Father's Day Tribute

Hello Everyone!

Happy Father's day to all of you awesome dad's out there. Today I am remembering my amazing dad. He was my Step Dad, but I never thought of him as that. To me he was my dad. The one and only. Up until I was 21 he was the one and only dad in my life. Yes at the age of 21 my biological (sperm donor) showed up on my door step. That story is for another blog post. Today I want to praise the dad who was there for me. 

He taught me a lot about life and values. He taught me how to protect myself. He taught me that it's okay to be realistic as well as positive. He never treated me different. He also was raised a devote Catholic. He never treated me like I should be ashamed of my beliefs. He nurtured the fact that I was open minded. I was eager to learn about everything. He would buy me various books to learn. Even if it was topics that went against the Catholic beliefs. He was an amazing dad. 

There is one memory that stands out from the rest for me. I had just had scoliosis surgery. When I opened my eyes in recovery he was standing there smiling down at me. This memory stands out so much for me from many because he was there. A major moment in my life he was by my side as my dad. Everyone always thought he was my biological father. We had that bond. He treated me as his own. He was going to give me a pint of his blood for my surgery. He was excited because it would be like I was his own blood. It was heart breaking when we found out my blood type was actually RH negative instead of RH positive like him. In the end he still dedicated time to help care for me after I came home. 

This value has lived on in me to this day. The value to help others without expectation. He was a good person who helped those in need. I am proud to call him my dad. 

I also want to honor my husband. The father of our three boys. I would include a picture of him on my blog post, but he is not a fan of the camera. He has been there for me and our children through the years. No matter the curve balls life throws at us he is there pushing us through. He works hard to provide for his family. He teaches his sons to be strong young men. He teaches them value to be loving and kind. He teaches them to be strong. He teaches them how to treat a woman. He tells them to value their mother and always to speak kindly and protect. He teaches them to stand up for one another, because they will be all each other has one day. He is an amazing father who we value and love more than words can express. 

So, to all of the fathers out there, no matter what gave you the title of Dad, Happy Father's Day! 

Until Next Time!

Make Money | No Direct Sales Required

Hello Lovelies!

I thought how cool would it be to do a post on the topic of working from home. So, I browse social media a lot. I like to watch videos of various people. I love to learn from others. Today I saw a video with a lady who does Direct Sales. I have noticed this particular lady likes to create misconceptions. The reward she gets from doing this is either new customers or new people signing up under her. So today's misconception dealt with girls who use makeup bought in a store. She said these girls post pictures on Social Media showing their looks using Revlon and such. She said they make no money doing this and will never make money doing this. This is a huge misconception.

If you are passionate about cosmetics and/or skincare you can actually build a career around this. Do you have to be in Direct Sales to do so? Absolutely not! 

You can earn by:

1. Blogging - Buy the products you love and blog about them. They can be anything from products you get at a drugstore, Walmart or even Ulta. Blog about where you enjoy getting your beauty products from. Blog reviews about new products you try. 
2. Vlogging - This is much like blogging only done on video. Same concept. Share what you love, review, show where you shop... Haul videos are actually in as well as shop with me videos. Also beauty and skincare is really in as far as tutorials and such goes.  
3. Post Pictures - Hit Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or whatever other platform you enjoy. Share photos of your looks. Share photos of the stores you like to shop at. Share photos of what you buy. Just remember to be real with people. Don't swipe photos from online. Take your own photos and use original content. 
4. Live Videos - Some might ask, "Isn't this the same as vlogging?" Yes and no. You are doing a video log, but in live format. You can do lives showing products you bought online. Do an unboxing of what you just got. Talk about the products on live and interact with everyone. Do live makeup tutorials. 

This is just a few ways! So I bet now you are wondering how this makes you money? Build a following and get sponsors! It is called Influence Marketing. You provide people with valuable information. They come to trust your opinion and follow you. Your following grows and brands take notice. They then want to work with you, because you have the crowd they want to reach out to. They pay influencers for pictures with products, post featuring products and videos where the products are shown. Some influencers will simply state the video is sponsored by *insert brand here* and if there is a product show it at the start. They will also say a little something about the brand and product. Easy Peasy! So that is how you can make money in beauty without being a Direct Sales Rep! 

Did you enjoy this post? 

Want to see more like this in the future?

Let me know in the comments! 

Until Next Time!

Why I Left SeneGence | #LoveisLove

Hello Lovelies!

