They stare at you blankly when you tell them what you're doing.
They ask questions about insurance when you tell them about the product.
They shake their heads in disbelief when you tell them about your goal to get a free car.
It amuses me. But it didn't always. I did direct sales for another company, home decorating & candles, for 3 years shortly after college. I did ok with it, but I was still highly influenced by other people's opinions. I'm staring down 33 and only now am I starting, and I mean just barely starting, to move beyond letting those opinions box me in.
At our L'Bri national convention last year, in 2009, Nicki Keohohou said something. She said that at the core, people will start a direct sales business, or any business, for one of just a few reasons.
To gain the respect of someone else.
To make someone proud of them.
To be proud of themselves.
To build something of their own from the ground up.
They want more for their family.
Ultimately when everything else is stripped away, their core base for being willing to consider it will be one of these things.
For me this was kind of life changing. I realized quite suddenly as she was speaking that I did want my family to be proud of me and I wanted to gain their respect. But, the minute she said they want to build something of their own from the ground up, not just a lightbulb, but an entire Fourth of July grand finale fireworks display went off in my head.
So many of the things I have tried or dreamt about or set goals for over the last number of years has been for this reason. To build something I can proudly put My Name on. I know other people at that convention had similar realizations, but with totally different core reasons.
So, now, when I tell an acquaintance that I lost my job in December, share the story of what happened, and begin to explain what I am doing now, the reaction I get amuses me. I explicitly share that I am working on building this L'Bri skincare business, that I am working on a consulting business for Social Media and basic Computer Helps, and that I am working on my 2nd novel and prepping to get my 1st one submitted to agents in order to get published. I share those things and, as if I haven't even said any of that, they will inevitably ask some version of
"Well, are you looking for a job?"
Yes! I am. I am applying for my 2 jobs a week, legitimate jobs that I am qualified for (sometimes over qualified for) that I would take and that I would be good at, to maintain my unemployment. But, that only takes up so much time in a week! I am filling my weeks with ... well with too much facebook, but also with L'Bri University, with reading and teaching myself more about social media, with brainstorming ideas for proposals for that and my computer helps business, with time spent writing my novel. And time spent with friends and family. But they inevitably come back around to:
"Well, good luck with the job search."
I had an acquaintance do just that this weekend. I shared with her how I lost my job and I shared an elevator pitch on my consulting business as well as this L'Bri business and her very first question was "Have you ever looked at contract work?"
I am so deeply grateful that I have gotten to a point in life, finally, where I can hear that and be amused. I can answer her and move on to other topics, and not sit and stew on that question and what she may or may not think of me or my abilities or ideas for days and weeks on end.
And when I'm driving around in my Nissan Murano with my L'Bri magnet on the side, I will smile widely and be very very proud of this team I built that I can put My Name on.
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