Smitten by Spanx

PLEASE tell you you've read Forbes magazine before.  And you were totally bored with most of the articles unless they mentioned the mansions or the luxury vacations right?  No?  Just me?

If it's not the fancy things that catch your eye, maybe it's the social responsibility articles you like.  Millionaires make money by not screwing up environment or employees lifestyles and actually pay fair wages! (it's like finding a needle in a haystack but good guys do exist) I like those articles but everything else is SO boring.  Wow, a rich white guy gets richer?  Wow an old white guy gives his company to his son, who would have thought....I'd rather learn about the underdog.  Because, let's face it, I'm the underdog. 

So as I'm sitting at the doctor last Thursday I began to read the World's Billionaires of 2012 issue.  I officially have my first girl crush.  Sara Blakey created my FAVORITE accessory.  Not shoes, not a new purse, it doesn't even have anything to do with diamonds.  She created SPANX and became a billionaire in the process.

If you are a woman and you enjoy working and making money.  Or if you are at a point in your life and you are thinking there is SO much more you can do and you just don't know what it is.....read this article! 

Sara was doing fine.  She had a great sales job and excelled at her job!  But wearing panty hose in the Florida heat did not cut it for her.  She loved the control top, but not the sweaty legs.  She needed a product that nobody was making.  Her confidence from her sales job and her business background propelled her into the youngest woman self-made billionaire in this issue.  Please please please read this.  Go to the doctor and read it there!  Or buy a freakin' issue.  I hope she inspires you.  Like I said, I'm in love with her confidence and her drive to excellence!



Another thing I learned from this issue: Walmart execs are so freaking rich they make up something like 5 out of the top 10 USA billionaires.  Boycotting Walmart will not save the starving children.  They are 'Too Big to Fail'. 
     Warren Buffet, Christy Walton, Jim Walton, Alice Walton, S. Robson Walton


Living Life to the fullest finding inspiration in underwear!

Try to be better than your best

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered,

you will never grow."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think of a millionaire, think of a person of power like a politician.  Think of someone you like.  Think of someone you don't like.  Do you have their shining faces in your mind?

Of the millionaire and politician that came to your mind, which one do you respect? Which do you look up to?  Are you jealous of either of them?  Do you know someone who does disrespect these people?  Are there people who don't look up to them?  Don't deny that there is someone in the world who is jealous of these successful people....

What about the people you selected as people you like and dislike.  Why do you feel that way about them?  Do you like them because you respect and look up to them?  Or do you dislike them because you are jealous of them or don't understand their life choices?  Would you ever consider learning more about the person you dislike in order to understand where they are coming from?

This is a small exercise about the misconceptions thrown the direct sales industry.  Those women driving around in pink Cadillacs, those Usana reps traveling the world... Do we really dislike them or do we just wish we were them?  Do we doubt ourselves so much that we write off the possibility of being them?  What about the possibility of being BETTER than them?  Are we so scared we can't even take the first step? 

It seems people are very vocal when it comes to sharing negative feedback.  Don't believe me?  Look all over the Internet!!  But do you know what's harder than speaking up?  Keeping your mouth shut and proving someone wrong through actions.
Instead of knocking the millionaire, the politician, the person you dislike....learn from them, be open to where they are coming from and come to a conclusion out of educated respect not pre-judgement.  Being open to direct sales means creating your own business and getting to work!  Putting the ACT in Action.  Actions speak louder than words - so stop making excuses, stop complaining, shut your mouth and either get to work or get researching.  But either way, TRY SOMETHING NEW.  If you're salary you'll never make more money, and if you're hourly making more money costs you extra time and energy....research direct sales and see what residual income costs and see how much you can gain from it too!

"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better

than those who try to do nothing and succeed." 

~Lloyd Jones

Living life to the fullest and trying every day !!

http://www.livinglifetothefullest.usana.com/

USANA

I am so excited to be making a huge change in my life!  I've had a fortunate past and really took alot for granted.  Now that I'm out in the "real world" I've realized nothing is handed to you on a silver platter.  Don't get my wrong, I have a great job and I love going to work every day!  However, there is a part of my life that is empty...I've been anticipating something (or someone) to come into my life and change it for the better.  But I've never been willing to manifest that occurring!!

Well - now I am manifesting my destiny.  I am creating the second income I always dreamed of.  No, it won't hug me through the night to keep me warm, but it will help pay the electricity bill!

I look forward to sharing my journey with USANA on this blog.  If you'd like to learn more about USANA visit my website at http://www.livelifetothefullest.usana.com/ or call/e-mail me!!  I'd love to experience this journey with you!

-Living Life to the Fullest with USANA!

Times Change and so does Business

   There are people in my life I receive advice from, business and personal advice.  I've found that someone who gives me business advice shouldn't be giving me personal advice (and shouldn't really know about my personal life).  So I need to learn which friends or colleagues I should consider advice for each area in my life.
     Someone who gives me business advice and knows that my personal goals are to have a family may not encourage me to work hard because it may sacrifice a family in my future.  On the same note - A business friend may not consider me for a job because they think I'm ready to move home to Dallas due to my personal lifestyle which gets me up to Dallas every other weekend.  I would rather you tell me everything you think I need to know - I'll decide what's a sacrifice and what's an opportunity I cannot refuse.
     And a personal friend may not ask me to be a part of their wedding or invite me to an important moment in their life because they know I am busy with work and think I have no time for them. So not true! I make time for people I want in my life. 
     It's my life and I can decide how to live it, where to live it and with whom to live it with.   Yes, my business life is busy.  But business changes and I can choose to change with it or not.

