I am so enjoying sharing my team members with you this week, who have celebrated being a demo for 10 years or more with Stampin’ Up! My team are amazing and together we share our skills to help and support one another. Each person plays a vital role in the Pinkies team and I am honoured they chose to join me and my team.
The lady I am celebrating today is Catherine Carroll. When Catherine first joined she lived local to me in Bicester. We did not know each other before she reached out to ask about joining. She is now married and living in the US and is a wonderful friend and confidante as well as my Virtual Assistant which makes me super lucky!
Catherine is so capable and has held the highest title of Silver and had a wonderful team of demo’s whilst she was a demo living and working in Harrow. I asked Catherine to share more about herself and about her last 10 year highlights, so read on……
Tell us a little about you Catherine
When I first joined Stampin’ Up! I lived and worked in Oxford and had just finished my degree and PGCE. We then moved to London to make my husband’s commute to work a bit easier and I taught Chemistry at Harrow School for 6 years. Nearly three years ago we moved again for my husband’s work, but this time it brought us across the pond to Maryland in the USA and I became a lady of leisure! We live in a lovely town centre apartment with our two rabbits, Daisy and Oreo.
What do you love most about being a demo?
While you can’t beat getting Stampin’ Up! products at a discount, it’s really the demonstrator community and in particular Michelle’s Pinkies team that has been the best part of my time as a demo. Being in Oxford meant I could attend every event, and even when I moved further away to Harrow I could still make it to most of the bigger team gatherings. Technology is helping me stay connected even from more than three thousand miles away, which I am so grateful for.
Why did you join?
I first saw Stampin’ Up! at one of the big craft fairs at the NEC when I was looking for stamps and supplies to make my wedding invitations. I’d been a keen papercrafter since I was about 10 years old (I saw someone demonstrate embossing – as soon as that powder melted I was hooked!) and loved nothing more than picking up bargains at shows. They had a stamp that I loved, but I was more tempted by the joining offer… I thought why not get the discount for myself rather than give someone else commission? They were giving a huge bonus package of stamps and tools to one of the people who signed up, and I would have been the second entry! It was SO tempting as I’d always dreamed of being able to make some money on the side to support my crafting habit, but I was still a student so had to give it a bit more thought. I have to say that I am so glad that I did because I doubt I would have been put in Michelle’s team if I had joined that day! A google search brought me to her blog, and I think it was Sale-a-Bration the following year that finally pushed me over the edge and got me to sign on the dotted line.
What does your business look like?
My business has gone through many iterations over the years, mainly due to moving around and differing demands of my teaching jobs. I love the flexibility that the SU business offers as it means you can build a business if you want to, just view it as a hobby and enjoy the discount, or even switch between the two. I’m currently just crafting for myself, but being a part of SU has opened a different career path for me as I’ve become a bit of a tech geek, designing websites and developing social media strategies and training. While I’m a hobby crafter, I really enjoy helping other business-focused demonstrators use tech tools effectively within their businesses.
Your best memory of the last 10 years?
I was often unable to go to Stampin’ Up! conventions and OnStage events as they were normally during term time. When the North American 25th Anniversary convention was opened up to demonstrators in other markets, I jumped at the chance to go as it was during the summer! I think I would have even gone on my own, but the experience was really made wonderful by the fact that Michelle, Lynne, and Nicky also decided to go. The four of us had such an amazing time. Almost tied with that is the 30th Anniversary OnStage Live in Orlando. That was 9 months after I moved to the US and it was just brilliant to see so many Pinkies and UK demos there too when I knew it would be a while before I would be visiting the UK.
One piece of advice to anyone considering buying the starter kit?
Just buy it! It’s always the best deal in the catalogue and comes with so many additional benefits that are impossible to put a price on. The only hard task is working out what products to choose!
What great advice Catherine! Isn’t she amazing? Catherine does so much for so many and never a cleverer person will you meet. We have built a firm friendship over the years and even though we are further apart in miles than ever before we speak more now than we ever did. She is such a help to my business with all things technical and I am not sure what I would do without her.
I have so many lovely memories of time we have spent together but the most amazing one has to be our trip to Utah, which is where Stampin’ Up! Home Office is based. They held their 25th Anniversary convention in Salt Lake City and myself, Catherine, Lynne and Nicky all spend the most wonderful few days together enjoying a magical celebration.
We were wide eyed in awe at the sheer magnitude of the event, how many demonstrators were there, the generosity of Stampin’ Up! as well as the samples and talent at the event. We got a chance to meet all the high profile demonstrators from across the world who we had followed online for years.
We were even given our first ever Paper Pumpkin box, we were so excited we did a little happy dance. I say ‘we’, I seem to remember that Catherine volunteered to film it rather than look a fool like the rest of us! I told you she is smart!
If you are not already familiar with Catherine, go check out her social links below. And rest assured if you were to join my team, you would soon get to know Catherine as she plays such an important role in supporting our team and even has a tech support group for demos across the globe.
I am so loving celebrating my amazing team and hope you are enjoying reading these posts each day this week. Pop back tomorrow to see who I am celebrating.
Sale-a-bration is just around the corner and if you are slightly interested in joining too, please get in touch as I have some more information I can share with you or answer any questions you may have. It is alway your choice, I am just here to help and see if the right choice for you right now.
