Leap of Faith

Every time you attend a "party" at someone's home, you know you're going to hear about "consultant opportunities" and hosting your own party.  Whenever I hear the spiel, I think "Been there, done that.  Not again".  There was no decision to make, it was already made.  In college, I had a brief, few days where I thought I'd sell Avon.  Then when we were newly married, I sold Tupperware and I eventually realized sales just weren't for me.  So when I put a Shelf Reliance Tasting on my calendar in September, it was not even a thought in my mind to consider selling it.  So how did I end up here, 6 months later, as an Independent Consultant?

In November, I placed my first order and signed up for the Q and decided I would host a Tasting, AFTER the holidays.  My consultant mentioned the idea of becoming a consultant.  I didn't blow off the idea but I didn't get excited about it.  But where was my "Been there, done that!" response?  I decided to ponder it over the holidays and make a decision when I hosted a Tasting myself, figuring the idea would go away. 

My husband and I have a policy that we apply when making big decisions and purchases.  We "sleep" on it and if we still want to buy that item later, we move forward.  The idea of becoming a Shelf Reliance consultant nagged at me.  Shalah, my Consultant, did not pester me at all.  And in the meantime, I researched how Shelf Reliance treated their Consultants and what the benefits and costs were.

By the time we were able to get my Tasting scheduled at the end of February, I was seriously considering it.  My husband was hesitant.  My decision went back and forth but I just couldn't shake the idea of investing in myself through Shelf Reliance.

I have never had much success with hosting a "party" and that first party was no different.  40 people invited and 6 planned to attend.  That morning, my 5 y/o woke up not feeling well.  By the time of the party, she had a low fever.  Apparently it was common that day because I had two friends cancel due to sick kids.  I had two people show up for the party.  I was a little bummed and thought that that was my answer. 

But then BOTH people signed up for the Q.  Have you ever had 100% of the people at one of your parties make a purchase, let alone sign up for an ongoing sale?  My husband and I talked that night and I searched in prayer for my answer.  I decided to go for it, taking a leap of faith that that persistent idea of becoming a Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant was the path Heavenly Father wanted me on.  We did hedge our bets a little though in that our primary goal was simply to make back the money we had invested within the first 6 months.

Now I'm 1 month into my new business and we are already changing our goals.  If the business continues like the first month, I will have my investment back in 3 months, or less and we'll start working toward our financial goals of building our 3-6 month emergency fund and having an annual family vacation.  Simple, realistic goals.   I'll post soon about how we set our financial goals and why we picked the ones we did.

If becoming a Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant sparks your interest, I'd love to talk to you about how it is working for me.  You can also learn about it here.  I would love for you to join my team!