Drinking the Purple Kool-Aid

I have always hated direct sell. Seriously. Most people who know me, know that I am a pretty optimistic person. I like to focus on the bright side of things. In fact, tend to be the most upbeat Positive Polly in the room, but... when it comes to direct sell, I'm more like Cynical Sally.

• "All it is, is a group of women, guilt-ing another group of women, into buying things they don't really want."
• "Do people really not realize that they're the ones slaving away at the bottom of the pyramid while Richy-Richardton drinks in the profits at the top?"
• "You can put a purple bow on anything and call it a business, but that won't make it one."
• "Who's really keeping that business alive? The customers or the consultants?"

Sound familiar?

So... you can imagine my thought process when a friend of mine, (also named Mandy) asked me if I might like to come to a 'Scentsy' Conference/Reunion with her in Las Vegas.

"It's fun," she said. "You don't have to sign-up or anything, but you can hang out with me and come to some good concerts and stuff as a guest." I'd been Mandy's Scentsy customer nearly as long as I'd been her friend, and I genuinely like Scentsy and Scentsy products, so I accepted. Mostly because I had been having a busy, stressful year and really wanted to go to Vegas and blow off some steam.

A couple weeks before the trip, I bit the bullet and signed up to be a Scentsy Consultant. It cost me $49. I figured it would be well-worth my money in free swag, and after the trip and the swag bonus, I could just let my account drift away into nothingness. No harm done. I wouldn't even have to file taxes later.

I was a bit embarrassed to tell my friends and family about it, even though they all use Scentsy in their homes. Not because it was Scentsy, but because I knew their attitudes about direct sale were probably similar to mine. My brother even told me, "Just don't drink the kool-aid," before I left.

So, I got ready and drove to Las Vegas to meet my friend.

I have never been to a direct sale conference before. I have never been to any work conference before, so I was completely unprepared for the madness that ensued. Everywhere I looked was purple... and rhinestones...and glitter, and POSITIVITY. I have never seen that kind of enthusiasm anywhere else in my life, and I've been to Disney Land, and a Southern Baptist Church. It was like some bizarre cross between a pep-rally and a rock concert. Don't believe me? Look at this.

See what I'm saying? Soon, some pumped-up announcer was calling the owners of Scentsy up to the stage like they were Van Halen. The crowd went wild. I smirked. "Let's see this guy and his wife," I thought, "the so-called 'preachers' of the Scentsy church ready to sell me a glass of purple Kool-Aid." 

They came to the stage, Orville and Heidi Thompson, smiling, waving, and enthusiastic. They were nothing like what I expected. No show-boating, no pushiness, no "get out there and sell, sell, sell" attitude, and no wildly charismatic speeches. Don't get me wrong. They're a lovely couple. Sweet and nice. Appropriately charming. They just weren't what I expected.

The Scentsy Stage

Orville is...well, (forgive me Orville, if by-chance you ever read this)... a bit-of a nerd. Not in an Urkel way, and not in a sleek-hipster-with-thick-framed-glasses-and-a-typewriter-at-the-park kind of way either. He's the kind of guy that would invite you to come to dinner and spend the whole time grilling hot dogs, jumping on the trampoline, and bragging about his kids. He's the kind of guy that gives people high-fives and thumbs-up. I'd bet good money that he owns a Hawaiian shirt. He's got a good sense of business too, and he's smart without making a big deal out of it. Man, he was likeable.

Orville and Heidi

Heidi was likeable too. Stylish without being tacky, sentimental without making me want to roll my eyes. Never once did I feel that they were trying to emotionally manipulate anyone. In fact, the majority of the focus was on self-improvement. Very little, if any time was spend talking about themselves. Heidi gave her 'keynote' address that evening, something she self-referred to as a 'talk', and not a keynote. She spoke passionately about butterflies, overcoming fear, and growing into your best potential. I know. Pretty horrific brainwashing stuff, right?

It was fun too. Lots of confetti and loud music and people dancing in the aisles. It cracked me up, to be honest. It's so rare these days to see a group of middle-aged people that psyched about anything. It made me reflect on how cynical I'd let myself become over the years. I felt transported back in time to my twenties when I was more concerned about fun than financial responsibility. There was an awesome concert. One Republic. It was a blast. I haven't been to a concert that fun since I was in college.

I saw Orville busting some really 'dad-looking' dance moves in the front row. He looked... comfortable. He looked like he was perfectly at ease with the thousands of adults dressed-up and screaming like they were in a nineties music video.

