Yesterday was a sweet day at Stampin’ Up! Every year for as long as I can remember (clear back to when we were in Kanab), Stampin’ Up! executives have cooked breakfast for employees. It’s a tasty breakfast (eggs, French toast, ham or bacon, and milk or juice), but even more important than the free breakfast is the opportunity we have to interact with the people who make things happen for our demonstrators and express our appreciation.

Yesterday was our employee appreciation breakfast, and once again, I loved every minute as I talked to most, if not all, of our home office employees. (The breakfast for our Kanab facility is scheduled for next week.) It was fun to serve these wonderful people breakfast, chat with them when I could, and thank them for all they do.

After breakfast, I announced our Heart of Stampin’ Up! employee winners. This is an award we’ve given for the last four years, and it serves the same purpose as the Heart of Stampin’ Up! award that we give to demonstrators every year at convention—it recognizes an employee (or two or three) who goes the second mile in reaching out and serving and who works hard to make a difference.

Employees are nominated for this award by their coworkers, and I make the choice. This year was particularly difficult. Many employees were nominated, and I spent quite a while reading and re-reading the nominations. Every single employee who was nominated was worthy of the award, and it was hard!

Ultimately, I chose three employees here in the home office—Jason, Pam, and Terrill.

Jason has been with Stampin’ Up! 11 years and works in the warehouse and is amazing! He’s a great worker, and I’m so grateful for all he’s done, and continues to do, for us. We’re lucky to have him!

Pam is currently an executive assistant, but she’s also worked in Demonstrator Support and is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. She’s committed to doing whatever it takes to get the job done, including the small things that so often make people smile and feel cared about.

Terrill is our human resources contact with our distribution center, and our DC workers love him! He translates for all our meetings and gatherings, and is able to communicate so well our concern for all our employees! He is extremely well liked and respected.

Each of these employees received a hug from me (fun for me!) and probably more fun for them, gifts cards for dinner and a movie. I particularly liked the gift card holder that they received, and I wanted to show it off as well. I thought you might like it!

As I drove away from work yesterday, I thought—as I almost always do—“I sure love what I do!” And yesterday in particular, I also thought, “And I sure love the people I do it with!” How blessed I am to work with and for such wonderful individuals!