Chapter 10: My Life In Business - Oh Yea, Baby (2012)

My life as Co-Founder of Thirty-One

20 chapters from my 20 years

Including never before shared stories

The year 2012 was keeping us on our toes as had been our experience for the last several years. The direct selling industry had really taken notice and in March our company was host to many of the leaders of businesses in the Direct Sales industry.

In prior years we had been the ones traveling to tour other companies in our industry. We had visited companies like The Pampered Chef home office in the Chicago area and the Scentsy headquarters in Boise, Idaho area. Now it was our turn to show off our home office. I’m not sure when we gained the nickname of “The Darling of the Direct Sales Industry” but it stuck.

In that same month, on March 17th, I had a sneaking suspicion that something was going on so I took a pregnancy test. It was positive. I couldn’t believe it. The news was a surprise as I had all but given up on the idea of having a third child. I was open and ready for whatever God in store for us. What a year 2012 was turning out to be.

The morning after our big news our family went on a mission trip to Belize for a week. We enjoyed our experience together and were grateful we had the opportunity to partner with some great missionaries there in Belize. I highly recommend taking a family mission trip if you are able. If your child is at least 6-7 years old I feel like they can contribute in the right environment. It was a blessing to go on that trip as a family of four before our new arrival would come later in the year.

The summer brought our biggest National Conference attendance so far at nearly 14,000 people. We held the event in Atlanta and it was so crazy to see Thirty-One banners along the streets right outside the Atlanta Merchandise Mart where our very first products were sourced. The theme of the event was “Live It Up” and I sure felt like I was living my best life. At 36 years old I was expecting another child and the business was continuing to grow. We were coming up to our 10th year in business and we would reach 100,000 consultants signed up soon.

The Fall season was as big as we expected and I was getting pretty uncomfortable in my final months of pregnancy. There were a couple of other ladies in the office pregnant at the time and it was my first time working alongside other soon to be new moms. The week before my due date we hosted a Girl Scout event. Local scouts from the Columbus area were invited to tour our home office and hear about our Thirty-One Gives foundation. It was fitting that I had been a scout leader for five years and we were able to give back in this way as a company. And I’ll always be a fan of the cookies!

As with my other two kids I worked right up until the end of my pregnancy. I worked all day Friday and Jozie Danielle Sutton was born at 6:42am on Saturday, November 10, 2012. I was so grateful for an easy delivery of our sweet baby. I was fortunate to have my maternity leave overlap with the holiday season so I could enjoy my time with our family of five. After spending the last nine holiday seasons with Thirty-One and busily working to get everything done that the busiest time of the year involved, I was more than ready for the time at home. I needed the break and wanted to enjoy every minute of it.