Behind the Scenes of the Spring Shoot with Ambassador Elizabeth Perkinson
This month we offered two of our Ambassadors the chance to win a trip to visit us in Austin and go behind the scenes of our Spring 2015 photo shoot. Our two lucky winners were Elizabeth Perkinson from Omaha and Abby Alley from Chicago. We loved getting to know these world changing women—and showing them around our sunny city! Elizabeth sat down with us on the set of our jungle-themed shoot to talk to us about why she loves Noonday, her life as an Ambassador and a mom, and her journey to Austin.
So Elizabeth, tell us a little about yourself and how you got connected with Noonday.
I’ve been an Ambassador for about a year now here in Omaha, Nebraska. I first heard about Noonday when I saw my friend wearing a beautiful bracelet that was like nothing I had seen before. She told me it was Noonday and I soon found out that another mom from my son’s baseball team was a Noonday Ambassador. The Ambassador emailed me asking if I would like to host a Trunk Show and I immediately said, “Yes! I would love to.” It was really fun and so well received by my community. That night I was on the website reading and learning more about the company and its mission. I said to my husband, “This is so outside anything I would normally do, but if I was ever going to get involved with a social selling company, this is it.” Then the next morning he said, “So, did you sign up?” And after a little more thought, I did.
I felt like it was perfect timing for us because my husband and I had been considering adoption, but felt that it wasn’t the right choice for our family at that time. So when Noonday came into my life, I felt like it was an outlet for me to still advocate for orphans and for family preservation from where I was right at that moment.
We always love hearing our Ambassadors share their “why” for joining Noonday! How does being an Ambassador fit in with the other parts of your life?
I have a three children—ages 12, 9 and 7—and being a mom is my favorite thing that I do. Noonday has given me such an awesome opportunity to partner with other moms around the world, with moms in my community, and with moms who are having adoption fundraising shows. I love that I’m able to show my kids that the world is so much bigger than our little suburb in Omaha. My daughter Natalie (7) loves Noonday and it’s so much fun to be able to do this with her.
When her kindergarten teacher wore a necklace we had given her, Natalie explained to her whole class the story of how the necklace is made, where it’s from, and how it’s helping others. Another time I went to my son’s school and overheard his history teacher sharing with her class about her Two Coins Necklace from Ethiopia. This teacher wears Noonday almost every day so she can share about different countries with her students. I love how being a Noonday Ambassador has meshed so well with these other important parts of my life. I like being able to share Noonday’s impact with the people who are already a part of my community as well as new gals I meet through Trunk Shows.
It sounds like we need to keep an eye out for your daughter as a future Noonday Ambassador! How did you feel when you found out you had won a trip to visit the Noonday photo shoot?
When the trip and contest were first announced, I was telling my husband about it and I thought it was so cool. I remember saying to him, “I just have this funny feeling that I might win this!” I never win things, but for some reason I just thought that it could happen! But then I put it out of my mind until a few weeks later when I had a message from Renee, Noonday’s Ambassador liaison, on my phone. I was so excited to be chosen! After looking at my calendar, I realized I was supposed to go on a business trip with my husband that weekend. I was so sad to decline, but I told Renee [who works for Noonday] that I needed to put my husband first. She said she totally understood and would choose another winner. I called my husband and he said, “You didn’t say no, did you?” He reminded me that I would never have a chance like this again and told me I had to take it. So I quickly called Renee back right before she was about to pick someone else and was so relieved to be able to say “Yes!”
Getting a “behind-the-vines” peek at the Spring 2015 photo shoot!
What were you looking forward to the most about the trip?
All of it! When I got the trip itinerary, I was just poring over it and getting so excited about everything on the list. But you can’t beat getting to see the photo shoot firsthand. Next Spring when everyone is exploring the new look book it will be so great to get to share these experiences with my customers at Trunk Shows. Getting to meet the whole Noonday Home Office team and getting to see how rich Noonday is with passionate, talented people has been so great as well. It’s the beautiful jewelry that drew me to Noonday, but what made me want to commit to being an Ambassador is about so much more than that.
It’s great to see the sense of common purpose among the Noonday team and to feel that the Ambassador community has so much support here. We even got to meet [Noonday founder] Jessica’s mom and husband, which was so fun. Everyone has been great so far. I really enjoyed getting to talk with Jessica and hear her vision for Noonday and for the Spring season.
Elizabeth and Abby taking a Home Office tour with Noonday co-CEO and Tour Guide Travis Wilson
Abby and I also got to talk with Jeannie, the paper artist who created the amazing set for the look book, as well as the woman doing the lighting who has connections to Jessica from way back when. It’s fun to see how everyone is connected to Noonday—it’s definitely a company fueled by relationships! Being in the Home Office made me feel like I’m part of something much bigger than myself. After being in Austin and spending time with the team, I can’t wait to head back down for the Ambassador Conference in January!
Thanks to Elizabeth for taking the time to come visit us and sharing her infectious Noonday enthusiasm with us! For more behind the scenes peeks at our Spring 2015 look book, follow us on Instagram @noondaycollection.
Meet Jenna Tanner
Jenna is Noonday’s Content Curator and loves to write about fair trade, social justice and Artisans around the world. She also enjoys marathoning her favorite TV shows with her husband, playing intense games of Ticket to Ride, and searching for the best tacos in Austin (let her know if you find them!).