===
[00:00:00] Hey guys, welcome back to the call to lead podcast. So in today's episode, I'm excited to continue to give you guys some examples. Of how leaders are modeling the four different social media strategies that I have talked about so far. So we started with the ignore strategy of not using social at all, and a little bit with my story of what that looks like.
Then we went all the way to the other extreme, which is the influencer strategy, which is trying to really grow a following based on your own personal brand. And putting yourselves out there in a really big way. And we chatted with Kate twig, which that has been one of the biggest episodes I've had yet. You guys thank you so much for all the love on the podcast. We've had another record download month, which is so exciting. So I'm so thankful for all of you guys who are listening and sharing and giving me all the love.
It's awesome. And so coming up, we're going to be talking about the investment strategy in the next couple episodes after this, which is more treating your social media as if you would, if you had a [00:01:00] small business. So focusing on your product, the value that your product provides. And how you can build a following also in the same way.
As the influencer strategy, but coming at it from a different angle. But today I'm so excited for you guys to meet Lauren Verlander, who beautifully exemplifies the integrate strategy, which is the one that I recommend. Most, not that the others aren't possible for wherever you are in your business, because absolutely you can build your network marketing business completely without social media. Or you can definitely build a business by building a big following, or maybe you already have a big following.
But every single person can do exactly what Lauren has done in her business and her results have been pretty amazing. So she has just grown a huge team. She is having so much fun in the process. She's a lot of fun to talk to. And I cannot wait for guys to hear Lauren's story and how she exemplifies this so beautifully. So let's dive into the episode today. Yay.
All right guys. I am very excited for y'all to chat with Lauren Verlander. Lauren is a top leader on [00:02:00] my team, but she's also one of the top leaders in our entire company, Saint, which is crazy cuz she's totally not a makeup girl. But I will let her tell you that story. But Lauren, to me, truly exemplifies this model or this strategy of leveraging social media in a really smart way by integrating her business.
And her life into one platform to connect with and inspire others. So Lauren is the top 0.2% of the company, which is amazing. So Lauren, I'm so glad to have you here to share your wisdom with us. Thank you so much for being here today. Thanks for having me. Yay. Before we get into the nitty gritty of like how you use the integrate strategy, tell us your background a little bit about who you are, where you live, family, all the things.
I grew up in. So I'm a big fan of the Deep South, but I have lived in a very small town in North Carolina. It's called Davidson. If you follow N B A basketball, Steph Curry went to college here, so that's very, Davidson College is famous for that. And I've been in [00:03:00] North Carolina about 18 years, so this is definitely home.
I was a Spanish teacher, high school teacher in my former life. And then I started staying at home once I had kids. I have an 11 year old and a 14 year old, and about six years ago, I had a pretty sudden me, anyway divorce and I. Kind of thinking like, all right, what am I gonna do next? And I wasn't in a crisis or anything.
I, I had, I had a pretty good setup, but I have always been. Entrepreneurial. I had always worked, even when I was a stay-at-home mom, I did little side things. I was at 10 99 in a few different places cause I just enjoy working. In fact, the hardest and worst job I ever had was being a stay-at-home mom.
So hard. I tell people all the time, I'm like, this is the worst paying and the most difficult job. I am shocked so many people do it. I was really bad at it, so I, [00:04:00] was at a. Mother-daughter camp. With my now almost 15 year old, and it was actually the weekend my ex-husband was moving out of our house and I had taken her away to camp cause I didn't want her to see it.
And I think my son was with my mom. And we were randomly paired with a bunch of other mothers and daughters, and I ended up connecting with a mom and a daughter from Savannah. But this mom had grown up in Florida and had gone to high school with a bunch of girls that I went to college with. And so we just clicked.
I was a college athlete, she was a college athlete, and we just hit it off. We had daughters the same age, and so we kept in touch when camp ended and then we saw each other the following summer at mother daughter camp. It was very casual and she, the third summer that we were about to see each other, she shot me a note on Facebook and just said, Hey, how are you?
