Self Made or Never Made

Blazer: H&M (last year), Shirt: Marshalls, Skirt: Target, Shoes: Dillards, Jewelry: Custom Celene Stones (email Krista for yours or follow her on Instagram at CeleneStones ** celenestones@gmail.com- Tell her you saw her stuff on this blog and get 15% off)

I was up late the other night and I posted on FB/Instagram this picture that said... "Shout out to all the wonderwomen up late working on their goals." I was up working on my Rodan + Fields business (reading about products and brainstorming ideas around events and such) and I got super excited about the future.

I have worked (like many people I know) since I was 15 years old.

I worked the last few years of high school, summers, all through college, and for the last 13 years since I graduated. I've done pretty well for myself, and when shit happens... things get tough and money gets really tight (as it does for all of us) I have NO problem juggling a few jobs or working some side hustles to take care of myself.

In 2009 I was working in sales/recruiting and although it was a great job, if you have ever been in sales you know it is feast or famine. Some unexpected things happened in my life all at once and I found myself flat effing broke. I had paid my mortgage, but still had all of my house bills to pay, car insurance, cell phone, and I had a quarter of a tank of gas. I knew a few things were coming out of my account in the next few days but I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until I got a phone call. It was from a women from the branch at my bank. She and I had built up a friendly relationship over the years, but I was still surprised to hear from her at 10am on a Tuesday. She called and said... "Honey... there is a draft coming out of your account for $32.00 and you only have $8.00 in there. Is there a way you can make a deposit today? From a savings account, maybe?

Savings??? She was joking, right. I didn't have a savings. I mean, I damn sure should have had one at 29 but as I mentioned, things were rough at the moment so there was zero savings. $8.00. $8.00????? in my account??? It was THAT bad? FUK. I didn't get paid for another few days. I had no way of getting ANY money into that account in the next few hours. No cash under the proverbial mattress. No stash anywhere. So... cried my eyes out in the bathroom of my job, worked a few hours then left "for lunch". I went home and started pulling clothes from my closet. Lots of them. Suits, coats, shoes, shirts, dresses, jean, work pants, everything that I could do without and I drove my ass to a consignment shop and sold them. I didn't make much at all, but it was enough to cover my draft and between that and babysitting that entire weekend I got by until payday. It wasn't fun. I was sweating driving to my house, sweating as I threw shit into a laundry basket to take across town, sweating as I was handed the cash for the stuff they would take, and about to bawl as I deposited that cash into my account via the ATM (I couldn't go into the bank and look at that sweet teller... I was too embarrassed).

That day will forever be locked into my memory.

I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, I mean, I wasn't scrambling to feed the mouths of my starving children or anything, but that day stayed with me. I felt really desperate and helpless. I could have asked my mom or my dad and stepmom for help and I am sure they would have thrown me $100, but I had not taken money from my parents in my adult life so I sure as shit wasn't going to start then. (I also was not with my boyfriend at that time. He would give me the shirt of his back. Thank God for that man. I mean that. I thank God for him.) So there I was... broke.

I had a house and a car and my lights stayed on, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I didn't have the freedom that money gives you. Freedom to be at peace knowing your bills are at least paid. I hate that feeling. There is an old saying that says "Money isn't everything." and while that is true, there is a song lyric that says "Having money isn't everything, not having it is." Meaning... when you don't have it, shit gets real. You don't have the luxury of saying it isn't everything. Not having it becomes everything. A life without money corners you. (Don't give me any bullshit here about love and family being free... I agree with you, but if you have ever been broke you know what I am trying to say.)

So... anyway, money matters (to me). It gives you freedom to live with a little less stress, it affords you the opportunity to help people, to experience travel, go on a vacation, it gives you more choices. If you have your own money, you can leave a bad relationship, rent or buy a place, put gas in a car, insure yourself, buy yourself food, pay your own bills. You can pay for your child to go to private school, lend your brother money to pay their bills, surprise someone you love with something special. You don't have to ask anyone to give you some of their money.

Anyway... that is why I was up late the other night. Excited. Excited about Rodan + Fields.

Starting my own business through Rodan + Fields cost me money. About $700 to be precise.  I invested in it. In myself. In an opportunity. I've been getting a lot of questions lately about R+F. People seem excited about it, and then I tell them that it costs money to start. Then, in some cases, they act almost offended. (Even when I tell them that I more than covered my investment in my first month of working the business.) As if any other opportunity in life is free? You have to spend money to make money. It is true. Always.

I have a great corporate job, but I'll be honest, I don't want to have to work it until I am 65 years old. I also teach Pilates, but I do it for $5 a person. I like to make and keep it available to people who can't afford to go to traditional Pilates studios.

I stepped back and looked at my life and I was working my corporate job to pay bills and teaching Pilates for the joy it brings me and others. These things get me by, but I wanted something to get me ahead. Working Rodan + Fields is fun. I truly believe in the products, I LOVE helping people feel better about themselves, and I get compensated for my time and effort.

Joining Rodan + Fields is one of the single best financial decisions I have ever made for myself. If you are interested in learning more, don't be shy, reach out to me. I will send you information to read (that I wrote in uncomplicated language). You can read it and ignore it or read it and follow up with me. This post isn't a plug for R+F though... more like a tap on the shoulder. A nudge. An urging for you to find something extra. Something that will help you take your life from ordinary to extraordinary. If you already have that, money-making or not, good for you. Most of us don't though.

Most of us are just getting by, not ahead.

How are you going to accomplish what you want out of life? Do you want to travel more, see your kids more often, take a financial burden off of your spouse?  The things we are taught and told to do are great, but they set us up for life on a hamster wheel. Finish school, find a job and work it until you are no longer physically or mentally capable of doing so. If you're lucky you go on vacation once or twice a year. If you're not, you do all that and still have more bills than funds. It can turn into a vicious cycle and it SUCKS. This is just a tap on the shoulder, maybe one that you've been wanting/needing. A nudge to find something that lights a spark in you. A push to make a plan for yourself.

Life doesn't just happen. It's created by what you do every single day.

Find your fire and go the extra mile for the life you want to make. You may fail, but shit... you may not.