How I became famous.

Well, maybe not famous. But a famous person has one of my candles and that's pretty close to the same thing. Last weekend, our community hosted a statewide celebration called Nebraskaland Days. It is an annual event that has been here in North Platte for many many years. The fist week is pro rodeo's mainly and the second week is concerts. This year, Ashley McBryde, Mitchell Tenpenny, Drew Parker, Meghan Patrick, Toby Keith and one of my all time favs....Luke Combs performed. My husband is on the board of NLD so the wives get to be the "runners" on concert days. Friday was Ashley McBryde, Drew Parker and Luke Combs and I got to work that event.

First thing in the morning, Ashley McBryde and her bus arrived. Shortly after, she came out to the small bull shack building where myself and 2 other wives were sitting and she had breakfast with her stylist Dayna. I was really nervous when I first saw them because I didn't know what to expect. I had driven artists in previous years and got the feeling I should just be quiet and leave them alone. But, I didn't feel that way with these girls at all. They were both so warm and easy to talk to and they sat outside with us on those old rickety picnic tables for hours. It was fun...we laughed and giggled and chatted, like a bunch of lifelong girlfriends. The cool thing was it wasn't all about them....they were asking about us, and seemed genuinely interested. In fact, Ashley asked to meet my 16 year old daughter when she found out she played guitar. (It made Liv's year to meet her!) They truly were normal girls...just like us. Off and on throughout the day I had to "run" her and her team and the more I was around them the more I liked them. I always thought celebrities were so scary and intimidating. But Ashley McBryde was one of the most down to earth, genuine women I have met and I knew if we lived closer we would probably be friends.

*My husband came home that evening with this little present he bought for Olivia after the concerts. He knew how cool Liv thought Ashley McBryde was so he wanted to get her something to inspire her to keep reaching towards her dreams! She was pretty excited to say the least.

That morning, I asked Ashley about her "journey" to the top of the country charts. As I listened to her, I quickly realized that this woman had worked her butt off in a male dominated industry & despite obstacles, she never quit. She said she played in lots of bars and was told NO more times then she could count. But after years of hard work and diligence, she finally made it. Now she was living her dream as a famous country artist in a bus with Dayna and 9 band guys. I could relate to her in so many ways, because although we are in different industries we have taken similar paths. We have both felt like the underdog, both felt like quitting at times, and both didn't let gender stop us from going after our dreams. I too have been a girl going nowhere, been told I was spinning my wheels and wasting my time. (quotes from her song Girl going nowhere) Even my own Grandma told me my career was just for boys. But that only fueled me to work harder. I bet Ashely felt that way too. And, like Ashley, the word NO doesn't scare me. In fact my Dad used to tell me in High School that when they told me no, I viewed it as an opportunity. Haha, could be true.

I just love love love to hear stories about women succeeding!! It made my heart light up to meet these confident, successful and humble women. My hope and dream of this blog, and in my life, is to inspire women that even though there are so many dang critics in the world, and so many mean hater people... don't ever let that stop you. Let that make you stronger and show them all that they were wrong about you. Like Ashely says in her song Never Will, "they just started a fire they can't control."

So I had to get them both one of my candles. How could any woman live on a tour bus with 9 men without a yummy candle?

Later that afternoon, I got the distinct pleasure of driving Luke Combs and his crew to the golf course. He was also so cool and very down to earth. In fact, I was amazed by his genuine personality. He was funny, kind and classy and seemed like the boy down the road. I had a candle made especially for him and I named it "Beer never broke my heart." He gave it to his wife, who was on the bus. (I was so bummed I never got to meet her btw. I am also a big fan of hers!) But, she did post a pic of my candle on her instagram story and it was definitely one of THE COOLEST moments of my life!! I'm glad she liked my candle. I also loved her husbands concert & was so glad they came to town. Their whole group was just a class act! And I'm so grateful she posted about my candle. :)

*Ella B Candles is the company that makes the candles. I use their neighborhood line, which always includes our hometown North Platte NE. I get to choose the scents I want and I get to name the candle. I wanted to do this candle specifically for Luke Combs and some lucky fans here in Nebraska! I love their candles so very much, and if anyone would like one you can order from me directly at robyn@billsummers.com.

So that's my story of becoming famous. Maybe vicariously through these amazing women, but none the less it was a super fun experience! Don't stop chasing your dreams ladies, whatever they are. They DO come true, for those lucky enough to work that hard.