My journey with network marketing: where I’ve been and what’s to come

If you’re here reading this post you’re probably a friend, a customer, a follower, or someone that knows a bit of my story… but in case you’re not, I will do a little recap for you here. Please don’t just scroll to the bottom, as I’d love for you to hear these words.

In 2016, my first baby was born and it flipped my world completely upside down. We weren’t expecting it – in fact we had just moved across country for my job. I was a career woman through and through – working full time as an Account Supervisor on one of my marketing agencies largest and newest clients. Suddenly everything I had thought I wanted professionally, changed. I missed my baby and I wanted so badly to have the flexibility and freedom to spend more time with him while he was little. Parallel to this, my Dad was very very sick. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2013 but things took a horrible turn for the worse the same year that I had Calvin. By June 2017, he was gone and I was a changed person. They say grief and loss will do that to you…. I learned QUICKLY that life is too short 1.) to care what others think about me and my decisions and 2.) to be unhappy in my day to day life. It is up to us to take control if we want to make a change.

That same year, I found a solution and opportunity with a company called SeneGence International (the company that owns LipSense which you might be more familiar with.) I saw other women and moms with what I wanted – more money, more time, leaving their jobs, earning the company car reimbursement, leading others, investing in other women, etc. I’ve always had a knack for all things beauty & leadership so I jumped right in with both feet. That’s kind of how I am… if I’m going to do something, I’m going to give it 150%. Within 5 months I hit car qualification and by the end of 2017, I was putting in my resignation at my full time job. Less than 1% of distributors reach this level. I did it. I had taken a leap of faith and succeeded in what I was trying to accomplish.

Over the next year things were still going awesome – my team was growing, my customer base was growing, I was doing trainings for my team, traveling, attending conferences, and I loved it so much. It was my life. Sometime in 2019 – I can’t pinpoint exactly when, probably when I had Cora, my second baby, I started to realize that the back end business model and things being taught were no longer aligning with some of my beliefs about how a network marketing business should be run. (If you want more details on this just reach out to me and I’m happy to chat about those details and logistics.) I tried to overlook my bottom line for a long time because I couldn’t fathom the thought of giving up what I’d worked so hard at, starting over, ever leaving SeneGence or my team of at one point, 200 women. That was never my intention. Fast forward a few more months and these thoughts kept creeping in. Things didn’t seem to be flowing well anymore and my team was not duplicating – many women were getting hung up on the same things I was before they could even get started. I had a new baby, less hands, and I really had to get honest with myself about where my time was being spent.

I started talking to both new, old, and potential customers and I realized that what I’ve been sharing with SeneGence might not be what they’re looking for. I took a poll and asked what your deciding factors in make a beauty purchase were… the answers were price/affordability, clean ingredients, ease of ordering, and MOST said “all of the above.”

As much as I wanted everyone to love what I was offering – I couldn’t help but feel like maybe there was a better fit from both a business model and product standpoint. My passion is helping women feel extraordinary with the right products and knowledge of what they’re using. It’s to TEACH and show others through product knowledge and demos. Was I really sharing the “every day” products or a growing opportunity that my demographic might be interested in?

One thing I knew is that I was not giving up on network marketing or returning to a traditional 9-5 job. I have a new baby and a growing toddler that need me around – and I need the flexibility that only this industry can offer. I’ve spent years studying, learning, and becoming an expert in this field. I know it works because I did it. I know it works because even up until the end of 2019, my commission checks have been paying our bills. We can’t live without my network marketing income. I don’t have hours to put in for someone else but I can certainly put the time and effort I can offer, into an opportunity I believe in. I also knew I did NOT want to leave the beauty industry. I believe that outer beauty can help how we feel on the inside and that there is a lot to be said about a women feeling confident in her own skin.

The universe, god, whatever you believe in, must have heard my conversations and my prayers as a new opportunity literally came into my email inbox. It was from someone I didn’t know personally but trusted big time in the blogging, social media and business world. She knew things I didn’t know and don’t know – she studies market trends of companies and I had to hear about her newest venture.

The company she had moved to is still in the beauty category but there are a few things that really caught my eye and peaked my interest:

• The products are affordable without sacrificing quality. I’m talking like 1/4-1/3 the amount of products I’ve recommended in the past.

• The company represents “clean beauty” and follows European beauty standards, banning up to 1400 chemicals that aren’t banned in the US.

• The company is already successfully operating in hundreds of other markets but is new to the US as of 2019.

• The ordering process from both my end and my customers, is seamless and done via a website that is set up for me by the company upon signup.

• The product offering allows me to find less expensive and cleaner “dupes” for the SeneGence products I have come to know and love over the past 3 years. There is even some overlap.

