(Please Note: If you are subscribed to this blog feed and receive my posts via e-mail, you are receiving this post in your in box. This is a copy of an e-mail I sent on May 1st to my e-mail list. If you are also on that list, you may have received it then as well. This IS NOT a resend of that e-mail. My blog feed is a completely separate list).

This post has nothing to do with your direct sales business. It's a personal note from me that's been ten years in the making. The short story is that ten years ago, my marriage of thirteen years ended in divorce. I had two small sons, and their dad David and I were determined to do whatever we possibly could to minimize the negative effects of our break up on them.

Over the course of the past ten years, we've worked together to do just that. Our boys are now teenagers and well adjusted, really amazing young men. And David and I have walked side by side and co-parented them every step of the way. We're both re-married to very supportive spouses now and we talk almost every day about the health and well being of our sons. I cannot imagine parenting these boys without their dad and I say a prayer of gratitude every day for my relationship with him. We've had our struggles and there have been lots of times when we haven't necessarily agreed. But we've always looked at every conflict through the lens of what's best for our kids.

Last year, we decided it was time to share our story and our perspective and passion for the topic of parenting your children after divorce. We began creating a website called "The Undivided Divorce." The project has been sitting on the back burner for the past year as we've both led busy lives and neither has taken the time to launch it. A few weeks ago my good friend Dana Wilde called me and invited me to participate in her brand new free teleseries, "Enjoying The Ride". It was just the motivation we needed to finally share what we've built with the world.

David and I will be interviewed together on a call with Dana next Tuesday, May 22nd at 9:00 am. Our topic is "Divorce as A Beginning" and we'll be sharing 5 steps to defining a new family as you go through (or after) a divorce. You can learn all about this series, watch Dana's video, and sign up here…

http://www.readyformore.com/ride/julie/invite/
 

If you read this blog regularly, you're probably a woman (about 98% of my readers are), quite possibly a mom (and/or grandma, aunt, God Mother, etc.), and either are or know someone who has kids and is divorced or divorcing. Sadly, I've honestly never met anyone who hasn't been touched by divorce on some level. And most of the time, when there's a divorce, there are children stuck right smack dab in the middle. Divorce is tragic and an unfortunate epidemic in our society.

By creating this website, David and I are in no way advocating divorce. We're just facing the sad reality that divorce happens and hoping to change the world in a small but important way with our own story. The only thing that makes us experts is our own experience and the tools we've developed and used over the past decade to keep our relationship strong for the sake of our kids. While we hope you don't need this information yourself, it's quite possible you know someone who is dealing with this issue. Please do us (and them) a favor and share this blog post and/or the link to the website to them. It's http://theundivideddivorce.com.

Right now, it's a purely informational website. There's nothing for sale there, just lots of supportive, real and honest information. In fact, I've written a very informative free report you can download called, "Working Through The 5 Stages of Divorce Grief With Your Children." David and I are also both blogging fairly regularly, and there's a really wonderful resource page I've created packed with great information for divorced or divorcing parents.

I love working with direct sellers and I'm still passionate about my work as a direct sales trainer and speaker. But this project, which David and I have talked about for the past five years or so, is truly where my heart lies. I believe that if we can get the word out about this topic we can impact divorcing couples and, more importantly, their children, in a big way.

Will you help us spread the word by sharing this post on your Facebook and Google+ pages and through Twitter? I'd really appreciate that (and thanks in advance). And if you want to join us for our interview with Dana, I'd love that. It's a whole new world for me being interviewed along side my ex-husband, so knowing lots of you are out there listening will make me feel much more at ease. You can sign up for the call at http://www.ReadyForMore.com/Julie/invite. I can't wait to share this whole new message with the world!

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Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific systems, language, and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.