NEW GOALS!

It has been FOREVER since I updated my blog! Here is why... I did get a lot of my stuff stolen so I've been working my butt of trying to pay to get everything back. I still don't have it all back, but it's coming along!

I've just got to say though - if you ever think of stealing something from someone, DON'T! It totally messes things up. haha

But anyway, there have been pretty slow weeks and some weeks that are awesome. I'm officially a RED JACKET! Which means that I have a team now and I just need 2 more team members to go on target for MY CAR!. Then I need to get my butt in gear and work hard and sell a lot and build a bigger team. :) It's exciting! I'm trying to get my car in the next few months.

If anyone wants to help me, this is all they have to do: Let me borrow your awesome face! and/or listen to the business! I need 50 women to listen to the business and how we make our money. 36 people will say no to it, and 14 will say yes. Then I have my car!

We are also doing a MASCARATHON! I'm selling 100 Mascara's by tomorrow at midnight! Wanna help out and earn a free one?? I will totally tell you how.

Emergency in Pocatello

This weekend was CRAZY! I went to Pocatello on Friday night because I had a few facials and skin care classes to do during the weekend. I stopped off at the mall about an hour before my first appointment. I came back to my car and got inside. I looked over at the passenger side of my car. I had placed my starter kit on the floor of my front seat and it was GONE! I immediately check the rest of my car and my trunk just in case I was loosing my mind, but it wasn't there. I noticed that a lock on my car was not locked. It sometimes thinks it's broken and does not always lock when you tell it to. 

SOMEBODY STOLE MY STARTER KIT!

For those of you who don't know, a starter kit is a bag that you buy when you start a Mary Kay business. It has everything you need to hold a skin care class and products worth HUNDREDS of dollars. You buy it for $100 when you start. They give you a super sweet deal for starting up. But that's not the worst part. I had put an EXTRA $450 worth of products in the kit to demo. Including this Travel Roll Up Bag filled with all of the make up Mary Kay had given me so I can look pretty too. 

Long story short - I was seriously freaking out. I had to be at an appointment and knew that if I had to reschedule everyone it would be at least 3 or 4 weeks later. I did not want to do that. I called everyone I could think of who might be able to tell me what to do, but no one answered. They were all in other appointments. So, I got on the internet and looked for directors in Pocatello. Started calling... most didn't answer (it was the weekend). One lady finally answered. Susan Grover in Pocatello saved me! She was in the middle of her kids birthday party, but let me come over and borrow her kit so that I could go to my appointment. At least then I could try and push everything out of my head for the next hour or so. 

After that was over and the police and everything that was involved, I had to find something to do for the next day as I had 5 appointments scheduled. I had 2 people calling others that they knew in Pocatello who could lend me their starter kit for the day, but no luck. My recruiter Stacy Lauritzen drove all the way down from Rexburg to loan me her things. And I was able to do all of my appointments - except the last one because they cancelled last minute. 

However, I am SUPER grateful to the ladies that I work with and this company. They care. They want me to do well. Even a lady I never met was willing to give me all of her stuff so that I could go and do my job. I have a new and wonderful respect for this company and the ladies that work here. 

As for my starter kit - Mary Kay is replacing it for free. :) I can't get all the extras replaced, but at least they are giving me that much which is more than most other companies would do if something like this happened. 

Hours Worked: 8.5

Sold: $1013.50

Profit: $400 (I gave some stuff away so I subtracted that out)

Hourly Earnings: $47/hr

Not as bad as I think it is

This last week ended with me thinking that I didn't do very well. I held 3 skin care classes and did not really sell much. However, when I averaged up the amount that I made to the amount that I actually worked, it turned out to be pretty good. 

I was a little bit discouraged, but just talking to people really helps! And they have a hotline that you can listen to that boosts you. Even if you aren't doing Mary Kay that day it helps you want to be successful in whatever you do within your day. 

Also, I had a problem with my cell phone. I have never even come close to hitting my maximum amount for my minutes. But this month, I only had 90 left out of 1000 by the time I realized I was close and I still had 10 more days!! Solution: My husband and I have been trying to figure out if it would be less expensive to get on a family plan together. He is on a plan with his parents and it is fairly inexpensive. We looked into it and he made me a spread sheet. It appears it would be less expensive for me to stay with my current provider because they have a new promotion. So, I called them and asked them about it. I was able to keep everything the same and get UNLIMITED minutes for only $5.00 more. It turned out great! Now I never have to worry about my minutes and I can do as much business as I need to. 

I also tried our new limited time LIP GLOSS! WOW is it glossy! It's amazing and doesn't dry out my lips! I'm thinking of giving away a free one to a girl who is super cute and super trendy and tell her it is free if she helps me spread the word about it. 

So, as much as I thought I wasn't doing well. Here is my running total for the week.

Hours worked: 3

Sold: $162

Profit: $81

Hourly Earnings: $27/hr

Not as bad as I thought I was doing. 