• There is a clean baby line! Right up my alley.

I decided to try some products. What can it hurt, right? I ordered a full face of makeup for under $100. I was impressed by that and also skeptical – I wanted to hate everything so that my decision would be easier. So that I could get this pulling out of my mind and off my heart and be done with it. So that I didn’t have to risk disappointing people who trust me. So that I could stay where I felt safe and comfortable. So that I could coast along with what I had already built.

I’m not going to lie. Even after I tried my new makeup and cleanser and LOVED them, I boxed my new products up and was going to get rid of them. I tried so hard to push this away, but it just didn’t work. I was having dreams, the beauty influencer I was talking with was offering to help and teach me things I’ve never been taught, doors were opening. After a few weeks, I unsigned my management agreement with SeneGence, signed up with the new company for just $19.99 and decided I’m going to go all in.  The response from those I’ve talked to 1on1 has been nothing but supportive and congratulatory. I wanted to tell and talk to EVERY customer and friend 1on1, but it turns out there are a lot of you. If you’re wondering how I can go from one company directly to another – remember that network marketing is like a job would be to most others. It’s how I support my family and couldn’t have left without a researched plan.

When people ask what happened? Nothing happened – it’s just that nothing changes if you change nothing.

I’ve always felt like I have made good decisions for myself and my family, and in turn it has allowed me to make good monetary and business decisions for myself and my family. I’ve always felt I’ve been honest, open, trustworthy in my intentions. I’ve always taken calculated risks. In my heart of hearts I truly believe that this decision to pursue a new opportunity is not only the best decision for me, but for everyone involved…. my customers, my team, my future customers, my future team, and mostly, my babies – who I want to continue to stay home with.

…I once heard that if you found something you love and that others could benefit from it, you are doing a disservice if you don’t share it. 

So let’s share. I’m not good at keeping secrets. 

The new company I’m partnering with is called Farmasi US!

Here is the Jan-March 2020 beauty book if you want to browse a full catalog.

Here is my new shopping website if you want to scope it out this way.

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So what’s next? Well I figure there are a few ways this could go….

You could decide to hate me forever and never trust me again.

You could sit back and watch skeptically as I start to do tutorials with new products.

You can sign up as my Farmasi Customer here for free and when you are ready to buy your account will be set up. If you need refills on any products, Senegence or not, I’d love to help you find a Farmasi alternative.

You can sign up as a Farmasi Beauty Influencer here for as low as $19.99 to get a 50% product discount and a free personal affiliate link to share with others. I’ll be doing another post about the opportunity soon.

If you are happy with Senegence and want to continue purchasing these products, you can do so here for the time being.

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I’m sure there will be questions so feel free to reach out to me directly – I’d love to chat with you. If you’re surprised, so am I! But I am also extremely excited to get this show on the road in 2020! I’m excited to be excited again. It’s going to be an amazing year and I so appreciate your support.

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How to: Slay your Goals & Change your LIFE in 2018!

Hey babes! Welcome to 2018! I don’t know about you but I am very happy to see a new year. I just have a really amazing feeling that 2018 is going to top all previous years… I think that main reason I’m feeling so positive and good about the new year is because I have a PLAN. I know what I want, and when, and what my vehicle to get me there will be. I have a clear vision of how my life can change in 2018.

I have evolved so much as an individual, as a mom, as a wife, as a professional, since starting ‘Running with Strollers’, and I thank you for following on the journey. When I started the blog, I really wanted to write career/professional type posts, but at that time my career wasn’t inspiring me as much as I had hoped. I had just gotten pregnant and then had my son, so my focus shifted to everything #motherhood. I didn’t expect my perspectives, goals, dreams, LIFE to change as drastically as it did when becoming a mom. Everything I had come to believe about my aspirations, changed. I no longer wanted to drop my child off every day at daycare and sit at a desk to work on someone else’s dream. I had a strong desire to lead and inspire others outside of a 9-5. I needed FREEDOM, LIKE MINDED FRIENDS and EXTRA INCOME so that I could shift from a professional career to being a #girlboss entrepreneur on my own terms.

Most of you know that I started a business venture in the beauty industry in March 2017 that has been very successful for my family and I. In December, I came home full time to work my business and be a Mom to my almost now 2 year old. This week, I did a training for my team of 50 women on “5 Tips to Slay your SeneBiz in the New Year”… but I realized that these tips are really applicable to anyone who wants to accomplish big goals this year. I decided that I’d turn my “show notes” into a general blog post for even those outside of my team to read.  I feel compelled and qualified to talk on this topic because I have watched my life change dramatically over the past 9 months. I truly feel if you can master and remember these 5 tips, the details will fall into place and you will always know what the next step towards accomplishing your dream will be. They are really the core of what I do every day, week, month, etc, to meet my goals. Without further ado – let’s get to some life changing realness…

#1 – You must determine WHAT you want, WHY you want it, and HOW you will get it. 

