Debra Brown

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stepUP!

In April 2008 Michelle Clarke from XL asked me if I was interested in getting involved with The stepUP Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to educate and excite teenagers about possibilities for their future in business and in life.  Helping teenagers is one of my passions so of course I agreed and I was appointed as Head of Mentor Recruitment for an event we're running in Blackpool on 17 and 18 November 2008. 

The Blackpool launch event took place whilst I was on holiday in Tenerife so I travelled to London when I returned to attend the London launch which was held at the Australian Embassy.  On 16 and 17 June, I spent time with Ryll Burgin (founder of StepUP) and Shane McLucas from Australia, and the London team headed up by Stephanie Beitzel.  Organising events takes a lot of work and being part of stepUP was a great example of teamwork - it was a pleasure to be part of the team over the two days. 

The launch was a success and we were treated to Aussie Pies and Australian Wine.  It was great to meet up with existing friends and also to make new friends.  After the launch, we went to Nancy's bar for a few drinks then onto a club called Little Italy where we danced the night away.  It was a brilliant night - I LOVE dancing!!!

The photo on the left shows Ryll and myself in a taxi on the way to the launch at Australia House.

If you are interested in being a mentor at the Blackpool event (17/18 Nov 08), I'd love to hear from you. 

You may also be able to help by letting your contacts know about this opportunity and there are other ways to be involved too, such as providing sponsorship or volunteering to crew at the event.

Contact: debra@globalhugs.com

Chilling out in Tenerife 6-13 June 08

Two years ago, I booked a week's holiday at a new 5 star resort in Tenerife because it was a bargain at only £149 plus I'd checked it out on the internet and it looked beautiful - style based on the island of Bali.  The two years flew by and I kept receiving calls from the company asking me when I ws going to take my week's holiday.  Just before I went to Australia in March, I booked the last week that was available to me.

On 6 June, my partner Paul and I flew from Manchester airport and were met at the airport in Tenerife and escorted to the Regency Country Club in Chayofer, just 5 mins from Los Christianos.  The staff were very welcoming and we were given a glass of champagne on arrival whilst we were checking in. 

We were shown to our 1 bedroom appartment and were very impressed with the high standard of furnishings - a well equipped kitchen, satelite TV, DVD and hi-fi, bathroom with jacuzzi bath, bedroom with 4 poster bed, balcony with tables, chairs and sunloungers ... they even provided bath robes and towels for inside and by the pool.  We didn't watch TV but did listen to music (Gypsy Kings, Deva Premal, Pink Floyd and some Classic Rock).

Our holiday was perfect ... relaxing ... blissful ... fun ... rejuvenating ... what else can I say?  Paul and I went scuba diving along a reef one morning then spent the rest of the day on the beach.  We spent most of our time by the pool in the resort and  I read two books by Paul Coelheo - The Alchemist, and Eleven Minutes, both which I enjoyed.  I love reading and it was brilliant being able to read without having to think about what else I had to do.

I've recommended this resort to a quite a few people since I got back.  To qualify for the cheap week deal of £149 for a 1 bed appt or £199 for a 2 bed appt, you need to attend a presentation which lasts about 3 hours but it's worth it!  Check out the website:  http://www.regencycountryclub.com/

   I always like to share good deals so if you're interested in going along, send me your name, email address and telephone number and I'll do a referral for you.  Someone from Central Marketing will then contact you to check availability for when you want to go. 

 

International Hug Week 1-7 May 2008

I recruited 4 friends to help me with a free hug event in Burnley Town Centre during International Hug Week and were amazed with the response from people from all ages. 

You can read the Burnley Express article by clicking the link below.

Download international_hug_week_burnley_express_13508.pdf

One lady told me that she hadn't been hugged for 5 years since her husband died.  Another had tears in her eyes because she was witnessing us giving unconditional love to strangers.  Other people hugged each other. 

Remember that everyone needs a hug - we all need human contact and to feel that we belong. 

If you're interested in participating in a Hug Event, contact me.

Thank You Prince Frederick and Nichole Jennings

I would like to say a special thank you to Prince Frederick Von Saxe Lauenburg for introducing me to Nichole Jennings when he found out I was going to visit Australia.  I know Prince Frederick as I am an Ambassador for The Penny On Trust (www.penny-on.com) and we were introduced by Martin Dewhurst, founder of Penny On. 

