Much Less Than Perfect Speaking Opportunity

Two days ago, I had the opportunity to speak about victims of Noma to a room of about 50 beauty industry professionals at a Beauty Industry West meeting geared towards the concept of giving. Sitting in a room of individuals in the manufacturing side of the beauty industry, it was welcoming to see some familiar faces and somewhat interesting introducing myself wearing a new hat, and as a guest to a meeting I used to attend quite regularly. As I sat down in a seat that was picked for me, I engaged in a conversation with a pleasant gentleman involved in selling cosmetic product packaging. We conversed about our background, he asked me about sales, and my interest in it, my outlook on selling in the current economy and so forth, as well as, our feelings towards or current lines of work. After some small talk and a few bites of Ravioli, I was called up to the front to share about the work of CreateACTivity, and share the story of victims of Noma. As I stood up at the front, waiting to share with the room one of my biggest passions, I was thrown off by the technical difficulties of a projector that was unable to project my presentation for no other reason than a mismatched plug. Almost at a loss for words, I did the best I could with the lack of resources and near energetic breakdown that I had come over me due to the fact that I would be unable to share images that illuminate the severity of Noma and importance in getting aid to individuals living with the effects of the infection.

Angry at myself for what I felt was a lost opportunity, I slowly realized that the reason for the projector issues may have just been that it was not the appropriate timing for that particular audience in sharing such heavy material. The main gift of the experience was the gentleman sitting next to me that had asked about my past background, and sales interests... when I sat back down at the table, the gentleman looked me straight in the eye and asked me if I founded CreateACTivity, after my short reply of "Yes," he proceeded to ask two more questions. The first question (in a beautiful Australian accent), "Your interest in this is a life choice, isn't it?". My response, "Yes". Second question: "Aren't you scared?" My response, more calm than assured than ever before, "Absolutely not, I know this is what I am supposed to do. I am still in sales, however, now I understand the why the sale is important."

Although it took a while for the anger and frustration of a much less than perfect presentation to brush off my shoulder, I was thankful for the man that sat next to me. For the opportunity to share a little bit about my current adventure with faces of the past, and get to know some fresh new faces within the beauty industry.  I am thankful for Beauty Industry West, and the individuals involved that gave me the opportunity to be present with them during their yearly meeting geared towards giving.