I Was There Felt The Fear And Did It Anyway
by Josie McDowell

Ever wondered what the training programme offered by the UK's most successful home staging franchise is all about? Can the Home Stagers®  Network really be that special ? Well here's one members heartfelt and honest opinion of the residential programme.

"I don't know why I worried, but having spent the past eight years or so looking after the children and being slightly cacooned in the comfort of my home environment, the prospect of signing up to Home Stagers® and stepping out of this, to me, familiar, warm but safe zone, into the wider world, was the most terrifying and yet exciting thing I've personally ever had to face.

Terrifying because I'd be committing £thousands in taking a life changing decision to run my own business in an area I had little experience in. Yet I did it for those very reasons. An opportunity to change my life by being my own boss, working from home and doing something I was passionate about.

I arrived on the first day of training, my mind a mass of dark clouds in turmoil - questions, uncertainty and insecurity colliding and brewing up a tempest of emotions (it didn't help that I was late and my stress levels had gone through the roof!). A quick glance at my fellow students convinced me that I was an impostor.

As the day wore on, very slowly, the storm clouds began to shift. The more information Tina imparted, the more my questions were silenced. It soon became obvious that the course had been founded on real experience and practical knowledge. I felt that I would come through this session with a clearer understanding of what to do next.

Day One was all about starting up a business (my own business - gulp!). Thanks to Tina's trailblazing, we students were given the benefits of her ten years' experience in the business: pitfalls to side step, shortcuts to efficiency and tried and tested strategies to adopt. Disorientation was giving way to elucidation.
(After a fabulous and much welcomed lunch (well, it had been a bit of an early start) we were treated to guest speaker; Gary Outrageous and yes he was) delivered a crash course in networking. It was both fun and fascinating, providing us with insights into human behaviour and how to tap into it.
Sitting down to dinner at the end of day one, overlooking the beautiful, soothing grounds of Makeney Hall, the group reflected on the day. We students shared how we were all experiencing uncertainty and insecurity and I for one was grateful for their honesty: it was good getting a chance to know one another and talking to Tina as a person rather than the Home Stagers® guru that she is.

Day Two was the raison d'etre for being there- it was styling day. I experienced quite the most perverse pleasure out of getting a preview for the next season¡¦s colour trends from Crown (sad I know). I happily lost myself in a sea of magazine cut outs and glue for the ideas board and got stuck in with the hands on room staging (prior to this I'd been secretly fearful that the 'artistic flair' I had boasted of had been all delusional on my part). Fuelled by a constant stream coffee and treats, not to mention a delicious lunch, we met for dinner in a more positive frame of mind (a chink of sunlight had now penetrated the clouds).

Day Three dawned and it wasn't without a measure of regret that I noted it as my last training day. Day Three was all about Home Stagers® the organisation. Or should I say the family. Over the course of the three days we got to meet the staff at the head office and were able to put faces to the voices we'd talked to on the telephone. And didn't they look after us well! The Home Stagers® methodology was clarified. The different services Home Stagers® provide and the way in which we deliver them was explained. Like a family, the Home Stagers® organisation is structured to look after its members. The vast network of resources and help was put our disposal. Forged in such an intensive environment we'd all become pretty close too and by the end of the session I got a tangible feeling of support from every corner.

And that support continues. I've been back a few weeks now but the energy, motivation and enthusiasm haven't abated. And I've brought back so much material with me that the training course is still fresh in my mind. I've been provided with a comprehensive training manual, which is reassuringly weighty (although carrying it back home wasn't such a pleasure), loads of books, CD Roms, stationery, magazines, even my own Home Stagers® briefcase. I also know that help is on the end of the telephone or email and although there's a load to do, I feel secure that I'm not alone.

What a treat it had been to get away from it all for three days in idyllic surroundings, not preoccupied with the mundane trivialities of life but being allowed to focus and concentrate something new, exciting and enthralling. Oh and did I mention the food?
The training course was inspirational. Tina's warmth, wisdom and generosity of spirit worked wonders. I felt I had emerged as someone else; confident, motivated and energised - I hardly recognised myself, and can scarcely believe that I'd felt the fear and did it anyway.

If you want to join Josie and the Home Stagers® Network and feel that you are ready for a brand new start in YOUR life, the go to www.homestagersnetwork.co.uk for more information.