Years ago, if you told me I would ever be writing this blog post, I would have laughed in your face (no thank you). But I think we all know how life surprises you in the craziest ways sometimes! It’s no secret, if you follow me on any of my public platforms, that direct sales changed my life over 2 years ago when I left the TV News business.
Even when I was still working in TV, Direct Sales (MLM – whatever you want to call it) truly fascinated me. I even did a story on it once, interviewing local women who were making a living working from home with different companies. I admired what they were doing even though I thought I would never do it. Fast forward a year or two and that changed (thankful for that decision every single day).
So this post is for those of you who were maybe like me – and fascinated by what this lifestyle is like. Events, trainings and trips are one big aspect of it that I want to share with you in this post! Think of it as a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to attend one of the yearly training conferences for leaders in the company.
Once we get to our hotel downtown, we all check in and usually try to get our rooms close to each other, because #grownupslumberpartyvibes. After that, we head over to the convention center and check in with Senegence to get our welcome bags, badges and check out all of the cool stuff over in the registration area.
Since we check in for the event the day before the sessions really start, we have the rest of the day to go have fun around downtown Tulsa. Our plans that first evening almost always include the fun mexican restaurant with a rooftop bar, followed by hanging out in our rooms and probably drinking some wine in bed while chatting and wearing face masks (to be honest lol). I’ve had some of the most fun and memorable times in these hotel rooms with these girls.
The next morning – General Session starts at 9 am and we all head over to the conference center to get good seats before everything starts. They always have really fun snacks in there too, like the donut wall we were greeted with this year.
It’s hard to describe the energy you feel when you walk into the big general session for the first time. It actually made me really emotional the first time I experienced it and since then it’s always made me feel a little bit like that. It never hit me until I was there, how big this thing is that I’m apart of. It’s like walking into a concert before the show is about to start when everyone is getting really hyped up (apparently on coffee and donuts lol).
I would say the direct sales beauty industry is hugely dominated by women, which makes this feel a bit like the sorority I’ve never belonged to (in the best way possible).
During that big session for the first part of the day, we get to listen to corporate staff come out and talk about exciting new things happening in the company and usually there will be a big product launch. They also bring in a really great keynote speaker each year (this year it was Rachel Hollis). Being able to get that training and motivation has been an absolutely game-changer for me personally and professionally. I understand how important it is now to get to events and to continually be seeking personal development. It opens your eyes to a world that I think a lot of people don’t even know exists.
Getting to be there and be the first to try out new products minutes after they are announced is incredibly exciting – especially when we can go live on Facebook to test them out (see screenshot above).
For this event, we get a really nice catered lunch and then go into break-out sessions after that. We get to choose which sessions we want to attend and they cover everything from social media to marketing to makeup application, sponsoring and a lot more. They are taught by fellow distributors who are usually at the top of the company and it’s great to be able to learn from them. I don’t know about you, but if I have someone standing in front of me who is already seeing the kind of success that I have on my “dream board” then you better believe I’m tacking notes as quick as I can so that I can go home and implement their advice as well as train my team on it.
Breakout sessions last until around 5 and some years we have a formal award ceremony after that. This past year they did awards in the morning instead but that’s changing back to a formal ceremony (yay because I love getting dressed up!).
The next day, the schedule is about the same, except for a qualifiers-only event that night. My first year – I had no idea what to expect going in to that qualifiers event and it literally changed my life. I had just started in this business about 6 months before that and I had no clue how successful I had already been until that night when I was one of about 20 people in the whole company that had qualified. I rode in a limo with the CEO and almost fainted. I think I cried like 5 times and swore up and down that it must be a mistake that I was there lmao. I will never, ever, ever forget that night. My team also hit 1 Million dollars in sales that day which is when I earned that nice little crown you see me wearing. We are supposed to wear them at corporate events but I would wear it every day if it didn’t make me look like a lunatic haha. It symbolizes a lot more to me than an award or trophy or piece of jewelry.
As always – I’m an open book when it comes to questions about what I do and how! Feel free to contact me anytime <3.
xo
Jamie