So you want to change your life – what do you want to change, why do you want it to change and what will your vehicle be to get you there? For my team training, we obviously know our vehicle but I always encourage them to dig deep and find their “WHY.” Why are they doing what they’re doing? What was the root cause for them to start a business, become an entrepreneur (#mompreneur as I like to call myself) or add something “extra” to their plate? There has to be a deeper reason than just wanting to sell products. For me, I have a strong desire for freedom from a full-time job, I want to have flexibility, I want to see my child more than 2 hours a day, and I want to give my family an extraordinary lifestyle. No matter how hard I worked at my job, I couldn’t achieve that. Once you determine what you want and why, you HAVE to keep that in front of you. Slaying your goals and dreams isn’t easy – it often takes hours of additional work, there will be people who judge you or question what you are doing, and you’re going to want to quit 2, 3 or 10 times throughout the year. I once heard a quote… “if people don’t understand what you’re doing, you may be on to something.” God sized dreams are never seen or understood by the average Joe. Keeping a WHY (that is stronger than any outside force trying to destroy those dreams) in front of you is absolutely necessary and is the first thing you must identify before achieving a dream.

#2 – Write Down your Goals and Keep them in front of you!

How are you going to hit your goals if you don’t know what they are or if you aren’t looking at them every.single.day? Your goals and dreams are 100% more likely to come true if they are physically written down. Your goal boards can be electronic, on paper, in the form of words or pictures, just get them physically down! I have a goals board in my kitchen that I update on the first of every month. No excuses. I see it every single day and I post it as the background as my phone. We look at our phones what, like, 573 times a day? Now I see what I’m working toward every time I hit that home button. It’s important to remember that just writing them down isn’t going to make them come true, you have to take action every single day (more on that later) but you are sooo soo much more inclined to take that action when they are written down. Just do it. And thank me later. In addition to my monthly vision board, I had my team create vision photos with their faces like this:

#3 – Daily Self Development

There is sooo so much negative in the world today. In the news, on social media, with family and friends – we must rid ourselves of that negativity ASAP. Don’t be afraid of the unfriend or unfollow button. If something you are seeing or consuming daily is shaking your confidence or belief in YOUR path, stop looking at it. Basically you have to stay in your own lane, or else you’ll get run over. I think that is a huge part of self development – knowing what is affecting you and either ridding it from your life, or taking more of it in, if it’s positive. Another way I like to work on self development is through podcasts, ebooks, articles, blogs (such as this 🙂 ) or finding a positivity friend (someone I know I can always contact and we can lift each other up.) Instead of turning on pop radio in the car and listening to songs you have heard a million times and probably don’t even like, turn on an inspirational podcast. Be willing to put so much good in your brain that there is no option but for the negative to be pushed out. Your thoughts are like a muscle, they must be exercised daily in order to get stronger. Your business or goals will not grow or improve if YOU aren’t willing to change. Becoming an entrepreneur, a #mompreneur, or extraordinary, does NOT happen overnight -we must learn from those who have gone before us and found success. Lastly, I like to find or stalk, I mean STUDY, people in my line of business that inspire me. I can then replicate (not copy) or apply what I feel is drawing myself to them, in my own business. I often think about WHY I joined the team I did in SeneGence and try to remember that often so that I can create that same type of feeling with my followers. Here are some podcasts I like that can all be found on itunes:

MLM Nation

The Goal Digger Podcast

The Skinny Confidential – Him & Her

Almost 30 Podcast

I am not great at reading but REALLY want to be – I will work on that in 2018 and hope to have a list of reading material for you all soon. Or you can leave your recos below!

#4 Build Relationships and Tell your Story

In anything you want to accomplish in life, there’s a great chance you won’t be able to do it alone. You’ll need a network for a business, a goal, or a dream. You’ll need supporters, customers, followers, partners, employees, or encouragers. Whether your goal is to run a marathon or start a blog – you will need these people. My friend Kaitlyn of Essere Blog and Buzzed Bull Creamery is SO GOOD at doing this. She is a business owner, a wife, and a new blogger. She is constantly building her brand, telling her story, encouraging others, which I believe, attracts people towards her. I aspire to be more like her. Build relationships, tell your story, connect, and in turn you will make sincere friendships with others and find your “people” naturally. This can’t be a sometimes thing, this has to be a part of you – connecting with others needs to be a part of what you become great at. What you are putting on social media, or into the universe should be generally positive, honest, and things you care about that others can relate with. This helps to develop your “brand” which is an entirely different convo. Just know that you, are your brand, which is your business. It is all connected. We connect with people and why they’re doing what they are – not what they are selling.

