“Every month we just kept getting further behind. I had to do something and sales was about the only thing I could think of where I could earn decent money and have a little bit of control over my time. But work is still work and I was being pulled in a thousand different directions, NOBODY was happy, and I felt like I was failing at everything.”
Let’s face it, the basic reason most of us work is to earn an income and if we’re lucky, feel good about something we’re accomplishing; both of which can lead to guilt.
This sense of guilt can run deep for working mothers who may feel obligated to succeed at everything; all at once.
Traci was determined to use the additional income she earned selling cosmetics as fuel to find a way out. She knew what the extra money meant to her family but also knew she didn’t want to keep spending evenings away from the kids. And although her husband never said so, she felt as though they were drifting apart. “When we got into bed at night, we used to talk about our day but our pillow-talk just stopped; I missed that.”
The silent conflict, tension, and stress on the home-front would have caused many women to quit; rationalizing the decision with “It’s just not worth it” but not Traci…
Now there are plenty of women who sell cosmetics but Traci discovered an interesting way to go about it. “I thought, we need the money and I’m sick of giving up time with the kids to get it, something has to change -then 6 months later it hit me. What if I could find small business owners around here who would sell my products in their stores?”
Traci would provide a product that customers wanted and the stores didn’t carry. There was no risk to the store owners as Traci provided the inventory. The store owners provided customers that Traci didn’t have, and didn’t have to spend time away from her family to find. Whatever profit was earned, would be split 50/50.
Yes, Traci earns less commission on each sale (50% vs. 100%) but the collaboration yields more than twice as many sales. Customers discovered great products; the small business owners discovered revenue without expense; and Traci discovered it’s possible to earn additional income without sacrificing family time; everybody wins…
