Stay Afloat

Whew!

Been M.I.A. over here on the blog for a bit. It’s been a busy week between homeschooling, a field trip/class at the science museum (Tesla coils are pretty rad to experience in person, btw), visitors, airport runs, starting up “my own” business, and wrapping up my first course of the year. I’m a day and half away from being done….and still have four short essays to write. Meh. “I got this.” Or however the saying goes. The past week or two has been me constantly reminding myself I can do this, we can keep our hypothetical boat afloat.

I love my college. It’s completely online and pretty flexible, which was criteria numero uno when I was doing research on colleges with the degree program I desired. It’s setup where there are courses starting every month, so no matter what your schedule is, you’re going to find a course you need to take will be starting soon. And they’re 8 week courses. Sixteen weeks worth of a college course crammed into eight instead. It works though. Especially given this life.

Oh, and that business venture I mentioned? Yeah. I did it. I signed up for a direct sales company. For years, I’ve been to parties hosted by friends for various direct sales companies. Only two of them I had actually considered possibly joining myself as a consultant. I was never absolutely “in love” with any of them. I liked the products, sure. But I couldn’t visualize myself actually selling them. The past month though, I had decided to revisit the idea as a friend just had her first party as a consultant. Again, it wasn’t a product I could see myself selling (quite frankly, I suck at applying nail wraps.) But I decided to delve into actually researching the current direct sales companies out there. We could use some extra income, but we definitely couldn’t configure this life right now to handle us both working full time while both of us also go to school (yup! Hubby is back in college too!), AND homeschool. Oh, and not knowing if we’ll be here one more year or two more years before the next move… So off I went to the computer!!! There were some companies that were definitely wayyy too new for me (some hadn’t even been launched yet), so I wasn’t real confident those would be successful (especially after reviewing the products). Some had been around a few years or so, and I knew that meant there was probably quite a few consultants already in my small town area. I was leaning towards something consumable since that pretty much guarantees return customers seeking to replenish their supplies. The only ones I really liked though had to do with candles, and I already have close friends and/or family that sell such products. I didn’t want to create competition with family. That’s just not me.

So, what did that leave me with? What products did I like that someone close to me didn’t already sell? It had to be something different and it had to be something I could be passionate about. I took a short break from the researching, mulled some thoughts over in my head, and returned to the computer with a new mission: what direct sales companies were already established, but still fairly new? I came across a few different lists. One name I saw pop up twice was Magnolia & Vine. The first time I saw it, I paused a moment, but I didn’t further investigate it as I didn’t recognize any of the other companies on the list so I wasn’t fully convinced the list was even that credible. The second time I saw it, I was like “okay…what is this…oh, it’s jewelry. I like jewelry. But what’s so special about this company?” Initially, I wasn’t very hopeful since I knew someone who recently gave up on their direct sales jewelry company (which subsequently dissolved itself). However, I continued. I clicked a link that eventually got me to their main website and after just a couple minutes, I was SOLD! I had found it! Something that I loved! It’s jewelry, yes, but also accessories like sunglasses and purses, and even scarves and a hat (yes, singular. Only one hat right now.) What made it stand out over the other companies besides the fact it had products aside from “just jewelry”? The concept! It’s versatile products! Every item is able to be customized in some way. I don’t mean customized like how you get a bag embroidered when you order it. I’m talking like YOU customize it whenever and however you want. The main concept of Magnolia & Vine is in the Snaps. They’re like buttons that snap into base pieces and you can change them out whenever you want with whatever other snaps you have. I LOVE IT! They recently added a new line too, called “Beaucoup” which is a set of three necklaces in one that can be mixed into 7 different looks (more if you buy one more than one color), and also a set 5 matching bracelets (with a removable tassel charm). I’m in absolute love. I gathered as much information as I could about it, bounced the idea of my husband who basically said, “do it, and OWN it!” Totally supportive and pushed me to dedicate myself to the venture. He could tell I was really into the products. 🙂

Feel free to check it out sometime. 🙂 MyMagnoliaAndVine.com/MyMVED

The Vine Design feature is my favorite thing to play with. I think I spent two days alone just exploring that part of the website. LOL! You can also find my new venture on Facebook. Just search @MyMVED. 😉