moment of speaking with them despite the fact that Skype kept acting up and we had to disconnect and reconnect our call 3 times. I love it when successful people are still "normal" people.  You know what I mean?  When they're not full of themselves and still down to earth.  The kind of people that remember where they came from and don't gloat about what they've achieved.  That's the kind of person Ken seemed to be.  He was very easy to speak to and very kind.  So thank you Ken for making me feel comfortable, for hearing me out and for sharing your time with me! 


Now we wait. Tuesday morning at 10am MST the winner will be announced.   GO TEAM UNBOWLIEVABLE! 

Oh, and one more thing. If you are interested in business, if you have a job but don't love it, if you're already an entrepreneur, whatever the case.... YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!  I started reading it and couldn't put it down. And I'm seriously not trying to kiss up right now. It's so encouraging to read the honest and sincere stories of other entrepreneurs and how they became successful.  It's already helped me make some changes in my life.  So, what are you waiting for?  Buy your copy HERE.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Do You Bow-lieve?

It's a simple question: Do you bow-lieve? An obvious play on words as we expand our BOWcabulary but a question that we are dying to know the answer. So many of you have walked with us from the beginning and many of you have joined us along the way. We are so grateful for your support along the way. Here are a few images of our journey:




This is a cheer show that we did in the spring of 2009

This is what our family room looked like as we were preparing to open our kiosk.
Ribbons and bows consumed our house!



A monumental moment for us was opening our kiosk in May 2009.


And here we are today! Our store. We opened September 2009.


We haven't asked too much from many of you except for prayer and emotional support. Don't get me wrong, we could never put a price on the value of those two things. However, we need you now to actually TAKE ACTION AND DO something to help support us!
Kristin entered Unbowlievable into a contest hosted by The Sleeping Giant called "Are You The Next Million Dollar Entrepreneur?". The grand prize? $5,000 and a million dollar business in a year! Essentially they provide a year of mentoring to grow a concept or existing business into a million dollar company.

Why is this essential for Unbowlievable?  Unbowlievable is on the verge of explosive growth.  We have manufacturing in place and ready to product our product without compromising the quality.  We are ready to begin opening more Unbowlievable store locations AND we have two patent pending products that we are getting ready to bring to market this fall.  However, we could use some guidance along the way and we want to make sure that we do things right.  Having a mentor that understand business is critical for Unbowlievable.
So, how can you help? VOTE! Please take a moment of your time and vote for Kristin's entry HERE. Every day for the next four days you can vote one time from your Facebook account to show your support for Unbowlievable. PLEASE NOTE that after you vote you will be asked if the Contests App can access your information.  If you do not click "yes" then your vote will not count.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE show us that you truly believe (aka BOWlieve) in what we are doing and what we want to and WILL accomplish. Having your support means more than you'll ever know! Thank you!!!