I have avoided writing a post of this sort on various occasions. After recent events and thinking I This post is not bashing the company.
wanted to share my story. I have actually seen other stories shared by many women through various outlets. So let me begin by saying this:

The company is not responsible for actions of Distributors. However there is Code of Ethics in place for a reason. 

So which company am I talking about? SeneGence

The company is amazing. The products are as well. Then what could possibly be my issue?

Let me start at the beginning. 

I joined the first time I believe it was September 2013 when they had free sign up. It was a company I had never heard of before. My way of thinking is, "Free? Sounds good to me. I'm not wasting money to sign up." So I signed up to check it out. 

My first sponsor was someone I had met through a homeschooling group. Within a few days I had already recruited 3 or 4 ladies to my downline. Well, a few days later my sponsor had a tantrum with me, because I said I didn't care for Netti Pots. This was in response to her telling me to use one for a sinus infection. So she had a tantrum then blocked me on Facebook. I contacted the company asking if it was possible to change sponsors by suggestion of another distributor. The company said they would allow me to deactivate and resign up while the free month was still in affect. They had told me when I did so to let them know my downline if they wanted to move could do the same as I did. 

I deactivated and resigned under the upline my sponsor had. When my downline went to do the same we were told they couldn't. The reason being it would take away from the sponsor I had signed under. So my sponsor who did NOTHING instantly got 3 or 4 ladies on her first line due to me deactivating and moving to another sponsor. Those ladies needless to say did nothing and ended their distributorship. They did not want to make money for a woman who used me then blocked me.

So now I was under the new upline with no team. I lost what I had worked for which was very discouraging. I focused on trying to learn the business. I am a person who struggles with math. I tried making a post about the compensation plan to lure in new recruits. I was reprimanded by the Team Leader saying I had it all wrong. She tagged me on her video explaining it. I watched and took notes then corrected my post. She commented again even more harsh tone and told me to just remove the post. She told me I just wasn't going to get it. This discouraged me even more and was leaving a bad impression of the company.

I ended up going inactive, because I did not have the money to drop into stock. This is where this company makes it's money honestly. You are told to buy up stock so you get your 50% discount. You have to buy in the thousands for that discount. We were being trained to just get a credit card strictly for business use. Buy over a thousand dollars worth of skincare and cosmetics, which was not a lot with the prices on the products compared to other companies, then sell that and pay your credit card bill when you do. Here is the kicker though. You buy up stock of products, main skincare that sells, various lip and eye colors, there is no guarantee your going to sell that. In my case even if I had the money to buy that stock everyone I knew come to find out already knew about SeneGence. Most sold or already had a person they bought from. The other part of the people I knew were like me, Frugal without that kind of money to spend on skincare and cosmetics.

I have actually heard stories of women who bought stock monthly. They would place that one order and be stuck with products no one wanted to buy. Then there is the factor of if someone returns a product. You have to replace that product or refund their money. This is where it started to cost a lot of ladies money. The company will take back product, but you are only credited or given a new product to replace it. You do not get that cash back at all. So this is where many started to go into debt. We also were being trained to push product on customers. When you push a large bill on someone they are going to come back later wanting their money back. It's buyers remorse. They were pressured. Then then they think on it figuring they really don't need it, what they use now works fine and cost less. This ends up costing money for someone who really doesn't have the money to spend.

Then we were being told by our Team Leader to unfollow our friends and family on Facebook who sell for any other company. She said if we see their success with another company it will make us want to stray. Why would we want to stray if we supposedly will be doing so much good with SeneGence? That though to me was wrong. It goes against what the company is supposed to be about. It is about Empowering other women and people in our communities no matter what. It's not just to Empower the women within this company. Or to Empower someone if they have the same mind set, skin color, religion, ect as me. So that actually is set up for failure if you choose to not support friends and family because they are with another company. Really think about it like this. If you unfollow them how would you know if they start looking for a different opportunity? You miss out on that. Also how can you not support your friends, but expect them to support you?

So I went inactive and resigned up under an amazing lady and leader. The one I was under previously had gone inactive as well focusing on her family. So now under leadership of this amazing lady she was very supportive. Granted I was still under the same Team Leader/Crown Princess due to my leader still falling under this leaders dominion. My leader was a Princess and if she hit Crown Princess she would break off and have her own dominion. This means her team no longer would be making profit for her upline. Drama broke out because the Team Leader was sabotaging my leader. She was stealing recruits from her sending them to another woman in another state. She and this other woman also were getting girls on various teams kicked from the company. There is a rule in SeneGence that you can sell from various companies if you like as long as you are not ranked. I was not ranked and was safe to sell my Candles with my SeneGence. Other women who were low ranked were also selling Paparazzi Jewelry or Scentsy as well. So they kept contacting compliance who kept emailing the distributors. Either the girls would end up being removed from the company or they quit due to the bullying.