     On that same note: I am young businesswoman but I've saturated my life with this hospitality/communication industry and I feel incredibly comfortable planning a wedding for 8 or a dinner for 8,000.  Easy-peasy! 
     I understand there is a time for "yes sir" and "yes ma'am" but the business world (and possibly the nation as a whole) is becoming more relaxed and more laid back.  Hand shakes are customary, but I've been known to receive a high-five from my CEO. 
     Southwest Airlines is a wonderfully run company and their staff, planes and pilots are laid back, which makes the entire flying experience more comfortable.  Look at hotels in your town - they aren't stuffy and unapproachable.  They do whatever they can to accommodate your needs whether you are in the penthouse or the discount room. 

     I am having another life crisis today and I realize while I have a professional job, I can make it what I want.  If my client seems laid back and relaxed I can approach them in that way.  Being stiff around a laid back client will challenge the business relationship.  On the opposite side, some clients are uncomfortable with a laid back work place and they would find words like "awesome" inappropriate (even though I first learned that word from my stuffy english teacher during a spelling bee.) 
     When in Sales we need to relate to our clients, we need to adapt.  Not each year, not every month, but every minute of the day we must adapt.  When I answer my phone I never know who's on the other line and what different version of Rachel I can be.  But I do know that I love and enjoy being every version of myself that there is. 
     I hope to never become a version of myself I can't stand. 

Living life to the fullest...every minute of the day!

-Rachel

If you bring an accountant a muffin.....

A couple weeks ago I came into work starving! I could not concentrate on my work and I needed something to eat immediately!  I raided the break room to no success and the rumbling in my stomach could be heard down the hall!  An accountant heard my agony (I'm so dramatic!) and offered me her muffin.  She had stopped by a near-by deli and bought a breakfast sandwich and a muffin.  She had eaten the sandwich, but wasn't going to eat the muffin.  I accepted and gobbled that muffin up!  p.s. This was also my first time to eat a muffin with butter - umm YUM.

Yesterday, I was in a great mood and arrived extra early for work.  I decided to stop by a deli to purchase a muffin to repay the accountant.  I walked in to the office feeling good about returning the favor.  I waited for her to walk by my office and surprised her with the repayment muffin.  She was very grateful.  However, everyone else in my office was upset I didn't offer them a muffin or bring them anything. 

Moral of the story: If you bring an accountant a muffin, bring enough for the entire office!

Photo courtesy of: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/589153

Being Nice is Good Business

I just finished reading and commenting on this Nice Guy Blog. I also re-tweeted it so that others could read along. But now I must continue the discussion in my head. Cara Stewart with Remarx Media left the following comment for Peter:


"Peter, after reading this post, I don’t know whether to cry, cheer or break something. You’re right on. I’m nice. And female. Which translates into “she must be weak.”... I always take the first call, meet for that cup of coffee and share a piece of advice that could prove useful to someone. I participate in my community. I trust employees, clients, friends and relationships. Until I no longer do because they’ve proven that they’ve crossed that line; they confuse nice with weak and take advantage or worse...."

I didn't even think of it from a female point of view! But this is extremely valid - it's difficult being a female in the work place vs. being a man. Women can be portrayed many different ways in the work place. A few examples:
a) the 100% complete b*tch - as a woman I am not afraid to say this person does exist
b) the woman having a bad day and people still call her the B word - again, sad but true
or
c) the really nice girl who gets walked all over (and quietly hides her fangs)
Most of the men I've worked with show off their 'fangs' weekly and not to benefit the company, just to make sure everyone knows they are the ones with the bigger fangs. *Note: this is not the case in my current working environment - for those of you who know the men in my workplace, you know they are the nicest guys...and my boss is a woman.

A while back a friend of mine commented on my tweets. He said it was like an extremely happy cheerleader was typing them - overly excited, overly happy, borderline annoying cheerleader. I don't consider myself overly happy - I am happy, but I do see the negative in the world. This person is not a very positive person to begin with. He obviously wasn't reading into my tweets or clicking on the links I Re-Tweet. He would see my avatar pop up, put the high pitched cheerleader voice in his head and portray me in that way he felt fit.
This person is actually a personal friend of mine who I haven't seen in 2+ years. We reconnected on twitter, but we haven't physically seen each other in a while. We've both changed during our absence. He's been traveling the world and I've established myself as a career woman. He might remember me as this overly optimistic person (and heck- I'd love to be that girl again too) but as Peter says in his blog: Nice people have fangs too.

Like I mentioned earlier being a woman with fangs can come across in different ways than a man with fangs. Men are the "hunters" who are out there "killing" for profit. While in some cases it's the women who comforts the client and builds a true B2C relationship. I'm going along with Peter and Cara, I'm going to be the nice person I genuinely am. That's the way I want to do business. I will love my job and my clients better if I am acting as my true self and being true and nice is good for business.