I quit.

I quit 3 different network marketing companies and I’m having such an interesting reaction to the word “quit.”

I remember when I “quit” my job teaching swimming lessons and lifeguarding at the YMCA and I felt so horrible about myself because I was quitting. But I was quitting because it was my 3rd job and I simply didn’t have enough time when I went back to school that fall. I also no longer enjoyed the job.

Question – do you think you have to stay doing something if you don’t love it?

I think sometimes you do. Especially when it comes to work. Leaving a job you don’t like without another job seems somewhat risky (oh wait…..I think I did that). I did actually had somewhat of a plan with a few trusted clients. But there is often a point where bills have to be paid, money needs to be made and saved and so on. But the key is – you don’t have to stay there forever. You can recognize that you don’t like it, make a plan, apply to a new job or create your own and then leave.

Today I want to take you on my network marketing journey and also talk about the word and action of quitting.

 

I’m also going to share my deep rooted reason for quitting my 3rd company. 

If you’ve never heard of a network marketing company or MLM or sometimes lovingly referred to as a “pyramid scheme” (which they are not – that’s illegal) let me give you a short introduction.

A network marketing company is one where you typically start out by loving a product, recognizing that it could benefit friends and family and people in your life, and then deciding to incorporate it as an income stream in your life. You do this by sharing the product with people and you can also build a business by recruiting other people like you who love the product and want to share.

 

Many, many moons ago I was introduced to a company with healthier, not as full of crappy chemical cleaning supplies. I loved it. It came at a time in my life where I was just getting into trading out products for better ones and cleaning up my living space. I had really no idea what network marketing was but someone told me I could share the products with people and make some money. So I did! And it was great but at the time I still didn’t really recognize what I could do as a business. And the company had some requirements on minimum sales to stay active and I decided to just let it fade away.

Skip forward several years and I was introduced to a supplement company. As you may recall I ignored it for over a year because I was still at the club and didn’t necessarily need or want a side project. But once I started my own business I decided to incorporate it as part of my business model. I also wanted to be able to provide products to my clients that I trusted and be able to have that as an income stream.

I never fully dove into the side of network marketing that involved a team of other consultants – it just wasn’t my jam and that was fine.

Then this company changed their formula of many of their signature products and I knew the products weren’t working the same as they used to and even had a somewhat negative effect on me. So I made the decision to “quit” and move to a new company. There were many things about the new company that were exciting, different and drew me in.

Now a year after starting my 3rd network marketing business I am quitting.

As I have told many people almost all of them have said some form of “oh so you’re quitting this company too?”

Yes. Yes I am. 

Here’s the rest of the story and why I feel so good about “quitting.”

I had been feeling uneasy for awhile about recommending products to people without a full picture of their health. Now to be fair, a probiotic, magnesium supplement or mineral drink is not going to be detrimental to your health but this is ultimately not my realm of expertise.

I have worked in this field long enough to know that we are all extremely complex humans with our own unique bodies. I have also worked and learned from several functional medicine doctors who go to school and are trained in the specialty of understanding your body and recommending products. I started to feel like I was undermining their expertise and I didn’t like that.

But here’s where the rubber met the road for me.

I no longer want to stand by or support any weight loss targeted marketing. 

 

• Tummy tightening
• Get your summer body
• Belly blaster
• Waist trainer in a bottle
• Burn the fat away

I can’t do it.

I don’t believe in it.

I won’t lead anyone down a false road.

Do supplements help? They can. 

Do I take supplements? Yes. 

But when I think about how I want to influence the world, it’s not through a weight loss targeted product. And if you’re reading this and work with a company who sells products for weight loss, that’s ok. What I have learned over and over and over in my life is that my experience is my experience and yours is yours.

For ME, I could no longer stand by weight loss targeted products as the way I helped people.

I am here to help you recognize how amazing you are at the weight you are at now. 

 

I am here to push you to find your true self and if that involves losing weight – great. But you are more than your weight. SO MUCH MORE.

There’s so much more deep rooted in me that I want to say but I can’t find all the words. I just knew that staying with a product company that has a focus on weight loss doesn’t align with my values.

I support you if you want to lose weight – I DO. But I also firmly believe that you are worthy and whole as a person right now before you lose the weight. I don’t want you putting your hopes and dreams of your life into a product that promises weight loss.

I’m going to do a solo podcast and talk more about this and I think the words will flow better there but it feels a little scary to share this.

I did quit another company. 

As I have worked deeper with clients and myself, aligning myself with products no longer aligned with my personal values.

Will I do another company? Probably. It won’t be supplements.

To circle back to the beginning thoughts about quitting – I also wasn’t loving it. And I wasn’t loving it because deep down it didn’t align with my values. And that’s why I feel good about quitting. I’ve never felt better about quitting – truly.

I encourage you to think about things you’re doing in your life and recognize if you want to quit them. And if you do, dig a little deeper and find out why. 

It’s ALSO OK TO QUIT.

 

LISTEN TO EPISODE 126 HERE

 

 

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