Working Your Business With Kids
"HOW I WORK MY BUSINESS AS A DIRECTOR AND CONSULTANT WITH THREE LITTLE ONES
UNDER 3-and 1 on the way due Christmas Eve 2004!!!"
By Sales Director Kelly Hogan
Ok-yes, I am busy. Yes, I cannot believe I have three little ones so close in age. Yes, I am crazy! Yes, I love
every minute of it, and YES, I thank God for all the blessings He has given to me like my very supportive
husband, Martin, our oldest son, Thomas Merrick Hogan, age 3, our daughter, Tyler Carlan Hogan who is a
very precocious 2, and our "not so little" Timothy Martin-8 months old (born 12 lbs. 9 oz. and already 28 lbs.-a
linebacker in waiting) And yes, I LOVE BEING A DIRECTOR ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS!
A little background-when I decided to earn my career car, Tommy was 1 and Tyler was 3 months old-I was a
Consultant. I earned it in 11 weeks working about 10 hours a week. I then went on to finish DIQ and debuted
as a Sales Director with over $38,000 in production Sept 1, 2002. I then found out I was expecting our this
shortly after that! Our THIRD surprise! I say this only to show that you can be productive, have a busy home
life and have fun too! It's a balancing act! Now that I am done breastfeeding, my husband and I have
decided that I should step my business on up. Our unit will be in that Cadillac in a few short months!
I have to tell you that the biggest factor in my success is scheduling my week ahead of time and getting
HELP. (I especially had to schedule things to the HOUR when I was breastfeeding! I just finished that part so
I am a bit more free.) I have a weekly plan sheet that is my "ideal week" model. I try my best to stick to this
model. Of course, there are variables, and things may change a bit, but overall I stick to it. I set up
appointments like for the Dr. or dental appts on the same days-Mon or Tues. (I jotted a basic ideal week
schedule at the bottom of this email.) I don't watch very much TV-it is a TIME-ROBBER! I hear so many
people say that they watch this show and that show -don't get me wrong, I enjoy several shows, but I am not
going to schedule my life around them. That's what VCRs are for! Even when I do record them, half the time
I don't have the time to watch them! There are better things to be doing than that!
I also bet that most people, if they TRULY analyzed how they spend their 168 hours, have a lot more time
than they are willing to admit to. Notice that I said "willing to admit to"--I think the "I'm too busy" excuse is
just that-an excuse. Another "avoidance behavior" in action! How badly do you want that goal? are you
willing to put forth the effort to reach it? You have to want it so badly you can taste it. No one else can do
it for you-not your family, not your team, NOT your Director-YOU AND ONLY YOU.
I always say to my unit-WHEN YOUR PASSION AND YOUR PURPOSE ARE GREATER THAN YOUR FEAR
AND EXCUSES YOU WILL FIND A WAY! Stop making excuses!
I also have a part-time nanny who comes in and helps me with the children-it frees me up to do my business
and also allows me to spend time one-on-one with the little ones--plus-I get some extra lunch dates with my
husband! He is my priority!
EXCUSE # 3, 412: "I don't have enough money to afford a nanny"==
Now before you think-oh-"I can't do the nanny thing"---hang on. I also did it without a nanny for a while
too. I would get up and shower BEFORE the children did, get b-fast ready and even prepped lunches ahead
of time while I was doing the b-fast thing. Putting them in brown bags and drawing little pics on them for
the older 2-they loved it! It saved me time later in the morning. We have to work smart, not hard!
Then we would do any errands necessary. While I am in the car I will call people--there is NO idle time for
me! Then I would take care of anything and everything around the house while they watched 30 minutes of
their choice of Veggietales, Sesame Street or some other program we approved of. That freed me up to do a
quick run-down in the house. We would go to the library in the mornings, go on walks, whatever--it was
with the children. They learned pretty early on that when I am on the phone I am making money to help us
"buy food and clothes"--so they liked that concept and stayed quiet. (Especially when they would say, "will it
buy us some candy?") Ha!
The magical part of the daily routine is their naptime. I have them scheduled pretty well so that they ALL 3
nap at the same time-the key is to keep them busy in the am so they will be tired in the pm! Sooo, my main
PHONE time is from 1:30ish to 3-ish. Occasionally I will have a facial or two over during that time. Now that
they are a bit older-I don't have appointments over. Guests get the children all worked up and they won't
sleep b/c they love having guests to show off for!
And one more thing about having a nanny-when she is working, it motivates me to make more money to
pay for her too!!!!! Some people don't have any money to pay for help-welp-you need to take that risk and
GET HELP! (I took that risk!) Then, once you have her in place, go get bookings on your books to pay for
that help. The more appointments you hold, the more effective at selling you get, the more clients are in
your base, the more reorders you will receive, the more potential team members you can interview, the
bigger your team will grow, the more commission checks you will get, the more money you will profit, the
more choices you can make!! It is so WIN-WIN!!! (Plus, being a Director ROCKS!!!)
