This Article was originally published in the Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator Portal.
Around 2001, Michelle Litwiller’s mom attended a Stampin’ Up! workshop and fell in love with stamping. She shared the catalog with Michelle who purchased her first stamp set and stamp pad. Michelle was impressed with the products and how everything coordinated. “The coordination made crafting easy and fun,” she shares. By 2009, she wanted to collect everything, so she joined to get a discount.
Within a couple weeks of getting her Starter Kit, Michelle hosted a party with family and friends. “They fell in love with Stampin’ Up! and asked me to hold a monthly card class,” she recalls. “I did this for years, and it helped me maintain my quarterly sales and get a lot of the products I wanted for free.”
As Michelle’s life has evolved, so has her demonstratorship. “In 2015 when both my kids were in school, I started working with my team leader, Ronda Wade, every week,” she shares. “It inspired me to want to do more with Stampin’ Up! and treat it more like a business. I started hosting several classes and events each month.” Before long, Ronda encouraged Michelle to work toward earning the incentive trip. “I originally thought it was unrealistic for me, but Ronda helped me map out what I needed to do. I started doing Facebook Live videos, attending local craft shows, holding consistent team meetings, and just about everything to get outside of my comfort zone to find new customers.” Michelle earned her first incentive trip that year and has earned every trip since!
As a trained teacher, Michelle is passionate about teaching people how to craft and enjoys doing so in person and through videos. She makes a special effort to be real in her videos. “If I mess up, I’m okay with it, and I show how to recover and fix my mistake. People have said they can relate to that and appreciate that I’m not perfect on video.”
Michelle enjoys being a supportive team leader and encourages her team to be creative and try new things. She knows the importance of getting them involved and connected with the group, so they feel like they belong.
As she reflects on her journey, Michelle shares, “I’ve met the most incredible people through stamping, and they feel like an extension of my family. I fell in love with the products, but the people and the relationships that have formed keep me active. Most of the closest people in my life now are all connected through Stampin’ Up!” In fact, her advice to new demonstrators is: “Get connected with your team and start meeting people and getting involved. This will help you start building those lifelong relationships.”
The most important thing to Michelle is her family. “My family inspires me to work hard to achieve my goals,” she shares. She and her husband, Ryan, have been married for 20 years. They have two children: Matthew and Kaitlynne. And of course, we can’t forget their bichon dog, Pearl. Her family is very supportive. Ryan helps her with marketing and other business activities, and Matthew and Kaitlynne help prepare, sort, and pack classes and card kits.
Looking back on her experiences fills Michelle with gratitude. “I’m very grateful Stampin’ Up! is part of my life. It has enriched my life through all the relationships, and it’s so much more than just stamps, ink, and paper (even though I love those too!),” she explains. “I’m very grateful for all the support from everyone who has helped me get to this point. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Congratulations, Michelle!
See the Facebook post announcing Michelle’s achievement here.
The claims published here are not representative of the typical Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. The level of sales required to achieve this result is accomplished by less than 1% of Stampin’ Up!demonstrators.