Hello, my name is Darlene and I am a working mother of two wonderful sons and a wife to one seriously fantastic man! I would like to share a few things about myself so that you can see that I am just like you and I have the same hopes and dreams that you do. Now when I say I am a working mother, what I mean is that I work at being a good mother and my business allows me to do just that.
But first, a little history....
A few years ago I was putting my heart and soul into a job that I loved but was extremely stressful. I had been in the medical field for almost 20 years and although I loved what I did, it was taking its toll on me and my family. I had suffered for years with migraines brought on by stress and it was only getting worse. In 2004 we had a life-changing event when our oldest son was attacked at school by people that he did not even know and it started a downward spiral that sucked everything into its wake. Suddenly I could not concentrate on my job, our 6 year old son was refusing to go to school and I was spending more time at the hospital with our teenager. Something had to give and it was my job.
I started looking for something I could do at home and still be available for my children when they needed me. Let me tell you, it was not an easy thing to find. I found a lot of scams and a lot of empty promises and the only things that kept me sane was my very supportive husband and the belief that someday I would find something that I could do and that I could enjoy doing!
I had started with a candle company last year because I am passionate about good candles and as the old saying goes
"Do what you love and the money will follow"
I thought I had truly found it but as it turned out, while I was doing what I loved, the company was not what I thought it was. Unfortunately I had not really done my research and soon found myself in a situation where I could not continue because the company declared bankruptcy. I was upset and swore off doing any type of Direct Sales again.
About 8 months later I was visiting a friend and I noticed that she had this amazing smell in her house and I asked her what it was. She told me that she was an Independent Distributor for this candle company and that the products were great. I was very skeptical. Not because I did not believe her about the products, but because I had already been down that road and I was not interested in going there again. Before we left her house she gave my teenager a Sandalwood candle and told me if I liked it I could come back and buy some more.
We got home and I wanted to burn this candle to see if it was all she said it was. Within 3 hours I knew I had to have more of those candles! I called her and discussed the business with her and got all the information that I could before I went to my husband because I knew that while he was supportive, he was also tired of seeing me get taken.
I researched this company from all sides and found that it was a highly successful and very secure company with a great reputation and a vision to become even better. I finally took all the information to my husband and although he was worried that I might end up burning more candles than selling them, he was on board and I started with the Candle of the Month. I knew that I wanted to do home parties with this product because I knew it was a great product and the company was stable so I talked my husband into getting the Fast Start pack. The day that pack came in, I called my neighbor and she came over and spent 3 hours going over all the scents and ended up buying $90 worth of candles. When my husband got home that afternoon he was shocked and thrilled. It was as easy as Smell and Sell. I talked to a few of my other friends and my family and pretty soon word spread that I had some great products and now I am known as the Candle Lady in my local grocery store, pharmacy, motorcycle shop and pet store.
I have a great mentor in this company and I am interested in building my own team that I can mentor as well. As it turned out, my neighbor loved the candles so much that she became a distributor too!
My life is very full now and I am more involved with my children than I ever was working outside the home. It is all thanks to this wonderful company and the people behind me and I hope that I can share this dream come true with others!