How to be your own Boss

Is being your own boss on your list of goals? You are in the right place! We interviewed two successful Avon Representatives, Alicia Hessinger Dias and Emily Seagren, about how they launched their businesses and what they do to maintain their boss lives.

Invest in yourself and your team

Emily says to take calculated risks and invest in yourself and your business. “Use services and tools to help you save time and money,” she says. “Learn about the products. Use them and be genuine in your business and recommendations.” As for growing your team, she reveals it’s all about recognition and providing them with the training opportunities they might need to grow professionally.”

Communication is key

Emily communicates with her team by breaking them up into three groups: her newest Representatives; the whole team; and then those who recruit and lead other teams. “I interact with them on Facebook daily and do weekly videos,” she explains. “I’ll do Facebook live videos with my team and I also create longer, more tips-based YouTube videos.”

Be a social media super user

“I’m not a good people person, I’m super shy, so I tend to stick to photos versus video,” Alicia says. She’ll share news about new launches via social media and email. “I try to base things around the campaigns,” she explains. In addition to her personal social media Alicia created an Avon-centric handle on Instagram and page on Facebook, as well. “This way you can avoid oversharing with the wrong crowd and can share more to the right one,” she says. “I share my business on both but on my centric ones I will post more detailed pictures, links, etc.” Social media is not the only outlet for Alicia. “I like to pick a day and make it wear-and-share-day, usually Wednesday, but sometimes I can’t commit.” She’ll don head-to-toe Avon and mark. from makeup to fashion to perfume, shoes and accessories. “I will for sure take pictures for the blog that I will share socially, but I will also make sure to pick a day I run my errands, deliver orders, talk to people so that I’m sharing the business in a personal way and creating a conversation that usually ends up in another order, a brochure for a new person.”

Be a multi marketer

Emily still does traditional mailings, as many people still love paging through that Avon brochure. “I always focus on trying to market and build and perform over my own performance rather than compete with anyone else,” she says. For her, communicating and focusing on her team of 605 is important. Recently, she mailed out packages to her top sellers with samples, holiday selling guides, labels to advertise their website and recruiting tools.

Emily Seagren pictured at the 2014 President’s Recognition Program Celebration

Face challenges head-on

Alicia says getting the word out there and convincing someone to buy can be challenging. “It’s about getting the recognition in a customer’s head,” she says. For Emily, most challenging is striking the right work/life balance. “I am blessed to have a really great business that I built to run with and without me, which allows me to put my family first,” she says. “Trying to work from home can be hard for other family members to know you’re focused on work and have that time,” she says.

Reap the benefits

For Alicia, it’s all about the products and getting her favourites at a discount. “I’m my biggest customer,” she admits. “I always am 10 times more impressed than I would expect for the price point,” she says. There are minimal requirements to beginning your Avon sales journey. For Emily, it’s about being able to build her own schedule so she can be there for her family. Additionally, she’s been able to go on 15 Avon trips in 8 years. “I love the trips and the more you work and the better you do the more you get rewarded,” she says.

Enjoy the journey

Emily says to take advantage of all the opportunities Avon provides and master one area, whether it’s emails or recruiting. “You can build a really solid business by building out other areas of your Avon Empire,” she says. “Don’t focus on trying to be perfect, focus on trying to be productive and improving yourself.” Her focus is to have fun and enjoy the journey.