EOvolution: the story of how we got here….

So many people have asked us, “How did this EO thing come to be?”
There are no secrets here. This is how it started, with a little trip down memory lane…

1990-1994
At some point EO was born. Location: UMASS Amherst. It could have happened over a slice of Antonio’s, or maybe on the way to one of our communication classes, perhaps the morning after a late night at The Pub or during a Sunday afternoon “DU” (Destination Unknown) where we would pile into Michele’s Chevy Nova and just drive and drive. (Yes, we liked to abbreviate everything we possibly could! OMG/ LOL… clearly we were so ahead of the times!) Details are foggy about when, but it definitely happened there. Out in Western MA, in our younger days, a life changing movement was born, and we didn’t even know it. In retrospect, there was a lot we didn’t know then. No wonder why we were so freakishly happy.

1994-2008
Busy living life. A lot of laughing, some crying, and definitely our share of EO’s. However, along the way we also accumulated many stories of missed EO’s, as well as unfulfilling relationships that couldn’t generate an EO, even with professional assistance and a cash reward. People in our lives know what we mean when we say, “EO.” Some say it too, but there are still those who don’t think “that word” should be said, ever. One might think these were our uptight friends, but no! Let’s just say, they aren’t uptight at all. However, since what happens at UMASS stays at UMASS (with the exception of EO), we’ll keep those details to ourselves.

February 2009
EO is something more than an idea. We think it could actually BE something, and apparently others do too. When we share the idea, people get it, and not just women either! They know who they’re having EO’s with, and who they aren’t. We see it in their faces, the recognition that there are people and experiences in their lives that have given them this incredible feeling…and they want more. So do we. We think we have something here that’s clicking for people. Does everyone feel this way? If not, they should! Life is definitely too short to live without EO’s.

We’re thinking it’s time to do something more structured with these ideas. We obviously do what anyone would do in this situation. We buy the domain name www.emotionalorgasm.com. We are absolutely soaring from this purchase! Euphoria has set in and it’s intoxicating. Just like in, “Field of Dreams,” we thought, “if you buy it, they will come.”

It took a little while for it to sink in that actually NOTHING is happening, and buying a domain name apparently doesn’t launch a business. We talked a lot about what could happen, and that was fun. Talking actually carried us through a few busy months of speculation. There isn’t much more alluring or seductive than the power of possibility. Consider us both seduced by the Possibility Svengali (PS). Fully and unequivocally seduced and completely enraptured by PS for the next SIX MONTHS!

August/September 2009
We suddenly have the elusive missing piece. We know what we need now. We need a logo. THAT is what we need to take this to the next level. That will help give this form, purpose and focus. We have so many more ideas, but without an identity they’re just floating around with nowhere to land. Some people say, “Well, what you need to do is a business plan.” That’s probably a good idea. It certainly couldn’t hurt. But, do you know what a brilliant, more exciting and much more gratifying idea is? Work on a logo! And, so we do.

Wow. Turns out, we were right. That was some much needed fuel to get us moving. Still not sure where, but now we’ve got the fuel to get there. “There… just needs to be defined,” we say, as we gaze lovingly at our new logo.

October 2009
Hit the brakes! Can we really use www.emotionalorgasm.com as our main site? Seriously. Can we actually have the word “orgasm” out there like that, without it being too much for people to handle? EO is the main term we use, but EO.com isn’t an option. We play with countless variations and combinations. We think we’ve got it with www.EOyourlife.com. That’s what it is, isn’t it? Aren’t we trying to get people to do something? We want movement and action. We want people to feel powerful. We want people to take ownership. We want people to take this and find fulfillment in all parts of their life! And, mostly we need a way to say our business name without Michele having to say “orgasm” in front of her mother.

EO Your Life it is! We bought it- and this time we were ready for the PS and we didn’t get lulled into another state of inertia. We actually bought it and kept moving. We can’t be sure, but we think the train may have officially left the station…

November 2009
We had our first heated conversation since officially starting this EO thing. As a producer, Michele is more comfortable “behind the scenes” while Carrie, as a trainer and coach,  most likely led her first seminar at 4 years old. Who will be the face of EO? Carrie thinks that both of us will be out there doing this. Michele thinks there’s no reason to both be there when there’s Carrie. Michele is overruled. True to form, Carrie wins…again. There’s a reason Carrie has been deemed “The Chief” by our friends, as she typically wins.  So, we’re in this together and now Michele is calling Toastmasters and googling hypnosis centers to figure out how she’s going to embrace public speaking.

