New Venture

As some of you may know I recently started a business with an amazing botanically based, Swiss formulated brand called Arbonne, so I thought I would take an opportunity to share why I chose to do it, and how it has become more than I thought it could!

I found out about Arbonne about 4 years ago and really enjoyed the products. They were fresh, botanically based and had none of the "bad stuff" in them. I have always taken a natural approach to skin care and try my best to not add any extra chemicals to my skin, just in the same way I try to eat healthy and avoid artificial or unhealthy foods (other than the occasional MacDees). The thing was, sometimes the natural products I would buy would often go to waste, they were "natural" but they didn't perform the way I wanted them to! I would use them for a time or whip up a little baking soda shampoo recipe from Pinterest, but always ended up going back to something else that just worked better. Something I used almost consistently though (thanks to my mom providing it for me) was the Fc5 shampoo and conditioner, it had no fillers and really worked! I didn't really reorder any of the face line or make up because I guess I just forgot about it, or money was tight (although I probably would have saved money by buying Arbonne instead of trial and error with so many other things that I ended up throwing away).

I never considered Arbonne, or Network Marketing for that matter, as a business opportunity. My sister Amanda had tried her hand as an Arbonne consultant, but I never considered myself to be a business person. I did however, always have a few things in the back of my mind that I thought would be nice to have in a job.

1. For years I have been going through my day to day life wishing there was a way I could just make more money! I don't have a trade or skill that I could sell, I am quite average academically and have never been career driven so the thought of going to post secondary for 4 plus years was just out of the question. I got a job as an Educational Assistant when I moved to Saskatoon and was happy with that. It was above minimum wage which was more than I could ask for with my schooling and experience.

I knew I would just work as an EA until I could be a stay at home mom and then we would just have to live within the means of Kyle's salary. No extra from me. We had already decided that for our family I was going to stay home while we have kids. I would often come back to the feeling that life was expensive and I just wanted to be able to make more. When having the first kid was taking a bit longer than we planned, I was discouraged with work because I just wished I could stay home,  but obviously that wouldn't be practical since we didn't have a baby at home. Then add a mortgage and I really needed to keep working!

 I ended up getting a part time job at Pier 1 Imports, which I really enjoyed, I loved the people I worked with and I loved the home decor, as home improvement is one of my passions. I would spend an average of 10-15 hours a week there at minimum wage. It was income, but once I became pregnant, being on my feet for 5 hours on the brick floor was a little bit tough for me, and I also couldn't work my EA job during the day and Pier 1 at night like I had before because it was too tiring, so I was losing hours at my other job for one that paid less. It wasn't ideal (other than being able to sleep in on the days that I worked evenings at Pier 1) but I kept at it because we needed the extra money.

2. The second thing I had in the back of my mind was having a job where I could be motivational. When I was about 17 I became a huge Matthew Kelly fan, for those of who are unfamiliar with him,  he is all about living with passion and purpose and becoming the best version of yourself. I have had times since I was 17 where I lost sight of trying to live in that way, but I am actually reading the book again (The Rhythm of Life- Matthew Kelly) to rekindle the desire to live passionately and also to help others to do the same.

I know this sounds silly, but at times I wished I knew what it was like to persevere and reach goals, like weight loss or quitting smoking, it really inspired me the way people with those struggles overcame them and I wanted to know what it felt like! I obviously wasn't going to take up smoking or change my eating habits for the worse just so I could have that experience, but at the same time I thought it would be amazing if I could at least have a job where I could help people reach their goals and dreams, overcome the obstacles in their heads and gain self confidence. It really brought me life thinking about it!

Until about 2 months ago I had lost sight of those two things and had no idea that Arbonne would actually be the answer to fulfilling both of them!

In February Amanda ended up running into an Arbonne booth at a trade show and decided to take it up again. She sent me a little 25 minute youtube video about this woman from Saskatoon that started Arbonne because she wanted to stay home with her kids and just wanted enough to replace her maternity leave but ended up doing way more than that. Anyways it was exactly what I wanted! I basically signed up that day and put in my two weeks notice at Pier 1. I know that seems drastic you guys, but I really saw the big picture of what this business could do in my life! I could work from home like I wanted to and stay home with my kids but also contribute to the finances by doing something I love. (I am also happy to share that in the first month of my business my pay cheque was the same as I would have made at Pier 1, so I really didn't have anything to lose!)

I knew when I was getting into Arbonne that I would love using the products and that it would be fun having Arbonne parties, which basically means I get to participate in girls nights on a regular basis. What I didn't foresee happening was gaining an incredibly positive and supportive community of women who have changed the course of their lives with this business. I have been encouraged and supported from day one and my favourite part, although I only have one person so far to encourage at the moment, has been helping out another stay at home mom take up Arbonne and reach her goals of what she wants this business to be for her family. She has also taught and encouraged me in so many ways! I love this aspect of the business. This is only the beginning!

I have become a much more driven and passionate person in my own personal life and have been pushed and challenged to grow in so many positive ways that I know will help me to become a better wife and mother. I have truly learned that I can be a successful person! To me this is huge because I never saw myself in this way before. Not only that, but my two dreams of being able to make money from home and encourage others to reach their full potential and do the same has been realized. I feel so blessed to be where I am and look forward to where this is going!

I don't want to make this sound like a get rich quick scheme or me trying to promote my business or the products. I just wanted to share honestly about how positive it has been for me. It is a business that takes work! Something I learned is that it can't just be a hobby, hobbies cost money. If I want this to work as a business I have to work it like a business and work on it every day like a part time job, and I have been working very hard these past few months to make it work! The nice thing though is that eventually by working it consistently part time (and it really is part time! I can easily work it around my other jobs even from the start) it can increase to being part time hours that pay full time wages. It has been going good so far, with ups and downs and road blocks that I have had to overcome, but like I said I have really great leaders ahead of me and hope to be the same to anyone who wants to join me!

I also want to say a HUGE thank you to every one of my friends who have encouraged me and helped me grow my business by hosting parties and getting their friends together so I can practice my presentation and meet new people! You guys have no idea how much you have helped me and I'm so grateful to have the friends that I do! It's been vulnerable at times and I thank everyone who has given me feedback!

I would also love to share more with anyone who is interested or thinks that this could be a fit for them, trust me when I say anyone can do it! If you think this might be something you want to know more about, send me a message over Facebook, text me, or email at brandibanadyga@hotmail.com or you can check out the website: http://brandibanadyga.arbonne.com 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read!