Britnie Turner’s Blog

What I’ve learned is that frustration is one of the best things you can ever experience because it means you have a vision of a higher standard, a sense that there is far more you are meant to accomplish with your life.

Like the residents of the BVI, people in the Napa Valley rely on tourism for their livelihood, and many of them are wondering how long they can hold out with so many vacationers deliberately avoiding the area. In fact, the locals we met were delighted to see us. A few hugged us and thanked us for visiting there when so many are staying away. I learned that sales were down by 70% in what should have been the most lucrative month of the year for the vineyards and wineries, because that’s when they get most of the wine club signups that carry them through the rest of the year.

So, maybe it isn’t what it used to be, but we’re already seeing green where weeks ago there was none. And do what I did, if you don’t love the way the trees look, look at the water. It’s as beautiful as ever. And from my experience, the people are so genuine and so grateful that you’re there, they do whatever they can to treat you like royalty. And it feels so good knowing that by simply spending money on a meal, or a hotel room, or a catamaran rental, you’re helping people who really need it.

It looked like a war zone, a wasteland, and I cried at the sight of devastated buildings, trees without a single leaf, and a pall of smoke hanging over everything.

I was 21 when I started my business, and no banker would take me seriously because of my youth and gender. I learned very quickly that I had to know ten times more than the next person, and that I couldn’t have the same amount of free time as others my age.

The first lesson in training is how to handle rejection. If you can’t handle being rejected by people who should be supportive of you, how will you have the guts, the mental fortitude, to stand up for what God has told you to do?

Right then I understood why I had been where I was, when I was. God gave me that next piece of the puzzle. He told me it takes earthly knowledge as well as Heavenly wisdom to do his work. “Go learn everything you can.”