We know you’re thinking it’s pretty impressive that we’re able to iron out the wrinkles that others may miss at this early phase, since no one has actually even requested any EO services yet!  Ahh…speaking of THAT, what is our service, you wonder? TBD. If we keep showing up, it will reveal itself.  We love the power of intention! So, we’re back on track. We’re really good at being friends AND business partners, which is probably what we’ll tell Oprah, when we’re sitting on her stage.

December 2009
Marathon meeting at the Cheesecake Factory. Our waitress did not seemed phased or impressed by our packets entitled, “EO: The Launching.” Not sure if she’s aware of what she’s witnessing. In the midst of our fried artichoke hearts, chicken piccata and brownie cheesecake, was pure passion and phenomenal vision. That’s what this is right?
(*For the record, the waitress got a very, very good tip. We LOVED this waitress. A lot. Granted she didn’t seem at all interested in the budding worldwide EO movement that would soon be sweeping the globe- but we didn’t care. Why? Well, because she DID ask for our ID’s, thereby earning her  membership to our “one of our favorite people on the planet” club. She got even more points when she apologetically said that she just, “had to ID everyone under 30.” Seriously? Wow.  Huge tip!)

January 2010
EOpportunities: Today we talked about what this means and if it’s clear. One thought it was brilliant! (“EO” before or after anything sounds fantastic, right? VidEO, RadEO, MovEO – I mean seriously, that is too cool to NOT do!!) The other had trouble pronouncing it… (E-Opportunities? EO-portunites? Where’s the accentuation? FYI, in case you want to say it, it’s EO-pportunities!) With a little work the brilliance was finally recognized and everyone was back on board! EOpportunities it is. That’s going to be the blog title. That’s going to be the place where we share ideas and strategies with people to encourage them to LIVE LIFE FULFILLED. That’s where they’ll really see what we’re talking about. We both now love EOpportunities. This is big. Huge! EEEEEEOOOOOO!!!!!!

Something else big happened this month. Trying to fit in an EO call on her way from work to pick up her little guy from daycare, Michele asked (for the sixth time), “What time is it?”
“It was 3:46, now it’s 3:50″ Carrie replied.
Michele then said, with a big sigh, “I’d like it if we can just make enough money so I can buy a freaking watch…”
So, it appears that our first financial milestone has now officially been set. We need to get Michele a watch. *Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure, we do need to reveal that Michele did purchase a watch in January. New financial goals have been set for EO.

February 2010
We are launching at the end of the month. We have until March 1st to set this free. It has been a year since this began to evolve in to something that was bigger than a shared expression we had been using for the past 15 years! A lot is happening and we are getting ready to release this to the world. It’s time. Perhaps not to a fireworks display, as it may be on the quieter side of things. We have a passion for what this is, what it means and what it has the potential to do for people. We have managed to both hold down our jobs, lives and still have landed with a pretty amazing bigger picture, including a website design, content and a vision of where we are going. And, we are going somewhere. To say we are excited about this is an understatement! Where is it we’re going, you wonder? If you find out, let us know….

March 2010
The month we launched. If it is possible to bottle and sell the feeling an EO brings, we were sitting on millions this month, as it seemed like daily there were phenomenal moments of, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” calls, emails and texts. Feedback and reaction was off the charts amazing. Beyond anything we had expected (or dared to hope for!).