This time around I did give it a try, but as before I could not sell the products. People who did not already buy or sell the products did not like the idea of paying $50 just for a LipSense starter kit. I did not have the money to buy stock and stay active. I did not have the time to build a presence online to reach out to more people. My friends list was filling up with SeneGence distributors and various people wanting me to come to their companies instead of customers. There were no actual samples of lip colors you could buy to send to people. They did not make it easy at all for us to work the business totally online. You have to get out do demos and parties. No guarantee those free makeovers will make you money. I did makeovers a lot which still resulted in no sales. It was frustrating and that was actually starting to cost me money.

Now the products are great. They do as they say which is the makeup stays on all day. I did end up with complaints on the products which led to me not using as many. The skincare worked great for my eczema. I have very combination skin though. My combination is not normal and oily or normal and dry. Mine is dry and oily. They do not make products for this type of skin combination. So the result was my eczema was not dry, but my face was extremely oily. I started to break out bad from the products. The normal to dry products have oils in them. So I tried my son's normal to oily cleanser. It dried my face out bad, because it has alcohol in it. So the skincare was a no go for me. I even had to stop using the Climate Control on my face due to it being oil based. I had signed up for Avon again so I could get products at a discount. At this point I started using an Avon body lotion that was for firming skin.

The eye shadow for me was not easy to use at all. I actually rubbed my eyelid raw trying to get the product to blend. They dried on me way too fast. I disliked it and the mascara. The mascara actually caused my lashes to break. I had a chunk in my lashes taken out from the mascara not wanting to come off. Even using makeup remover as advised it would not come off easy. So I stopped using their eye shadows and mascara. The only products I ended up liking in the end was the exfoliate, foundation and LipSense. Avon had a product I could get to use in place of Climate Control. It had the main active ingredient, hyaluronic acid, as Climate Control had. It did not have all the oils added to it. It had Shea Butter beads. It never broke my skin out once.

So after thinking long and hard I ended up giving up with SeneGence. I turned my focus to Avon which was a company I had success with in the past. I knew the products and loved the products. Also at this time when I decided to go inactive there was a few factors in play. The drama for one was unreal. I was trying to help the team build strong businesses online with stuff I was learning. I would make online fliers with my son's help and shared them with the team. Women from the other woman's team in the other state were taking what I made hacking it all up basically. I told them they could use the pictures, but not change them. It ruins the professionalism of something someone worked hard on if you take and use some cheap phone app to put your name and number across the center of it changing the pictures resolution. I know that is prob a petty thing to get urked over, but it was really disheartening that they would do that after I asked people not to. I never shared another thing with them so they started taking my work off of my page. Then they would paint over my watermark and info to put their information on it.

These girls also were trained to use other peoples content, as in other major businesses or photographers, without worrying about copyright. Basically they could do as they pleased. I did report some that I saw used Mattel copyright photos of Barbie for business purpose. I didn't report to Facebook, I went straight to Mattel. So I left and was gone for a good while after going inactive this time around. I was gone for 5 years before I decided I wanted to give it a try again. I did like the lip products and wanted to focus on selling just that. I don't care for the rest. I wanted to be on the same team as before, because it is local to me. I prefer having a local leader and liked the fact she did have a training center locally. The distributors have access to the training center to do demos, makeovers and parties. I was going to sign up through a lady I met before. I had asked the Team Leader if this woman was high enough up in the group, referring to which generation line she fell in the team, for me to be in the team. She lied to me and said no she was like on the last line of her team. I did not know this was a lie until after I signed up under the Team Leader.

So I signed under the Team Leader and instantly drama started. People were upset I signed under her and not one of the ones I reached out to. I reached out to a few who did not get back to me very fast. Then I found out about the lie soon after. That made me mad needless to say. I also got told she was stealing recruits from the lady I was going to sign under. Same thing, by lying to them. I attended one of the local events they were doing. Same thing as the first times I sold. No one would show up as my guest. So I was at this event alone. Met some great people though while I was there. Then I noticed things did not change at all. The team leader plays favorites. She raves over the ones who are dropping loads of money in, because that makes her money. See that is how they make their money and rank in this business. The girls buy stock and they get money. I again could not drop money in stock, because what I was expecting to have for that did not come through. So I struggled as I did before. No personal help from my leader at all. Instead I had her contacting me wanting me to help her with tech stuff. See she is an older lady who is falling behind in the tech age. The younger reps are speeding past her needless to say.

