Episode 41 Transcript

Hey everyone, it is me Lisa and welcome back to another episode of the other 99%. Today I want to introduce you to my friend Kim. Kim is another person that I have not yet met in person. I absolutely love the internet because you know, you can meet so many fun and interesting people and create like good friendships. Like I feel like you and I talk quite often. So Kim, I want you just to jump in and introduce yourself and tell everybody who you are, what you do and all that stuff. Sounds great.

Well, thanks for having me. My name is Kim DiCioccio. I currently live in Connecticut, very close to the airport, which is nice for travelling. I’ve been in direct sales since the mid-90s. I started with a company called Amway. Oh, okay. And, yep. Everybody knows Amway. Everybody knows Amway. Yeah, so that was fun. I just didn’t really dig so into all the paper and toothpaste, but I did like the whole direct sales thing, but I ended up, I did that when I was in Florida and ended up moving back to Connecticut in 2000. And the end of 2002, I was introduced to Tastefully Simple. Now I did not like to eat. I did not like food. I ate to survive. I didn’t season anything. I was a very plain Jane picky eater probably disliked more things that I liked and I definitely didn’t know how to cook. So for me to jump into Tastefully Simple was quite a shock to quite a lot of people, but it has truly, truly changed my life. I now like almost everything and I no longer eat to survive. I eat because I enjoy food. I enjoy myself in the kitchen trying new things. I definitely still like to follow a recipe though, because I’m not very adventurous when it comes to being in the kitchen.

So I joined in January 2003 and I don’t know, it’s just been wonderful. It’s so funny that you say you have to follow a recipe because I am so bad. Sometimes people are like, well, how’d you make that? I’m like, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I really, I’ll have to make it again and I’ll have to write down exactly what I’m putting in because I just don’t know. I just do it to taste, right? And it’s so funny. And that’s why I love Epicure. That’s probably why you love tastefully simple because it makes it so easy. It does. Yeah. So, so you said that you were introduced to tastefully simple. How? Like how did you, did you go to a party? How did you get introduced?

At the time I was selling bar and restaurant equipment. my sponsor came in to buy the largest cutting board we had to offer because her husband liked to hunt deer and was sick of the deer carcass coming into the kitchen. So she just pulled out this pencil sketched catalogue of the Tastefully Simple products from 2002. At the time there was three women sales reps in the office and two guys. And the three of us women were like looking through this catalog and we’re like, oh, that looks good. Oh, that sounds good. Today our catalogs, but those catalogs to shame. But I was like, oh my god, this stuff looks amazing. So I told her I would have a party talk to all the girls and gals guys in the office to come Plus my mom and some of her friends and you know some other walks of life of my friends and So I had that in December. mid December probably. I don’t really remember exactly when it was but I was like this is such a no-brainer.

Like you and I were talking earlier everybody eats. Like even if you don’t want to you have to eat. And I was like if I like all this stuff that I’m trying then everybody’s gonna love this stuff. So I had told her the night of my party that I was gonna sign up but it wasn’t gonna be until the end of January, because I had some surgery scheduled in the beginning of January. So yeah, that’s that.

So how old because I know tastefully simple isn’t up in Canada. I know that I have a little treat coming in the mail. So don’t tell anybody. But I’m excited to try that. But how long has it been around? June 15, 1995. 95. Okay, it’s actually older than Epicure. Epicure is like 97. So That’s kind of neat.

All right. So I want to know, and I want you to tell everybody, like, how are you currently running your business? So I love being in person. I am definitely an in real life rock star when I can be. This time of the year, I do quite a few events. I have my staple events that I do every single year.I love doing in-home parties as much as I kick and scream going out the door because I don’t really want to leave my house to go anywhere. Once I’m there, I am in my comfort zone. I love doing parties online to supplement. They’re just not as good as they used to be. So I prefer being out there actually went and voted today and dropped off some catalogs and business cards at the town hall. So wherever I am, I will talk about it because I truly believe in the product and it’s so easy.

Yeah. Well, I kind of find it funny when people say to me, you know, when I introduced them to Epicure and it’s like, oh, I don’t like to cook. And I’m like, exactly. That is why I love Epicure because I don’t like being in the kitchen. So please give me something that makes life easy. Get me in and out of the kitchen and the food still tastes great and I don’t have all that mess to clean up. Like that’s why I love Epicure, not because I’m a master chef, because I’m far from that. Like I do many, like especially baking, I do many baking flops in the kitchen and it’s quite hilarious, but like baking, you need to use the recipe. You can’t just a pinch of this, a pinch of that. You have to follow a recipe when you bake. I still don’t do that. Unfortunately, you know how you’re supposed to measure out your flour properly? Yeah, Lisa doesn’t do that. I just like scoop and it’s like, why is this so dense? I’m like, gee, I wonder. You need to hook up with a pampered chef consultant to get yourself some measuring cups and spoons. Exactly.

All right. So I want to know. I mean, everybody has something that they’re super proud of in their business. What, what is the one thing or you could be have more than one thing, but what’s something that you’re proud of? So early on, so I didn’t join Tastefully Simple to make money. Like that was kind of like an added bonus. I didn’t need it to live. I didn’t need it to pay bills. It was like extra fun money cold water wetsuit and everything I needed for scuba diving up here. Because I joined the dive team, the state dive team, which is not always a fun thing to have to go and do. But I did join that many years ago when I was a volunteer firefighter. And that was like a big purchase that I was able to do without having to take money from any other funds. And then the next big purchase. Like it doesn’t need to come out of our family or like work money. It came out of my tastefully simple business money. Yeah. So, um, but the biggest thing was for tastefully simple and I’m sure for Epicure in 2020, 2021, our businesses kind of boomed. Um, February 14th of 2020, I had 19 team members. June 30th of 2020, I was over 70. I double promoted. I had some great bonuses. So the money is kind of why I stay, but not the reason why I started. So it’s the purchases that I’ve been able to make. And right now I would love to be able to take my husband to Germany to go visit his son who’s currently stationed in Ramstein for the Air Force next year. So I’d like to just be able to do that with just the money I’ve earned.