April 2010
Now it was time for Michele to tell her Mom. You know the saying,  “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable?” Well, when it came to Michele telling her Mom she was the proud co-founder of a company called “Emotional Orgasm,” that was the perfect slogan! Since the two had never exchanged dialog containing the “O” word, it was like a scene from one of those agonizing phone company commercials!  When Michele finally got the nerve to tell her Mom, she was relieved to find out that the heart stopping silence on the other end wasn’t her mother keeling over in horror after all- the call had dropped.
A Minute Later (which felt like a month, so it’s going in the timeline)
Michele’s phone rings. It’s her Mom,  who says, “Michele, all I heard was Orgasm and then the phone died. Is that what you said, your company is called Emotional Orgasm?” (Michele is still in recovery mode, but quickly coming to realize her Mom just said “that word” and there was no anger around it, just curiosity.). Michele: “Yes.” Michele’s Mom: “Hmmm.” And then the conversation begins  and it’s…. AMAZING! Michele feels like she wants to cry. A weight has been lifted. Her Mom gets it. She SO gets it. But she so doesn’t get it too. Like many people, it’s been a long time. Life got in the way. She raised 4 kids. She lost one in a car accident. Connections with others slowed down and a retreat into her pain sped up. And you don’t have EO’s when you’re numb. No matter what you’ve been through, they begin within. And Michele couldn’t make her Mom have them. She shared the concept of eliminating obstacles & embracing opportunities that lead to more EO’s. Michele got excited. Kathy got excited. They had this craving for emotional connection in common. They had a lot more in common than they realized. They could each benefit from what the other needed… Michele needed HER MOM back, and her Mom needed A WAY back. What Michele pictured as an awkward confession turned into an AMAZING conversation and a relationship changing moment in the story of a Mother and Daughter.

And then, Michele’s Mom told Michele’s Dad. OMG! Let’s just say not many people have had the privilege of Dad calling,  from Papa’s  nursing home, to say, “Michele, what is the name of the orgasm thing you are doing? I’m visiting Papa and I was trying to tell all the nurses about it!”

May 2010
We meet. We talk. We think about things. We talk more. We realize that we have a lot of ideas, so we decide it’s probably wise to think about things some more. No, we need to stop thinking and we need to DO something. We really, really need to do something that takes this in to the world on a bigger level.  How is time going by this fast?  The weather is nicer and the summer is coming and we decide we  are going to DO something. What it is, we’re not sure- but we hope it reveals itself soon!

June 2010
Hold on to your hat! We have a next step. We are doing a launch in July. We’re going to do it at night and we’re going to actually do a mini-workshop. Michele can’t quite wrap her head around the fact that she will be standing in front of people, talking. She really can’t understand how this will work. She didn’t even pretend that it was going to be easy to get her to do this. Carrie had no idea what would be coming down the road. Wow.

July 2010
The month of “the launch.”
Now, let’s call it what it is- there will be no major news stations covering us, there is no red carpet, no helicopters, no security. There will be no liquor served, nobody wearing Jimmy Choo’s and we’re pretty sure there won’t be a single person  showing up from the “A” list (or “B” list, or ANY list, for that matter). It will be some really cool, excited, supportive people that believe in EO, and most importantly, believe in US.

The night was amazing, but what was most amazing was what led up to the night.
Daily phone contact, covering the same thing, over and over. It never quite clicked, so we covered it, right up until the night of the workshop. You are wondering what massive issue required such an inordinate amount of our time, yes? It’s big, and it’s SO worth sharing.
Here’s what it looked like:
Michele: “I don’t understand, how will I know when to sit and stand when we’re doing the workshop?”
Carrie: “When you’re talking, I’ll sit. When I talk, you sit. ”
Michele: “But how will I know when I should stand again? And what will you say to let people know that I’m going to sit while you talk, because you do training a lot and I don’t, so you’ll be talking more?”
Carrie: “You’d be surprised how natural this will be. And no, we’re not announcing to people that right now Michele is going to sit, and i’m going to stand because i’m talking. Nobody does that in training.”
Michele: “But how will I know that I should sit? When should I do it?”
Carrie: “You know when i’m going to do an activity, so you can sit then. Do you want me to write on our agenda when you should sit?”
Michele: “Yes. But how will you tell people that i’m going to sit or stand?”
Carrie: “We’re NOT telling them. They don’t CARE who sits or stands, or why one of us is sitting or standing!”
Michele: “Ok. I guess. But I think we should tell them why i’m sitting more.”
Yes. This is the conversation we had. Not once, not twice, but COUNTLESS times.
Amazing that we pulled it off that night.
You will be happy to know that in addition to a rave “launch” with great feedback, we both stood and sat effortlessly. It was magic.

August 2010
We were happy about the launch, but we were in summer mode. We took vacations  and got pulled in to our lives. We both were amazed that the month went by this fast. If we didn’t have facebook up and running, we’d wonder if we really put EO out in the world, or if that was just another one of our great ideas that we talked about- but kept under wraps (like our running rendition of fabulous SNL skits that we’ve been writing for the past 20 years, and which Carrie keeps on a blue index card in her daily planner). People keep saying that they love it, and it’s going to be huge. We think that’s great. We’re just wondering when that’s happening…