Wendy Huang

I spent my last weekend in Las Vegas. It wasn't a vacation trip though, I was there for business.

After the last day of classes of High School on Friday, I got on the plane with my Mom and headed for Vegas. It wasn't a direct flight so we had to transfer at Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, our plane from SLC to Las Vegas was cancelled and we had to stay for the night.

The next morning (Saturday) we arrived at the Riveria Hotel & Casino where we immediately headed to the 'business' we were there for. It was the 2009 Market America Chinese Leadership Convention. Market America is the business my mom does and will soon be my business when I turn 18.

There seemed to be around 3000 people there and my nerves started to bulid up. My business at this convention was tto do my Chinese ribbon dance at the Saturday evening performance night and to do a Motives by Loren Ridinger testamonial on stage infront of everyone on Sunday morning.

What scared me most was not getting my voice back in time. Last weekend, I had came down with a cold. Lack of sleep and busy with end of the school year activities caused me to lose my voice. On Saturday, I still did not get my voice back and I was afraid I would not be able to go on stage.

On Saturday night at the evening performance, I did my Chinese ribbon dance and I am glad it went well. What made that night special was the fact that I was the only performer that was not a Market America distributor or over the age of 18. My Miss Teen Alberta title was announced as well which I hope helped me create many fans and supporters.

Above is a picture of Kevin Buckman - Vice President and One-to-One Marketing & Field Training of Market America - and I in my dance costume,

Sunday morning, I woke up to find that I could talk and I was really happy everything worked out. As I was waiting backstage for my turn to go on (again, I was the only non-Market America distributor and under the age of 18), I kept practicing my speech.

Although I had given a speech at my Graduation infront of at least 3000 people, I was still nervous because this speech that I was going to do was in Mandarin. I am fluent in Mandarin but giving a speech in that language scared me.

Fortunately, it went really well! I was shaking a lot on stage but I managed to finish it and everyone was impressed. After the speech, I was greeted by many people asking me to take pictures with them and I handed out my promotional cards which included the website to donate to Free the Children charity. I also got interviewed by a Market America Chinese Website reporter who said he will put me on the home page.

That evening, I left Vegas to come back to Calgary because I had a English 30-1 Part A diploma exam on Monday morning.

This trip to Vegas, although rushed, but amazing. I had a lot of fun and gained so much experience - performing, public speaking and interview skills.

I really want to thank Auntie May, Auntie Catherine, Uncle Yang and the Market America Chinese Leadership team for allowing me to have the opportunity to share my story of becoming Miss Teen Alberta - World and using the Motives by Loren Ridinger products!

You can buy Motives by Loren Ridinger Cosmetics on the Market America Web Portal.