Chapter 15: My Life In Business – Rough Waters (2017)

My life as Co-Founder of Thirty-One

20 chapters from my 20 years

Including never before shared stories

What do I say about 2017? In national news, Donald Trump was sworn in as President, and we were living in a very different economy than we are as I write this blog in 2024. To illustrate the impact and importance of direct sales businesses on the economy, in 2016 there was $35.5 billion in DS retail sales contributing to the $83.1 billion total retail sales nationally. For an industry that doesn’t have presence in storefronts it’s pretty impressive that 42% of overall sales are made through independent Consultants, Reps, Affiliates or whatever other title they may go by.

In our experience as a company we had been through dramatic growth during our first ten years in business and were okay with steadying out to a more predictable pace. However I don’t believe there is much predictability in direct sales, much less in the overall retail sales industry. By this time in business, 14 years in, we were more of a rough waters stage. The importance of highlighting our strength as a business and our upcoming 15th anniversary was top of mind and was the focus of our upcoming strategies.

Back at the homestead we were enjoying life in our new home and loving not living in a neighborhood for the first time. Our baby girl was turning five this year so it was a great time for me to find a hobby. My obsession with raising farm animals began with the purchase of a few baby chicks. There’s something so rewarding about raising chickens and discovering the first egg they laid once they reach maturity. And the fresh eggs taste delicious also.

In April I was excited to take my husband with me for the first time on an incentive trip we hosted for a smaller quantity of leaders than our big annual trip we typically host for thousands.  During this stage in our lives and the ages and involvement levels of our kids in activities, it was rare for us to get away together. Aruba was a great destination for some time away. The scenery was beautiful and the southern Caribbean island is known for the consistent wind that keeps the air cooler and more comfortable. There is even a local adage that refers back to the consistent breeze that says “follow the bend of the divi-divi trees and they’ll lead you to town”.

By July it was time to gather with our sales field at our national conference, and after three years of having two conferences due to the high attendance numbers, we returned to having a single conference in Columbus, Ohio. It was great in so many ways to be able to gather in one space at one time and do our conference ONCE. With around 7,500 of our Consultants in attendance in one place, it was a fun energetic gathering with the theme of “Everyone Has a Story”.

My absolute favorite part of returning to Ohio each summer for our conference now that I was living in Tennessee was the opportunity to reconnect with those who grew close during our time living there. It didn’t take much arm twisting to gather our friends for a get together that was never long enough. Those moments filled my heart and left permanent memories in my mind.

Having been able to stay in the same operations facility and offices for the last five years had provided consistency for the business we had never experienced. It was so normal during the high growth years that moving the business was a non-negotiable. We had finally found a balance that helped in so many ways for the business to focus on the right things. The logistics of moving a company was a long ago memory.

Early in the fall season we had our annual incentive trip coming up. It was the first time we were holding the trip off dry ground and instead embarking on a Caribbean cruise. By the first week of September, just days before traveling to the port to depart along with thousands of travelers who had earned the trip, we were hearing rumblings of a possible hurricane that would likely cross paths with the cruise ship.

Besides delivery issues during major storms, we had not had experience with hurricanes with our business based out of Ohio. A category 5 hurricane (Irma) changed the cruise plans and just days before travelers were set to depart the trip had to be cancelled. This was hard news to deliver and there was no way to spin it in a positive way. It was definitely the right call as the impact of this hurricane and the 180 mph winds that came with it resulted in the deaths of 134 people.

Nothing compares to the possibility of loss of life when weighing a big decision. The fall season had been our choice for incentive trips for so long, but this experience started to change all of that. That trip in 2017 never happened but our trip earners were compensated in an alternative way. Times like this allow us the opportunity to reflect. Life is much more than what we do for a living. It’s been said that your career is only 1/8th of your life. That’s 12.5% of life. How much do we let success and failure in our work affect us when overall there’s so much more to life? Give that a second read.