Have you ever had a good idea, became extremely excited about it and decided to share it with your friends and family, only to hear their loving opposition to you moving forward with it? Most of the time we hope that the closest people in our lives will support us even if it seems unconventional. The fact that they love us and want to keep us from failing is a positive thing, but when it comes to something you believe in, I’d rather have their support than the list of reasons why it won’t work.
Being in a direct sales business sometimes attracts some negativity from others. Even some of my own family members said it was a scam when I first started. It wasn’t easy, but I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me from creating a life I could design. I have also found that achieving success can attract negativity in the form of jealousy. Like somehow, I wasn’t deserving of it or that it was luck that I achieved such accomplishments. Anyone who is an entrepreneur, whether it is a physical storefront or one that is online, knows the level of blood, sweat and tears it takes to achieve these goals and dreams.
When these ugly comments, sometimes created by jealousy, reached my ear, they were meant to downgrade my accomplishments and make me feel small. However, I never let it stop me. I was passionate about this business of mentoring and building up women leaders so that they could live a life they loved and match their passion with their destiny. When it comes to being able to create your prosperity and wonderful life, there is PLENTY out there for the taking. You just have to be courageous enough to go out there and get it!
Do you remember Proactiv? You know, the acne brand that is known around the world? Well, the Drs who created Proactiv, Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields, were rejected by Neutrogena when they first pitched the product. Today, Proactiv is a billion-dollar brand!
Neutrogena actually advised the Drs to go on the infomercials. The Drs didn’t want to. In the words of Dr. Kathy Fields, “They were icky.” But they did it anyway and years later they are the most well-known dermatologists and faces in the world because of an acne formulation that was started in their kitchen after work and in the evenings. I wonder if Neutrogena regrets not partnering with the Drs when they had the chance …
Drs. Rodan and Fields’ success story does not end there! Their patients were asking for products to use for anti-aging, and this prompted them to create a brand-new line of products that addressed 90% of the skin conditions out there including, anti-aging, sun damage, sensitive skin and acne. They named their new line of products, Rodan+Fields. It was sold to Estee Lauder and offered in high end department stores like Nordstrom, but the Drs realized that the stores were pushing their high-end larger legacy brands instead of Rodan+Fields. Frustrated by this, they bought it back from Estee Lauder and went into Direct Sales to market their brand. People thought they were crazy, and the response was that the direct sales a model was far ickier than infomercials. Even I have heard my own dermatologist and estheticians laugh at this business move when I shared it with them. Less than 10 years later, they are now creating a legacy for themselves and have helped hundreds of thousands of people to do the same.
Today, Rodan+Fields makes over $1 billion dollars in revenue, is the LARGEST skincare company in North America across all channels and price points, including surpassing big respected, successful names like Clinique, Estee Lauder and Lancôme and is the fastest growing skincare company in North America.
These Drs. never imagined this enormous level of success! But despite the criticism they received from their peers, friends, family and strangers, they forged ahead with a vision and the belief that they would make this happen. Katie Fields says “We knew we had products that worked and changed lives. We were compelled to continue.” And thus, they have created an empire which spans across the US, Canada and soon to be Australia in April.
With so many people being exposed to direct sales on social media, you are bound to be met with some negative preconceptions from time to time. The best remedy for skeptics is to continue to share why you believe in your product and your company. When you love something because it has changed your life in some way and you think it can help someone else, then take this courage and passion and share it. Great things come to those who are willing to take risks. Being uncomfortable and ok with the unknown will make you a better leader and an inspiration to others. It is doing what we fear that makes us great, gives us strength. Be true to yourself, be authentic, love what you do and you will continue to build on your success story too. There are no limits to what you can achieve. You have the power to create the life of your dreams.
Leave a Reply