Thanks for the fantastic ride!
One Year with Rodan + Fields
How it all started...
Exactly one year ago, I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling and wondering…."Is this it? Really?” Not that is was a bad life. Or a bad career. I had an amazing husband that I was still totally head over heels in love with, 2 precious children, a nice house in a great neighborhood, great friends, our health, and a thriving public relations company in Seattle. You know, everything was good. Really good.
But client service and media is an exhausting industry, and although it was a business I had built from scratch alongside a dedicated friend and business partner, I knew there were aspects of running a small business that were taking their toll. I struggled to manage the vendors and employees and clients around my husbands deployments and kids schedules. I imagined more…I imagined a smooth running office, employees that stayed with you for life, and a never ending stream of happy (and wealthy) clients. Yeah. It was time I realized running a small business was never going to be easy!
And yet, I had flexibility that I knew so many would kill for (and I was grateful for that!) and I made a good living compared to many and I was lucky enough to ‘have it all’—I was part of a career and a professional life but I also was the one dropping off and picking up my kids. I was raising them, not a nanny or a sitter. I was there after school, like my mom was with me – and I loved that. But still. I was nearing my mid-40s and the recession had taken its toll on our retirement accounts, we had moved several times due to real estate deals that fell through and Brent’s military moves. We were living paycheck to paycheck. How could this be?
If Oprah loves it...
Everyone loves it.
Meeting the doctors
Meeting Drs Rodan and Fields
And it's not just bottles and jars..
The at home skincare tool category is huge...and R+F has something for gizmo lovers, too.
Running down a dream.
After my youngest entered full-time preschool, I was faced with the dilemma – start working more or… or what? Did I want to work MORE? The only reason at that point to work more, was frankly, so that I could EARN more and put back into our retirement and savings. Fund some vacations and extras. But that meant trading dollars for time. I would have to start being less present, working as a manager (which anyone can tell you is a truly thankless job!) in order to fill up the coffers again. I stared down the barrel of that vision for the next decade of my life and realized it was absolutely NOT what I wanted to do.
There had to be another option. There just HAD to be. And then I had a serendipitous encounter with an old friend from my agency PR days. Here we were coming out of the recession and she was doing phenomenal. Better than she ever had in PR. Just had retired her doctor husband. Whhaaaa? She had started working in an entirely new industry that I knew nothing about and what I did know, I scoffed at. It was surely a scam or a pyramid. I mean come on, direct sales? Ew.
But something nagged at me. Tugged at me and made me look into it and do my own research. I did and what I found shocked me. Here was a legitimate, sustainable, professional career that was very much in line with my natural skills and talents, and the timing for this particular product entering the marketplace was ideal. It was right under my nose and I had been too blind (smug?) to see it. So I took a chance. I jumped in, VERY part time, just in hopes of making $500 a month to put into a college fund and ‘see how it goes.’ After 6 months I was able to drop a project on the PR side, because now there was income coming in and I wasn't trading time for money. I was working LESS and making the same amount! Less time in the management role gave me the perspective I needed to see that this was my calling, and one I was ready to tackle.
Six months later, and a year into this crazy business, I can say that 1) I wish I had started sooner, but 2) at least I did start, and I’m running now! Running to replace my entire PR salary -- one that took me 25 years to build – by working less, enjoying my days more, spending time collaborating with really (surprisingly) funny, smart, interesting people. This industry has helped me grow personally, professionally, and – of course – financially.
Where will I be in a year? Stay tuned…Peace of mind = priceless. Glad I said yes J