Meeting Gail Vaz-Oxlade!

A personal reflection of my visit to the London Women's Lifestyle Show and meeting Gail Vaz-Oxlade.

Me and Gail!

The other day I posted about how I was going to see Gail Vaz-Oxlade speak at the London Women's Lifestyle Show, and I wanted to share that experience with you.

My friend and I arrived at the show around 12:30 to take in the different booths before the main attraction (Gail!). There were lots of interesting vendors selling some great products. There were plenty of samples and my favourite things were definitely a pure blueberry juice and a pineapple olive oil. I would have loved to purchased some things, but sadly it wasn't in the budget. But I got to go and have fun anyways and not feel guilty about buying things I couldn't afford in the first place. See how great having a budget is? I got to have fun and live within it.

The one thing I don't like about shows like this one is that you're paying money to attend, but then you're just sold stuff that isn't generally of interest. If I pay to do something, I want to get something out of it, be it tangible or an experience. Since we had a Groupon and only paid $5 each to get in, and I was going for Gail, it wasn't that bad. I just wish they had more going on than just selling and marketing. 

The show was a lot busier that we expected and we weren't able to get a seat, but we were able to sit on the floor and still see Gail. She gave a great 40 minute talk about some of the rules from her new book, Money Rules, followed by questions from the audience. Honestly, Gail was an amazing public speaker. She is engaging, audible, present, and hilarious. She had us laughing so hard at some parts, it was great. I would love to see her speak again. One of the great ideas she shared with us was making something to show our progress in saving or paying off debt. An example she used was making a giant thermometer like charities use and colour it in as you're saving for a vacation. I thought it was a great idea to get people motivated and achieve their financial goals.

Gail speaking to a very full audience.

After the talk and questions were done, Gail did book signings. I brought my copy of Money Rules along just in case, and I'm glad I did. She signed it and I got a chance to meet her! She was amazing and took the time to talk to everyone who lined up to meet her. There were a lot of us, but she was so patient.

Me gushing to Gail about what a big fan I am.

Overall it was a great day and I can now cross meeting Gail Vaz-Oxlade off of my bucket list.