Are you guys gonna go back to mother [00:05:00] daughter camp? We're writing back and forth. I'm like, yes. Are you guys, yeah, we're gonna be there. And what have you been up to? We're just catching up. And she was like, Hey, if you're interested, I just recently started a beauty group and I would love for you to take a look.
And I was like, no, I don't care about beauty. I'm like, 100% no makeup girl. I always say I'm a recovering Tom. But I am a big relationship person and I really liked this person. And I thought, you know what? She's a sweet girl. I don't care at all about beauty. Yes, I will join your group. Curiosity, I click it and I am suddenly like, I've never heard of this.
And while I will never say that network marketing or direct sales was on my radar, I knew people who had done really well, and I had always been told, you have the [00:06:00] personality for this. But because I am highly relational, I never wanted anyone to think I was befriending them solely with the purpose of selling them something.
So I had been approached to sell everything under the sun, and I had always said no, and I just said, this is really not my thing. I can't, I don't want to and I can't. But for some reason this caught my eye and I think it's because it was new and I knew enough. I'm business minded enough to know that the best time to start something is yesterday.
And so I peeked at it and it's very visually appealing. It's nice packaging and I thought, If this catches my eye and I am not interested in the beauty industry, I think the average woman is gonna find this extremely appealing. So I then was like pursuing her and I was like, Hey, that group that you added me in, I've never heard of this.
What would be the [00:07:00] cheapest way for me to try it? And this, I remember I was like, this is the funniest question. She said, do you happen to have a no makeup selfie? I'm like, yeah. How many do you want? All my selfies, no makeup. So I sent her a couple and. It's okay, I would recommend this, and this.
I'm like, great. I sent her a picture, this is not safe. Don't do this. I sent her a picture of my credit card. I'm like, order me. Here's my address. Just ship it here. I was probably the easiest sale on the planet. She sends it to me, and in those few days while I was waiting, I asked everyone I knew, have you heard of this?
Everyone said, no. And I'm like, okay. And I asked, People who have the big accounts at Sephora and people who are always at the plastic. Sergeant Lake. I picked the right people. I asked, no one knew. And then I went to my dad. My dad is also very entrepreneurial, but my dad had been a detective. We, where we previously lived in the police department and one of [00:08:00] his jobs was to investigate pyramid schemes because they are illegal and.
I sent him the website and the comp plan. I said, will you look at this? I'm interested in it and I just want your opinion. And the first thing he said was, you're interested in makeup? I was like, no, I'm interested in business. Yeah, I don't care about the makeup, but I am interested in the business. And so he was like, I'll look and I'll get back.
And he wrote me back later that night. This is probably 10 in the morning when I sent it, and he was like, this is legit. He's the way this is set up more is required of you as you rise in the company. And this comp plan looks good. And he's this looks really cool. And if a 59 year old man thinks something looks cool in the beauty industry, obviously has mass appeal.
So my product came in the mail. I literally opened it and I saw the packaging and I was [00:09:00] like, I gotta sell this. And so I called Molly the girl who'd introduced me, and I said, Hey, I'd like to, I'd like to sell this. And she was like, oh, did you try it? Do you love it? I was like, yes. I had not tried it. I did not love it, but I knew everyone would.
And so I was like, I had just rolled off of my ex-husband's group benefits. I had a quote sitting in my email for the insurance I was gonna have to buy, even though I'm healthy. Apparently if your childbearing age, they would like you to have that covered. I did not bear any more children by the way, but I was like, okay, if I can cover my insurance because that's my big out-of-pocket expense I didn't have before, this will be worth.
And now I could buy a lot of people, some insurance. So it has definitely been worth it from that regard. Yeah. I'll say, and it is growing. Your team is growing like crazy. What, how [00:10:00] many people are on your team right now and just, I looked this morning, like 6 28. Gosh, that is insane. And totally growing.
Oh, it is. Every day. I'm like, how did we do this? And I know we did it methodically and we have really good leadership. And I've always said this is really not about makeup, it's about relationships. And I've been very blessed that good relationships have always come into my life and they've multiplied.
So I'm always thankful for that. Definitely this is a relationship business for sure, and for anybody who is curious. And also just to cover our tails, anytime you talk about income and all that stuff, it's always good to post the income disclosure. So that's all that will live in the description if you wanna check it out.
