Episode 26 Transcript

Hey everyone, it is me, Lisa, and welcome back to another episode of The Other 99%. I am super excited to have my friend Marcia here. She is a fellow Ontario Canadian, and ironically, we’re not that far away, so we’re going to have to meet for coffee one day, but we haven’t met in person yet. Another person that I have met and connected with online, which I absolutely love. But Marcia, welcome. I just want you to jump in and…Tell our listeners all about you, who you are, what you do, and all that stuff.

Well, hello, and thank you very much for having me today. It’s super, super exciting and quite the honour to be spotlighted. Yep, so I am about, I guess, a half an hour east of you in Ontario. I am a realtor by trade. I’ve been in the real estate business now for seven and a half years after being downsized out of a major marketing company here in Canada. Um, and if you’ve been through that, it’s exceptionally stressful. So, you know, I went to the next natural thing was, was sales, of course, with real estate, because I work with people very well and that was amazing until we all hit the wonderful pandemic. And then I found myself in direct sales, which I know we’re going to talk about in a sec. So, I am, I’m a wife, I’m a dog mom, I am the world’s okay-est sister, if you read the book, My Brother Godby, and people giggle about that. I’m an auntie and I’m a friend, but most importantly is that I’m super honest, and I really love to help others in all aspects of my life. So, yeah. I love that, I love that. And I mean, when I first connected with you online, it was just, I could tell, it’s like we were gonna stay connected. because the it was so funny. Yeah, just just pick up the phone and call me. Let’s talk like it was like, okay, let’s let’s not do this online. Like, let’s actually have a voice to voice conversation. So I appreciate that about you. Thanks.

So I just want to know how did you actually get introduced into direct sales? Like, was it a party? Like, what happened? How did you get into your company? Yeah, sure. So I have been with Chokara Jewelry now for four years. It was November of 2020 and a girlfriend of mine said, hey, I found this great jewelry company and we should sell jewelry. I’m like, I’m not selling jewelry. I tell the story all the time. I said, I was a teenager. I worked in a sterling silver jewelry store. I made no money because I’ll have to do jewelry for myself. So I was her no. And after a couple of weeks of poking and prodding at me, she says, come on, please just take a look. So I took a look. And knowing that my company is Canadian, that they put out a quality product, that they stand behind their product and that they really do help women was a huge attraction to me. So here I am four years later, no regrets whatsoever. It’s, it’s funny because when I tell my story, I always say, it’s like, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop consistently for a couple of years. And during those couple of years, you know, you rise through the ranks a little bit. If you’re, you know, if that’s your, um, that’s your thing, which was for me helping others, right, a leadership role. And I kept waiting for the shoe to drop and the other shoe never dropped.

So how long is it? Four years. You said four years, four years. Yeah. Now, did you have any other interactions with direct sales before that, or is this your first company? A little bit, but honestly, the other companies that I was involved with and I’m not naming names, they made me feel icky. So good. Yeah, I get it. I get those companies for sure. Yeah. So being Tocara, like it’s all jewelry. How do you currently run your business? Are you doing online, in person? Like, or is it a mix of all like, give us some details. Yeah, it is a mix of everything. So it all started online. You know, we’ve all had to pivot from online in some cases to in person. And when I speak about in person, what I mostly do in person is, events where I get the opportunity to meet other people, whether it’s a very specific women’s centric, I’m going to use the term vendor event that has to be really specific for my market. The other way is a lot of fundraising. It’s, it’s, so important to myself and even my husband and a lot of the ladies that I work with in my business. So I do a lot of that. And I feel like the connection that I’ve made socially online, you know, transitions both ways really well, because to your point, when you suddenly meet somebody for the first time and you’ve been talking to them online forever, that connection is really deep. So nurturing those relationships is really important.

