Reason 3: I am passionate about literacy

A few months ago, during the presidential election season, I was very pregnant and read a lot of the news.  In all honesty, the way I was spending my free time was pretty depressing.  In all the mire I sledged through on the internet, I finally got to a breaking point where I just gave up trying to sort all of this out.

I remember thinking to myself, "We aren't getting anywhere; we're just more polarized than ever before."  Then I sort of got to thinking, "Is there anything that we can all collectively agree on?  Maybe if we could all collectively agree on fixing one aspect within society, regardless of political stance, religion, or economic policy, we would actually see change for the better."
So, here I am, eight months pregnant, trying to figure out how I can rally everyone in the world together and change the course of history.  And I came up with a few ideas.  But one has really stuck with me through these few months.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could read?  Wouldn't it be cool if we all worked together and taught everyone on the planet to read?  I felt like this was a relatively innocuous goal that most of society would agree was a good idea and it could have a really positive impact.

I don't know if you've read any literacy statistics before, but they're scary.  You can check them out here.  The headline statistic on Begin To Read's website says that 2/3 of students that cannot read proficiently by the end of the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.  Obviously correlation doesn't always equal causation, but it does give me hope that childhood literacy is a valuable place to start making some contributions.

Now, I realize that literacy for the entire world population is a very big goal.  I don't expect my little blog to go viral and for literacy to reach the deepest jungles and most far of places.  But, I kinda thought that a good place to start would be volunteering in reading programs at local schools and teaching my own kids to read.

So, that's what I've been doing.

Since my baby boy was born, we've been doing Sonlight Curriculum with my daughter, and she just loves it.  It's a literature based curriculum, so she receives exposure to a wide variety of books.

It's amazing to see her growth in her love for books over the past year.  Her attention span has markedly increased.  Her vocabulary has grown exponentially.  She takes initiative to read her own books.  More recently, she's expressed deep frustration that she can't read.  I'm so excited to conquer this mountain with her.  It will unlock so many adventures for her!

Then UBAM came along.  As I learned more and more about the literacy opportunities that I could provide for local schools, preschools, and homeschool groups, I was ready to jump on board.

The fact that UBAM is so generous with their matching grant program was a huge seller for me.  I just imagined getting into some of these schools that had a desperate need for quality literature and offering this opportunity.  You can read about it here.

Their Reach for the Stars program is a perfect way to promote literacy and get kids excited about reading!  The kids get pledges from friends and family and then read or are read to over a certain period of time.  If they meet their goals, they receive free books.  That would make me want to read if I was still a kid.  I mean, hello?  I was motivated by a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza and a pin that said "Book-It" on it when I was little.  Free books would have motivated me even more.

As I researched more about UBAM, I saw both a business opportunity and a service opportunity.  I can serve my community by getting books into the places that need them.

Maybe my goal of literacy for everyone is a bit lofty, but I certainly have some great opportunities to promote literacy in the lives of a lot of people here in Charlotte.

Reason 2: I may not be a good sales person, but I am a good networker

One of my first jobs during college was working at a bath and beauty supply store that shall remain unnamed.  I don't know what universe I was operating in, because anyone who knows me should know this was a terrible fit.  But somehow I got the job, and somehow I managed to keep it for a relatively long time.

But I never got a raise.  Plenty of people who started with me received raises.  But I never did, and honestly, I'm not surprised one bit.

It's not that I didn't work hard.  I always worked hard to answer people's questions and I always did what I was told.  I had plenty of product knowledge, too, but there was one thing I could just never bring myself to do.  I just never could meet my goals.  My boss would pick a product and we would have to try to sell 5 or 6 of a certain product during our shift.

This never made any sense to me, because what if no one came in that wanted or needed that particular product?  I had plenty of coworkers who were spectacular at doing this.  They could sell anything!  I guess that is just not in my blood.

This is part of the reason that I felt like Usborne was a good fit for me.  First of all, when you join to be a consultant, there's no minimums.  Basically, I can't lose.  It's not like I have a boss writing me a goal that I have to meet and sell a product regardless of if it's a good fit for the customer.  In fact, if there's no customers, it's okay.  I'm allowed to take a break and still remain a consultant.

