Seller Spotlight: Brianna Small
We recently connected with Anderson,Texas-based social seller Brianna Small who has been with her company since 2015. We chatted with her about the different phases her business has taken (and the bumps along the way!), how she approaches her business now, and the idea that everything doesn’t have to be glossy and perfect to be effective.
Read on for some of the key lessons she learned on her business journey.
Your relationship to your business can go through phases
“When I first started my business, it was back in 2015 and someone I knew just said, ‘Hey! Why don’t you do this with me?’ At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom and I wanted my own source of income. I joined and hit the ground running really quickly, but at the time, direct sales was moving into the social media space and it was met with a lot of Internet hate. So as quickly as I got started, I lost most of my team within a few months because it was a tough environment to share. I stopped working too, and it put me in a funk for almost 2 years.
But during that time, I did a lot of soul-searching and realized who I was and what I wanted out of this. When I came back to it, I knew that if I’m gonna share it, I’ve gotta love it and believe in the mission.”
Find the things that make it worth your while
“I noticed a shift within myself when I really believed in what I was doing. I gained so much more self-confidence, which is something I’ve struggled with since high school because I was always just seen as the ‘shy girl.’
A lot of people think being in direct sales means you’re not shy, but I don’t think that’s true. You just have to find what makes it worth it for you. I love my company because they give back to a cause that’s really personal to me. I know there are a lot of people, especially now, who might make you feel like what you have to say isn’t worth sharing. But for me, I want to do it in a way that always feels authentic to me.
Since I started my business again, I’ve helped customers through hard times in their lives. I remember a customer applied and got accepted to attend a retreat put on by my company. When she did that, I just cried. It was just worth it. Dealing with all the push-back, all the people who don’t understand why you do what you do. It’s all worth it.”
It doesn’t have to be perfect
“Authenticity and being myself means not needing things to be perfect. I love going Facebook Live because you get me — the real me. I show up as I am that day and let my followers get a glimpse into my life and sometimes my family, which isn’t perfect — who’s life is? I like doing these more than posting photos that can be filtered and made to look really glossy. I really love representing who I am and my products with all of that stripped away.
Doing videos never came naturally to me, but I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I talk about my products and my company, but sometimes I just talk about what’s on my mind that day — if it’s my family, a new routine I’m trying, whatever it may be. It’s not perfect, but it’s me.”
Adapting to the times
“I understand that it’s a stressful time right now for everybody, and there are so many changes that people have to make to support themselves and their business. I love that with direct sales, we can do almost everything virtually.
I’ve also been thinking of creative ways to adapt to the times. I’ve assembled product baskets for essential workers and really thinking about how I can support those who are most in need. We can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect to always be growing or succeeding. I’ve learned over these years of running my business that I want to always learn and adapt to grow.”
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