Michelle Geouge is without a doubt a rising star and one of the most likeable persons in Network Marketing. She is also a mom, a leader and someone who thinks things through. In this amazing interview she seems not to keep any secrets from us and she speaks about her achievements, motherhood, loyalty and awakening moments. And she does the only way she knows how.
A rising star of Network Marketing, Michelle Geouge
HOW DOES BEING A MOM HELP BEING A NETWORK MARKETER? FOR EXAMPLE, DOES IT TEACH PATIENCE, CONSISTENCY, COURAGE AND FORBEARANCE? OR MAYBE IT HELPS IN ANOTHER, MORE SURPRISING WAY?
Believe it or not, I think being a mom makes being a network marketer more difficult and complex. As a mom, my kids are looking up to me and learning how to have a work ethic, watching my drive and determination, and hopefully learning how to not let the glass ceiling of the corporate world hold them back when they get older. That puts a lot of pressure on me because not only do I want them to watch and learn how to grow up and implement those traits, but they also need to learn from a young age the definition of a work life balance. Network marketing is so accessible that it is almost too easy to not respond to a message during bed time, not look at my phone while I am cheering for my kids at their baseball or football games, and to not help my team when they need me during dinner time. Being a mom and a network marketer is hard to find that balance; however, I have a father who I define as a work-a-holic and even at this time in the world right now, it seems that work is a priority over his health even at times. One of my main priorities in life is to teach my kids how to have an insane work ethic, drive, and willingness to succeed while also having a balance of family time and traveling the world.
AND HOW DID YOU START YOUR BUSINESS ADVENTURE?
Five and a half years ago I had been watching some people on social media as Network Marketing really took off on my social media newsfeeds, but I was not a believer at all. I have been a Compliance expert for a major world-wide bank for over 10 years now and I would always roll my eyes at the network marketing posts on Facebook and say “they just need to get a real job.” One evening I attended a mom’s only get together and met someone that was able to catch my attention and get me to say yes. I jumped in the next day and said “if she can do it, then so can I.” I just wanted to make an extra $500 a month to give my kids an extra vacation a year. That was it! After a year in this party planning company, I was on track to become Rookie of the Year, but I quickly grew tired and exhausted. This was supposed to be about time freedom and more income to spend more time with my family, but I was hosting parties to sell these products and missing way too many bedtimes with my kids. It was a year into that party planning company that my enroller and I found the company that I am with now and truly was able to see the vision, the growth potential, more time with my family, and so much more. Leaving this company was an extremely hard decision because I had built a large team and fast, but I knew I couldn’t keep going with the party planning method as it was just too much. I had no work life balance and it was taking a big toll on my family and I, so it was an easy decision to decide to leave and find a new company. The key is that I saw the vision and saw my potential and I knew at that time that network marketing was definitely something I had become passionate about.
MICHELLE, ANOTHER STRAIGHT QUESTION ABOUT YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE. WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO? WHAT IS YOUR DRIVE? THE ADRENALINE, THE MONEY, THE FUTURE OF YOUR FAMILY, THE WILLINGNESS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD? OR MAYBE SOMETHING ELSE?
My Why when I first started was to find me. I wanted something that was mine (sounds weird, but its true). I am a mom by definition and my kids are my whole life. I have been a compliance banking expert for almost 15 years. I wanted something that I had complete control over, something that could bring in an extra income for my family, but also something that I could be passionate about. Over the past nearly 5 years in network marketing, I have found myself, lost myself, almost quit more times than I can count, but more so recently I have found myself all over again. A few years ago I found myself in a situation where 99.99% of humans would have quit and said that the situation just wasn’t worth the money. I was determined to prove the people who had hurt me wrong, I could do this, and I could do it without them. I refused to quit at anything in life (I am way too competitive for my own good at times), so I stuck it out. I set goals, but found myself self-sabotaging and settling to just maintaining and being ok with that. I accepted average. I had that lightbulb moment where I knew I had to re-define why I do what I do. Why do I push myself to the limits? Why am I balancing so much between my full time career, being a mom, taking my kids to all of their different sports practices and games (no joke 7 days a week), on top of running my MLM business? My drive became something different, it transitioned into proving myself wrong and showing myself that I can do this, showing my team that we persevered for a reason, and showing my family that the struggle and the tears were worth me sticking with this business. It’s not about the money, it’s not about that anymore, it’s about showing myself and my kids that sometimes you have to go through the struggle and go to those deep dark places to be able to rise above. My drive is now being able to go through those bad times and rise into bigger and better things, goals, achievements, and a better human being than I was before starting network marketing. It’s actually funny that you ask this question, last night my husband and I were sitting with my kids in our hot tub and I just looked up and laughed. I explained to my kids that the stuff that they have and the lifestyle that they have, their father and I never had growing up. The income that network marketing has brought me is awesome, the future for my family looks bright, helping to change other’s lives either with the business or products are amazing… raising my kids to be humble and teaching myself to be humble, ego-free, and focusing on helping others is what’s been priceless.
I WONDER HOW YOU ARE DOING IN THESE TROUBLED TIMES. HOW CORONAVIRUS HAS AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS? OR THE WAY YOU DO YOUR BUSINESS?