Because obviously what you've done here hasn't been without a lot of hard work and a heart, and like you said, a lot of relationships built. But I think one of the really cool things about your team and the growth that I'm seeing right now is we've been talking about the four different strategies.
Of using [00:11:00] or not social media. And we've got everything from Ignore, which is hard to the influencer, which is hard. And then of course we've got Integrate, which is what we're here to talk about today since you exemplify that. And then even the investment strategy, which is more like I, I've talked about on the podcast, like Leah on your team who, focuses on the value the product brains and has built an amazing business, on that.
And you have built this organization where you have seen all of the different ways to do it, and you've seen the beauty that there's freedom in the way that you choose to do it. So how did you get started? I would say, and like how ha and how have you chosen the integrate strategy to share the business for you and integrate it into your life and business?
Yeah. I'm an extrovert by nature. I'm an Engram seven wing eight. Sometimes I think I'm an eight wing seven, but I've always liked social media. I found it very interesting. It was a lifesaver for me when I was doing my stay-at-home mom gig because it was an easy way to connect [00:12:00] while you were at home nursing a baby or sitting doing laundry during nap time, you could peek at what everyone else was doing and still feel like you were connected even though you were at home.
And so I. Have always posted funny things my kids were doing or pictures or whatever. I'm probably the person that you're like, she is an overshare. But I have, I always just found it a fun way to connect and I enjoy seeing what other people are doing. Maybe I'm nosy, but when I started thinking about, A business really.
There weren't influencers. I think when I started, I think there were, they were on their way. I think Instagram was brand new. And so I, I really do, like I said, I value relationships and I really value authenticity. And I thought to myself, okay, if I am a non makeup person and I'm gonna share. [00:13:00] About a product that is not something I've ever used regularly.
It's probably gonna have to be a little bit funny. And I did, I just started out by saying, I am probably more shocked than you to be posting this, but I found something that I can do. And that looks like the picture, like my after looks like the after that other people have, and it only took five minutes and it's all in one box.
And if makeup has been something you've shied away from, cuz maybe you don't get it or it's intimidating to you, this might be a really good solution. And I think I joked about not wanting to go to Sephora because there were men working there who knew more than I did about makeup. I. How does this man know so much about, he's a man and he knows like everything.
I'm like, I am really behind the eight ball here. But I've always found social is just like [00:14:00] letting people stand in like the foyer of your life. Like they don't need to go in your room, don't need to be, everywhere. But they can hang out in the foyer and just like peek. And I feel like for me that's what social has.
I'm not on every day. If, honestly, one of my most successful stories was about a Chick-fil-a ketchup packet exploding in my car while I was trying to book a trip. Cuz I'm a travel agent. My, I used to be a full-time travel agent. No, I'm a part-time travel agent. Just been nice. But, I was sitting there trying to book a trip while my kids were at a sports practice and I was stealing the wifi from school and I, squeezed the ketchup packet too hard.
It was a disaster. But everyone has had a mess in their car. Everyone's been sitting at a kid's practice. Everyone's been working in the nooks and crannies while they're playing mom taxi. And I think for me, being real and being relatable [00:15:00] in the moments where I think, oh my gosh, my best friend would die if she could see this.
That's what I share. Yeah. That's what we all want to see from other people is you're not gonna believe this. Or, oh my gosh, did you know? Or in my travel business when there's a great sale, I'm like, guys, someone needs to take this trip and send me the pictures because I cannot go right now. But someone needs to take advantage because this is a great deal.
And that's, I think I just look at it like, what would I tell my buddies? This is what I share. Yes, and I think that builds trust, which that's when we talk about the different strategies where the investment and the influencer strategies, you've got to build a following in order to grow your business with the integrate strategy, you've got to build trust, and I think the way that you do that is.
You can, you have your travel agency business and you have your saint business and they don't conflict with each other. And you can share both of them alongside the humor, the day-to-day life. And I think that in turn, [00:16:00] builds trust because you're giving value in a hu in a way that people can relate to you.
