Meet Facilitator Michele Reynolds
Michele Reynolds grew up wanting to be a cruise ship entertainer. In her vision, from a very early age, she would be the first person that everyone would see when coming on board the ship. The ship’s captain would be on hand to introduce everyone to Michele. In her minds eye she could then entertain and party with everyone throughout the journey.
Growing up far from the ocean in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Michelle had a passion for dance. Taking instruction all through school, she entertained on a regular basis. Being raised by a single mom, Michele found she had to find ways to entertain herself and did so by entertaining her friends as well. She loved to make other people smile.
Through high school she thought she was on track for signing up either with Up with People or various different cruise companies. At the age of 18 though life got in the way. Through a series of upsets in life, with others telling her what she “should” do, her dreams came to a crashing halt. She decided at that point she was not strong enough to stand up for herself and go after her dream.
Feeling very stuck it was then she decided to join the Marine Corps. Michele saw it as a quick way to exit her world and begin living her own life without so much risk in the process. With a friend who was checking out joining the military she went to the recruiting office. After looking at all the branches of military to enter she determined that the Marines was the arm of the military that would offer her the greatest “challenge”. After all it was the exact word they used to describe the opportunity before her. Within a week she was off to boot camp in Paris Island, South Carolina.
Michele commented on this life changing decision she had made, “It was a big decision but for the first time I felt it was my decision and I was not lost anymore.”
Her first duty station was Twentynine Palms, California and Michele arrived with many suitcases in tow. Walking into check-in, there were a lot of men of every race imaginable – checking her out. In that group of men was one really nice guy who checked her in. She called him, Smiley, and did not see him again during her stay in Twentynine Palms.
After six months in Twentynine Palms, Michelle headed to Okinawa, Japan, spending the next three years there. She became the entertainer she dreamed of by having a wonderful social life. She was always following the nightlife and having fun.
Then one night, for the first time since that first day in Twentynine Palms, she ran into “Smiley” who was up on stage entertaining others. During a break she walked up to him and said quite boldly, “I think I like you, I don’t think you should see anyone else and would you like to dance.” His answer of “yes”, brought them to the Japanese Justice of the Peace six short months later and a baby, Nathan, was on the way 9 months after that.
Moving to California in 1991, Michelle had her second child, daughter, Natasha. With her military career behind her, in 1994 they found themselves on the move again,this time to Colorado where other family members had migrated.
Looking for a career to wrap her arms around Michele walked into a temporary placement agency and decided that the job the receptionist was doing was exactly the one she wanted. She asked for the owner and told her that she wanted the job and without even filling out an application, the next day she started. In 1996 Michele’s marriage ended and she really began to embrace her career while raising her children.
In 2000, she decided to go back to school and as a single parent accomplished the tasks of raising her children, working fulltime, and if that were not enough, also getting her Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management. In 2004, upon a dare from her staff, Michele reluctantly put her profile up on Match.com. Amazingly to her, she was to meet her current husband, Paul, who along with his five year old son, Austin, became a part of the growing family that same year.
Michele would find that 2006 would be a year like no other. In May she joyously attained her Master’s degree in Business Administration. But then in July came the crashing blow of a medical diagnosis of MS. This devastating news came on the heels of months of feeling dizzy all the time and finding herself constantly losing her balance. She was told she would be would be in a wheel chair within six months.
Then came the miracle of all miracles, in October of 2006 she got pregnant and the pregnancy gene overrode the MS gene and the MS symptoms virtually disappeared.
In June of 2007 her daughter, Danele, was born and Michele quit her job to work at home full time. She had worked for three different companies over those 12 years in the recruiting industry going from her initial $8.00 per hour to a six-figure income managing three different offices during her final position. She decided it was time to start her own business.
Her initial business venture consisted of two components, one was writing resumes and the second was becoming a distributor for Send Out Cards. Casting into the network she had created in the recruiting industry she was able to build her business through people she already knew.
In September of 2008 Michele had another medical scare. It began with severe stomach pains. In seeking medical attention, it was identified as potentially the West Nile disease. After tests and lots of agony a friend of Michele’s told her to get to the Boulder hospital immediately. Upon arriving she was quickly admitted and within hours was in emergency surgery. It was discovered that she had a very large blood clot that was moving towards her heart. If she had waited one more day they told her se would not have made it.
In January of 2009 Paul, Michele’s husband was hurt on the job and was out of work for a year. He told Michele that she would have to go find a job. Michele decided to create another arm to her company instead and Accel365 became the blanket company for all her endeavors. She was very clear that her skills were in organizational management and added Virtual Assisting to her service offerings. She contacted the top leader in Send Out Cards and he got the word out that Michele was available and her new business was born.
In December of 2009 once again she stood up against the medical community because of health issues again. She learned that her gall bladder had an infection that was releasing toxins into her body. January 2010 required surgeries to remove six hernias from her previous abdominal surgeries.
Now many a person would have crumbled under so many major medical situations but not Michele. In her I can do anything attitude she carries, she had this to say, “I had to pay a bit of a price to be here but I would do it all over again. All this is how I know I am supposed to be alive, because I am alive!” I am a survivor.”
In July of 2009, Michele met the Victory Circles founder, Cheri Ruskus, through a mutual colleague Sara Basloe. Sara raved about Cheri and Michele knew that with as much respect that she had for Sara, she needed to work with Cheri’s organization. She loved the work that Cheri was doing through the Victory Circles especially as it applied to women. Michele is on a conquest to help women be the most they can be. She knew the idea of having women empower other women to release who they really are inside was something she wanted to be a part of. So in January of 2010, she became a certified and licensed Victory Circles Facilitator.
Michele shared that she gets approached all the time about other “stuff” but the Victory Circles had the “why” around it. Michele currently has a Circle in Greeley with plans to start a Ft. Collins Circle in September 2010, one in Windsor in January of 2011, and in March of 2011 in Loveland.
Here is what Michele has to say in regards to giving others the courage to reach past the challenges that life throws out to them, “Be clear on what you want and go get it. If there is a price to pay you have to go get it anyway. During all of the sickness along with the ebb and flow of my life I have gotten really healthy emotionally in having better relationships. When you almost die you cherish every thing. My company name, Accel 365, means just that – do the best you can everyday not just for everyone else but for yourself as well.”
Michele found it has taken a bit longer to get where she wanted to go. While she didn’t quite make it into cruise ship entertaining she has found many other ways to make many people smile and is enjoying the path she has taken.