There are some trips you take that are beautiful, and then there are trips that become part of your story.After spending my first week in Norway traveling with my family, I had the incredible privilege of spending my second week in a completely different way, surrounded by members of my Norwex family in beautiful Ulvik, Norway.
And I think what made this week so special was knowing why we were all there.
These incredible people had earned it. They had worked their businesses, served their customers, built relationships, helped families and reached goals that earned them the opportunity to spend time together at our CEO’s farmhouse in Norway.
As their leader, there was something incredibly special about standing there and watching them experience it. 💝 It is one of the biggest rewards of choosing leadership at Norwex… helping others identify and achieve their dreams.
From Texas to a Farmhouse on a Norwegian Fjord
If you watched my Norway tips video, you already know how much I enjoy Norway! The scenery is almost impossible to describe until you see it yourself. Mountains seem to rise straight out of the water. Waterfalls appear around seemingly every corner. The summer days stretch late into the evening. And everything somehow feels quieter and simpler.
Ulvik was all of that and more. We weren’t experiencing Norway from a big hotel or busy tourist area.
We were staying together at the Hjeltnes family farmhouse in Ulvik Norway hosted by our Norwex CEO, Beate Hjeltnes, and her husband, Martin, right in the heart of one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.
There is something about living together, even temporarily, that changes a group. You aren’t simply meeting for dinner or sitting beside one another at a conference. You’re waking up in the same house. Gathering around the table. Sharing meals. Talking over coffee. Figuring out plans for the day. Laughing at things that probably wouldn’t be nearly as funny if you tried to explain them to someone else later. 😂
And then sitting together at the end of another incredible day thinking, Is this really our life right now?
Those ordinary moments became some of my favorite memories.
Experiencing Norway Together
So, one of the things I loved most, was getting to watch everyone experience Norway!
There were the big, breathtaking moments—the fjords, mountains, waterfalls and excursions that make you pull out your phone even though you’ve already taken approximately 847 pictures of mountains and water. 😂
But there were also all the wonderfully Norwegian little things I talked about in my Norway video.
- The food, the coffee, the hospitality.
- The traditions and different ways of doing things.
- The slower pace and simplicity.
- The little cultural differences that make you stop and say, “Wait…THIS is how they do it here?”
And, of course, the fact that a Norwegian bed might have two separate duvets instead of one giant comforter—which, after experiencing it, I may actually be convinced is brilliant. 😂
Truly, those are the things I love most about traveling. Sure, I want to see the famous places, but I also want to understand how people actually live.
- What do they eat?
- How do they spend their days?
- What feels normal to them that feels completely foreign to us?
And, experiencing those things with people I already love made them even better.
The Memories Between the “Big” Norway Memories
When we look back through our pictures from Norway, I’m sure the beautiful scenery will always stand out. But, I have a feeling the things we’ll talk about years from now won’t necessarily be the things that made the prettiest photographs.
It will be the laughter, the conversations, the breakthrough moments, the meals around the table, and the inside jokes.
We’ll likely talk about the moments when we were tired, when things didn’t necessarily go exactly according to plan… and the ridiculous things that made us laugh till our stomachs hurt.
The conversations that happen when people finally have enough time together to get past the surface-level stuff… those are the memories I treasure most. Because somewhere along the way, these people who originally entered my life because of a cleaning cloth company became so much more than “business associates.”
They have become friends and part of my story… and that is one of the gifts this business that I did not yet understand when I first started Norwex 17 years ago.
I Am So Proud of These Leaders!
This is the part I don’t want to get lost in all the beautiful Norway pictures. Each leader on this trip earned it. Every person on this trip had a story behind getting there.
Goals they worked toward, customers they served, people they followed up with.
Times they probably wanted to quit. Days when business was exciting and days when it wasn’t.
But, they kept showing up. And that’s what makes getting to celebrate them so meaningful to me.
Leadership is interesting because sometimes you’re so focused on helping someone get to the next goal that you forget to stop and really celebrate the one they just accomplished.
Norway made us stop. We weren’t looking at the next promotion. The next sales goal.
For a little while, we simply got to say:
Look what you did, where your business brought you, and the relationships you’ve built.
Look at the lives you’ve impacted.
Congratulations on this moment well-earned!
And I hope every person who earned it knows how incredibly proud I am of them! What an incredible opportunity to spend the week with our global CEO and her husband and our Norwex co-founder, Debbie Bolton. It just doesn’t get much better than that!
This Norwex Business Has Given Me More Than I Expected
When I started my Norwex business all those years ago, I certainly hoped I could make some money.
I definitely wanted to help people.
I loved the products.
I saw an opportunity.
But I couldn’t possibly have understood all the places that one decision would eventually take me.
And I don’t only mean geographically.
Yes, Norwex has allowed me to travel and experience things I might never have experienced otherwise.
But it has also brought people into my life I never would have met.
It has stretched me, taught me to lead, allowed me to mentor others as they discover what they’re capable of, and it has given me a front-row seat to watch people grow in confidence, leadership and belief in themselves.
And every once in a while, it gives us a moment like this one:
Standing beside a Norwegian fjord, looking around at friends you love, thinking…
How in the world did we get here?
One customer at a time, one conversation at a time.
One goal at a time,ne “yes” at a time.
More Than a Norway Incentive Trip
That’s why I don’t think I’ll remember Ulvik as simply a Norwex trip.
I’ll remember a farmhouse full of friends.
The meals together with authentic Norwegian food.
Fun excursions and breathtaking scenery.
And laughter together.
I’ll cherish the conversations that didn’t need to end because nobody had anywhere else to be.
And watching others experience Norway for the first time and the quiet moments when I looked around and realized just how special this group was.
And incredibly grateful that somewhere along this crazy journey, we found one another.
Norway was spectacular. But sharing Norway with these people? That was the gift.
And to my incredible team members who earned your place in Ulvik: I hope you know that I didn’t just enjoy traveling Norway with you.
I loved getting to celebrate you there.
You earned this.
And I am so, so proud of you.
Here’s to the fjords, the farmhouse, the food, the adventures, the laughter, the memories—and whatever adventure we earn together next. 🇳🇴❤️
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