They're like, okay, Floren can do this, I can do this. And she's an open book and you're sharing all those things. The other thing, and I know we kinda talked about this too, that we see a lot on our teams is especially when they're trying to compare themselves to the influencers, which you've got, some of them, the ones that can build a brand, they're the shiny object, gorgeous girls.
Like some of them like legit pageant girls, right? That one, one pageants and things like that. And then you see these everyday moms who are trying to do their business like them and being, building a brand and pitting themselves out there in that way. When it. It's a lot more challenging from the belief side to believe in yourself enough to put yourself out there with the people who actually know and love you, but it can be so much more effective.
Do you, how do you, what do you say to somebody that's maybe this sounds great that you guys just post on your personal feeds and you can go live or, go in your stories and do all of that, but how do you build the belief in someone enough to put themselves out there with the existing following that [00:17:00] they have rather than trying to go build a.
I think for the average woman, that's probably the biggest hurdle. We are all really worried about what everyone else thinks. When I will tell you what everyone else is thinking. They're thinking about themselves and they're worried about what everyone else thinks. Actually, I had a girl on my team, we had a call a couple months ago and she was like, I really love this product.
That's a great. We definitely don't want you to sell something that you do not love. She said, I love the product and I want to share. I'm like, okay, you are checking the boxes. You like it and you wanna share it. This is good. Keep going. Get me to the issue. She's but I am really scared that my friends are gonna make fun of me.
And my first answer was, then those are not your friends. If they're making fun of. You need to move along, sister. And she laughed. I'm like, no, that's not a joke. But [00:18:00] then she was like, I just feel like, and she was young and I do understand there's a different challenge with the 20 to 20, 20 to 30 crowd views.
Maybe social selling a little differently, which is ironic since they grew up with influencers. But, I said to. What if you went and got a job at Sephora or Ulta and you were making $8 an hour selling makeup, would your friends make fun of you? She was like, no. I said, you're doing the same thing, but you're gonna make a lot more than $8 an hour.
So I am struggling to see the problem, and the problem is inside. The problem is not your friends. Those would not be my friends, but whatever. We all have people in our life that are not gonna cheer for us. It is what it is. Those are the people that you realize are either jealous or they have already failed.[00:19:00]
And that's usually, I should not say this, but I have asked people when they've said, oh, I don't buy things from MLMs. I'm like, oh, which one did you fail in? And they usually tell me, there's usually. And there's also just negative people, but in general, I think you have to go back to your product and you have to say, why did I buy the artist kit or the Pampered Chef kit?
Or why did I decide to be a travel agent? Or why did I not stay a. That's usually what I ask my team, why didn't you just stay a customer? And they're like, cuz I really loved it. I'm like, okay, do you still really love it? And they'll say yes. I'm like, if you love it and it makes you feel good, why are you so fearful of someone else having that exact same experience?
There's usually not a clear answer. I know I couldn't answer that [00:20:00] question if someone asked me, because I don't want someone to not have that experience. I do want everyone to look at themselves in the mirror and be like, wow, I'm killing it today. And it was easy. And for me, I marry mine with my travel business.
I love it when someone says, oh my gosh, I got to roam and nothing broke in my compact. I'm like, awesome. Tell your friends, but. I think it has to go back to why did I not just keep buying? What made me want to take that extra step and sell and share and make sure other people know that this is awesome.
And if you can pinpoint that. I think it's easier because we're real quick to have a new seasonal Starbucks drink and tell all of our friends, post it as if Starbucks is gonna give any kind of care or any kind of kickback for us with our shaken espresso. But we loved it so much. We wanted people to know It's, I think deep [00:21:00] down women feel an odd sense.
Guilt that they are financially benefiting from their recommendation. When someone is always gonna financially benefit from any recommendation pur of a purchase.
And any time you recommend something that's purchased there is going to be a financial benefit. Why does it, why can't it? Are we frozen? Yeah, you were, you broke up. Repeat the anytime a purchase, the thing you said something like, anytime there's a purchase. Oh, I just said anytime we make a recommendation of any purchase, whether it's a new restaurant or really great para lulu leggings or, a car say we love our car.
