Eve Baum, the president of Military Apparel Company, is a woman who watches for opportunity.  When her recruiters, who are spread all over the United States, were inspired to ask for a conference, or 'retreat', she didn't hesitate to provide it. She also invited some other business women with whom her company might partner. Yes, Eve has vision. Her vision is how I found myself standing in a beautiful bed-and-breakfast in south central Pennsylvania meeting women as they all arrived. The energy in the room was sensational as she introduced people and the activities began to unfold.

Mary Heller

Gathering of Women with a Purpose

Spring brought together 15 women from across the United States for one purpose, to unite in fellowship and learning. Eve, President of Military Apparel Company; Lori, Director; Sue, Lindsey and Jessica, Recruiters; Debi, Esther, Paulette, Stefanie and Jen, Sew-it Family Members; as well as amazing business women; Aimee, Aimee’s Jewelry and Treasures; Mary Heller; Kelly Cooper, Fashion Expert; and Karena, our favorite soldier.

The making of a handbag

We watched with utter fascination as Eve and Debi, one of her talented and skilled “Sew-it Family Member”, crafted a handbag, from cut to finish, in under an hour! The attention to detail and focus that the ladies put into these functioning pieces of art is amazing. From detailed cutting, to knowing the stitches per inch, no proverbial corner is cut on any creation crafted by Military Apparel Company. When they revealed the finished piece, and I saw my name embroidered on the front in red with a lovely red anchor, I was overwhelmed. As a Navy wife and veteran, I will carry my blue digital camouflage, Navy Working Uniform, bag with me daily with utmost pride and gratitude.

“HOT” trends

Inspiring words

I was privileged to bring a message on purpose in life.  As a Biblically based message, we discussed that God has given us a purpose for living. We talked about our purpose as being threefold:  to have a relationship with God; to love God and people; and to glorify God through our work. Specifically, we saw that God calls and fills us with purpose, with skill, and with plans to do creative works, and in the case of the employees of Military Apparel Company, in embroidery. Indeed, we are filled with purpose, anew each morning.  We don't need to waste time or energy seeking after things that will not fill us. We can

 fulfill our purpose each and every day! 

Be dazzling

Eve 'bedazzled' us as she challenged us to have a dazzling heart by embracing faith, dazzling bodies by making healthy choices, dazzling purpose by keeping our eyes open to opportunities in keeping with our calling, and a dazzling entourage by being an encourager and by being careful in choosing the friends with whom we surround ourselves.

Lunch and Girlfriend time

After a delicious lunch, we were free to enjoy various activities such as bedazzling shirts, which induced mixed feelings of a little frustration with one of the tools, much creativity, and a lot of laughter! Cooperation and team work helped produce some fun, personal, and memorable t-shirt.

Business Coaching

Mike Greene, an Integrity Works Coach, gave a presentation which stressed the need to combine knowledge of your product with effective sales skills, and the need to keep a positive attitude while staying determined and focused on effective activity. He encouraged us to learn to understand people according to their differences, so that we can communicate with them in a way that they will best understand.  He also recommended that we establish accountability on a website.  He recommended www.irunurun.com.  On this site people from all walks of life input goals--personal or professional.  Each goal or activity is given a point value to help users quantify how well they are accomplishing their goal-be it of effective time management, weight loss, sales, or any number of possibilities.

Wrapping Up

As dinner was served, Aimee Waterman showed us her stunning handcrafted jewelry by Aimee’s Jewelry Treasures.com. She is quite gifted with working in metals and crystal. 

Another highlight of the day was being serenaded by the sweet guitar and voice of Paulette Biscotti.  During the afternoon, she even pulled me aside and played a song for me that she had written. I confess I would love to learn to sing that song-it really spoke  to my life experiences and touched me deeply!

Friendships were forged over a lot of laughter and good food. We enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate Eve's birthday with cake and joy in a charming setting.  

The best part of all is: this was the first annual event.  More will come in the future and we hope to see YOU there!! 

Mary Heller

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have uplifting friends and family members? When you need help are they there for you? If you answered yes to these questions; GREAT. If not, then it is time to clean up.  In order to dazzle, you have got to make sure your entourage is dazzling. Think about a great person in our society. What kind of inner circle do you think they have? They surround themselves with people who train them, encourage them, and give them wise council. Treat yourself like an important person- because you are. Make sure you have a dazzling, inspiring entourage. Sometimes, we need to let go of certain people in our life in order to truly shine.

How would your friends describe you? Are you an uplifting person? Are you there for them when they need help?

For me, the key to having a truly dazzling entourage is to treat people right. A simple hello, paying for a coffee for the person in front of you, listening patiently to a friend, volunteering, donating money, anything you do for others is your true way of dazzling!  Push it further and help other people dazzle by inspiring them.

Reading “The Love Dare” book changed my life and really inspired me to dazzle with my husband. If you have not read it yet, I really encourage you to do so. It is related to the way you treat your spouse and how to truly love them. But the principles in this book can be applied to any relationship.

What changes will help you have a dazzling entourage and treat people right?

I really hope I stirred up your thoughts and helped you collect information on how to dazzle. I hope that you now create solutions, correct actions and in the end connect yourself with true dazzling power.

Thanks so sincerely. Eve x

Is your occupation, job and hobby in line with who you are and with your God-given talents?