Grand Opening

I had my Grand Opening with my Mary Kay business on Saturday. It was fun! I had a lot of girls show up and that made me feel AWESOME! I am so glad each one of them came. It really made me so happy to see them there. It was a great experience and helped me to realize that I really can do this. Stacy - the girl who recruited me - had each person say why they think I would be good at this. I was very touched by how many people had such positive things to say about me. I loved it!

I knew going into this Grand Opening that I was inviting pretty much all people who were in college and did not have very much money. I do wish my sales had been better, but I actually did fairly well. One of my friends who bought the new Botanicals face wash set told me today that her face felt awesome and she had gotten a lot of compliments on her make up! She didn't even buy any make up! That is so AMAZING! Look at how good skin care can really make a difference in someone's appearance and now she feels so good about herself. That makes me feel good also. I'm glad that she told me about that.

Total Sales this week: 435.66
Total number of hours worked: 6
Profit: $217.00
Hourly Earnings: $36.00/hr

Take a sneak peak at some of our new products! 

I'm going GUSTO!

I went ahead and bought Mary Kay inventory. It is not required, but makes it easier to sell if you have the product right then and there to give to people. Also saves gas money in delivering the item later. And no, I have not started selling yet. I am actually scared and don't want to mess up. But I guess that's all part of it right? I probably should see if anyone would let me practice with them.

I am going to have my GRAND OPENING on Saturday March 10th! I hope a lot of people come. I'm planning on sending invites to a lot more people than I am expecting. If I have a good turn out I think it will help make me feel more confident. If you want an invite let me know! You may already be on my list, but it would be good to check anyway. Free products will be given away and there will be special deals! I am excited and wish that I could do it sooner! 

So, I've been using the Mary Kay products and WOW my face feels awesome. Sometimes if I haven't washed my hair in a certain day, I can feel the slight greasiness (which isn't a whole lot, I promise) of my hair on my face. However, I didn't feel it yesterday or this morning. My face feels a lot cleaner than normal. So, with that I am satisfied. :)

Week 1 - Can I do this?

There have been MANY times in my life when I have been asked to go to a "Mary Kay Party" or to get a "facial." Most of these times I have avoided all conversation with that person and ran. Why? It is called recruitment. I did not have money to spend on Mary Kay and so I did not want to buy any. On the other hand, I also did not want them to ask me to join. My thoughts: Pyramid Scheme. I looked into it a lot - it's not.

Here is how my story changed.

I met a lady a few months ago at a bridal fair. I have a business where I sell wedding announcements for my husbands cousin. I wanted to do this so I could eventually quit my real job (working with kids who have behavior problems). I had my own set up of wedding announcements and thought it was going fairly well. The bridal fair was set up in a hotel. The hotel lobby had people with booths and I ended up in a suite which was convenient for talking one on one with people without all the noise. Across the hall from me where 2 women selling Mary Kay. I have to admit I avoided them at first because I did not want to buy anything. But I ended up talking to them and even entered a contest to win a basket of Mary Kay products. They never called, so I was safe.
I saw one of the ladies again at another bridal fair months later. She offered for me to enter another contest, but with this one I'd have to agree to a facial. I did it without really considering the fact that I would actually have to make time for this. It was about a month later when I saw her in town. I was with one of the children I work with. We talked for a little while and she casually mentioned the facial and the contest, which would be ending a week or so later. I gave her my number. She called.
Stacy came over Monday morning. I used her skin care products and make up. I had been thinking lately that I need to take care of my face better so I can prolong the onset of wrinkles. I already knew Mary Kay had good products. However, there was no way I could afford it on our tiny budget of almost nothing.
To avoid the conversation of what I would be buying, I asked her how she started doing Mary Kay. She told me of her horrible financial situation a year earlier when her husband's business went down. She got the opportunity and even though she REALLY did not want to do it, she saw that it could help her and she joined. Now, a year later she is 1 month away from earning her 1st car and becoming a director. First thought: this only happens to some people.
Anyway, I was curious now and wanted to know a little bit more. I was VERY apprehensive and scared that I would fail. I am still scared. The lady who is my current director earned her car in only 5 months. They keep saying that all it takes is dedication and hard work. So, I am going to try it. I will work hard and be dedicated.
Although I haven't really even started yet, I have already had my emotional ups and downs. I am going to treat this as a REAL business that I am developing. The difference with this and my other business is - I am investing a lot more to start out with, but I also have people surrounding me who are very positive and uplifting. My husband even tells me every day that I can succeed in this. THAT has made a ton of difference in my attitude already.

The Mary Kay way? Does it work? Can I do it? I'm going to try. No one ever succeeded without trying first.

Dream crushers and negative people can stay away. I've heard it all, I have even read blogs against Mary Kay. But I need to know for myself. I will be a director someday and you can follow and see what happens.

Why? Because I don't want to be poor anymore. If I have a choice, I will choose to work hard so I can quit the job that brings me down and surround myself with people who lift me up. Yes, I have a bachelor's degree - but where are the jobs? I sure can't find one.