Entrepre-what?

One of the things I find endlessly amusing are the people who simply don't understand why you would want to be an entrepreneur.

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.

Absolute Power

I read. A lot.  My dream is to be a novelist, so I read a lot.  Right now I'm on Vacation to work on a novel.  This guy created

"National Novel Writing Month."

Nicknamed NaNoWriMo, or NaNo for short.  I've got just over 17,000 words out of the 50,000 required to "win" the contest.  If I could get myself working on the novel again, I'm quite sure I can knock out 10,000 words per day, and easily hit 50,000 before the end of the month.

I read Stephen King's book On Writing about the process of writing fiction. One of his biggest tips was to Read a Lot, Write a Lot. So i have taken that to heart.  That's why I finally broke down and read the Twilight books, but that's another post for another day.

Last night I was reading David Baldacci's novel Absolute Power.  I'm 99% sure that is the book that they made a movie out of that Clint Eastwood starred in.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  It has a few characters with an incredible amount of drive and ambition. One of them is musing about how hard he's worked and what he sacrificied to get where he is.  He's thinking about his drive and ambition.  I thought to myself,

"What if?"

What if I could exert a little bit of drive, a little bit of consistent ambition?  I have incredible, enormous hopes and dreams for my life and the lives of those around me. There is a quote that says something to the effect of "A wish is a goal without backbone." Or "A goal without a plan is just a wish without backbone." I tried looking it up and couldn't find it.  Right now I am the epitome of that idea.  I have all sorts of dreams and goals and wishes.  A few of which I can't actually do much about.  But there are plenty I can make active plans and purposeful steps towards.

As I was pondering that last night, I thought, as I often do, about my business with L'Bri.  If I exerted a minimum of consistent backbone I could have more than a few active plans full of purposeful steps towards achieving some of those dreams.  And, that action may propel me forward in the areas that I can "do" less work in to achieve a certain goal. (i.e. being single; I can put myself out there and try dating etc, but at the end I can't "make" someone love me or want to marry me.)

What about you? do you have dreams without a backbone?  Do you have wishes without a plan? Do you need a vehicle to generate some income? or some self-esteem? or some public speaking skills? or some general leadership abilities?

We can be that vehicle!

For a small investment you can try us out and see if we fit!  I heard a speaker at our convention ask if L'Bri was the vehicle to achieve your dreams.  And I realized something, I love L'Bri. This is a company I can believe in and happily be a part of. This is a product I can offer every single one of my family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers in good conscience.  We have a hostess opportunity and income opportunity I can believe in and, again, offer in good conscience. 

But what he made me realize, was that it is possible (incredible as I consider it ;) ) that this could not be the right vehicle for someone else.  That another company might be a better fit. I say all of this to say "I would love to help you start with us, give it a month or two, and see if we fit!  Give us a chance, give me a chance! 

I would be more than happy to sit down and discuss what our opportunities look like and how they might fit in with your life and goals. 
No pressure. No signatures in blood. 
Just a talk. 
What do you think?
Could we be exactly what you're looking for?

Words of Affirmation - courtesy DSWA

I attended our L'Bri National Convention this weekend. I love this Convention! I love any gathering of people and especially those gatherings in which fun will be had and laughs will be laughed. But when you add to that the level of positivity and encouragement that you see, the joy of the experience grows exponentially!

In case you don't know, I love L'Bri!!

I love the company.

I love the product.
I love the founders.
I love my team.
I love nearly everything about it. I can't quite say I "love" that it challenges me, yet, but I think I'll get there too.

In our Saturday session we had Nikki Keohohou from the Direct Selling Women's Alliance speak to us. One of the things we did was a Words of Affirmation exercise. On Friday she had asked us to write down 10 Words that would describe us, our characteristics, our core values. She explained that a compliment is (typically) external, i.e. your hair looks great, love those shoes. And a Word of Affirmation is internal, i.e. you're so funny! you are such a caring, giving person. She asked us to go around the room and find 3 people to give Words of Affirmation to.

I knew right away who my first person was going to be. My 'new' friend, and hero, Julie. She has sold L'Bri for a few years and just recently we connected on facebook.  She has 5 kids, the youngest of whom has special needs.  She is not a lazy mom, she is not a 'things come easy' person.  And boy is she FUN!  We danced like crazy Friday night at the Western BBQ!  To see pics, you'll need to go look at my facebook fanpage ...

When I was done sharing my joy and "I'm so blessed by you" conversation with Julie I headed off to find my other new friend, Kim.  But I was waylaid!  By a lovely girl, whose name I still don't know, that I had grabbed and made her come dance with me.  She actually Thanked me for that!  (gasp!)  I was so glad she shared.  I had wondered, after the fact, of course, if she was annoyed or upset or embarassed or if she just plain enjoyed it.  Well, she came to thank me and tell me she was glad I had pulled her out and that she really enjoyed herself.

That whole exercise was wonderful.  I think everyone in the room was blessed. 
Having said all of this, Today's call to action:
Share your Words of Encouragement with someone in your world. 
Me perhaps?
A significant other?
A child?
A good friend?

Go, share, smile!