Nichole lives on the Gold Coast in a beautiful place called Paradise Waters - we started communicating by email and felt a really strong connection with each other.  She asked me for information about the Date With Destiny Course and I sourced a ticket for her to attend.  Nichole is a successful property developer and owns land in Indonesia and she managed to complete the pre-course paperwork just in time before she flew off to Indonesia on a business trip. 

Nichole kindly invited me to stay with her whilst I was attending the course at Conrad Jupiters Casino and I would like to say a big thank you for her hospitality and friendship.  I enjoyed our late night chats and loved meeting her beautiful children.

Date With Destiny Leadership Course - Conrad Jupiters Casino, Gold Coast - 4-11 April 08

Attending Tony Robbins Date With Destiny course in Palm Springs in December 2004 was a major catalyst for change in my life.  As a result of attending this course, I trained to be a Coach, lost 2 stone in weight, learned so much about relationships that I realised why my marriage of 19 years had come to an end, and it significantly improved my relationship with my daughter.  I've spoken to many people who think that paying thousands of pounds for courses is a rip off but what they don't consider is the value of investing in yourself and the pay-back.  The amount I paid for the whole of the Mastery University programme I would have gladly paid for that course alone because of the value I got from it. 

After completing Mastery University, I signed up for Leadership Mastery and completed this in May 2006 in San Diego.  I was so excited about attending DWD Leadership on the Gold Coast for three reasons:

1) it gave me a golden opportunity to go back to Australia (I lived in South Australia for 4 years when I was aged 2 and my parents returned to the UK when I was 6);

2)  DWD has been the most powerful course I've ever done;

3)  Connecting with my friends in the Robbins environment is always great!

Our Leadership course started 2 days before the DWD delegates and Chuck, Pa Joof and the other trainers did a first class job of the skills sessions. 

As Leadership people, we are there to support and learn from the trainers, senior leadership people, and we help to support the delegates on our team. I was on a great team and we all got on extremely well.

Photo from left to right:  Sue, Sherry, Dionne, Dale, Debra and John.  Richard was our other team member - he missed this team photo but you can see him in the one below wearing the hat on the front row.

When we sit through the seminar again as Leaders, we are looking at it from a new perspective and making notes of all the tools that Tony uses in his interventions - and he did some mind blowing ones!  We then get together for about an hour after the event and unpack these so that we can all add to our learning.    

The event lived up to my expectations ... actually it exceeded them ... and I made lots of new friends  which is always great.  The photo on the right shows the Leadership gang with our trainer Chuck (wearing the red T-shirt).

 

Scuba Diving on the Great Barrier Reef!

I flew to the Airlie Beach on 31 March and booked a 2 day 2 night cruise around the Whitsunday Islands on a catamaran called PowerPlay.  On my first night there, I stayed in a female dormitory in a backpackers hostel called 'Beaches' and met lots of new people.  Beaches was the place to be and in the evening, the bar was very lively.  I had lots of fun talking to some guys and having a dance.

I joined the cruise on Tuesday 1 April and was amused to discover that there were 16 females and 2 males, one of whom was with his girlfriend and the other was travelling alone. 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the highlight of the trip was diving on the Great Barrier Reef.  I did three spectacular dives over the two days and saw some great underwater life.  The snorkelling was brilliant too and I found myself amongst a schoal of silver fish swarming around me - it was an amazing experience.

The sleeping quarters were very cramped and I opted to sleep out on deck so that I could marvel at the clear night sky - the star constellations were fantastic and I could even see the Milky Way.  It was a beautiful experience.  It was fun being on board with my fellow passengers, the food was delicious and the staff were very accommodating.  In the evening, we had a slide show of the day's highlights from the under water filming and digital photographs and I bought a DVD as a reminder of my experience. 

I feel so blessed and grateful that I have such amazing experiences.  I love my life!

Australian Trip - Brisbane - 24-29 March 08

It's great having contacts all over the world.  My friend Anne Quinn's son Leon lives in Brisbane and kindly offered to put me up for a few days whilst I was in Brisbane so that's the first place I headed when I arrived.  I had arranged to meet up with some XL members whilst I was in Brisbane and on my first day there, Sim Han Chan came to meet me for lunch and we talked non-stop till she had to leave.  Sim recommended I contact Dennis Oosterman, a fellow XL member, who is a Mataphysician and Vibrational Architect, which I duly did and arranged to have a session with him which proved to be very powerful and like nothing I've ever experienced (www.quantum-leap.com.au). 

