PlanNet Marketing is pleased to welcome Kirsty Gittins to the 20/20 Club! Kirsty tells us, "I am originally from Glastonbury in Somerset, UK but have lived for the last 20 years in the medieval city of Winchester in Hampshire, UK, where the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table originated. I live with my husband, Jonathan, and my two teenage boys, Oliver and Harry, and our black lab, Willow!
"My interests: Sport! I have been a PE teacher for the last 27 years and have always liked being active and being part of a team. My main sport is Netball, similar to basketball, but no dribbling and no backboard above the hoop! I have also been passionate about seeing the world ever since I was 10. My father used to run a playscheme in the summer holidays for the children of Glastonbury (a small rural town). When I was 14 and old enough to start working at the playscheme, he decided to add an international flavour. He wanted the children and families of Glastonbury to meet people from all over the world and open their eyes to the possibilities out there in the world. Every year for 10 years he invited people from all over the world to come and volunteer on the playscheme. They would sleep on mattresses in classrooms and use the food tech room as their kitchen. Myself and 100s of children got to learn so much about the world from the stories they shared and the photographs they showed us. I was hooked!!!
"Fast forward to being 21 and I set off around the world with my backpack…back in the day I might add, when a gap year was not really a thing and most people I knew were only interested in the comfort of a package holiday with their hair straighteners. I, on the other hand, wanted to explore different cultures and tick things off my bucket list! From camel riding and visiting the Taj Mahal in India, trekking through the jungle in Asia and sky diving and bungy jumping in New Zealand, I crammed in as much as I could in 9 months.
"Later in life I have continued to travel as much as possible both with my pupils, running school sports tours to Europe and Granada in the Caribbean, as well as with our children to magical places like Disney and Lapland and more recently to Kenya on Safari and to the stunning natural wonders of Iceland!
"In all honesty, I have no magic secret in achieving success at PlanNet Marketing, just enthusiasm and the willingness to talk to absolutely anyone I meet about the business! I have met so many people on trains and planes, waiting at bus stops; I just love to chat and get to know people and see how I might be able to help them. One tip that has been effective more recently is reaching out to people and instead of asking them if they are interested, saying I know you are too busy to do this but do you know of anyone else who might be interested in learning more? This often works brilliantly as I indirectly tell them about all the benefits and they are left thinking I could benefit from that, maybe I am not too busy?
"Also the power of duplication and sharing the vision and energy with your team. The night I hit 20/20 is the exact moment I hit DIT too! It is also the same week that I hit my goal to reduce my commission split to 20/80 – this could be coincidence...or it could be because I am always trying to lead as an example so that my team keeps the vision and can see how success is possible for all of them on both sides of the business.
"Another fun fact is that alongside the business, I work with teachers in schools in the UK and internationally in Tanzania, Ghana and Zimbabwe, helping them develop leadership skills, resilience and positive mindsets in children ages 4 to 18. I love what I do and see every day the impact it has on children’s lives. Also because Leader in Me is in 55 different countries, I have the privilege of connecting schools across the world, enabling children to Google classroom with one another, become pen pals and do service learning projects together. It is truly magical what these children can achieve with the right set of self-beliefs!"