Time flies when you are having fun! This week I celebrate 10 years that I have been a Pink Zebra Consultant! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to express my love and gratitude for what the past 10 years have meant to me!
At first
Truth is, I really didn’t think much of direct sales. I joined because my best friend asked me to stop by the office and see what they were doing. I saw jars of Sprinkles and thought they smelled amazing. The only way to purchase was to either buy from a consultant or order a starter kit.
Obviously I did the kit because I wanted the discount!
I had no clue
I didn’t plan to do anything with it except buy for myself. I told some of my friends because I knew they liked home fragrance and candles. Some bought from me and a few even joined to get their own discount.
At that point I wasn’t taking it seriously or even thinking of a “future” with Pink Zebra.
What you talk about
Have you noticed that when you start talking about something you suddenly see more of it out there? Like a vehicle you may be interested, then you start mentioning it or considering it, then everywhere you look you see that brand of vehicle!!
Same thing happened. I suddenly started seeing things about direct sales, and careers with direct sales. Even these motivational speakers started appearing in my social media feed, talking about the opportunity that DS and MLM have.
So this got me curious.
Doing a little more
Just for the fun of it, I asked a friend of mine if she’d like to do a party. She said YES! (That was easier than I thought it would be. lol) I had over an $800 party that night and I was only ‘working’ for 2 hours! So technically I made $100 an hour. ($200 was my commission) Not bad!
Then I starting signing up to do small events at school and church festivals. It took a minute to get people to even look at us since we weren’t familiar, but once they did, they loved it!
At that point, I had decided to do at least one thing for my business every single day. To create a habit.
Things started rolling
After a while, things started rolling along and I was able to hit some goals that I had set. My first goal was to be able to pay the electric bill each month. I accomplished that.
The next goal was to be able to buy my husband a fishing boat that he had always wanted. It took a little while, but we did it!
Suddenly, I began to realize that THIS could be a career for me.
My Hotel Career
From the time I was 27 I had been in the Hotel/Resort profession. I loved my career and back in the beginning it had tons of perks. It was so fun actually. The hours were long, but it was ok because we had fun.
Over time everything became so competitive and suddenly my fun career turned in to a stressful one. Contract negotiation was more intense, hours were longer, and because there were so many new hotels always popping up, it because extremely aggressive.
I’ll never forget shortly after my son was born, I realized I wanted to do something different. Something more rewarding that didn’t have me necessarily working 60 hours a week, plus some nights and weekends. But had no idea what that would be.
Perfect timing
For me, once I began to realize the opportunity, the timing could not have been more perfect. Granted, I would have loved to have found direct sales years before, but now was ideal because the product is something I’m partial to as well. Home fragrance and decor is right up my alley.
So the fact that it’s a company that my friends have started, and it’s direct sales with a product I love, I decided to take a chance and go all in.
Better than expected
It’s true. This industry is far better than I could have imagined. There are SO many things I love about it. Just to name a few:
- Flexibility. It’s MY schedule.
- I’ve made so many great friends, both in customers and consultants.
- I’m so proud of our products!
- Being able to overcome the fear of public speaking, as well as speaking live on social media!
- Learning to be a coach and being able to encourage others in their business!
- LOVING Mondays. I used to dread Mondays. Now I love them because it’s the new start to my work week and I get so much accomplished.
- Earning awards. I’m not super competitive, except with myself. So being able to earn awards with the company is fun and rewarding.
- Traveling more than we ever have. I used to have to travel for business, but this has been more for fun. And to fabulous places. Duane and I have been to lots of fun destinations!
- Incentive Trips. We get to earn a trip each year.
- Having a Home Office that we can count on, that listens to us, that is constantly striving to come out with the products we need and want, and setting the standard high for us!
I know I’ve left out things. Like the fact that we make great commissions and once we build a team our opportunity to earn more just increases!
A year of lockdown
Another big bonus for us was that we were already set up to sell online, so during the lockdown last year, our business boomed. We have the opportunity to sell face to face, or online, so we were able to create growth and excel in a year where others weren’t so fortunate.
Now to celebrate
If anyone had told me I’d still be doing this in 10 years when I first got started, I would not have believed it. Probably only because I didn’t understand direct sales, nor did I ever take it seriously. But I’m so grateful I got wise and learned more about the potential it holds.
Now, I help provide for my family, have a business that we love (my entire family loves it!), and continue to learn new ways to work and grow this business.
As I reflect over the past 10 years, I’m SO grateful for all of it. And I’m very excited for where the next 10 years (and on) will take us!!
So celebrate with me! CHEERS TO 10 YEARS!
PS: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that if you have any interest in starting your own business or side gig, message me! I promise there will be no pressure! But if you want to give it a whirl, I’d love to help you get started!
