Cabo 1999. Unless you were here you really can’t imagine how it was. It’s sometimes hard for me to remember just how tiny it was. There were a handful of bars, a few restaurants, a couple of grocery stores and just a few hotels. The corridor was basically empty, housing and apartments were not hard to find – and life was good. Simple but good.
It was then that I entered into the world of timeshare. It was honestly terrifying. I have always considered myself quite methodical, a planner and overall very consistent. I’m not much of a risk taker, and pretty much had my finances and spending all figured out. Very methodical. I guess that’s the Canadian in me. When you have a fixed salary, fixed income, government benefits it’s the same thing every 2 weeks. You plan your payments, vacations, nights on the town and pretty much everything else around that.
Then comes the world of timeshare. There are no guarantees, no salaries, no “for sure” things and literally it’s every man, woman and child for themselves. My friend and I started working for the Villa Group at the lobby of Villa del Palmar. We were known as the In-House OPC’s. We were the “concierges” that gave you the welcome package, gave you some info, and invited you to the time share presentation. I think there were 5 or 6 of us, and my friend and I were the “new kids” on the block. We didn’t speak the language, weren’t very pushy and always found ourselves chatting about our experience of how we ended up in Cabo, rather than whether or not they were interested in the breakfast the next morning. That changed quickly. We had a great team, a great manager and that’s when we learned what it meant to work for yourself and work on commission. There was really no time for an adjustment period. We got a few day’s training, learned our pitch and got thrown into the fire. I learned so much about myself that first year. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back I was pretty much fearless – although at the time all I mostly felt was intimidation. That’s when I really learned to stand up for myself and I figured out what I was made of. I learned from some of the best, and even though we were usually fighting over couples, turns and commissions, we really did have a great team. We went for concierge dinners, got to know a lot of the new places around town, and really did have a lot of respect and admiration for each other. It was crazy!
I OPC’d at various tracks for the next few years and then started working at Club Regina as the Member’s Services manager around 2004. I was basically in charge of the OPC’s for the members. That’s when I really found out what I was made of, got a quick grip on the spanish language, and things really kicked into high gear. At the time our project director for the Club was Terry Sommers. He was so ahead of his time, and just an amazing guy to have the pleasure of working for. He was a little crazy, had huge ideas and really knew no limits. He was a dreamer and a visionary and it was our job to implement his ideas and make them a reality. He did not know the word “no”, and to him everything was possible. We started selling a new project while I was there called Grand Regina. That’s where the grocery delivery idea was born. I’m sure it was one of Terry’s ideas – that the guests could come and when they arrived they would have whatever food and drinks they wanted waiting for them in their villa. It was my job to find someone to deliver those things. We tried a few catering companies – because at the time that’s really all there was. Costco was just opening and Cabo was on the brink of booming. My friend and I started doing the deliveries ourselves, as we couldn’t find anyone else to do it. We did it part time while both working at the Club, and then eventually I was doing it full time as the owners started going to other properties and wondering if we could deliver there as well. It was a bit of a rocky path and a huge learning curve. We eventually parted ways in 2014, which is when Prickly Pear was born. March 2019 will mark our 5th year as Prickly Pear Cabo, and I could not be more proud and blessed to be here in this moment.
“If you walk in the footprints of others you won’t make any of your own.”
It’s been a long road of ups and downs and failures and successes. They have all led me to today. All that I’ve learned from the people that have come and gone in my life is just awe-inspiring. It was International Woman’s Day a few days ago. The day came and went and it wasn’t until I was winding down that I had a chance to hit social media for the day. The posts about the amazing women in our lives and the ones that inspire us every day was not lost on me. The people that have come into our lives really impact us. We take the good when we can, and try to leave the negativity behind. It’s interesting to look back and know the ones that had a significant impact on who we are today – for good or for bad. Please take time to tell the ones that had a positive impact on you, whether they’ve come and gone or are still impacting you today. I find that perhaps people that I had an impact on a few years ago, are now the ones that are inspiring me as I see them growing and becoming their best. Life does do a full circle, and you never know what impression or impact you will have on someone. Always try to leave a positive footprint as you don’t know how long or how much of an impact it will have.
Cheers!
~ Michelle