A lot of us as moms, were like, oh my gosh, I got a third row changing my life. Someone is gonna financially benefit from your recommendation. Why not you? That's. Oh my gosh, that's so good. Now one of the other things that I think is really cool [00:22:00] about your story is we talk a lot about duplication or taking the actions that somebody else could do, even if it's scary, even if it's hard.
And I think another hard or difficult aspect of the integrate strategy is it can be hard for people to have the courage to make those connections like Molly did with you. And I know, cause I remember it on the back end cuz Molly. Directly enrolled to me and you were enrolled to her. So I could literally remember when she wrote your name on a bubble chart or on a little structure as a dream teamy.
And when she had the, to build up the courage to send you a message on Facebook to not even, she wasn't even inviting you to the artist program. She was inviting you to the next step, to a third party tools we call it, which was her beauty group, which then you were. You know what? Yes. I caught the vision, which she knew you were.
Business body she knew would be amazing like many people had told you before. So I love that, like you grasped the simplicity of that. And I know that a lot of people have benefited on your team, but given that it is also hard, [00:23:00] what advice would you have when it comes to making those connections? Not in a IY way.
Notice that Molly didn't send that same message to everybody in her friends list. She was like, I know Lauren, what can, how can we have a conversation and make a connection? That's not just like copy paste. So how did you feel in that moment and then how has that translated into something that's duplicated on your team in terms of that connection piece that's so vital if you're choosing the integrate method?
Yeah, I actually got goosebumps just now when you were saying that, cuz I vividly remember the little spark of this could be big. Like I just remember looking at it and thinking Definitely don't know what you're doing, but this could be better. And, I, there was, there's never been a moment in the last almost five years where I have felt anything but gratitude towards Molly because of what this has turned into.
Not even just financially, this has fulfilled. I, [00:24:00] from a young age, always knew I had something to contribute and I knew I would build so, I still think I'll probably write a book. I just knew and that was not being fulfilled in any other career I had have. I apologize if you see this and you had a kid in my class, that was not my gift, but I, it scratched the itch of me needing to create and build and grow something of my own.
And I don't even knew that I would, I don't even know that I knew I was so itchy, but, Very, and it scratched the itch. And so every day I feel gratitude towards her. Never any ick. But I remember, so there's a girl on my team that we grew up together. She was in middle school with me and I knew she was a hairstylist and I didn't know a lot about her life because she was still in Alabama.
I was in North Carolina. We had disconnected, but we had history and [00:25:00] I don't know. I feel like sometimes the Lord drops people on your heart. I feel like sometimes, they say you're gonna move towards what you're looking for. Like you're gonna see what you're looking for. If you're looking for the best in people, you're gonna see their best qualities.
If you've decided that someone is garbage, they're not gonna look that good to you. Your mind really is very powerful in what you, how you see someone, or how you see something. So I was like, you know what? We're not BFFs. I don't see this girl every day. If she shoots me down, it doesn't matter. We were not living life together side by side anyway.
And so I sent her a note and I said, Hey, long time no C, you popped up in my feed and I'm curious, are you still a hairstylist? And she said, I am actually just got off work or whatever. And I was like, that's awesome. Are you still in Extown? She was like, I am. And I was like, all right, shoot your shot. So I, I was like, I said, I don't know if you follow anything I do on [00:26:00] Facebook or everything I do on Facebook, but I recently started working with a cosmetic company and some of my most successful teammates are hairstylists.
So I'm looking through my friends list and just making sure I at least let all my hairstylist friends know that there is an opportunity out there that seems to marry really well with their current business. She was like, what is it? I was like, yes. That's all I need from anyone. All I ever need from you is, what is it?
And I'm like, girls on the hook, like fishing on the hook. And so I was like, it's called Saint and it's, just. Magnetic one. Compact makeup. I picked it up because it travels well and it works with my travel business. And she's I didn't know you're a travel agent. And I was like, yeah, I'm actually in the thick of a divorce.
And so I started this travel agency with my friend and she wrote back, I am in the middle of a divorce too. Wow. [00:27:00] And sometimes like we both tear up when we talk about it, but. I found her and she found me in the same life situation at the same time, and it was, and I was like, I'm so sorry. And the makeup was not brought up again for 30 minutes and it just gave us a chance to connect.