#5 – Consistency ALWAYS Wins. Take Action Every Single Day.

Nothing you set out to accomplish can be a “when you feel like it” thing. Every day consistency will ALWAYS win. Although this is #5 on the list, I think it is the more important. You will see growth, change, and success where your thoughts and actions fall daily. Action inspires action – do you remember the theory from school, “a ball in motion stays in motion, a ball at rest, stays at rest?” It’s much harder to find motivation to take action when you haven’t in a few days, a week, or months. Once you get into the habit of taking action you will naturally want to stay in motion. Taking action yields results and eventually working towards your dream will become a part of your routine. You want to get to a spot where NOT taking action feels wrong, or makes you feel uneasy. Do at least one thing for your dream every.single.day.

Bonus Tip: Don’t QUIT!

The only way to completely fail at something you have a WHY, a PLAN for, and that you WORK at consistently, is to give up. THE ONLY WAY. Sure, some dreams and ventures will be more successful than others, but the only way to find no success is to STOP. Don’t quit your dream, and it won’t quit you (a quote by Whitney Bray.) BOOM.

If you want to chat with me, please feel free to reach out to me on here, via email (kayla.greenstone@gmail.com), follow me on instagram, or facebook!

Interested in a new opportunity with makeup and skincare? To join my team of badass boss babes, you can read about our January sign-up promo here or sign-up here with ID 330104.

Motivation Monday : Mentally Curing the Holiday Hangover

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday with family and friends, and that you were able to have at least a few days away from the office, hospital, school, or wherever you typically spend your 40+ hrs/week. It’s the Monday post-Christmas (yawn) and if you’re anything like me I think we all need an extra boost or motivation to get back at it. Christmas is like the ultimate “what now?” holiday. It takes weeks of preparation, and months, if you’re really planning ahead. Then it’s all over so quick and we have to face the realization of how many cookies we ate, and how much we spent on all of those gifts. Also, I’m realizing how much I talk about cookies on this blog – I promise to stop after February.

I have always loved reading, posting, and getting inspiration from quotes that I’ve found online or in books. This ‘ish is 99% mental, so feed your brain accordingly. I was actually searching for quotes on my own earlier this month for a bit of a pick-me-up and decided to compile some of my favorites here and share with you all! No matter who you are, life can get crazy and a few words can remind you it’s okay, or that you’re not the only one in the world that has felt the way you have or do at this moment. There’s really no theme to these, just good ‘ole “life” quotes that at least one of you will hopefully be able to relate with.

        

I’m interested to hear where you all pull your inspiration from — any good books or sites I should know about? Which is your fave quote from this list? My grandpa gave me a simple printout this weekend titled “some good thoughts” that he keeps with him, which was so sweet. Maybe you have a person that inspires you most?!

We have been in Cincy with family since last Wednesday and will be here for a few more days. This will be our last visit home for a bit, and once we head back, we have about one month – 6 weeks left before this babe enters the world. In terms of preparation, it’s go time!

Wishing you all a great week as we head towards 2016!

❤ Kayla

Let’s talk about Strengths, baby…

We spend sooo much of our life focusing on how we need to improve, what we can do better, or how someone else is better than us. Usually when we are looking at someone else’s life, it’s not even a fair comparison…no one else has your life except you. For example, looking at a 6 ft. tall blonde model’s page on Instagram and wondering why I can’t look more like her is just ridiculous…but we all do it. Have you ever seriously stopped to think about what you’re good at, and how you can take these traits to the next level in order to succeed? Maybe someone wants to be more like YOU. We all have different strengths, none better than the other. How boring life would be if we were all the same.

Next week, I’m helping to lead a StrengthsFinder training for my team at work and I’m seriously looking forward to it. Is that so dorky? We get to hear positive reinforcement for a whole afternoon! I actually like applying these types of “assignments” to get better instead of making them another box to check off the long list of daily tasks…or maybe I just like talking about what I’m good at… 🙂

The book this is based on, Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom Rath, comes with a code that allows you to discover your top 5 strengths (out of a list of 34) based on a series of behavioral questions. I first took this test a couple of years ago on my own, and again this past July for a leadership training. I’ve actually taken both the StrengthsFinder 2.0 & the Strengths Based Leadership test by the same author, but they have the same 34 strengths. The results are creepily accurate and they really didn’t change much at all over time. “People don’t change!”

