My People

Welcome back for Episode 2! I hope you enjoyed watching it as much as I did. To me, this episode was fun, and it was great not seeing any fighting or backstabbing. This is the way I choose to live my life, and I don't like seeing any type of conflict on TV. There is enough of conflict and hurt in most of our lives, and watching this episode made me realize that we can have good TV without all the negative energy that tends to be around other reality shows.

This week you saw our newest castmembers Peggy and Micah go to a shooting range. I had no idea that Peggy and Micah owned guns. Her comment that, "You have to have strong survival skills to live in Orange County," I think was a little extreme. I would never think that I need to own or know how to shoot a gun to “survive” in Orange County. Although I believe in self defense, I still have a fear of guns and don't think anything good can come out of owning them.

Seeing Tamra cry when she talks about her life now that she is single was hard for me to watch. I have become very close to Tamra, and seeing her cry about going through a divorce right now with three small children makes me sad. I reflected back to a few years ago when Donn and I and Tamra and Simon went to San Francisco to the wineries, and we all seemed so happy. Life and our marriages seemed easier for both of us then. I wish things would have worked out in Simon and Tamra's marriage. When she said, “What happened to my life,” it made me reflect on my own life, and I related to that comment. I wonder if either one of us would have done things differently knowing the outcome. I am a firm believer though that it takes two people to get married, and two people to get divorced. It's never one partner's fault for the demise or a marriage.

It was nice seeing Alexis and Tamra spending time together. It was interesting to hear Tamra say that Jim and Simon were somewhat alike. When I look at their personalities and traits, I see two men that want to protect and shield their wives from outside influences, which isn't all bad. I think it takes a very secure man to have their wife be on TV and to trust that their marriage can withstand the trials that come with the stress and demanding schedules. I am hopeful that Tamra is wrong when she said that if she was a betting woman she would guess Jim and Alexis' marriage won't last. Divorce is very hard on people, especially children, and my prayer and hope is that they will stay happily married forever. I guess only time will tell.

Taking my Coto Insurance staff and Briana to Seattle this week was a highlight of my summer. I have never taken Briana on a business trip, and I think it made her realize that although my business is housed in South Orange County, I have partnerships in other states as well. I also wanted her to realize that although I travel a lot, I am in good hands with "my people." When I was awarded at the conference as the top recruiter and top agent for 2010, it was such a great honor and surprise. My career sometimes tends to be lonely and unappreciated, it's great to be awarded and reminded of all of my accomplishments in the insurance industry. Coto Insurance has developed a life insurance selling system (www.cotouniversity.com) that allows either people interested in joining the business for the first time due to a career change or for existing licensed agents to be part of a team that will train and mentor you to be the best in the industry. By being recognized as a top recruiter, it shows me that even while the economy is not doing good, we have been able to recruit and train potential insurance agents on how to own their own business in the insurance industry. Once trained, our agents have an opportunity to work for themselves the way I do. If you are looking for a change to your current job situation, I would highly recommend checking out our website at www.cotoinsurance.com.

In order to save money, I booked two adjoining rooms together and offered everyone to double up sleeping together. For those that didn't want to double up, they had the choice to pay and book their own rooms (which they didn't). They all decided it was more cost efficient to just double up on the sleeping arrangements. John and David had gone out to downtown Seattle, and when they returned at 4am, there was only the couch and the bed that Danielle was sleeping in available. A lot of people may wonder why John and Danielle were sleeping together, and it was because John didn't want to wake up Danielle to have her move to the couch. John and Danielle are very good friends, and there was no hanky panky going on. I didn't want it to seem inappropriate to anyone that was wondering, because it wasn’t. Danielle felt bad that I allowed the cameras in the room and that I pulled the covers off of them... but I knew they were dressed and there wasn't anything inappropriate going on! Just thought I should clarify that.

It was interesting to see how protective Briana was of me with Jan when we were bowling. I have known him for a few years, and we are just friends –- nothing more and nothing less. I had no idea she was so protective until I watched this episode. Bringing Briana to Seattle, I was hoping she would have fun and see that there is a world outside of just Chicago and California. She always tells me that she doesn't like the guys in California, and by bringing her to Seattle, I thought she might like some of the men that I work with. My matchmaking skills didn't work very well, but when the cameras were off, she told me how much fun she had and that she wanted to come back with me on my next trip. I encouraged her to spread her wings, and if she wants to move, the time would be now in her life. She is struggling a little bit right now, because her boyfriend of four years, Colby, just got married last week, and it has really made her sad. She had always thought they would be married, so it was hard for her to hear about that. I told her it wasn’t meant to be, and that there was going to be an amazing man that enters her life when she's least expecting it.

Looking back, taking and drinking the margarita from the boat that pulled up to us when we were on the water probably wasn't the best decision I have ever made. Never accept a drink from a stranger. If a drink is ever going to be bought by someone else, be sure the waiter or waitress delivers the drink.

All in all, I think this was a fun episode to watch. It showed the close relationship I have with my staff and that work doesn't always need to be stressful and serious. I think being close with your staff in and outside of work creates a dynamic team. We all have each other’s back, and I would do anything for "my people," and I know they would do the same for me.

Warmly,

Vicki

Xoxo