And she told me stuff I didn't know, and I told her stuff that she didn't know about me and we were really doing the same thing at the same time, several states apart. And she was like, I could use some extra. And I said, I would love a friend to walk through this with if you're open to it.
And she was like, yeah, I'm gonna sign up. Also, had not tried the makeup, and I was like, whoa, whoa. Pump breaks. I'm like, you seen this show before? I always go, why don't you try it first? So she didn't, she just ordered the kit anyway. But, you know what? Leaders make fast decisions and she has become, a good leader for me and.
Have gotten through divorce [00:28:00] together and we've reconnected a few times. I actually got to see her mom and her sister last time I went to Alabama and I just saw her this weekend in Texas. She's doing great and yeah, but it's funny, the whole reason I went to talk to her is not what ended up being the meat of our relationship, of our reconnection.
Yeah. It was the impetus for me to talk to her. Yeah. So there's been a bunch of fun little surprises like that, but I would just say if people are running around in your head or they land on your heart, that is not coincidence. Yeah. There's a reason and it very well might not be saint. It might be that they need you for something else, but anytime someone is in there that's not normally hanging out in your head or your heart, you should reach out to them.
There's a. Yes. And how cool that even if she had said no. Yes. That reconnection, that piece, the fact that you did have something to talk about that you did have in common with the randomly, whoever, whatever thought the connection would be. Beauty right. Between you. Yeah. [00:29:00] But it wound up being something so much deeper and what a cool thing that it's also been such a blessing for her from the business side.
In addition to the friendship side too. And so I think people definitely, first of all, they get in their head of what's the worst case that could happen? The worst case that could happen. I guess the worst case is they, again, they think badly of you or think it's icky and then they probably weren't meant to be your friend anyway.
But then the middle kind of worst case is they don't join. It's not for them. That's fine. I have actually two separate top leaders. Or leaders that reached about the top 10% to the top 2% of my team that are no longer even doing the business. And we're still great friends, and one of them still helps me out to this day.
The other one, I got to have lunch with her after our reunion the other day. And it's okay that this business didn't wind up being for them in that season. And who knows in the future, but in that season it was not right for them. But I'm so grateful that the business is what brought us together on a deeper level.
And so what's the worst case that could happen, right? Is that they just don't join. I agree. I always say this is a [00:30:00] lot like building a business is a lot like dating. You don't, if you wanna meet someone, you don't say no to everyone that asks you on a date. You're not petrified to get out there. If you really know that, hey, I am looking for a relationship, you're gonna date and you're not gonna be in a long-term relationship with everyone you date.
I hope, and you're also not gonna, you're gonna have a lot of first dates where you walk away and you're like, that's a nice person, but that's not my person. And I always say building a business is similar. You need to talk to everybody and feel out okay, this person that I didn't expect might be really awesome.
Or this person who I thought was a shoe-in did not look like their profile picture in real life. Like sometimes it's none of an match, but. It's a lot like dating. You have to make sure it's a good fit for you and it's a good fit for them. But the only way you're ever gonna know is you just gotta try.
And, like you say, I know Sarah always says this, but we dwell a lot on what is the worst that can [00:31:00] happen when we really ought to think more often. What is the best that could happen here? Like I, I've had several instances with women, some direct to me, some just down in my team. They're like, this has changed my family dynamic because I am paying a mortgage.
That was always difficult for us, and I'm like, man, it's not even the money at this point. They have removed stress. They have probably lowered their blood pressure. They have probably improved their marriage. There are so many. Things we don't think about. Like I, I often say, are we really selling makeup here?
Yes. But from the sales side, we're selling confidence. We're selling self-esteem, we're selling smiling more. And on the business side, we're maybe selling peace at your house or a safety net for retirement or just security or people who. [00:32:00] Constantly do think. Worst case scenario, they've got their little nest egg.
They've bought themselves some peace of mind. I bet. But yeah, we're, if you think deeper and look at the bigger picture. Yeah. It's not really about makeup. Nope. And I think when you have that foundation of the love for the product or the brand, cuz again, you and the leader that you were talking about, I probably couldn't say her name, she probably knows who were talking about.