Step One – Learn what your Strengths are and the characteristics of each. I’ll go through my top 5 strengths quickly, so you can get an idea of how it works and get some examples:

Activator

“Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act.”

If you feel like this you may be an activator as well. I rarely have a plan in place for how I am going to get something done, but once I get something in my mind I have to do it right then – I can’t stop thinking about it until I take a step towards making it happen. This is everything from a food craving to accepting a relocation assignment across the country without even knowing which state it was on the US map (I wish I were joking) to daily process improvements on the job. I will think about, or see the end goal and literally just start “doing” until it is done. I have very little patience for the details, evaluation, or analytical discussion. Just get me to the damn cookie…now. 🍪

Maximizer

“Strengths, whether yours or someone else’s fascinate you. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence.”

This statement right here explains exactly why I am obsessed with this topic. I can’t wait for my team to discover their strengths and be able to apply. Watching people succeed is cool, ya’ll. I don’t like talking about what I’m bad at, I take it too personal and get borderline defensive. This also explains why I’m always giving people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes to a fault, instead of dwelling on what they need to fix. You won’t find me being too harsh on anyone unless they’re on like try #3.

Competition

“When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, if you can compete, you can win.”

Being competitive is pretty self explanatory. I feel like you either like to compete with others, or you shy away from it completely and feel absolutely no satisfaction in doing so. My friend Lauren once told me during a bootcamp class that I’m the most competitive person she knows, which for some reason, I will never forget. I totally thought this was an inner trait that I did a good job of hiding, but I guess when you wanna win, you wanna win. I remember in high school, my principal cancelled the most important dance competition of the season due to a snow storm and I slammed my bedroom door out of anger so hard you would’ve thought the house was going to fall down. I had already done my makeup and we were supposed to beat our biggest rivals that day. God, I was such a jerk back then…my poor, poor parents. Needless to say, you can tell that this strength did not come as a surprise.

  Futuristic 

“You are a dreamer who sees visions of what could be and who cherishes those visions. When the present proves too frustrating and the people around you too pragmatic, you conjure up your visions of the future and they energize you.”

#TRUTH – I feel like this explains why I spend so much time talking about the future and making sure that decisions made today will be beneficial to the future as well. I have a hard time living in the moment, but am able to see down the long windy road ahead of me, even when it’s a bit foggy. I don’t get hung up in the details of the moment but rather am able to see the “grandness” (is that a word?) and opportunities in the big picture.

Command

“People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence.”

Now this word – Command – just sounds scary to me…I promise I’m not going around shouting orders all day. Command is more like you are okay with confrontation and talking about difficult issues in order to get resolution. Once I have an opinion I need to share it with someone else or talk about it — I gotta be careful with that one. Yikes.

Step Two – Identify and learn the characteristics of others’ strengths. Have your team take the test. While it’s beneficial to learn and study your own strengths, it’s pointless to only learn about yourself if you don’t know how to work with others.  The other 29 strengths are:

• Achiever

• Adaptability

• Analytical

• Arranger

• Belief

• Communication

• Connectedness

• Consistency

• Context

• Deliberative

• Developer

• Discipline

• Empathy

• Focus

• Harmony

• Ideation

• Includer

• Individualization

• Input

• Intellection

• Learner

• Positivity

• Relator

• Responsibility

• Restorative

• Self-Assurance

• Significance

• Strategic

• Woo

When I was listing out those strengths I just caught myself thinking, “If only I were a bit more consistent, responsible, or intellectual…” haha, but just because something doesn’t fall in your top 5 doesn’t mean you have zero of that trait in your arsenal.

Step Three – Keep this ‘ish in front of you. The book gives action items you can apply right away against each trait and how to work with others with strengths outside of yours. Reading once and then forgetting about it doesn’t really count. Post your strengths on your beautiful cubicle wall that you stare at all day, so you can remember what you’re good at. Put your employees strengths in their personnel file, maybe on something you open often.

I know a lot of my friends & co-workers (some shown above) have taken this test — what are your strengths? I genuinely want to know! Make sure you are actually clicked into this post (click on the top photo or access from the “Career” drop down and not just on the homepage in order to leave a comment.) If you haven’t taken it, I hope I convinced you to try it out! You could even do this with your SO or friends, outside of work.

I’m still trying to work out all the nuances of running a site like this. Yes, I’m using some older pics I’ve taken for now but plan to have some new images to use shortly. If you have any suggestions or words of encouragement, open to hearing those as well! Follow me for notifications on the latest posts (shameless plug).

Thanks for visiting💕