Kristy had the success of corporate America when she was struck with the desire to start living her OWN dream! Now she KNOWS she’ll take profits over wages any day…along with freedom! It’s been 3 years since I saw the inside of the boardroom at the spine division of Johnson and Johnson and it seems like a lifetime ago. I started college when I was 22 and spent my career after graduating in various areas of business strategy and development in major Fortune 100 companies and I didn’t even stop to look up until I was an executive earning a multiple six figure income.
It’s true what they say that when you get to a certain dollar figure it’s no longer about the money.
I had reached sort of a plateau and started to take stock. The problem was, I was living someone else’s dream and setting goals for a company while never really setting goals for things that really mattered to me. It was like watching my life pass me by. NULL The truth is the bigger the paycheck the more of your soul you usually have to trade for it. I felt trapped. I had the corner office with the glass windows and was the top 1% of all income earners in corporate America but didn’t have the freedom nor did I have a feeling of fulfillment. I knew that I didn’t want to do what I was doing for another 30 years of my life but I didn’t really know my next move. Going to another company was out of the question, I had that been there done that feeling and had accomplished some major things in my career. I wanted more freedom but didn’t want to give up my paycheck and I preferred at this point to be able to work from anywhere.
I had a lot of options but something drew me to this industry and out of what I didn’t want came what I did want.
One day my brother in law, an electrician went online, did a search and bought on online business. Here was a guy with no business experience doing something online and I thought well if he could do it I could do it. I ended up answering an ad and got started in the direct sales industry. It took me six months before I resigned from my corporate position and came to do this full time. No looking back. In fact when I first started in the business I put my retirement date down on a piece of paper and to me it was an immovable date. That was so important because I knew that if I made the commitment immovable I would do whatever it took to meet that date. In that first 6 months I had earned over $50,000 working around my 60 – 80 hour work week. I learned a lot and mostly what not to do.
It wasn’t always easy but I was committed and that made the difference.
I watch a lot of people start in this industry without the kind of commitment that is necessary to overcome obstacles. So much of the advertising for this industry tries to make it sound so easy, which is what people want to hear, but it requires dedication to become successful and it doesn’t happen over night.
Running a business is a process no matter what industry you are in, no matter what tools you have, and in order to succeed it takes patience, persistence and the ability and desire to learn new things.
I believe it’s so important for anyone starting in this industry to get this. In fact anyone starting their business with me is strongly encouraged to set a committed goal of being in the business at least one year before they would even consider walking away.
Making a one year commitment changes things for most people.
I think many people are lead to believe that they will just have instant success, like money is just going to start flying from the sky. This kind of expectation leads people to look at things from a skewed perspective. Instead of flowing with the process and laying a great foundation they start what I call stabbing at the business without a solid plan. I remember this for myself in some ways thinking that in any moment that I would arrive but that’s not the reality of any business. Building a business methodically and continuing to build on what you do is essential and it takes time to mature as an entrepreneur especially for people who have worked for someone else their whole lives. The payoff has been so rewarding. I have to say that the best thing about this industry is what I have learned about myself, the friends I have made along the way and the freedom I feel. The number one thing that stands out for me above anything else though is the absolute knowledge that I can do anything and will never be in a position where I need to depend on a job for money. This feeling comes from doing the work, learning and honing my marketing and connecting skills, which has lead me to understand how to take advantage of opportunity.
I will take profits over wages any day.
One of the biggest challenges for me was really coming to understand that a lot of people don’t make it in their own business. Not because they can’t but because they simply choose not to.
This stems from not having realistic expectations or the kind of core commitment to work through the learning curve.
That’s why it is essential for me when I am interviewing a potential new team member to do what I call play fair. I set a realistic picture of what it takes to be successful so that they can make a sound decision. I would rather work with less people than work with people who probably don’t have that kind of commitment from the start. There is a fine balance between reality and discouragement though and I am careful not to cross that line, I have just gotten better at asking and listening. Assisting other people has become a huge passion of mine. Having a strong business back ground, really loving people and understanding human drivers has helped me discover my drive for coaching and teaching people to succeed. It is very rewarding to help someone push past themselves to a new level. Heck it’s rewarding when I push past myself to higher levels, which happens often. Bottom line, I would pick this industry all over again given the same choice. It truly has opened up opportunities that I could never have seen sitting in the corner office.
When my intuitions pop up I follow them, they have never led me to the wrong place. In fact the more I listen to my intuition the better my life gets and I am enjoying the journey.
To your success.
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- Profits over Wages by Kristy Davis - December 1, 2007