She, you both, even without trying it, you saw the value of the brand and the product. And so any, you take any business model, or any. Network marketing business that has a solid product and a compensation plan. That's not a pyramid scheme because some of them are, you should avoid those like the plague and get someone like your dad to do it.
But if you take that and then you couple that with choosing faith, which is assuming the best case over fear, which is assuming the worst case. Every time. You're exactly right. And I think one of the most important things that you said is the Lord is gonna equip you with that name. He will put that person on your heart.
He'll put the idea, you know what, if you are building online, he'll give you the content idea.[00:33:00] He's put it on my heart to go live. I haven't done that on my personal page in a minute. And I think that's how, when I first was integrating my business into my personal profile, that was a way that I did it, was going live and showing the makeup.
And so I'm like, oh, okay. I hear you Lord. Do you want me to do that again? Got it. Scary as that is, and even if I have all those stories swimming in my mind, I know that when I have that inspiration, and if fear is the only thing holding me back from doing it, then I know I need to dive in and do it, even if it's scary.
Knowing that on the other side of that, that best thing could be that someone who hasn't seen my face pop up in their feet in a year could be like, what the heck is this? Or somebody that I just met again on an airplane or wherever, so I love fear. Fear is okay. Yes. I always say if you're waiting to do stuff until you're not scared, don't have a baby.
Don't buy a house. I don't know about you, but when I showed up at the hospital, I was like, I have really am unequipped and unprepared for this, but look at the blessing on the backside. [00:34:00] So it's okay to do things scared and I say there is a thing called healthy fear. Crippling fear is not from the.
Just the Bible is very clear. God has, I tell my kids God has not given us a spirit of fear. So if you are constantly scared about something that is not coming from God, I'll tell you where it's coming from and we are gonna pray against that. But healthy fear is sometimes adrenaline waiting to. Go and it's, it is okay to try something while you're scared because that is what builds confidence.
That's the bottom line. You have to do some things when you're scared because the confidence you gain after the fact, it's like exercise. You will not be as scared the next time, and then the third or fourth time you do it, you'll be like, this is actually fun. I love it. Oh my gosh. That's such brilliant wisdom.
Lauren, I know we could talk for days and days about this stuff cause we have in your little analogies or just the stories that you assigned to things. They're seriously the best and they have changed so much, in the business. And maybe one day we seriously need to do this again cuz you [00:35:00] are really incredible and I'm so grateful for your time of being able to share both your story.
Also so many golden nuggets that I know are gonna touch the hearts of the listeners, especially the ones who are like, okay, fine, Heather and Lauren, I need to do this. I need to stop chasing this. Do three reels a day to try to get to 10,000 or a hundred thousand or whatever, Instagram followers, and I just need to put myself out there.
I need to make some connections. I need to do the scary things, knowing that it will not only build my business, but it's gonna build you and it's gonna build relationships. That will go so much further and will last longer even than the business could. So you're amazing. Hundred percent. And just, you don't have to, I've never had a real go viral.
I think I have under 2000 Instagram followers, but I have people that comment to me on my stories cuz they're like, oh my gosh, I love those pink boots. Where did you get them? And I send them a link and I'm not an affiliate of anything, so they know I. I'm sending them the link because they're my friend and they follow me.
And [00:36:00] that's, yes, that's where I. And maybe we can end on that too, cuz if you've got a second, I would love your thoughts cuz you've seen it and I know that it can be very tempting, especially for those who are trying to do the influencer strategy. But maybe they haven't quite built that following or they haven't built the trust or even the belief to put themselves out there and they see some shiny object influencer doing more than one company.
And I'm not talking about doing a travel company and a makeup company. I'm talking about two network marketing companies. And I know that you and I have seen. What that can do to someone's business and to their trust and to the belief. So what are your thoughts on that? Doing more than one company and how have you seen that impact your business?
