Let’s get to know who you’re going to be depending on.
I’m Lisa, your new favorite Tupper Pal! I was born and raised in the small town of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana off the banks of the Bayou Teche. I am a proud Cajun who represents the Crawfish Capital in all that I do. How y’all are?
A graduate of high school in May of 1984, having really no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. Finding myself working in the fast food industry (Mr. Cook) and restaurant service (Pat’s) all on a part-time basis which financially was not enough and needed more! Off to a production line at Martin Mills (Fruit of the Loom) working full time is where I ended up. This wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I quit that job to seek out other opportunities.
All grown up … now what do I do?
My entire family, from grandparents who were sugar cane farmers to my parents (daddy in oilfield and mama in financial) worked long hours and many days to pave a future for me. I’m their firstborn! I needed to find a purpose in my life that they would be proud of. So I enlisted in the military in January 1985.
Proudly served this great nation for 6.5 years as a Jet Engine Mechanic in the United States Air Force. During my time of service, I was a team member of the Strategic Reconnaissance Team (SRT). The primary role for the mission was to ensure that our aircraft engines were properly maintained during the event of war. Which inevitably happened and ultimately ended my military service.
The war consisted of two phases. First, codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia. And the second, Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) was the combat phase. During this phase, I suffered an injury and was placed on a light-duty restriction. Since annual training was required, I was not able to complete it under any form (walking or running), I was honorably discharged with a disability of 20% in April 1991.
This is at an NCO Academy Dining Out. I was a Sargent (Buck Sargent as we termed it because we still didn’t make the big money 🤣)
How do I become a civilian again?
My next employment opportunity led me just across the flightline, as a Parts Runner Expert for General Dynamics. Being the lowest person on a corporate level ladder, when layoffs happened, I was the first to go. The company recalled me back to work, this time under a corporate name change (Lockheed), I must have been lucky. Again, only after 6 months, being the low man on the ladder I was laid off (so much for luck). Recalled 3 months later, again with a corporate name change (Lockheed Martin) working yet again for 6 months only to be laid off and haven’t been recalled since. My luck apparently sucks!
Lack of steady work lead me to pursue a business where I could work as I saw fit, when I wanted and how I wanted and as much as I wanted. Welcome to the amazing world of Tupperware. While my best and possibly my only customer was my mother, I gave it my 100% best. This personal best was not enough to sustain my apartment, utilities, gas and car note. I packed up my belongings and moved back to the only stable place that I was familiar with, and met with terrible heartbreak and fear. The promise of a future was that of a transferable Tupperware enrollment program, so I carried it across the La/Tx state line.
Fast-forward a few years (Marry, Divorce, Career)
Once settled back home at mama’s, I began a quest for job opportunities as Tupperware was not in my cards and I had to deactivate. You would think that someone who has served this great nation honorably would be someone that corporate business would hire on the spot. Nope! You are over-qualified, was the unanimous verbiage I was told, but it didn’t stop me. I continued my quest for an opportunity to present my valuable skill in mechanics and inventory.
While in the military, I got married and divorced twice before moving back to Louisiana. Although, I kept my married name until I married my third husband whom I met after I secured a management position at Pizza Hut. After a couple of years, I was let go. I quickly found myself back into a mechanical field working for Air Logistics. My life is making a comeback! NOT! I was laid off almost immediately after a surgery procedure. Here I am again, unemployed.
Not for long though, here comes Autozone. Just minutes from home, no excessive mileage on my car. This job is gonna be my sweet spot! Being proud of the fact that it was the longest running marriage, I’m not so proud of the reasons behind divorcing. In 2005, I requested a leave of absence in order to settle my direction, but Katrina happened. There I was, out of state for an unknown amount of time, and my request was flooded. So I put in a notice and quit at 7 years of service.
She’s BACK…March 2007
Because I had surpassed the maximum 12 month timeframe, I had to reapply and start over in tenure. Within months I was managing my own store and crew. A couple years after my restart, I restarted a marriage which ended about a year later in 2010. Then comes my happy ever after!
I remarried September 5, 2015, transferred to an Autozone within an hours drive and worked tirelessly on building a career and stable marriage. When COVID hit, I was considered essential personnel and my work never stopped. It was at that point that I turned once again to Tupperware as a means of building a retirement plan. Something to build on while only working at it part time. Processes had changed, the colors were amazing, the friends I made were unbelievable and I just had to have it all!
HARD CONVERSATIONS… March 2023
My husband, my family, my coworkers and my friends saw a decline in my mental state and attitude along with my attention to detail in the tasks that I personally once took pride in. After months of anxiety and pain, I had that long hard conversation with myself. I gave myself permission to walk away from my career with Autozone.
How will I contribute to our financial stability?
As a disabled Veteran, my monthly support was not going to be enough to offset the loss of my salary. Knowing my tolerance for pain had decreased, my first goal was to have my disability reevaluated. After multiple visits to the doctors, by September 2023 my disability rating was increased from 20% to 70%. God is so good to me! Step 1 was completed.
It is time to turn my attention to my Tupperware business. For the last 3 years, I had only held parties in a part-time fashion (mostly on weekends) all virtually because of COVID. I built a team, promoted a director and became an organization leader within my first year and in the blink of an eye in 2021, it was lost due to the death of my director. Now that COVID is long gone, I’ve started to expand my reach into the fullest ways possible (Events, fundraisers and local in-home shows).
Pictured below is my 2023 Vision Board. Failing to Step-up in 2023 I made some major changes and additions to my social skills and toolbox. This website and blog is one of these changes. I continue to seek out likeminded individuals who are wanting to build a financial foundation in an ongoing process. I’d love to welcome you to my world! Let’s chat!
