Wild Ride

I haven’t watched much CNBC since my broker days. Of late however, I’ve been an avid watcher, glancing at the screen with increased frequency over the past few weeks. My viewing of this “wild ride” has been somewhat detached as my husband’s career has always been in marketing - in one capacity or another – not trading. But, many (I might even venture to say most) of our friends have jobs in fields directly related and impacted by the moves of the Dow, the S&P and the Nasdaq. These are not easy times.

Fortunately we have not really felt a direct impact in regards to our business. We’ve tripled our rep force since last year at this time, boutique stores are still buying (and reordering) and house parties and multi-vendor events are still being organized and attended – both by our reps and their customers. In fact, direct sales companies are said to be “recession-proof” because as tough financial times set in (be it on a personal level or a nationwide effect like we’re seeing now), women enter the work force in an effort to help support their families. The direct selling industry is a perfect fit for this type of work as women can usually just add this kind of job to their existing daily schedules.

But I won’t go so far as to say we have not been affected at all. Nor do I have any tarot card reading skills or foresight powers to predict what’s coming for any of us in the future. What I do know is that it’s hard enough to start a company (with your husband no less) out of your house in an entirely new field with no existing companies after which to model yourselves. Now try to do it in the middle of what some say is the start of a major recession, in an election year with financial markets jittery as you are trying to seek investment capital for your said start-up. But actually, I joke that with the volatility of the market these days, investing in a start up like ours may actually be a safer bet than some of the blue chips!

So despite the uncertainty of the financial climate, we’ll still continue to meet with potential investors and hope to find others that share our vision for the company’s future. And while we wait, we’ll put our heads down, strap in and do what we’ve been doing - the work at hand, the best that we can.