Hey everyone, It is me, Lisa, and welcome back to another episode of The Other 99%. I am so excited to be here with my friend Gretchen. And I actually met Gretchen for the first time last year in Montreal, I think, wasn’t it? So did I, I may have met you before, but like, it was a very like quick passing or something, but, um, yeah. So Gretchen, I’d love for you to come in and introduce yourself, tell the listeners who you are, what you do and all that stuff.

Hi, Lisa. Thank you so much for having me. This is this is actually being like one of my bucket list items is to actually be on a podcast. So when you asked me, I was so excited. So honoured. And I do believe we met in person in Montreal, but I think you feel like you knew me before because we had so many candid conversations before like on the phone, probably. Probably. Yeah, I couldn’t remember if I met you in Victoria and one of the conferences there possibly, but I mean, it would have been just passing for sure. But yeah, so tell us, what do you do for for fun? Like who is Gretchen? Give us all the details. Okay, well, I definitely am a busy mom. I live in Victoria, BC. And I currently work full time with BC Pensions. And then my other full-time gig is Epicure. And I used to be working in the long-term care industry, but I’ve allowed that. I still once in a while fill in, but I’m hoping to kind of let that go pretty soon. But yes, that keeps me busy. Then you add a household, a house, a husband, two daughters, they’re now 16 and 20, having birthdays a little later this year, and then four babies. So it is a busy, full life, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Awesome. Yeah, you sound like a busy lady. And I know, when we’re talking, it’s like, I don’t know, really know how you do it all. But I’m sure you’re going to share a little bit of that in in today’s episode. So that’s awesome.

All right, so tell us, because I always want to know, how did you find direct sales? Like what made you start in the direct sales field? Well, I actually didn’t really go to too many parties, but the ones that I was going to, and that was the company that I’m with Epicure, they were pretty young when I started going to their parties, so that was all in person and just loved the model of sharing food and drinks with friends. It was actually one of my good friends who always was the host. And then several years later, my cousin hosted, because we always called them parties back then, a party. And there was a lovely leader there. And my daughters at the time were four and eight. And I was looking, you know, I was pretty much a stay at home mom. I did little part-time things, but I was looking for another way to earn income, but that I could, it was really important for me to be with my daughters, taking them to their activities, you know, taking them, being there like to take them to school and pick them up. And so direct sales really appealed to me in the beginning for this reason. And how long have you been with Epicure? So I actually had to do the math because I had a feeling you’d ask this question today. 13 years already. Yeah, yeah. I’ll be 14 in the fall. So I mean, we probably started close to the same time, which is kind of crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

So I know that we all do our businesses differently. Like, I mean, we have our in-person people, we have our virtual people. How do you find that you work your business and what’s most successful for you? Well, in the beginning, I’m sorry, because it keeps changing, right? So I’m gonna kind of give you my journey a little bit. So in the beginning, really the model for direct sales was like in-person parties or doing markets. So that’s how I started out. And then with COVID happening, I had to pivot had no idea how to do online. Oh my gosh, if I could have showed you that first online party, it was on Facebook. It was hilarious. But the thing is, is that, you know, to have the courage to try these new things and go for it. So I, and then I, I, I spent so much time doing the Facebook parties and actually got really good at it. So, and now it’s, it’s everything. Basically, My goal is what matches for my customer. Now for some people, you know, they might only really be able to do online because that’s where they’re at in their life. Now that my daughters are a bit more flexible, I love doing an in-person, I just had an in-person event yesterday and it’s so fabulous and everybody was so happy to be there. But really I just kind of strive to cater to what my customer or host wants and work it that way. I love that because I mean, in the end, the customer is always right, right? We always hear that. So definitely, if somebody is looking for an in-person option, it’s very, it’s in your best interest and their best interest to give them what they’re looking for, right? So definitely, I love the fact that you are very flexible and willing to do all parts of journey is what I call it right now, because there are so many different ways that we can work this business. And some of us excel in certain areas, but that doesn’t mean that we turn off the option to do certain things, right? And I love that you’re keeping that open and flexible for sure.

All right, so I wanna dig in. I wanna get a little bit into Gretchen right now. I wanna know what you’re most proud of in your direct sales business. I think that it’s actually and it kind of ties into what we just were talking about. And that’s like me being adaptable. And you know, because I do feel that especially in this business, and maybe in so many businesses, things are changing and they change fast, right? And it’s, it can be like hard to, to catch up. But you know, I try to just tackle what I really feel is doable.  Um, and, and then I’m okay to, to kind of push myself out of my comfort zone and, um, and learn something new. And it’s really fun. Um, it ends up being fun. And, but the best reward is that like, it’s often very scary for me and intimidating. But then when I actually go through that process, then I feel so good about myself and I’ve, and I’ve grown again, gained a new skill. Yeah, and that’s another reason why I love direct sales so much is that the personal growth that you go through is really incredible. Yeah. You know, if you’re able to get out of the, you know, kind of the safe zone. I actually did have a good quote. Okay, here’s the quote. One can choose to go back towards safety or forwards towards growth. So that’s kind of one of one of the things that I…have in mind and have put up in my office to kind of get me out of the safety zone sometimes.