I personally don't have the bandwidth, so it's not, I'm not on my radar. In fact, I'm would love to get to just saying, I have two thoughts about it. I think the Bible is very clear. No man can serve two masters. One is always gonna be the main and one is always gonna be like, [00:37:00] I love this and I sell this, but I also have this.
It's the, but that is probably taking just enough away from your main that it's distracting. I wouldn't say detrimental, but distracting. But because it's not your main, it's never gonna grow to its full potential. So it's like a double whammy. It's like it nags, it takes enough of my time that this can't be a hundred, but it could never be a hundred because this is 85.
So it's like this very tough balance. And I'm not saying there aren't certain interests in instances where things make a lot of sense. I see sometimes in our business we don't have. A spray makeup remover, and there's a company that makes one that a lot of people sell that yes, this one item.
I can see where this makes sense, but as far as trying to build two businesses at the same time, I'll go back to my dating analogy. If you're dating two people at the same time, [00:38:00] you're not committed in either spot because you've got options and commit. And consistency and being all in is what is going to grow your business and make it take off.
I always say this about the bachelor of the TV show. I'm like, why do people think this would ever work? Our atten, his attention or her attention is so divided. You never would just dive in and be like, I am all here a hundred percent right now and I'm gonna see where this. It's oh, hair, legs, boobs, eyes.
Got all these things they like on all these different people. It's yo, bro. Yep. Yeah. So that's I, like I said, I think it's like until you can concentrate your attention and commit. Like we live in an non-committal society where everyone's waiting for something better.
When it's that whole saying about the grass is greenest, where you water and fertilize. [00:39:00] It might look more green over there, but somebody's watering and fertilizing that grass. You gotta water and fertilize your patch of grass, and then it will take off and grow. Yep. And I think using your dating analogy, it's if you've been on a date with a guy, it's just like your pink boots.
If you know someone else you might not be married to him, right? You might not be the one that, is choosing to spin like with sane like you are. But if you. You'd like him. You think he's great? You'll tell a friend about him, right? Yes. Yes, you'll recommend him to somebody else, but it doesn't mean you have to date him also.
And so I love that you said that you'll share the boots without, without an affiliate. And again, an influencer. She can and probably should make the money off the things that she's recommending to people because she's got the following, she's got the value. But I think you're exactly right that until you're at that point, it can be really challenging to try to divide your interest.
And I see it happen all the time, that people try to do that. So thanks for kind of sharing. Him on that. Cause I know you've seen it like I have and you have exemplified what it looks like to really focus in and how even your, travel business, which I [00:40:00] still, you guys, I know you're gonna kill me for this, but you guys, Lauren, it's really amazing travel agent.
So if you ever really do, if you need a fabulous. Trip. She's your girl cuz she's done some pretty cool stuff for me and my family too. But what I love about this is you see the value in the business that it's slowly but surely grown to be the, the breadwinner for you. And then you are, I think you get to do the travel business more for fun, right?
Like you get to be the one because you're a natural recommender that you're like, yeah, I'm gonna tell you about the screws and it's okay that I get the commission on it too. It's awesome and you need it, and it's on sale. Here you go. So you are just amazing, Lauren, and I'm so grateful for your friendship and for your leadership and I just thank you for your wisdom today.
Thanks for having me. Yay. I'm sure we'll chat more later now. Oh, and where can we find you? Do you have like, where if they did wanna tra find you for the, they got, Hey, if you guys wanna push me to a whopping 2000 Instagram followers. Just kidding. I have 1800 or something. Hey, it's only been five years.
I'm getting there. There's [00:41:00] girls on my team that got to a hundred thousand in one year. I'm like, that's a lot of work and congratulations. My Instagram is, Hey Lauren, let's. Let it, Hey Lauren, let's go. Hey Lauren, let's go. And there's all kinds of, there's a little bit. You can, we can at least connect there.
I'm not gonna say you're gonna find a wealth of information, but you can follow me and watch the day in the life of a single mom that eats Chick-fil-A in the car, gets ketchup everywhere. Yes, and you can exem you. Emulate what she's done with the in integrate strategy, cuz it's a perfect example of how it's done well and done right.
So thank you again, Lauren. You're awesome. All right. Thank you. Yay.
Stop. End a zoom.
