ANNOUNCING FLEURS DE PRAIRIE'S THIRD ANNUAL SEEDS OF BEAUTY CAMPAIGN!

This campaign sounded lovely to me - a group of women creating beauty through art, design, food, writing, and beyond. Being a writer who writes about wine and other topics, I thought it might be a good fit for me. How fun would it be to join a group of women showing how we can create beauty at any age?

I clicked through the featured Ambassador “creator” photos to read the snippets about four of the women. Here they are:

1. A New York-based stylish traveler featured on The Bachelor. Young, beautiful.
2. A fashion and beauty lifestyle blogger from New York who relocated to Charleston with her cat. Young, beautiful.
3. An LA-based fashion and lifestyle blogger with a WSET Level 1 wine certification. Young, beautiful.
4. A Miami-based Venezuelan mechanical engineer who urges followers to “follow their dreams.” Young, beautiful

The main requirement seemed to be a “young, beautiful blogger.” Not exactly me, but ok. Let me take stock of my qualifications:

• I am a life-long traveler, having visited countless wine regions around the world.
• I lived in LA for a time, have family there, and know California wine pretty well.
• I spent many a day in Charleston, especially during the Charleston Wine & Food Festival.
• I have a cat and a WSET Level 1 wine certification (along with other wine certifications.)
• I have been writing blogs for a wine client for three years on his behalf, though not my own.
• I lived in Venezuela, have a master’s degree in international business, and 30-years of business experience.
• Today, as a transformational coach and guide, I help women (and men) connect deeply with themselves to create a more beautiful life.

I have a lot to offer, even if I am not as young and stylish as some or an influencer or Instagrammer. So, I clicked on the APPLY NOW button.

After asking for my name, the next item was DATE of BIRTH, not DAY, but date including the year. Then, it asked for my personal brand website and Instagram links, followed by my address.

Four questions came next about creating beauty in your business, community impact, company description, and how you could use the money in your business if you win. The caveat? “Answer(s) may be used for social voting purposes as a description for the public.” Italics, mine.

The final ask was a “Photo of Applicant (to be used for social voting purposes if selected as a finalist).” Italics mine.

At this point, my accomplishments and life’s wisdom felt under-appreciated. And, using my birth date and photo for “social voting purposes” was sure to disqualify me among the other "young, beautiful" candidates.

But, I decided to apply anyway.

Maybe the audacity of applying when I am not the ideal candidate will raise awareness that even "young and beautiful" people get older, but everyone can strive to create beauty and impact our communities at any age. Combining our passions with wisdom and life experience deepens our journey and the connections we create, and that’s very beautiful to me.

"Mixing old wine with new wine is stupidity; mixing old wisdom with new wisdom is maturity."

― Amit Kalantri

Jeanne Savelle left a 30-year international corporate finance career to start her transitional journey into the unknown. Today, she guides the Age-Empowered TM into joyful living through re-igniting their unlimited creative potential and offers an experiential 7-session workshop called Creativity about living from your creative inner power. Register at https://www.creativityisu.com/ or contact her to be added to the mailing list for upcoming sessions. She’s also an MEA alum.