EXCUSE # 3, 965: "I barely have enough time to attend meetings let alone hold appointments
on other nights"
I utilize my meeting nights to focus on those clients that will not have classes for me. I ALWAYS have
personal guests there. I have class nights on Wed. nights and Saturdays I will either have 2 personal
appointments or if I only have 1, I will make sure that I work a booth (another way to get leads)--in other
words-when you schedule yourself to work 5 hours MK -and you finish 2 hours early-STILL WORK MK the rest
of the 3 hours you scheduled yourself for! Don't sell yourself short!! Go out get names or call some prospects
and get some bookings! When you do the things you ought to do when you ought to do them, you can do
the things you want to do when you want to do them!
EXCUSE # 4, 357: "I am too tired!"==
Oh, I hear that a lot--I am tired most of the time, too! (Going to bed around 1-2 am doesn't help me either.)
Do I dwell on the fact that I am tired? NO WAY! That makes me even more tired! That's also why I
exercise-it gives me more energy. Man, having 3 c-sections (I grow HUGE children in my womb--Tommy was
11.3, Tyler, our daughter was 9.14 and remember, Timothy was 12.9-all of them born 1 week early!) and such
big babies gets you out of shape pretty fast-plus with those little ones moving and grooving all over the
place-I don't have much time to even go to the bathroom in peace--wait-I NEVER have a peaceful
experience in the bathroom, come to think of it! Ha! (I know that one day this too, shall pass and I will miss
the pitter-patter of little feet, so I also cherish these moments too!)
EXCUSE # 5,896: "I don't trust anyone to take care of my children."==
That's good that you are concerned about that-any mother in her right mind is concerned about that. I did
NOT place an ad in the paper looking for a nanny, I asked around. It took a couple of months to find ours,
but she is well worth the wait! I asked girlfriends who had babysitters, I asked women who I admired how
they reared their children, I asked, I asked, I asked. The next part is learning to LET GO. Your children are
more adaptable than you think! Yes, the first few times are a little touch and go-for Pete's sake-the children
are getting to know their boundaries with their caretaker and your caretaker is learning their little quirks
that you know like the back of your hand! What I did was schedule her to be with me for a couple of days
so I can show her firsthand how I did everything-I like things done my way, so I wanted to train her to do it
that way! So she shadowed me and the children got to know her better too-in a more comfortable
environment-with mommy there! Then I had her with them alone for a couple of hours-I came home early
too-just to "check up"--all was well. I felt very confident in her capabilities so left again for an appointment!
Basically, I eased her and the children together. I have heard it said before, "SMOTHERHOOD is being with
your children all the time. OTHERHOOD is hardly taking quality time out for them at all. And
MOTHERHOOD is finding the balance." Your children will adapt. In fact, they will probably adjust to it
better than YOU! Plus, they will be better off! They see your work ethic, they also get to spend one-on-one
time with you and they learn not to be clingy to you when you leave. You are teaching them
INDEPENDENCE! The hardest part of parenting is learning to let go. You can do it with a balance!
EXCUSE # 7, 147: "I don't even trust their father to babysit them"
Don't get me started on this one! First of all, their father is NOT babysitting-he is a parent also! Why is it not
called babysitting when you have your children? B/c you are their MOTHER! Well, he is their FATHER! He is
PARENTING too! Now, to get back to the excuse-re-read the above answer as far as the transition goes-and
also keep this in mind--how else is he going to learn if he doesn't get some alone time with the children?
How did you learn? It was scary to me the first few times I even left Tommy with Martin for a little "me time"
when I was a new mom. I thought, he doesn't have a clue what his routine is, what to do if he did this, or
that---WAIT A MINUTE! (Now, it's not like Martin was jumping for joy to be alone either-he was a bit
uneasy too-he had NEVER been around children his WHOLE life! He WAS the baby!) When I came home
after my little internal hissy-fit, I discovered both Martin and little Tommy were well-adjusted and things
went well. (Except for the stinky diaper that I got to avoid! Yeehaww!)
EXCUSE # 8, 942: "Well, that's great for her, but that just won't work in my situation."
Please hear my heart on this one-YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO--NO MATTER
WHAT OBSTACLES YOU ARE FACING, YOU CAN OVERCOME THEM IF YOU WANT TO BADLY ENOUGH!!
SO I WON'T BUY THAT EXCUSE EITHER!
Ok-so here's my ideal week:
Monday-Saturday---up at 5:30/6am-devotions, exercise, shower, b-fast ready and prep lunch
Monday--grocery store, errands, no MK until Mon night calls/conf call
Tues-MK appt in the am or lunch interview/on-the-go/2-4 phone time/grand openings for my unit
Wed-MK appt in the am or lunch interview/on-the-go/2-4 phone time/7PM-CLASS time
Thurs-am free/meeting night-prep starts at 2
Fri-office time/deliveries/lunch appts/Friday night is DATE NIGHT!
Sat-2 personal appts-CLASSES and can do grand openings for my unit
Sun-still up before Tommy, Tyler and Timothy wake, ready for church, b-fast prep and lunch prep-church then SNUGGLE TIME! RELAX!!!!! It's our day of REST!!!!
Other tips-plan your meals, have set office hours and TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SERIOULSY! If you treat it like
a hobby, it will pay you like a hobby-zilch. But if you treat it seriously, it will pay you seriously!
Hope that helps!
Warmly,
Kelly Hogan