We were just on a call before this and you introduced me to something kind of cool that Tocara does, which is a pop stream. Can you just tell us a little bit about that? Because that really me being like an all digital person, that really intrigued me that they offer this. So yeah, pop streams is super cool. So whether you want to be the face of a video or you want it to be a faceless, you can do that on your smartphone with an app that they have paid for for us. And we can then attach product to that video and our customers or potential customers can shop right from that video. And that’s super exciting. And it even attaches to, you know, our traditional party links, right? That we all sort of are aware of in direct sales. And therefore that can also help our host of our parties as well. So it’s a pretty unique tool, so many ways to use it. Yeah, I’m gonna have to watch one of yours because this intrigues me a lot. Thanks.

So I know that you had a huge event in your career happen just recently. And I bet that that’s probably one of your proudest moments in direct sales. Yes. So can you share just a little bit about where you just came from and what you did? For sure. So I have been in sales. First of all, let me tell you, first of all, I’m gonna real honest, I’m 49 years old. I have been in sales since I was about 22 or 23. So I’ve spent my career helping other people. And I’ve earned awards over the years, you know, plaques and little trophies and things like that. But this one really took the cake for me. And even today, I sort of have to take a breath and say, oh my gosh, I actually earned an incentive trip. with my company and we earned a trip to Paris. And I’ll tell you, it was life-changing. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, I can’t imagine. I’ve been to Portugal, but never Paris, but that I’m sure would be a beautiful trip to take and have it being all expense. Yes. Why not, right? Why not? Yeah. Awesome. Congratulations on that. Thank you. Thank you so much.

So I know that everybody has a superpower in their business. So what is your superpower? I feel like my superpower is to take somebody who’s having a very negative moment, whether it’s something in their personal life that’s affecting your business life or whatever that happens to be because it happens to all of us. We all have external pressures and help them just take a breath and focus on something really positive then go back to it and say, okay, how big of a molehill have we actually created here? And rework it. And when you hear somebody sigh on the other end of the phone or on a zoom, and they take that breath, they’re like, you’re right, it’s really not as bad as what I think it is. And then you help them with a strategy forward. To me, I get such joy out of that. That’s awesome. Yeah, you definitely are a people person. That’s for sure. I know we were together on Masterminds quite a bit. So I have a lot of experience with you on Zooms and you sharing your brilliance and all that stuff. So I can definitely speak to that. So much.

All right. Now I always ask everybody, because I think this is such a powerful question, but do you have a quote or do you have a piece of advice? that you have been given or heard in your direct sales career that you think that every other direct seller needs to hear? Yes, I do. Actually, I have two things. So one is get comfortable being uncomfortable. And I will tell you that this 100% is my year being so uncomfortable with everything that I’m doing. And it’s allowing me to personally and professionally in ways that I never thought would be possible. So if you can just be okay with being uncomfortable and trust the process, you’re going to be okay. Right. And then the other little thing, people always say that anything is possible. And I just say to people, everything is possible. Right. No limitations. And it doesn’t matter if it takes you two seconds or two years to get there. The fact is that you’re on your own journey, right? And when you find those small successes in that journey, you have to celebrate them. So true. Yeah, true. Well, I appreciate those. I, we were just talking before we went on to record about how I’m getting so many comments from people about these podcasts and how they’re taking away little tidbits. So I really appreciate that. Everybody comes on and shares from the heart when I asked that question. Um, it’s, it’s just so valuable to people listening for sure.

All right. Now I want to know where can people find you? How can they, are you on social? Do you have a website? All that stuff. Oh my gosh. I’m on all the socials and it doesn’t mean you have to be, but I am. Okay. Uh, again, marketing background here. I can’t help myself, but a little black dress approved hashtag to Kara style jewelry with Marcia. And that is Facebook that is on Instagram, it is on Pinterest. And yes, I have my own website, which is litt Awesome. I will make sure I link those in the notes and people could come and find you on social and be sure to just pop in her DMs and say, hey, I heard you on the podcast because I’m sure she would love to start up a conversation with you. I’d love that, yes. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you so much, Marcia, for being a guest on the podcast. And I just wanted to say thank you for everybody for listening and we will see you on the next episode of The Other 99%. Take care.