Surprisingly, I actually don’t hate the way that times have changed. I find myself reflecting on February 2020 versus now. I was at the end of my limits in February – I was stressed, I never got a break, my oldest son was on 2 basketball teams and worked out at a gym 2 days a week and my youngest was a wrestler who practiced 3 nights a week and had tournaments every Sunday that were 6-9 hours long. On top of my kids’ schedules, I had to balance my full time career and my network marketing business as well. It was a lot and I didn’t realize how close I was to breaking. The first week in March, we decided to take a vacation and I needed to just relax, smile, and not have a care in the world more than I knew. Upon returning home, within just a few days the kids’ schools closed and life changed as we knew it. Our lives have changed drastically, my kids are lost without sports and school, but I have actually found how much I desperately needed this change of pace. I have been able to focus on my business more. In March I was able to earn a rank for personal sales that I had not been able to hit in my 4 ½ years with my company. In March, my team had their highest volume that we had in almost 2 years and then April we topped that and in May we are on track for achieving a rank that I have been working for a long time now! The coronavirus has allowed me to have the time to focus and help my team, onboard new team members and being able to give them full support, and talk to more of my customers and follow-up like never before. The coronavirus has infused consistency into my business. Now, I am also working from home with my full time career, balancing my network marketing business, and having to home school my kids; however, being able to do this all from home and not feeling overwhelmed constantly on the go and having to be at three different places at the same time has given me a sense of security and comfort in my life as we know it currently. Lastly, my favorite change with the coronavirus, has been me getting my health back on track. I am with a health and wellness MLM company, but I never had time to work-out or focus on my health (I know, time is the biggest excuse in the book, but it was a true issue in my life). With my kids’ sports and practices not taking up every single evening, I have been able to spend time working out again at my best friend’s house 3 days a week since March and goodness it feels good. Although I am ready for my kids to get back to school and sports (hopefully sooner rather than later), I am enjoying this break from the normal craziness and taking advantage of the extra time that I have by infusing my business with consistency and a determination to help my team smash our goals!
OKAY, NOW FOR THE STATS… HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN THE NETWORK MARKETING PROFESSION, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WITH YOUR CURRENT COMPANY, HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU PERSONALLY ENROLLED INTO YOUR COMPANY AND WHAT IS THE CURRENT SIZE OF YOUR ORGANIZATION.
I was in a party-planning marketing business from December 2014 – September 2015. I left that business in September of 2015 and joined Modere. I have personally enrolled 128 marketers and I have personally helped 1,353 unique customers in 4 years. Within my team at Modere, my team has comprised of 851 total marketers. My team has consistently been a Director 3 organization (50-100k in volume each month) and I have consistently maintained a Platinum level in personal sales (3k-5k+ in volume) for quite a few years. In May of 2020, we are on track to double our volume and hit the rank of Elite (100k+ in volume) and I am on track to have over 10k volume in sales! May 2020 will be our best month as a team and for personal sales as well!
Michelle Geouge. Modere
WHAT BUSINESS FAILURE YOU CHERRISH THE MOST? AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IT?
I wouldn’t call it my biggest failure, but my biggest lesson learned. A few years ago I found myself in a situation where I had to choose – stay with my company or leave and follow my leader elsewhere. Someone I had considered as a really close friend and my up line left to go to a new company under an extremely stressful situation and I was given the direction to follow or I would not be a loyal friend and would be betraying a friendship and would be leaving that friendship behind. No matter how much I had thought that person cared for me, it was a real awakening for me to realize that the friendship was business dependent and if I was not working for this person, then I didn’t matter. That was extremely eye opening for me. I knew I couldn’t be loyal to someone who wasn’t loyal to me in return. I made the tough decision to walk away from many friendships and to stay with my company – I had to be loyal to myself, my family, and to the leaders who had my back throughout an extremely difficult and tying time. During this situation, many of my team members were put in the same position – to follow or to stay. Many followed, my team’s volume took a major hit, but I learned that those were not people that I wanted to work with anyway. I am never going to force anyone to stay or give anyone an ultimatum – generally when ultimatums are given, it is human nature to do the opposite and push the limits. I could have quit. I should have quit. Most people would have quit. I spend many nights and says dealing with extreme stress and high anxiety from this situation. I then had that epiphany, the moment where I knew I had made the right decision. The leaders within my company helped me to believe in myself, breathed passion back into me, and made me and my team to not feel alone… and I knew that I could rise above bigger and better than ever! This situation taught me that friendships shouldn’t be dictated by a business relationship and if you even have an inkling that is the case, just know where your place is. Know that person is loyal to their income and not to you. Know that you are worthy of more and better relationships. This situation helped me to identify the biggest difference in Network Marketing versus Corporate America – the relationships within Network Marketing are more emotional and more meaningful. When I go to work, I connect with my coworkers, but I don’t develop deep and close friendships like I have created over the years within Network Marketing. So when a fellow Network Marketer takes advantage of you or emotionally hurts you, it hurts way more than it would in the Corporate America setting.
END OF PART ONE
Editorial staff
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You will also find interesting https://rankingmlm.com/so-what-now-mlm-coronavirus-and-5-companies-worth-recommending/
About Modere https://rankingmlm.com/my-drive-comes-from-the-love-for-the-game-interview-with-john-melton/
