The Hat - with Pamela hunter

A package arrived.  Inside the well taped, recycled box was another beautiful box.  The beautiful box delivered the Hat.  This is not just any hat.

It was in Ecuador in 2012 where the Hat and I first met.  I was on an award trip with Young Living Essential Oils for hitting Gold rank.  This was not my first trip to Ecuador but my 3rd time to travel there with Young Living.  In 2008, I took my first trip with Young Living Essential Oils to learn from Gary Young and others on a two-week incredible adventure!  On this first trip, we learned what Young Living community was all about along with Raindrop Technique, Hormone Health, and how to live the healthiest lifestyle.  My second trip to Ecuador was in 2009, I was educated to a point that I could no longer keep these amazing essential oils and knowledge to myself.  I came home in 2009 motivated and ready to begin the business of network thriving with Young Living winning a free trip in 2012 as a Gold leader.  This was a wonderful accomplishment!

Why all of these trips to Ecuador?  One of our farms with Young Living is in Guaquil, Ecuador.  This is my favorite farm as I saw it from the very beginning and have seen it 4 times now as it has progressed.  It is vast land with eucalyptus, ylang ylang, palo santo, oregano, and so much more growing in abundance. 

Part of this trip in 2012 was also a city tour where they took us to see how the Panama Jack hats are hand-made.  We all had so much fun trying on different hats.  While I was looking at the hats and trying them on, John one of our friendly photographers snapped a picture of me in this hat while looking in the mirror.  There were so many hats, it became overwhelming to me to choose one and I ran out of time to make a quick decision and came away from that experience without a hat.

The rest of our trip was spent at the Young Living Foundation School and on our Farm.  At the school, I have two boys, Matteo and Anthony that I support monthly.  There we were able to meet their parents and spend family time with our Ecuadorian families.  We painted one of the buildings and played sports and games with the 150 kids blessed to go to school there.  This is so special to me as I saw the school they used to attend during my trip in 2008.  I have been blessed to see our work with the Foundation from start to present time.  Giving to families in need and knowing they directly get our help has been one of my sweetest experiences with Young Living. 

The farm is always amazing experiencing the land.  We are able to work the land by picking and distilling.  We also have a clinic there where you can get treatment with essential oils and experience the hot tubs with floral water from our crops.

It is all these experiences that helped support my success in Young Living and my true pride for our products and our community. 

Fast forward to Gary Young’s presentation on Emotional Reprogramming at Young Living Convention 2016 to see this picture that John took of me in Ecuador with this Hat!  What a surprise!  A picture of me made it on Gary Young’s presentation!  And he made sure people knew it was me by making reference to it and saying my name!  In a company this large, I have to say my ego was very stroked, yet this quickly turned to AWE of being a part of something so special as our Young Living family.  This community is where my heart fills with JOY.

When I ran into one of my friends, Jill Young, a Royal Crown Diamond (highest rank you can get), later that afternoon at the 2016 Convention, she said, “Pamela, I saw your picture and I bought that hat in Ecuador also.”

I replied with a smile, “I didn’t buy that hat.”

She quickly said chuckling, “What?!  You do not own that hat?  It looks so good on you. And now you are famous in it.”

My reply, “I got overwhelmed and didn’t buy a hat while I was there.”

Jill looked right at me and declared, “When you go Diamond, I will send you that Hat!  It is hanging on my wall waiting for YOU!  Get to Diamond so we can travel more together!”

Jill and I met on a Young Living trip to Egypt in 2010.  Gary Young took 100 of us with him to Egypt to go on the Frankincense Trail and share his journey of learning the oils ‘way back when’ with us.  While there, we helped him film the movie to go along with his book, The One Gift.

There are many stories to share from this trip but let’s concentrate on how I met Jill.  We all dressed in character for the movie.  Jill and I were dressed as Egyptian men.  I was high up on a camel named, Colombo and Jill was my camel driver walking in the sand.  We were in the middle of the desert, dressed like men, for 8 hours in the sun filming a movie!  There was a lot of time to get to know one another.  This is one of my best memories in which another story will be told another time.

Jill and I went Platinum rank at the same time.  But by 2016, Jill had soared all the way to the top rank, Royal Crown Diamond by working on her own personal development.  She is an amazing mentor to me as I remained Platinum.  Every time I was with Jill, she would remind me, “The Hat is waiting for YOU!”

Jill’s offer to reward me with the Hat remained in the back of my mind every time someone mentioned the picture with me and the Hat.

This was the year, 2017!  My Fun Lovin’ Oils Community, a part of the bigger Young Living Community all worked together to hit Diamond rank!

We finally did it!  We made Diamond and The Hat was delivered in this beautiful box just as my friend, Jill had motivated.  The Famous Hat now belongs to ME!  It hangs in my office reminding me of all these Young Living stories and memories!

The message on the picture in Gary’s presentation remains true –