Grow your TEEN with Direct Sales
At alarming rates our teens are NOT launching into adulthood successfully. They just aren’t ready. Some don’t know how to write a check, balance a checkbook, change a tire, figure out who to contact with a simple house or car repair etc. The bigger issue is that they don’t know how to GET a job or how to KEEP one? Why? Because we haven’t taught them. Schools have their hands too full to take on the challenge. Parents are also busy with work and home. But, the biggest culprit is the battle for our teen’s attention. In this digital age, children as young as 4 are have their own tablet or cellphone. Students become addicted to being online continuously. But, teens are losing basic communication and reasoning skills in the wake of this addiction. How do we combat it? Parents HAVE to be intentional. Start a business with them.
How can Starting a Business help?
Samantha was 16 when she came to me begging to join a direct sales company with her. She was a dual enrolled student in both high school and college. Her schedule was too limited for a traditional high school job to work. She started reaching and found a company that boasted allowing teens to join their mom in the business. She thought this would be something she could do around her schedule. At first I thought “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” A former executive with a fortune 50 company I had always looked down at direct sales. I thought of them as silly little stay at home moms who just had nothing better to do with their time. WOW, was I wrong!
After a lot of family discussion we agreed to her request. She had been through cruel bullying both in school and online. She had begun to shutdown. Everyday she came home from school and sat in her room. She had no REAL friends. Those who said they were her friends didn’t support her when the chips were down. Hoping this business would be a way to get her out of her shell, I agreed to do this business with her.
We took the Leap into Direct Sales
Soon I realized if we were going to make a real difference in Samantha, I needed a growth plan. Simply being in business wasn’t changing anything. I needed to be intentional with what I was teaching her. If I could break the business down into small bite size pieces, I could teach her each bite one at a time as she was ready for it.
That’s exactly what I did. Not only did our business EXPLODE, but Samantha became a whole new person. With each success she grew in confidence and self worth. She began thinking through goals and setting realistic expectations. Things like how to take direction well and how to find pain points and fix them in the business became an everyday thought process. Soon we became one of the top mother/daughter producers in the company earning free trips, growing our team and getting big awards on the national stage.
None of that meant anything for our initial goal. The ONE thing that made it ALL worth it? Samantha’s own words still ring my ears today. On an airplane back from one of our conventions she said to me “All my life people told me I wasn’t good enough, pretty enough or skinny enough. I know now that I’m enough just the way I am.” That truth was worth every minute I invested in the business and in working with her. What can you hope to grow in your Teen through Direct Sales?
11 Reasons to Join a Direct Sales Company with your Teen
Working a business with your teen is the single best way to prepare your child to launch successfully. It’s not a magic button. It will take work and dedication by both parent and child. But, the rewards are worth the effort. By taking the leap into business, you can help your Teen get off their cellphone a little and improve in these 11 ways.
- Increase Confidence
- Improve Interpersonal Skills
- Learn Basic Life Skills
- Learn Leadership
- Practice Presentation Skills
- Teamwork
- Time Management
- Goal Setting and Achievement
- The Rewards of Dedication
- Strengthen Resume and College Applications
- Strengthen Parent/Child Relationship
We witnessed every single one of these improvements in our daughter as she grew in business and in life. Now she is a flourishing college student. She’s on the dean’s list, active on campus, fundraising for charities and even active in local politics. Who would have thought a shy, self-conscious teenager could end up the confident, thriving, social young adult? I prayed for it, but the transformation was shocking even to me. You can do the same.
Learn more about How to Choose a Direct Sales Company with my Teen. Stay Tuned as we dissect this topic and learn more about the nuts and bolts of transforming your teen through business.
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