These days it has been challenging for small businesses to find ways to reward their team members for their hard work. I am very grateful that I was fortunate enough to reward 8 of my team members for exceeding our goals for 2010! We began our excursion on Sunday, March 6th arriving in paradise in only 4 ½ hours and drove 1 ½ hours from the airport to arrive at our final destination of Tulum, Mexico. This is by far one of my favorite places to vacation – It’s a bohemian, cool, laid back town with exquisite white sandy beaches. We stayed at the Coqui Coqui residences www.coquicoquispa.com/residences where there is a perfumery on-site where you can purchase their variety of intoxicating perfumes, soaps and candles.The combination of orange blossom and coconut scents with the sound of the ocean breeze made this the perfect setting for a relaxing get away. The next few days were spent enjoying massages, doing a bit of yoga, swimming in the ocean and mostly lounging on the beach. As this past winter in New York was such a rough one, we all worshipped the sun for those few days! At night we hit some of Tulum’s best restaurants, one of them being Posada Margherita www.posadamargherita.com . Owned by native Italians, Posada makes the best homemade pastas, bread and also offers delectable seafood dishes using organic ingredients. After our delicious evening our palettes were left longing for more so we decided on Mexican food and headed over to El Tåbano. With it’s eclectic mix of traditional Mexican fare combined with Mediterranean and Caribbean cuisine, El Tabano made us feel just like we were in grandma’s kitchen. The gorgeous open air night sky and refreshing cucumber margaritas made it the perfect night! Being in the beauty industry, we always come prepared with “equipment”; blow dryer, styling products, the works but being that Coqui Coqui is an Eco-friendly hotel, we decided to go au naturelle and skip on the blow dryers and hairsprays. Our hotel bathing water was actually sea water and with the combination of the ocean air we all had beautiful beach waves day and night. The best way to achieve this look is by always adding extra moisture to your hair with a leave-in conditioner of your choice. My Assistant Manager ,Yasmin used the perfumery’s own hair conditioner as she loved the aromatic scent of orange blossom every time the wind blew in her hair. My favorite conditioner/styling product was the coconut oil – It’s great to tame any frizz and conditions dry or sunburned skin. Our trip to Tulum was such a team building and bonding experience that we will never forget.

We at Butterfly Studio are constantly looking to improve ourselves. We always set up an annual outing that will offer us a new experience and leave us feeling inspired. This year I chose to take the team to the Trapeze School of New York. There were feelings of excitement and fear. I shared with my team that when you overcome your fears and get out of your comfort zone, you can discover something new about yourself; as well as an inner strength that you didn’t know you had. This can applied to any aspect of your life, which is why I made the decision to bring the team to trapeze school. It was the perfect opportunity to try something new, face challenges, and build further trust within the team. That day were we faced with challenging and very exciting activities. Everyone put all of their effort towards each task. Some of the more challenging activities were back flipping on the trampoline and walking the tight rope. I would say the most challenging of all was climbing up the 23ft. high ladder, holding on to a bar overlooking the entire school and knowing that you are about to leap into the air. The one thing that gave everyone confidence was hearing the team below cheering you on and shouting words of encouragement. I was so proud of my team. Everyone did it! By the end of the day we had all conquered our fears, had an amazing time and it brought our team closer together. We realized that in order to be successful, it truly takes team effort and dedication to make it all happen. These are some of the experiences the team had at TSNY: “I conquered my fear of heights and I don’t think I could’ve done it without the support of my team when I could’ve just given up.” -Dana Tizzio “It was great to feel like a kid again. It gave me the feeling of being at the playground with my fellow butterflies.” – Margaux Martinez “It was exhilarating. Something I’ve always wanted to do. I can check flying off of my list now.” – Amanda Rodriguez “I did what I never thought I would do. Let alone could do. I learned to face my fears head on and the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone.” – Yasmin Ismael “It was such a great experience. I felt so accomplished. I never imagined the opportunity to do something like this. Highly recommend this!” – Joanna Gonzalez “Unbelievable! -To say the least. It should be on everyone’s bucket list.” – Maritza Mieles