South Africa

So it has been ages since I have done a blog and with so many cool adventures in the last month I thought I better share my experiences with you :D

18 April

So this was the start of one of the best experiences of my life and most definitely the best experience of my working life. It was day we me and best friend we're flying out to South Africa!! So the day began with the necessary waxing together as I am the biggest wimp when it comes to any form of pain being inflicted on me. We then had just enough time to cram our belongings into our suitcases and set off for London Heathrow my favourite airport as the shops are insane. When we arrived we bumped into more friends in forever who were equally as excited, we checked our bags in both embarrassingly over weight allowance but we had nice virgin staff that let them through with a heavy stick result! We then headed straight for the sunglasses and I has stuck with the hard decision of whether to go for the Black Guccis, Multicoloured Fendis or White Diors I knew this was going to be a hard decision as I love love love sunglasses more than any other accessory and it is a tradition to buy a new pair every time I fly to a new destination. So this was going to be something I will need to get back to. We then hit mac where a lovely girl was so helpful she listened to the look I wanted to go for but was struggling to do it myself so she showed me gave me a whole makeover. This meant I needed in my head everything she used on me although she insisted I didn't need it all. So I purchased:

•  New brushes
• 2 Lipsticks Matte Honeylove and Matte Kinda Sexy
• Prep +Primer Highlighter Light Boost
• Lip Pencil Spice
• Blot Powder Medium Dark

So we then got some lunch ordered far more than we needed but we were on holiday in our eyes so dug in deep. We could see a few eyes wondering our direction as some of our food had to go on another table because it wouldn't all fit haha. Our eyes were too big for our belly. We then thought we can not walk passed Zara without having a cheeky look around. I picked up some amazing bits.

• Red Long Cigar Shorts
• Flower Scarf
• Beautiful embroidered skirt
• Denim off the shoulder dress 
• Tweed Dress

We then looked round the designer shops dreaming that one day every soon we'll be hitting these shops every trip going crazy but for now we were going to settle for a bottle or champagne at the Caviar bar and eat sashimi my favourite to celebrate our businesses success in the last year and how far we have come. With 10 minutes before we had to go to the gate we were really excited about what we were about to experience over the next week; it suddenly dawned on me that I forgot my sunglasses so I ran to the shop left Daisy finishing her champagne and was stuck with the hard decision I decided on the beautiful white Diors. After running back to Daisy we looked at the monitor to see our gate marked Closing. Panicked we ran as fast as we could with all our shopping bags laughing that we didn't look so glamorous now. We made it! A bit tipsy  fro a mixture of running after a bottle champagne. We sat down stuck on our headphones and sang for 7 hours on the plane the man next to us must've loved us! 2 hours of watching the Good Dinosaur which made me cry and Daisy laugh. Finally we were here Johannesburg!!!

19 April 

We got off the plane met our friends went thought passport control and a lady stopped me asking me where our yellow suitcases were from and how can she join my business. What a way to start my journey, she said that there are forever signs everywhere and the city is excited to see what forever living is all about it then suddenly dawned on us how big global rally was going to be! We were greated by lots of south africans with forever signs and sent us on a coach with other business owners we had brazilian, French and Japanese business owners on our coach super super excited that we were all here for the same reason. Arrived at our hotel Sandton City Johannesburg which was simply beautiful it was huge they had even put aloe vera plants in the room :) We dumped our suitcases and headed straight for the pool where we found all our friends from round the country so amazing seeing them all as it had been months since I'd seen them after lots of cuddles it was time to jump on the sun lounges and order a cocktail. Relaxing in the sun with my friends just made me realise how lucky we really our business had given us a all expenses week in paradise and all for you hard work. We decided to go out for a yummy meal the first night and have and early night as we had a 5am start to do my life long dream go on safari!

20 April

Up bright and early we quickly got into our khaki green clothes and headed downstairs to jump on the coaches it took 2 and half hours to get the the Pilanesberg National Park the sun was shining when we arrived and the safari trucks were ready to take us. When arrived business owners from all over the world had also arrived it was fantastic to see how people from different parts of the world dress. We were one of the last trucks to drive into the safari we were so lucky as we saw rhinos, a heard of elephants with their babies, Zebras, Giraffes and Warthogs (pumbas). I couldn't believe how close they all were to us and when we arrived to the watering whole animals were everywhere!! This  was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life and feel so blessed to be able to see the rhinos that are becoming closer to extinction.

 

After a long day at safari. We received a message to say that we had been invited for drinks and dinner with a very successful business owner which meant this was a night to dress to impress. I wore a white jumpsuit from Asos a lace bra let from Miss Guided and my pointy black Louboutins. I managed to wear them for the best part of 10 minutes but where my feet were so swollen from the flight I had to change to some white wedges from Matalan. We all met up at the lobby and walked through are shopping mall which is huge to think its connected to the hotel and has Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada a shopoholics dream. We made our way to the end of the mall where it meats Mandela square so many beautiful restaurants we had reservations for Wangthai. We decided to opt for the set menu which was 10 course experience washed down with a beautiful red wine. I literally could burst after all this food but was so worth it.

21 April

So today was the first day we had to do work if you could call it that. We had a training in the morning which was so inspiring to hear the top business owners share their knowledge. We then Packed food for the foundation stop the hunger now which was very emotional. On our table we had people from China, Sweden, Denmark and Turkey. I loved the fact that we could speak the same language but we were all working together to make sure that other people have their human right to eat. It breaks my heart that not everyone is born to the same opportunities and that anyone has to suffer in this day of age is so sad. Forever living really does give us the chance to really give back to the world and be thankful for what we have. I really thank my company for being able to do this.