So yet again I went inactive. I actually left the team group prior to going inactive. See, there is one thing I can not stand. That is being told I am to use only the products of the company. Not happening. I also plan on working my way up to influence marketing. I don't want the company to limit me promoting or reviewing various products. After leaving, again, I am honestly thankful today I did. I am thankful I didn't get a good team going. See, last week the company posted a post in support of Pride Month. This Team Leader went on the company's post and blew up. Totally lost her s**t on everyone including the company. She then went to her own page and posted that these people have no morality. Used a bible verse talking against sodomy to prove she is right. Then people turned her words on her. They told her she was immoral and going against Jesus' words. Love & Acceptance! 

She flipped out over people not eating her garbage and asking for seconds. She deactivated her Facebook then took to Instagram. She posted a few things calling supporters mentally sick people. Another bashed the company and shamed them for supporting Pride Month. Her daughter took to the Pride post crying for people to stop. Her hurt her heart for people to be negative to her mom. That her mom hates no one and loves everybody. I am sorry but calling people names saying they are immoral and ignorant is not love. That is pure hate! Her family and her condemned people saying they are going to burn for eternity pretty much for supporting this sin. I even had her sister commenting to me wanting to know how my words could be true. See I kept telling her to read a Psychology book. It states in Psychology that people who fall into the LGBTQ+ community are born this way. It is not something they woke up one day and said I am going to be this. I told her that means God made them that way. God makes no mistakes. To be against God's children/creations is to be against God.

This woman started spewing ignorance. She wanted to know if that is true then what about these few scriptures that speak against homosexuality. Each scripture presented to me I read. Each one was not about homosexuality. I pointed that out to her and she flipped out. She had to start praying for me, because I am going to burn for eternity. Good thing I don't believe in the same hell she does. So this homophobic rage really hurt a lot of people in the company. Many girls actually are leaving the company due to this. I told them not to leave. Simply start complaining that something be done. This goes against Code of Ethics. No matter how big this woman is in the company she should be held to the same rules. She needs to be reprimanded and let go. She did this on the business page! She did this where customers can see! Just because the comments are deleted now does not mean anything. The company apologized for caving to her hate resulting in the post being changed from a Pride post. They changed it back and issued an apology. This woman has stated she is not sorry at all for what she did or said. She thinks she is right and everyone else is wrong. She thinks the company she makes loads of money through is wrong and has people actually against the company! How does that help her build her business? Also she has zero issue taking money from homosexuals and signing Lesbians up to her team. See this makes her money which is all she is worried about. Her top priorities are herself, money and fame.

Oh and another bombshell. She tells people these products she uses is what keeps her looking young. Her business is based on lies. She gets Botox done! There actually is a young distributor who openly admits she gets Botox for preventative. She does it to prevent wrinkles the skincare helps keep her skin healthy and looking good. This girl, while being honest, has ranked highest in the company. She broke records. She has higher sales in a month than my old team leader. My old team leader thrives on lies. She keeps her demographic small and suffers from it. She now talks bad about the young lady who has broke company records and another young lady. Reason? Because they are successful within the company and get sponsorships. See they also do the Influence Marketing. One of them actually comes up on Google as being a famous blogger. She is well known. My old team leader can not stand that. So to the team leader I left behind, I really hope you get right in your heart. Stop preaching about worldly possessions trying to make it about homosexuality and those who support them. Stop trying to tear others down. The reason why these girls are so successful is because they are educated in the business. They are open minded, they love, they support, they are REAL! They don't only support within one small area. They don't just support those making them money. They support and empower everyone. They do for their community. That is what true leadership is about. So #GetEducated and open your mind up.

So, with that being said this is why I left SeneGence. These actions are why I will never put another SeneGence product on my face. Not until this woman is removed from the company. This is why no matter how much I love these amazing ladies I made friends with I can not support their businesses. It lines the pockets of a woman filled with hate and contempt. The day the company does what they should have done last week is when I will show support for those who were under this woman. I support love and acceptance. #LoveisLove

Until Next Time!