The next time you attend a charity auction or vendor event, look closer at the Work-At-Home-Moms standing behind the vendor tables and auction baskets. In addition to donating time, money and products for school and charity fundraisers, direct sellers are making an impact in ways you probably never imagined. Mompreneurs lift up your local economy by creating jobs that pay for dance classes, sport activities, home improvements, household expenses and more. And that’s just the beginning. For many Moms, starting a direct sales business goes way beyond financial gain, creating a ripple effect in your community that empowers women to become more confident and give back.
In celebration of Mother’s Day, I reached out to Direct Selling Moms in our Visionista Community to share how they are making a difference for their families and their community:
Sara Goldman
My oldest, Jake (24), is in South Korea teaching English and my youngest, Josh (21), is finishing this semester at Columbia College in Chicago. They were teenagers when I began my Pampered Chef business in 2008 to replace lost income from my Naturalist job. I loved teaching children about nature and directing summer camp, but during the recession kids were aging out of our programs and no new families were moving in. Since I love to cook, a cousin who is a Pampered Chef consultant suggested I join him. Home parties are another form of teaching for me and I love sharing cooking tips. It was a perfect biz match!
One of the things I do that brings me the most joy is fundraisers. Whether I am helping a March of Dimes or Relay for Life walking team, a school soccer team raise scholarship funds, or using the host benefits to fill auction baskets with loads of Pampered Chef tools, I’m grateful that I can help fund real and necessary needs in my community. Everyone eats! So our cool tools are always in demand.
Arilys Nisler
When I lost my 8 year old daughter, Ariana, to cancer in 2008 I decided I wasn’t going to miss the little things in my son’s life because of my job. I cutback my hours to have more family time, but after going through most of our savings due to Ariana’s illness I needed to find a way to supplement my reduced income. The answer arrived in 2012 when I decided to have a PartyLite party to support my cousin who was just getting started. Who knew that small decision would make such an impact on my life? I truly believe that this is when I started healing. I’ve been able to spoil my kids (life is short) without it affecting my base salary, support and pay for my eldest child’s wrestling & baseball training, and have the flexibility to be there for games.
If you told me four years ago that I would be making a difference for myself & others by selling candles I would have laughed! I now realize that I’m selling and sharing so much more than a candle. I’m sharing memories, happiness, friendship and a special type of customer service that is not found anywhere else, a service that comes from the heart. I do it all with my guardian angel Ariana watching over me.
Deirdre Rubink
Being a stay at home mom can be very lonely. Starting a Thirty-One business gave me the chance to reconnect with old friends and make countless new ones. Two years later, I am still with Thirty-One Gifts and love what I do!
Thirty-One has given me the opportunity to put my daughter in dance, my oldest son in band, both sons in sports, and buy a house. I’m able to provide school supplies for all the children at a local shelter, as well as help support several organizations with gift baskets and raffle prizes. I even helped one mother buy hearing aids for her baby who needed them desperately. I went from being the one who needed help, to being the one who is providing the help.
Amy Lazovitz
The past 10 years had been all about my kids and family. I needed me time, I needed to find myself and I needed my confidence back, so I joined Keep Collective as a designer in late August 2014. As a stay at home mom of a 16 year old son & 9 year old boy/girl twins, being a part of “Keep” and the sisterhood with other women was so rewarding and exciting. I think God had another plan for me. My teenager passed away in December 2015. He was my everything. When he passed I had a HUGE support system of women and men instantly by my side. They’ve given me strength when I’ve had none. I am now donating my commission toward fundraising for The Overnight Walk in NYC. I want to help bring awareness to Mental Health and help others who are struggling. Keep Collective has truly been a blessing and kept me going to be the best I can be. Our mission at KEEP is to #livehappy. And that’s what I am hoping to do!
Julie Wetherhold
I never expected Jamberry would be a full-time income when I joined in 2014. As a teacher and Mom, with two kids and another on the way, I thought what kind of time did I have to make Direct Sales a “real” business? In January 2015 my husband and I made the official decision that I would not return back to teaching after my maternity leave and we haven’t looked back since. We’ve been so grateful for the opportunity Jamberry has given us for me to be home with our three children and we love to pass on some of those blessings. Thanks to Jamberry, we’ve been able to “pay it forward” for a family who didn’t have enough to pay for their grocery bill, donate raffle baskets to charity causes, do fundraisers for breast cancer, MS, and local families in need, and donate Mother’s Day goodie bags to a local women’s shelter. I know Jamberry has been a blessing in our lives and it’s been amazing to see the joy it’s brought to others as well.
Happy Mother’s Day!
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Lynn Bardowski is an award-winning entrepreneur and bestselling author of Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl. She speaks to global audiences about work-at-home success, vision and branding and is a resource for press, media and bloggers. Like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