This immediately took a huge amount of pressure off and made the decision to join much easier.  What did I have to lose?  Worst case scenario is I get a bunch of books for about a third of the retail price and a lifetime 25% discount for Usborne Books.  This seemed like a no brainer to me.

As bleak of a picture as I've painted of myself in terms of selling stuff, I'm not a complete cast off.  In a strange, backwards sort of way, I do have a gift for selling things.  But, my gifting isn't really in sales, it's more in connecting people.

Another great personality test is the Right Path personality test.  I'm a networker.  When I told my sister-in-law that I'm a networker, she had to do a double take.  "I'd have never imagined you as a networker," she said to me.  Well, that's because I'm kind of a unique networker.

Remember, I love information and research, so one of the greatest joys of my life is connecting people to opportunities, products, or other people that I feel would greatly enhance their lives.  That's why I love tutoring.  It's an opportunity to find an individualized method to connect people to important information.   That's why when I love something, I literally tell EVERYONE that I know how awesome it is.

All that to say, Usborne will be an awesome opportunity for me.  I'm connected to so many people both locally and around the country who are looking for quality literature to put in the hands of their children, students, and communities.  As I go along with my posts, you're going to see that the sky is the limit as far as how Usborne Books can benefit your personal circle of influence.

I'm seriously bursting at the seams with ideas of how we can bring so much good into our communities through fostering a love for reading in the next generation, but if I write them all down in this post, I won't have anything fun to say in my future posts!

Stay tuned...

Reason 1: I love Books

So, here's kind of a real life update before I get into the logic behind starting my job with Usborne.

1) I officially have 2 craft fairs booked.  That didn't take a lot of work to book, just research.  Craft fairs are great because they take me outside of my network of friends.  One of the craft fairs is 4 days long, and apparently 75,000 people attend the show, so my boss is getting someone to help me with that.  That's a little...um...out of my league.  So, I'm really excited about trying my hand at that.  So far, so good.

2) I've officially set the date for my kick off party.  September 28, 2013.  10am-2pm.  I mean, yes, to be honest, sometimes I do feel a bit like a 16 year old girl wondering if anyone is going to come to my birthday party.  But then I remind myself, this is part of the fun.  This is the risk taking part of a business venture.  So, besides the nerves, so far so good here, too.

3) I've officially booked two parties.  This is where the real work starts, but I think they're going to be so fun.  The two hostesses I'm working with are A.W.E.S.O.M.E. and are totally relaxed.  It's basically going to be a blast working with them.  Plus, I'm able to offer them spectacular incentives since it's in my first 12 weeks of starting.

4)I got my website up and running. You can visit it here.  Any time you want to check out what is available, just go check out the website.  You can buy directly from the website and it will all get shipped directly to you.  They're also running some good internet specials this month.

.................
Okay, so let's get into a little of the back story.

After a series of potential part time job leads did NOT work out, I was feeling a little discouraged.  Nevertheless, I continued my search until something was dropped right into my lap.  In the course of 24 hours, I went from unemployed to having a wonderful freelance job of helping a non-profit get off their feet.  Specifically, it's a child sponsorship program, which I have previous experience in before marrying my husband.

I've been out of the work force for a while, but can I say this?  I missed working.  I really did.   I feel like my spare time has purpose now.  Before getting this job, I would just pointlessly scour the internet for new information to consume.  Now I have THINGS to think about during those odd moments of free time.  Furthermore, they're things I ENJOY thinking about.

So, I guess with a bit of extra hop in my step, I thought to myself, "Is there another stream of income that I could create?"

I was browsing Pinterest one day when I saw some pin where a lady said she sold books, and I thought to myself, "I've never been into getting people to buy stuff, but I bet I could do something like that if I was selling something I loved like books."  As the wheels in my head turned, I remembered I had a friend in Atlanta who sold books.  I talked with her, and thus began my relationship with Usborne Books and More (UBAM).

So the first and foremost reason I'm doing this is because I really do love books.  Books have been such an important part of my life.  They've been the portal to a far away land when I felt imprisoned in life's circumstances.  They've been the teacher to my soul when I choose to listen to no one else.  My perspective on life constantly evolves because of books.