Now I’m going to dive in a little deeper because I know you had a fantastic journey from ambassador to leader and I want you to share just a little bit about your achievements since becoming a leader and how did that come along? Because I know you did get some great achievements along the way there, right? Yeah, well, yeah, thank you for asking about that one. Well, again, I have to kind of rewind the tape again. But I started, like I said, in 20, 2011, to make it the 13 years, and was ambassador for actually nine, nine years before I became leader. And I, you know, as I was going along, I worked the business. So it kind of went around my kids schedule, then they got super busy in competitive dance and I kind of had to take a bit of the backseat, but I did keep my, you know, customer base to keep going. And then basically, I think it was right around COVID, I can’t remember if it was before or a little after, but I decided that I wanted to become leader. And I thought, okay, this is such a long shot because most people in the industry, right? They start out, they go full force, then they’re like leader, right? Like how there’s not very many of us that kind of work the business the way that it worked well for our family, kind of stayed at the ambassador or consultant level or, and then promoted much, much later to leader. But I thought, okay, well, let’s just set this goal. But kind of, you know, I in the back of my mind, I’m like, can I really do it? You know, kind of doubting myself. And it wasn’t an overnight thing by any means. I had to work, you know, quite hard. I will be honest, but just kept being consistent, kept at it. Uh, and so that started in 2020 and then in 2023, the fall of 2023 in September, I was homesick from work and I was looking at the stats because I had been at this executive or ambassador level, that’s right before leader for quite some time. And I’m like, you know, I have this many people on my team. I’m like this many sales. Why don’t I try for this? And for the two days that I was not well, but well enough, I guess, to use my phone and everything. Yeah. I end up with the support of my great leader. I was able to do it and I have hit leadership every month since. Awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. And I know that you actually achieved a special incentive trip because of that as well. Yes, I did. I was able to, well, I’m in the hometown of our home office, but it was very, very special. It was really special and yeah, and that was that was another great achievement. And a few times I’ve also hit top in sales growth. So I was honored an award last year in Montreal for that. And that was unexpected. I just remember sitting there and they were rolling people’s names on the screen. And my husband actually came with me to this conference. And all of a sudden, he’s watching me like look, look, look, and I’m kind of clueless and there I was. So yeah, that was that was a lot of fun and unexpected. And that’s another great reason to be in direct sales is just the recognition that you get. And it doesn’t mean necessarily need to be a huge thing. For sure. Well, congratulations on all that you’ve accomplished.

All right. So I want to know, because I’m a big believer that everybody has like a superpower, something that they’re really good at in their business. So What’s Gretchen’s superpower? So I feel that it’s my ability to talk with all sorts of people from all sorts of walks of life, if that’s the right term to use, and listening to their story, like asking them questions about themselves. It might even not necessarily be, you know, anything to do with Epicure. But then that already starts like a connection and so for me, my customers, like many of them, I have to say, are, you know, like, almost basically friends. So and making that strong connection. So whether I’m at a market, you know, I’ll really take the time to talk with the person, get to know them a little bit. And then that way, I’m able to come from a place of service and that that connection means a lot, right? And then from there, it kind of expands and grows. And often they become hosts or, you know, down the road team members. Yeah, now, as you’re talking, it’s funny, because I’m scrolling my audible app, because your story remember reminded me of a book that I was listening to on audible. And it’s called how you leave them feeling right? I mean, it’s all about how you leave them feeling. And the author is Mr. Jesse Farrell, F-E-R-R-E-L-L. But it is definitely a good read for anybody in the sales industry, because it’s all about how we leave them feeling. We want to make them feel better about themselves, you know, after we spoke to them. So I absolutely love that you shared that and can definitely see that you do. Like, I mean, you love to talk to people.

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Well, and it’s so interesting that you say that because also one of my mentors in life is Maya Angelou. And my favorite quote from her is, I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will not forget how you made them feel. So true. And so you give me goosebumps when you talk about that book. I need to read that book now. Because. Well, that was funny because my next question was going to be like, what’s your favourite? What’s the one quote that you think everybody should, you know, hear to help them succeed in their direct sales business? And there you go. I mean, there you go. That’s a perfect book because it’s so true. Like the way that you, you leave people feeling if they’re feeling good about themselves after talking to you, they’re going to come back for more, you know, so they’re going to, they’re going to be around. So I absolutely love that you shared that quote too. And it was so funny because as you were saying it, I was getting goosebumps. So it’s like one of those things, but anyway, we’re having a moment. Yeah, exactly.

All right, Gretchen. So I want to know how can people find you if they wanted to jump into your DMS or PMs and chit chat with you? How can they find you? Well, you can find me in my Facebook group, which is simply Epic Good Food with Gretchen I’m also on Instagram at Gretchen.Ann.(with No-e).Crane, like the bird. But I’m working on some other things actually with your digitally direct company. And I’m so excited about that. So there’ll be more ways to connect with me down the road. Awesome. Yeah, we’ll make sure that we get those in the show notes so that people can click on the links and find you. But I just wanted to thank you so much for doing this. I know that you were super nervous, but you did amazing and I’m sure there are going to be tons of takeaways from this episode when people listen to it. So thank you so much for joining us Gretchen. Oh, thank you so much. And everybody, I want to thank you for listening to another episode of The Other 99%. And we will see you again on the next episode. Take care.