I had a lovely dinner with Dr George Blair West, a medical doctor and pychologist specialising in the study of weight loss, and also an XL member.  Dr George kindly gave me a signed copy of the book he's written called 'Weight Loss for Food Lovers' which I'm sure will come in useful! 

I spent a couple of days site seeing around Brisbane and on Saturday 29 March,  I attended the Virgin Ball with fellow Excel members Harri K, Debbie, Diane plus others.  We were greeted with the red carpet and a glass of champers, followed by as many refills as you wanted and canapes.  It was a fantastic evening and I had my photo taken with the man himself ... Richard Branson!  He sure knows how to throw a party that's for sure.  The entertainment throughout the night was spectacular, the food and service first class.  The charity auction raised a lot of money and it was a brilliant way to spend my last night in Brisbane.  Dr George was there with his lovely wife, as was fellow XL member Samantha Backman.  A big thank you to Harri K for offering me the last ticket at her table - it was a night that I'll remember for a long time.

Singapore Sling!

Good Friday (21 March) turned out to be an excellent Friday because I flew from Manchester to Singapore with Singapore Airlines (who I'd highly recommend by the way).  The seats were comfortable, the food tasty, and we all had individual LCD screens in front of us so we could watch on-demand movies, play computer games, listen to music or catch up with world events.  The flight was on time and we arrived in Singapore at 6.15 am.  The transport I had booked to take me to my hotel didn't arrive and on the second call to the company concerned, I was informed that the driver had left without me and wasn't able to come back so I was asked to take a cab and was promised that it would be refunded.  Silly me paid in Australian dollars instead of Singapore dollars and as the Aussie dollar is worth more, no wonder the driver didn't tell me!  Ah well!!!

I checked into the impressive Orchard Hotel, had a quick clean up, then went to meet fellow XL member Joy Mahbubani (Dave Rogers from XL had connected me with Joy when I was planning my trip and we'd arranged to meet up for half a day).  Joy took me to Little India for lunch in a traditional Indian restaurant, then I visited the Hindu Temple whilst Joy shopped for a sari. 

After that, Joy gave me a quick tour of the sites including Raffles Hotel, the river area, and we stopped off in China Town for a cup of tea and Joy insisted in buying me some Chinese pastries to sample later on (came in handy for breakfast the next morning and they were delicious!)

At 3 pm, we returned to The Orchard Hotel and I was on time to meet up with Samantha Yeo who was my room mate when I did Date With Destiny Seminar in Palm Springs in December 2004.  Sam and I went to the Botanic gardens and sheltered in the cafe there as a torrential downpour hit the area.  We then caught the bus to the area where Sam lives and she showed me around the shops before we went to a restaurant which had a great salad bar with a beautiful selection of fresh salads and vegetables.  Yummy! 

The next day, I went for a run for an hour around the Botanic Gardens in the humid heat and amazed myself by not passing out!  When I got back to the hotel, I went straight to the rooftop swimming pool and cooled off for a while before getting ready to meet up with Sam again. 

We had a fabulous afternoon and I observed Sam's brilliant negotiating tactics with a tour operator as we got complimentary tickets on the open top tour bus which took us to the river so we could board our river cruise. 

After that, we went on two Extreme Bungee rides which were hilarious ... the only trouble was that I was wearing a short denim skirt and ended up with big bruises on my thights where the security straps had been!  We were in hysterics as the video cam played back our experience when we had finished and Sam secretly bought a copy as a souvenir for me.   

After the adrenaline rushes, we dined by the river then went to the world famous Raffles Hotel to experience the famous Singapore Sling before going to the night zoo to experience the nocturnal animals which was a brilliant experience.  The jeg lag caught up with me though and Sam managed to grab hold of my arm as I nodded off whilst the zoo train took a corner!  Thanks Sam, I owe you one! 

Sam is so inspirational - she is an avid cyclist and regularly gets up at 5 am to do bike rides with her friends before she starts work.  She competes in triathlons and is a keep fit fanatic.

A special thanks from me to Joy and Sam for making my trip to Singapore such fun and action packed!  I look forward to coming back and visiting you again one day soon.

Photo on the left is Joy Mahbubani, Director of Joy Ventures Pte Ltd (www.jvpl.net) 

Joy is wearing the beautiful sari she bought.