Pia's Look Good.. Feel Better Chronicles

"Right place, right time" is an often thought of a cliché, and in the case of how I became DreamGirl 2006 — it definitely rings true. It all started with a wonderful friend of mine who works in the beauty industry and is a member of an organization called Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW). She invited me to help her sell raffle tickets for the annual CEW Holiday Luncheon, which supports the CEW charitable initiative, Cancer and Careers. By the way, in case you’re wondering, CEW is a nonprofit trade organization based in New York City with over 4,000 members who are executives in the beauty, cosmetics, fragrance, and related industries. So, to make a long story short, my friend and I sold the greatest number of raffles and as part of our prize we had the wonderful opportunity of meeting and having lunch with a highly respected executive in the beauty industry — Pamela Baxter, president and CEO of LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics, North America. At our lunch with Pamela Baxter, the news of my story quickly emerged, including my heart-warming experience at a Look Good ... Feel Better (Look Good. . .Feel Better) session. Well, believe it or not, the next week I got an email from Ms. Baxter telling me about the DreamBall as the annual fundraising gala for Look Good. . .Feel Better and asking if I might be interested in sharing my story and experience with the program. Of course, I was so honored but the position was not mine just yet. A few weeks later I met with Louanne Roark, vice president of the Personal Care Products Council Foundation, which runs Look Good...Feel Better, collaborating with the American Cancer Society and the National Cosmetology Association to deliver the program.

Once again, over a lovely lunch we talked about cancer, love, life, losses, pain and triumph. A few days later I received a very uplifting phone call from Louanne to share with me that yes, indeed I would be DreamGirl 2006! Life is funny that way, huh?