Monday, May 13, 2013

How My Avon Business Made Me a Better Mom

How My Avon Business Made Me a Better Mom


In honor of Mother's Day this past weekend, I'd like to share a little something different this month.  My personal "WHY" for having an Avon business.  I know my story may not be relevant for you personally, but you may meet Moms who could benefit from having their own business, and hopefully my story will help you to offer that gift to them.

Before I started my Avon Business, I had left my full time office job and I was working weekends while my husband worked during the week so that we could take my daughter out of daycare.  We felt that we had missed a lot of important moments in her first 18 months by being away from her so long during the day. The weekend job allowed one or the other of us to be home with her every day, but left little opportunity for time together as a family. 

After 2 years at the weekend job, I got a call from the head office explaining that the 2 day a week position was being eliminated and I would need to work 4 days a week if I wanted to keep my job.  By the time I paid a caregiver for my daughter for those extra 2 days, I would have been making less money in exchange for being away from her for 2 days a week. The impact on our income would soon become even greater because I was 7 months pregnant with our second child.  I had to give up my part time job...I couldn't afford to keep it. Being pregnant, I knew my odds of finding a new job with the hours that I wanted were pretty slim so I needed another option.  

I had started selling Avon a year before this and had done pretty well building up a nice little side income as a result.  My husband and I decided that I would put a little more effort into the Avon business in the remaining months of my pregnancy and the time that I would have been out on Maternity leave, and hopefully that would be enough to keep us afloat until I could get another job. 

As it turns out, that extra effort was enough to increase my income from my Avon business to the point that it more than made up for what I lost from the weekend job.  The "baby" is now 15 and I have not needed to work another job besides Avon since then. To this day I would say that becoming an Avon Representative was the best decision I ever made for my family. 

Unknown to me at the time having a home based, service oriented business was also going to be a very positive thing for my daughters.  The benefits included:
  • First and foremost that I was home to care for them the way their Dad and I wanted them cared for, not the way the daycare wanted them cared for. 
  • I haven't had to choose between work and being there for the important moments in their lives. First day of school, school field trips, music performances, and the little moments like our annual last day of school luncheon with the girls and their friends. Even taking a whole week to help my older daughter move to college. 
  • Even when I was working, I was still with my daughters so I was able to take advantage of all of those little teachable moments. Those opportunities to teach them the big life lessons in a real world situation rather than a lecture that would likely be tuned out. 
  • It was easier for me to be involved with their school.  I had time to volunteer in class and serve on the PTSO when they were in elementary school. I continued being involved in their schools up through High School in some degree or another. 
  • Over the years they have taken on an increasingly larger part in running my business, learning vital job skills such as task management, customer service, marketing and networking skills.  They have already started using these skills to their personal benefit and they will continue to use this knowledge as they move out into the world on their own. 
  • They have enjoyed being exposed to people from many backgrounds, with different cultures and views and opinions,  which has helped them to be very open minded and embracing of different ways of living and thinking.  Interpersonal skills vital to being successful in the world that cannot be taught in a classroom or with a lecture. 
Over the years I have heard women use their children as an excuse for not working on their business.  For me my girls are the number one reason to work my business, and I am grateful every day for the person who unknowingly set me on this path nearly 17 years ago. 

What questions do you have about this or any other aspect of your Avon business? I'm always happy to hear from you. 

Chris Arnold
Avon Gold Leader
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