The Hustle is Real

A bevy of plant medicine nestled in the ferns

One of the primary objectives of this 3-month sojourn was and is to build my business.  Which, is slowly, also becoming my husbands business.  Many of you who know me, know that I have been working with a company called Doterra.  A wonderful company with a focus on health and wellness, leading with essential oils.

It is a multi level marketing company.

Yes, I am a network marketing businessperson.

It is a bit like coming out of the closet, saying this out loud and proud.

I have had varied reactions to this fact.  There is a lot of uninformed judgment tossed my way when I share this.  I have had friends and new acquaintances let me know in no uncertain terms that they “don’t get involved with pyramid schemes”.  Great, me neither.

Network marketing is not a scheme.

It is NOT a get rich quick game.  (for real)

It is a job.

It is a legitimate and inspired way to make a living. 

Direct sales is a way for so many of us to have our own businesses with next to no overhead and the ability to define our hours, our commitment and our paycheck.

And like anything, it grows or not by the amount of energy, time and commitment I pour into my business.  It is a business.

This particular company has set themselves up in this format because they wanted a person to learn and thus use their products successfully.  How many products have I purchased from a store shelf only to have it sit in my bathroom for a year before I wondered what in the world I was supposed to be doing with that item?

Doterra wanted people to have the products available with an education.   I am that educator, along with thousands of other Doterra Wellness Advocates. 

And, so, here we are, back at the beginning, one of the primary objectives to this grand adventure was and is to build our business.  We had the idea that as we arrived in campgrounds to hand out flyers as an invite to come to our camp where we would share the oils.   When we conjured this plan from the bold launching pad of our living room it sounded perfect. 
People tend to be a bit bored in the evening; we would be offering them a pleasurable activity.  How easy!  Just wander around the campground fill to bursting with summer adventurers and make new friends, invite ‘em over and teach an essential oil class.  SO EASY!  From the idea den of our living room.

And then we were in a campground, a packed one, with tons of folks wandering all over the gorgeous trails, taking in the ocean vistas and generally just enjoying themselves in the thing we call nature. 

Wayland looked at me, “so, we doing a class tonight?”.   What is the junior to panic?  Whatever that is, that is what I was suddenly encased in.  Junior panic.  An onslaught of excuses and stalling techniques (all quite advanced if I may say), soaked my mind, they were my only thoughts. 

He was challenging me, as he is wont to do, to step up and follow through with our plan to build our business and keep him from selling cars.  I am now the provider for our family, I have to hand out those flyers.  I have to go talk to those vista-seeking campers jovially wandering the trails.  I have to. 

This sinks in. 

I proceed to go through a wash cycle of tantrums in the sanctity of my own mind.  I don’t want to!!!  This banner call screamed through my psyche several hundred times, a desperate ache to find a way out, any way out pulsed around my veins in a fervent thumping.  And slowly, but with great strength I regained the reigns of my thoughts and began to breathe.  Slowly, deeply and with purpose I remembered why I wanted to do this in the first place.  Yes, the money is needed, and that comes with the growing of our business.  But, money has never been a big enough motivator for me.  I need purpose, purpose I can feel, that fuels me and makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing.

I remembered why I chose to take on Doterra as a business.  That I believe in the power of essential oils, that I love empowering people with tools that work.

I found solace in that.

At camp my daughter and I made up some little square hand written invites (I hadn’t printed the fancy ones).  She and I then walked around the camp courageously speaking to folks we didn’t know, making connections and honestly feeling nourished by getting to offer something. 

We set up our campsite for guests and laid out oils and information and 2 people came.  We handed out 6 invites and 2 wonderful women came. 

I got to sit with these ladies in a forest, and share oils. 

That is my job. 

And now that the first one is complete, my anxiety, my nervousness of sharing, of stepping up and being involved with people (I’m SUPER good at hiding out) is a hair less.

I’m praying with practice that these skills will become more and more natural for me.

In the meantime, you want essential oils? Hit me up!  ;)

But, for real, hit me up.