No "I" In Team

Throughout the recent milestones Sparkle.Pounce. has reached with the successful etsy site launch and surprising sales from across the country – I was intrigued by the dynamic between the five of us SP ladies and how we had been working together. In a strange way it took me back to our 50K ultra marathon we tackled in Vermont. The same trip where our vision of SP really started to take shape a mere 8 months ago.

It may have been one person’s idea initially to run the 50K, and one or two of us jumped on board quickly and the one or two of us took a little longer to commit. But we were all excited about the idea of taking on the 50K challenge.

During training, some showed up regularly for weekend runs and logged the miles while others couldn’t for various reasons.

Pre race, some of us were positive and optimistic knowing we’d complete the distance and have a blast doing it - while others were a little more apprehensive thinking they weren’t prepared or were just plain scared.

During the run, different ladies would take the lead depending on who was feeling strong at that point. Other times, four of us would stop and wait for a teammate to catch up and we’d try to pep them up for the next few miles.

We argued occasionally if someone thought our pace was too fast, afraid we might burn out. Or some of us would be nervous if our pace was too slow that we wouldn’t finish under the cut off.

It wasn’t always the same person up front or the same person in the back – we all traded places mentally and physically throughout the distance.

All of these memories from the 50K remind me of the challenges and successes the five of us have faced throughout the last 8 months of launching SP.

We started that challenge together, and our goal was to finish together. And while along the way we weren’t always “together”, we crossed that line arm in arm with smiles on our faces and a love for the same motto which was printed across our chests uniting us.

This SP adventure to me has been and will continue to be a lot like our 50K race I think. I loved these ladies before both endeavors for their friendship and training companionship – and now we are all learning to love new sides of each other – the entrepreneur side, the analytical side, the passionate side. Who are the do-ers, who are the dream-ers and who can put them both together and do what they dream.

Sparkle.Pounce.Teamwork.

-LeighAnn