Well it is hard to believe that it has been 15 years since this journey began for me. I am very proud of what my family and team has created.
I was asked to write a bit of my story for our Anniversary catalog. I was uncertain as to where to start but it soon struck me that the beginning would be best. I believe the most significant element of my story is that I was blessed and fortunate to have stumbled upon (at least it seemed that way at the time), my life purpose at the ripe old age of 22.
In 1989 I was invited to participate in the facilitator training program with The Personal Best Training Society of Alberta. It was through this process that I was bitten with the idea of making a difference and contributing to my community and world by supporting people to consciously evolve and create freedom in their lives.
I was hired by the society as the 18th employee, the youngest and least experienced on the team, and I was thrilled to work for the society. For a year and a half I did various jobs and got myself into the classroom to be trained as a facilitator by selling corporate seminars, bringing the schedules back to the board of directors and negotiating to be trained for the courses that I sold.
It was around this point that the organization faced something common to many non profits; conflict between the board of directors and the paid staff. That conflict created much friction including financial issues for the society and ultimately ended in the entire staff (myself included), being fired at a special board meeting. At the time this felt like tremendous trauma. I was jobless and the organization and structure through which I was going to fulfill my purpose was soon to be nonexistent.
The night that I was fired I did not sleep. I searched my soul, my purpose and my motives for working for Personal Best, and after a sleepless night I got up, put my suit on and went to work. When I arrived, there were a few board members already at the office and they looked surprised and confused to see me. They murmured amongst themselves until one of them said, "You do realize that you don't have a job here". To which I responded, "Of course I realize I don't have a job but I also know that what happened last night at the board meeting was inappropriate and someone has to do something so that the organization does not crumble and I am willing to do what I can, employed or not."
The board members replied that they felt the same way, but none of us at that point had a plan so they asked me if I would stay at the office and answer the phones for the day. I said of course, and that day I laid the foundation of a plan that boiled down to me negotiating with the board of directors for a 6 month window in which I would pay off all the existing debt of approximately $55,000. In return I would receive the rights to the The Personal Best Course and the assets of the organization. Now $55,000 for a business may not seem like much to you, but to me at the time it seemed like all the money in the world! I was 22, had just finished school and had been making just over $1000 a month for the previous year.
That 6 month period was one of the most trying and challenging times of my life, but also one of the most rewarding. On May 31st 1991, the debt was paid, Personal Best Seminars Inc. was created and I took over the stewardship of what was then The Personal Best Course and has since evolved into The Personal Freedom Course.
I discovered later that many of the board members agreed to the deal, not because they thought I could actually do it, but because even if I paid off $10,000 or $15,000 of the debt, it was better than stinging the creditors with the full amount. These same board members became some of the new organization's greatest fans and supporters and remain active with Personal Best even today.
As you may recognize from this bit of history, I have a tendency to take big risks. The past 15 years has been full of them, some have worked out beautifully, others have not. However, by diligently doing my best to apply the course concepts to my life I have evolved, grown and built an organization that I am proud of.
The Personal Best organization mirrors my own core values of purpose, getting to the heart of the matter, community, working together for mutual benefit, contribution, making a meaningful change in the world, and freedom.
If these values resonate with you and you are ready to take your next step, then contact our office and take advantage of our amazing 15th Anniversary offer of a Complimentary Personal Best Level One: Truth Revealed seminar worth $1000. It is my gift to you and our community. I look forward to meeting you in one of our courses and hearing how you have applied the concepts to take the next step in your life.
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Edmonton has been providing courses for the Edmonton and surrounding area consistently since July 2001. Rae-ann Wood Shatz is the owner of the Edmonton Marketing Rights.