Helen Taylor was walking past a booth at the All About Women Show in Abbotsford last fall when something caught her eye.
It was marketing for the Total Makeover Challenge, the kind of thing that 53-year-old Richmondite Taylor would normally roll her eyes at.
“They gave me a leaflet and I was rabbiting on about my life story and she said I should enter,” recalled Taylor, who lives on Williams Road, near No. 5 Road.
“A month later, I got an email, saying they had a couple of spots left on the challenge and I should apply.
“I thought to myself, ‘I got to, I really need this right now.’”
Unlike more superficial challenges, what stirred Taylor’s passion was that the four-month event — run since 2011 by non-profit women’s organization Shape Your World — focuses on improving confidence and life skills of its 120 contestants.
“It’s not just about looking better, it’s about personal growth, coaching, journaling, making videos, getting sponsors and doing team races,” said Taylor, who used to work in sales in the beauty industry.
“We’re getting involved with the community and it’s making me go out and get sponsors. I’ve had to sell myself a little and it has been a bit intimidating.”
After six weeks, the 120 ladies — in teams from Chilliwack, Langley, Abbotsford and Taylor’s Vancouver crew — will get whittled down to 30 and then the final three, during which time they will receive nutritional coaching, fitness training, beauty tips, as well as learn how to walk and talk with confidence, all while picking up leadership skills.
They also receive points for bringing in sponsorship and, of course, votes from the public, which goes live for a week starting Thursday, Feb. 22 until Feb. 28. Vote for Helen online at TotalMakeOverChallenge.com.
That, added Taylor — who emigrated from Cheshire, England in 1988 to become a nanny in Pitt Meadows — is where she’s hoping the support from her local community can kick in.
“I’d really love Richmond to get behind me, I need as much sponsorship and votes as I can get,” added Taylor, known to her friends as “Hellie Wellie.”
“I feel that I’m at a stage of my life where I feel I’ve been doing the same thing over and over again. And there is so much I haven’t done yet.
“Yep, this is a big page turning for me. I know what I’m capable of doing; it’s just making the right connections and having the confidence to follow it through.
“I want to regain my self-confidence, motivation and intrigue that I had when I initially came to Vancouver to live.
“I had so much spirit. I feel that I have so much more to give.”
Taylor said she’s also using the challenge as a springboard to putting a recent long-term relationship behind her.
“I feel like I’ve been under a rock for the last few years. I kind of got isolated during my previous relationship, I was sort of putting everything into that for six years,” she said.
“What’s missing for me now is more of the community feel. That’s why I wanted to get into this and get the word out here and honour where I’m living; I love living here.”
When all is said and done, even if she doesn’t win the challenge, Taylor — who graduated three years ago from a sales and marketing course at Langara College — craves a full-time job she can really sink her teeth into.
“I’ve had to put a hand to a lot of different jobs and a big part of this (challenge) is me getting back mentally and networking and building up new quality friends,” she added.
“I’ve always found (Vancouver) a bit fickle and it’s been difficult to find good friends. But it’s also about getting a sales job that I know I can do.”