The next day I decided to let go of my skepticism a little bit and just let myself have a good time for once.

I dressed up like this:
(Dude, put the glass down)

Scentsy Vogue

I did this:
(I know it smells good, but don't you dare take a sip!)

Don't worry, they're temporary!

I got way too stoked about stuff like this:
(Seriously, you're scaring me!)

Scentsy Diffusers 

I cried my eyes out when I saw this:

(My son has autism. So does my Sponsor's son and daughter. 
Seriously, way to go Scentsy.)

(PUT THAT GLASS DOWN, I MEAN IT!)

(Glug glug glug)

(Uh oh.)

I listened to a lot of other consultants talk about how their Scentsy business has benefited their lives. One couple had been brought back from the brink of financial ruin. One wonderful lady used Scentsy to brighten her life after her only son died, and through five different cancers. One pair of sister-in-laws' relationship improved when they found that they finally had something in common to talk about.

These were not the kind-of people you would expect Scentsy to pick to speak in front of seven-thousand consultants. They weren't flashy, charismatic, salesmen. One man had a speech impediment. One lady spoke about the struggle of getting her business off the ground. Several were very very nervous. They were all fairly open and honest about their experiences with Scentsy. There were no fantastic claims of 'miracle money-making' and 'life-changing magic'. The underlying points? Work hard. Make friends. Focus on the customer. Encourage your team. Step out of your comfort zone a little bit.

Orville gave his keynote/talk that evening. He spoke about trees, letting go of good things for great things, and spending your energy in useful ways. He said stuff like, "Scentsy money should be used for Scentsy, and family money for family," and, "It's important to spend your energy where it matters most," and "This is your business. It belongs to you." Unbelievable. I couldn't believe the nerve. You'll never get me alive Scentsy wizard!

The trip was fun. The classes were interesting and informative. The concerts and performers were a blast, and not just because it was Las Vegas. I found that once I let go of my cynicism and suspicions a little bit, then I could focus more on the big picture of Scentsy, and the big picture was truly amazing. It's hard to explain, but Scentsy has... a spirit of joy, and family, and friendship. There's a little spark of madness to it all. It feels... well, genuine. The focus is on the individual and how they can use their unique talents and personality to make their business special - and that's something I want to be a part of.

When I got back home, and the glitter had worn off, I found that I was still every bit as enthused about Scentsy as I'd been when I was there. Once I lightened up about direct sell a bit, I figured out that in most ways, its actually pretty awesome.

Direct sell...well, I learned that it's pretty much what you want it to be. You're not going to be a millionaire from it. You didn't take that kind of risk, so you probably won't get that kind of reward. You can't expect a full time wage without putting in full time hours. It's not a miracle life fix, and they don't claim it to be. It's a business of good smells. And good smells make people feel awesome.

The best part, in my opinion, is that you get to have fun. Lots of fun. And when's the last time you did that as an adult? Seriously, think about it. When's the last time you got truly excited about something? It's easy in Scentsy. You'll make friends with a bunch of nuts who put pictures of sparkly, plastic wax containers on their shirts, dye their hair purple, and get super duper excited about Mason Jar wax warmers and aromatherapy - but don't worry too much, they all smell great. Seriously, the greatest smelling group of people you'll probably ever meet. Plus, you'll make some extra cash. Actually, if you put in some extra effort, you can make a lot of extra cash. And everyone likes cash, right?

Mandy Squared

It is low risk, and it is YOUR business. Trust me. There are a thousand different approaches used by a thousand different consultants. They talk about it. Everywhere. All the time. You just have to find what approach works for you. So yeah - I'm pretty much back to being Polly Positive again. Even about direct sell.

• "All it is, is a group of women (and men, learned that fast), encouraging another group of women, to have fun and improve themselves."

• "Do people really not realize that they're the owners of Scentsy are personally invested in the happiness and success of each consultant?"

• "You can put a purple bow on it, but it's still your business."

• "Who's really keeping that business alive?" - Well, people like me are. Regular people who love Scentsy, like to be in business for themselves, and want to have fun at work.

Don't worry though. I won't judge you if you're still Cynical Sally as long as you don't judge me for being Positive Polly. Also - take a sample of something that smells good, from me. There you go. Breathe deeply and let the soothing smell wash over you. Lighten up a bit, Sally. Once you drink the purple kool-aid, you'll be just fine.

Viva la Scentsy!!!!

  

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My Personal Consultant Webpage:
https://mandyh.scentsy.us/