Yeah, yeah. And I’m sure you’ll get that because you are knowing you. I know that you’re very, very consistent in your business and that’s what pays off, you know, consistency will pay off no matter how big or small your consistent actions are but you just have to stay focused. All right, now you’ve probably heard this terminology before, but superpower. I wanna know what you think your superpower is in your business.

So that’s Becky’s thing, right? Yeah. So I come up as IRL, so in real life. And how do you use that to your advantage? Like, are there any tips that you could give the listeners? Like when you’re at in real life event. So if anybody’s wondering what IRL means in real life, when you’re at an event, what do you do? Like, how do you gain the trust of the people you’re in front of? Like, what do you do? Any tips that you can give? So the biggest thing for me is when you’re doing a vendor event, and there’s multiple vendors and crafters is to not be sitting down. Be standing up, be in front of your booth, be engaged. not be on your phone, say hi to everybody, bring them into your world and show your passion and ask them, especially for us, what protein do you like to cook with the most? Ask them questions and then shut your mouth and open up your ears and listen to what they have to say and see how you can be of service to them. And I like to do a drawing so I can get their contact information so I can stay in touch. I obviously ask for permission. And at my in-home parties, I just, you just have to have fun.

You can’t, I say all the time, I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I still make mistakes. I’m not perfect. It’s okay. You know? Um, never, never once is a party exactly the same as the one before, or, you know, I can do the same host party, same host host parties one or two times a year. It’s never the same. It’s always different. So you just have to be real and honest and listen, listen to what people want. Yeah. And I, I love that you mentioned, you know, you have the same hosts host once or twice a year. And that’s because you’ve gained their know, like and trust. So they keep asking you back in their home. So that’s a big key. Just wanna go back to your draw ballots. Is there anything specific that you put on your ballots? Like what are you asking for? Name, address, email, phone number, favourite TS product. And I’ve different ones, like some of them say, do you want information on meal planning? Do you want to host a party? Do you want more information on the business? So Tastefully Simple actually has one that we can use and it’s pretty, it’s good. It has all that main information. And then the last thing says, what’s your favourite product?

Awesome, awesome. Yeah, that might help some people out because they’re wondering, it’s like, what do I put on ballots? And everybody’s ballot is different. And I just recommend that, you know, go with what you want to represent in your business. Like I’ve seen ballots that go through things like, oh, do you want to join my pantry club? Do you want freezing meal workshops? If you don’t offer those and you’re not prepared to offer those, don’t use those ballots because then if you have somebody that has circled yes, you’re going to be racking your brain trying to figure out, well, how do I get this done? So if all you’re going to do it right now in your Um, you know, and maybe sell a subscription box. Those are the only things you want to include on your ballots and make sure that they’re clear and only I like to say, ask questions that are simple to answer. Like don’t expect people to write an essay. So for example, you say what, what’s your favourite product? Well, that’s a quick answer. You just put like one or two words and answers it. It’s just, it’s not asking them for a full paragraph on what do you love about tastefully simple. And don’t ask them something that you wouldn’t be willing to put down on someone else’s form. That is the true. That’s so true. So true.

All right. So my last question and I always ask this of everybody who comes on, do you have a special quote or some words of advice that you’ve heard? I mean, 20 years in the business so that you feel that every direct seller needs to hear? It’s a business. And if you want to make money, if you want to be successful, you have to be willing to work it. You have to be willing to put in the time to build the connections. Otherwise, it’s not gonna just come to you. If money just came to you, then everybody would be doing it. It’s not that it’s not easy or hard. It’s just a job. It’s, you know, you don’t go to your full-time job and just sit there and play Twiddlywinks and get paid. Well, maybe some people do. I don’t know. That’s not typically how it works. You have to work to get paid. And the best thing about direct sales is the recognition because you go to your nine to five job and you typically don’t get thanked on a regular basis. Or a gift in the mail for your anniversary or whatever. It’s so different. Yeah. I love when they say, you know, you need to schedule your work time with direct sales. You need to know when you’re working. Your work can be flexible, but it is not optional. You know, it like you can move it around, but you can’t just, oh, whenever I work, if you do that, then your paycheck is going to be very optional too. I think that’s what it comes down to. For sure. I struggle with like office hours and you know, now that I’m retired, I have more time and I can, but I make sure that I touch my business every day for at least 15 minutes. Yeah. And I don’t work out my birthday this year. Did not work out my birthday. I don’t even think I turned the computer on. Good for you. You earned it. Absolutely.

All right, so I know that you have your own personal branded website. I do. So I’d love for you to share where people can find you on the World Wide Web. Well, my website is kimstskitchen.com. But I am on Facebook. That’s really bad because I think that I should know these things like 100%. Like I don’t. So we can we can drop the links in the show notes. So it’s not a big deal if you know the exact word, but they could find you on Facebook and where else. Yep. TS by Kim D on Facebook. I am on Instagram. And that’s those are pretty much the two places I hang out more Facebook than Instagram. I’m still trying to learn. And what I love about your website is that they’ll be able to find all of those links on there. So we’ll just link to your website in the show notes. And then she has her social links set up. So you could just click through and find her on Facebook and Instagram if you’d like. All right, Kim, well, I’d like to thank you so much for joining us for this episode. And I’m sure the listeners are gonna have lots to take away, but we will see everybody next week on the next episode of another 99%. Take care.