After we had a bite to eat at the hotel and had jut 1 hour to get ready for our glitz ball celebrating this years global bonus. Black tie is my favourite as you don't get to dress up like a film star often. I wore a black floor length dress from Asos, Stella Mccartney bag and Black Louboutins. After having our photographs taken we made our way to the main room. Beautiful Canapés were laid out for us to tuck into. I grabbed a glass of wine and had a wonder around I just loved seeing people take on the word glitz. Some ladies dresses were simply stunning also the traditional Japanese robes were out of this world. It was now the time to see the first lots of cheques be presented. My team eagerly watching the count down clock. When it got to 0 the room was electric everywhere you looked people were screaming, hugging and crying with happiness all their hard work over the passed year has amounted to this moment. The amount of cheques opened was incredible.  To think we receive a percentage of the company profits just shows how generous our chairman Rex is. We danced the night away to the live band and had such a fantastic even heading back to our hotel shoes off singing all the way home.

22 April

This is day we have all been waiting for the start of global rally!!! I have been looking forward to this day for so long not knowing what to expect just knowing this will be a day to remember. We arrived at the dome which is huge. As we got out of the coach we could see the sheer volume of people making their way to the entrance everyone in their traditional clothes or country colours. I could see the flags being held with pride. Team Great Britain did not fail to disappoint we were approached by so many business owners from around the world for photographs I genuinely felt like someone famous. If this didn't make me patriotic I don't know what would. The noise of the crowd started getting louder and louder as we approached the entrance my heart was beating fast and we all decided to hold hands making our way into the arena. We had arrived. Twenty thousand people under one roof chanting, signing and whistling the room was simply thundering, you could feel the roar of the crowd in your chest as we walked are way through the crowd to find our seats. The room went deadly silent the lights went out and one light shined on the stage which was in the middle of the dome very much life a huge boxing ring. A woman stood there with a microphone in her hand with her head down we all asked each other what was going on? She then opened her mouth and let out the most beautiful note the whole room still silent in ore. This was the opening note to the Lion King. As more performers joined her on stage I realised we were witness the cast of the Lion king performing "circle of life" I had tears in my eyes this was so moving the whole room was singing along and looking around me seeing all the people smiling as one I could not believe how lucky I was to witness this moment. It was time for the first day of big cheques and they didn't disappoint from 20,000 to 100,000. I could believe how many people achieved this position. All that was running through my head was this will be me next year I am going to be on that stage and I will be here wherever it is in the world. They announced where we were going to next year and the joy was astronomical Dubai!!! Ive always wanted to go but have never had the chance and now the deal is sealed I will make sure I will be there for sure. At 5pm it was time to go home it was so nice to speak to many people from around the world as we were the number one spot last year everyone wanted to talk with Great Britain business owners and find out what has made us so successful. It was a honour to share my experiences and knowledge with others such great feeling to know that you are helping someone to achieve their goals. We ended Friday with a lovely indian opposite our hotel and stayed in the lobby with a few glasses of wine reflecting back on the time we've spent so far.

23 April

Saturday was the last day of the rally so we got up early had a huge yummy breakfast and jumped on the coach. This was the day the biggest cheques would be coming out. Everyone was super excited and ran to our seats ready for it to start and the opening was just as amazing as the day before as Freshly ground performed the world cup song waka which featured Shakira. They announced as well where our retreat next September will be and its a cruise around Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome Wow!!!! This has made me even more determined to smash my business and do my Rose from titanic moment! The cheques were ore inspiring the last three, two of which were English reached over the million mark imagine having a bonus of a million crazy!!! We also got to see our uplinks pick up their big cheques 150,000 crazy!! As a thank you for our hard work we were treated by them to a beautiful greek meal the prawns were bigger than my hands the food was stunning and would love to pick the restaurant up and take it home with me. We all had a celebration drink and got emotional that for some this was the last day of the trip.

24 April

Sunday was so emotional we had booked an extra night at a forever resort and to go to the the lion park, visit Soweto and take a look around the neighbouring areas. We had to say our goodbyes jumped in our tour guided mini bus and made our way to Soweto we saw the local people receive all of the clothes, toys and blankets the look on the children faces when they were giving a football is just priceless and the little girls blowing us kisses just melts my heart. They really have nothing but are so appreciative of life which is so humbling to see. We also went to visit Nelson Mandela's house before making our room back to the hotel. We enjoyed our last dinner together at the forever resort reflecting on how amazing our first global rally has been we decided to have an early night as tomorrow was our last day and we had to be up at 7am

25 April

So we woke up and hand breakfast outside was a beautiful sunny day we jumped into the coach and headed to our first stop the diamond mine. It was huge!! The guide said it was the 4th biggest in the world and holds the record of discovering the worlds largest diamond which was 365 carats!! It was worth so much money that nobody on the planet had enough to purchase it so it was given to Queen Victoria which is still on the crown jewels. Its the only working mine that you can walk around and met some of the miners who were so nice. We then had lunch and then to the lion park, took 3 hours to get there to fit out that it was closed on a Monday not impressed!! We saw a few of the injured lions that are being rehabilitated which have been rescued from zoos around the world. The man explained that if they released them into the world then the other lions would kill them which was really sad. After all that it was time to head to the airport and come home. I learned so much from so many people I honestly couldn't of asked for a better trip and it has got me so so excited. Bring on 2017!!!