If you are unaware of your life purpose, if your job is not fulfilling who you are, if your hobbies are not dazzling, one thing you can do is keep your eyes open for opportunities. Also keep your heart open, by praying that God will show you what talents and gifts He has given you. Consider your mission choices carefully. Ask God for guidance. Learn when to say yes and most importantly, as a woman, how to say no. Sometimes saying “No” is necessary in order to create room for your true purpose. Don't be afraid to clean out distractions so you can focus on your purpose.

Remember to re-evaluate your purpose as it might change while you go through different life stages.

If you already know your life purpose, fantastic! My mission is to Change the World one creation at a time while honoring the military. Because I know my final destination, my travel through life has been blessed. I am the proud owner of a 7 years old business that has grown tremendously with over 50 reps, worldwide.  We have recently gifted our creations to many Hollywood celebrities and have gotten great national press coverage. We have now reached another period of GREAT changes. As you may know, we just changed the name of our project to Military Apparel Company. We did this in order to align our marketing with our purpose! This will take our company to the next level. I am so thankful I found my purpose in life! It now allows me to be able to inspire others!

If you are interested in following our changes-progress, I invite you to do so on our Facebook page and my personal twitter account.

What changes will help you have a dazzling purpose? 

Are you comfortable with your body, your temple? Are you self-conscious about the way you look? Do you eat well and exercise daily? It is important to know that dazzling bodies come in many shapes and sizes. Let’s focus on more than what the scale says or what size clothes you wear; let’s focus on feeling good about your body!

Don’t know where to start? First, pick one thing you can change about your body that would make you feel better. Then establish one goal in helping you achieve this change. It can be things like adopting a healthier diet, exercising 20 minutes a day, stop smoking or getting your nails done.  Whatever it is you need to change in order to feel better about yourself. You may ask a friend to keep you accountable for that specific goal. Once you achieve this goal, you will be motivated to attack another area of change in your life. In return, you will feel great about yourself and so dazzling!

Already feeling good about your body? Great! I encourage you to reach out to another woman to be an inspiration to her.

I have been very consistent with fast walking 30 minutes every day. During that walk, I pray, read inspirational books and listen to Godly music. My day starts like this even if I have a lot to do at work or at home. I put myself first! I feel so much better about my body and myself that way.

What changes will make you have a dazzling body and in turn feel good about yourself? 

Changing is second nature to me. I moved 25 times in 31 years and changed countries, culture, religion and language (yes, if you were wondering I am French) I believe I have a God-given talent to adapt well to change and learn from it.

When faced with changes, one has two choices: be bitter or be better.

In this series, I will share with you some of my suggestions on how to change for the better and ultimately how to dazzle.

We will address, dazzling heart, body, purpose and entourage.

1. Dazzling heart

I love to think about faith and compare it to driving. Regarding your faith, are you the passenger or the driver? Do you know what your final destination is or are you driving around aimlessly? Are you driving safely or are you in fender-bender mode? Do you have a nice clean car and well-oiled motor or is your gas tank empty?

If your tank is running on empty, be sure to be in God's Word regularly. When we seek to reflect the love of God and live by His example, our heart can't help but dazzle and shine! Today make a conscious decision to pick up an inspirational book or devotional, join a faith-based group or find an accountability friend. Choose whatever is best for your life, right where you are!

If your tank is full, great! Consider reaching out today to someone in your entourage you think could use a faithful friend like you. 

I recently made a change that has made a tremendous difference in helping my heart dazzle.  I start my day in prayer. Praying is so simple yet very powerful. I ask God to help me be a great Godly woman, wife, mom and entrepreneur through my words and deeds and that He would also help me to be His hands and feet.

What changes will help you have a dazzling heart?

Dear supporters, fans, family members and friends, 
 
Thank you for all your love and support in the last 7 years. We really appreciate it!

We recently hired, Gail, our new PR agent from Studio Communications in Houston, Texas. She has an extensive background in fashion marketing and worked with companies like Ralph Lauren, Estee Lauder and Nautica just to name a few. 

She is pushing us to be better! Mainly, we want to be attractive to men as much as women. We want the name of our project to represent the umbrella of different creations we offer as we offer so much more than just HANDBAGS now!!!
We would love to introduce you to our new look! Thanks to JOHN MOOREHEAD we got a makeover!  Discover the new us at
www.militaryapparelcompany.com
 
We also started a new Facebook page and we hope to see you there www.facebook.com/militaryapparelcompany as we will have lots of fun and a giveaway daily this week!!!
We would love for you to share the news with the world in order for this transition to be a huge success for us so we can touch millions of lives and Change the World one creation at a time!
Thanks again for being so good to us! 
Eve x

A winner everyday! It could be you!

Visit our new facebook page NOW!!!

Like and share our  new FB page on 

your wall while tagging us in your post 

@MilitaryApparelCompany and you could win:

Monday -Connection

Tuesday-Hope

Wednesday-Blossom

Thursday-Energy and

Friday a Prosperity

GOOD LUCK AND 

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

I have ask a bunch of my most talented friend to start writing about what DAZZLES them the most. My great friend and ex-neighbor Lora is the first one to submit this mouth watering blog post! Let me know what you think!

The Plunge...