One of my favorite feelings is going to a used book store and finding literary treasures.  Matt and I often scour used bookstores for our favorite author, George MacDonald.  Books give me characters I want to emulate.  I'll never forget the first time I read Jane Eyre.  I was a freshman in college and I learned that it was far better to be a woman of character than to fit the mold that society expected me to fit.  I remember reading Les Miserables and crying in my car at the end, parked up at Campus North at Liberty University.  I remember sitting at Godwin High School in the library highlighting in Brennan Manning's Ruthless Trust and realizing that God might not just love me, he might like me, too.  I remember being so empty and being filled by N.T. Wright's Simply Christian.  I remember reading George MacDonald's The Curate's Awakening and feeling okay with questioning my faith.

There's so many ways that books have made me the woman that I am today.  I want to share that first and foremost with my children, but really with everyone I meet.  UBAM gives me an avenue to share my passion.  I can honestly sell something that I believe will truly open up a world of possibilities to the next generation.

Why Blog?

Before we get started with WHAT it is I'm doing, let's take a few minutes to unpack the WHY...

Why am I blogging my business experience?  Why does this blog exist?  Well, here's a few reasons...

1) I think a lot of people like to hear the ins and outs of interesting experiences, but they don't always want to ask.  

I am a blog stalker.  Here's the deal; I know I'm not the only one who does this.  I know this because people I would never expect to read my blog often reference that they've read my personal blog.  I always love reading people's personal experiences via blogs, especially when it pertains to an experience that I may find interesting.

Maybe someone is interested in starting their own Usborne Books and More business.  Reading my start up may help them.

2) I'm blogging because I'm an information fiend.

Have you ever taken Gallup's Strength's Finder 2.0?  It is one of my favorite personality tests.  It's really worth taking if you haven't.  My number one strength is "Input".  That basically describes my gift set perfectly.  I store information, and a lot of it.  I find I can often quickly give people the 411 about any topic I'm familiar with because I research things exhaustively.

My other side job is writing content for a non-profit organization.  One of my favorite parts of my job is researching.  Seriously, I could research all.day.long.

I figured that I'd be able to provide a lot of information in a very efficient manner to my readers about both Usborne Books and More as well as my business experience.  I want to share that gift with whoever wants it.

3) Everyone loves a good experiment.

I read this blog the other day about a 40 day experiment where two people randomly decided they were going to date each other.  I found it fascinating!  Movies like Supersize Me are so interesting to me.  I don't know why I have such a fascination with experiments, but for some reason I do.  So, for all of those people out there who love to watch experiments unfold, that's what I'm going to do right here on this blog.

Can a person who is not a naturally gifted sales person create a successful side business?  Will she be able to extend her business outside of her personal circle?  How is she going to make all of this work with kids?  What are the ups and downs going to look like?

Well, that's what I'm going to record here.


So...here we go!  I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I'm going to enjoy creating it. I hope that you decide to come on My Usborne Adventure with me!

I took the plunge...

Confession:  I H.A.T.E trying new things.

I don't mind trying something new if I have half a chance of excelling.  But once I leave my comfort zone...well...let's just say it gets VERY uncomfortable.

That's how I sort of how I feel about retail.  It scares me to death.

But here I am...selling Usborne books.

Tonight, my kit came in the mail. (P.S.  The books are AWESOME!!!!)

I'm hosting my launch party on September 28, 2013.  To celebrate my business launch, I'll be releasing a new blog post every day as to why I've decided to sell Usborne books!

Here's a preview of what's to come.

Why I'm selling Usborne Books and More...
1) I love books!
2) I may not be a good sales person, but I am a good networker.
3) I am passionate about literacy.
4) I want to expand my circle of friends.
5) It's good to try something new once in a while.
6) We are going to build an awesome home library.

Check back tomorrow for some awesome pictures of my books, a link to my website, and to hear about two of the awesome craft fairs that I've already booked!  Also, tomorrow, I'll be giving the "why" of why I chose to take the plunge...