In our next series of Avon interviews, I had the pleasure of interviewing Avon superstar, Denise.  Like Becky, she makes money selling Avon products to friends and family and has tons of fun doing it!  While interviewing Denise it became immediately clear that we share many of the same values around women and money which made this interview easy with many “yes, me too!” moments.

What’s Her Story?

Denise is a mom who has been selling Avon for about 3 years now.  She happened upon Avon due to the pending birth of her son, however she’d recently lost her job. While feeling at a loss for how she would support her family, Denise decided to follow through on a local advertisement she saw for Avon.  Feeling that she was failing her son before he was born due to losing her job, she honed in on her survival instincts because she had a new child to support.

One key selling point that helped her make the decision is that selling Avon means selling something that someone else makes.  This means no time spent creating the product, being an Avon representative means that the product is ready to ship while making a higher margin.

21st Century Avon

A common theme in our interviews is all of the representatives feel that Avon has certainly turned the page and is no longer “your gramma’s Avon”.  Avon is cool, fresh and appeals to a wide audience of women which spans generations.  Some of us grew up with our moms selling Avon for extra cash and for many this played an integral part in supporting their households.

For Denise this was no different.  At the time, she was in a place where she was dependent upon the income from Avon to support herself while giving her the time and flexibility needed with her newborn son.

She describes herself as her own best customer and tells me that “people don’t know how much Avon has to offer.“  From “perfume to panties”, Avon sells everything a woman needs to feel sexy, sophisticated and pretty at the same time.

Flexibility

When asked what she likes best about Avon, Denise replied that the flexibility this offers is top of mind.  This isn’t a job where she would have to sell, sell, sell while under high-pressure deadlines, she is able to sell as little or as much as she wants with no threat of losing her job.  She often remarked about the sense of freedom because no one can fire you and you set your own financial goals.

Advice For New Avon Representatives

Denise tells me that for new Avon reps, the sky is the limit as they have nothing to lose.  They start the business for $10 and there’s no need to buy any inventory as with other businesses.

• Timing is important. Representatives should buy products ahead of time for customers that will use them.
• Think strategically.  You’re your own boss.  Be disciplined about the hours you put into it.  Make decisions that will be profitable.  Buy things that you know will sell.  We both agreed that in order to be successful at any business it is important to treat it like a business, not a hobby.
• Commit.  Dedicate yourself and your time to the venture.  Get on a  schedule and know what you want to get out of it.
• If you aren’t your own best customer then you’re losing money.
• Make it a lifestyle, not a job.  When you truly love what you’re selling it doesn’t feel like a job.

How Does AVON Help Denise Reach Her Financial Goals?

Now that Denise is in a better place financially (recently secured a FT position), everything she makes from AVON is “me money”.  This includes everything from massages, eyebrows, Christmas gifts or just extra spending money that she would not have if Avon weren’t  a part of the picture.  This adds to her feeling of independence as she remembers that only 3 years ago she had lost her job and today, thanks to Avon she is feeling more independent.

What are your thoughts on AVON and the opportunity to set your own schedule and make as much or little as you want?

Disclaimer:  I am a paid brand ambassador for AVON. My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Avon and its affiliates.

While the personal finance blog arena tends to be a “sausage fest”, there are quite a few established and up and coming personal finance blogs written by women.

I enjoy highlighting these blogs because I don’t get to read them as much and I think it’s important that our voices are heard in this male dominated arena.

If you know of or are a blog written by a woman, please list below in the comments for inclusion in an upcoming post.  You can also list your favorite personal finance blog written by a woman and tell us why you think her blog is great!

Comment away!

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Becky, an Avon representative who makes extra money selling products to family and friends.  What I loved about this interview, is the no-pressure attitude that Becky takes to selling products.  She does it when she can so that she can still balance her time between family and selling products.

As a result, she’s able to use the money for family vacations and the occasional surprise bill or two that may come up.  We all love extra money!

Here’s the interview:

Talk to me about how working with Avon and selling the products has given you financial freedom or at least access to it?
For me, Avon is fun money for me and my family.  Take vacations or do things like that.  That’s my purpose to put extra money aside to do that.

What is the best thing about that?  What motivates you to keep selling?
We love to travel and do more of that now that the kids are older. 

What was your biggest obstacle when first getting into selling AVON products?  How did you overcome it?
Making the time to do it. and more so insecurities around selling things and talking to people.  I had to tell people I don’t know about the opportunity, but I told them about my story and it helped people begin to get on board and sell their own products.  I’ve come a long way and I’ve discovered that I am a sales person, both-a salesperson and a down to earth rep for the company.  I love the products and the company.  I let people know about products that I don’t care for, I give my honest opinion about the products.

What does your life selling AVON products look like?  How do you end up selling so many products to so many people?  You must be really good!
I do it part time.  I try to work it into my daily life, such as  dropping off products while running errands.  I’m learning how to balance selling products with spending time with family.

What would you tell a woman who may be considering selling AVON but thinks she doesn’t have what it takes?
I think we all have what it takes.  Avon makes it so easy to start.  $20 to start your own business.  If isn’t for you then you don’t lose much.  There’s nothing to lose.

How does AVON support you in your daily or monthly goals?
Extra cash for bills AND vacations and fun stuff.

Do the products sell themselves and what is your absolute favorite product?
Yes, because of the name-everyone knows what Avon is…  My favorite product is the ANEW Reversalist Serum.  Just put it under your moisturizer or before bed and your skin feels amazingly soft.  Glimmer stick eyeliner is another fave-it’s only $3.00

What are your thoughts on Avon?  Have you sold Avon products now or in the past?

Disclaimer:  I am a paid brand ambassador for AVON. My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Avon and its affiliates.

I wrote about finding a blogging partner because I really want to expand the “voice” on Girls Just Wanna Have Funds.  That said I underestimated the response and so this is my attempt as organizing this process in a more efficient manner while answering your questions.  Some of you want more information about guest posting every once in a while and others want to join the team and write more frequently.  I am open to both so here’s the deal:

Staff Writers / Blogging Partners

If you are interested in contributing to Girls Just Wanna Have Funds on a consistent basis (1-3-5 times per week) then this is the option is for you.  Ideally, you should be well versed in social media (Twitter and Facebook primarily) and produce well written posts on topics of your choosing.  If you already have a site writing about similar topics that is a plus! Keeping in mind that while this site focuses on personal finance, the angle typically aims to serve the needs and interests of women.

Still, I am also interested in the perspectives of others on more nuts and bolts topics like saving, investing, bank reviews, current news/events in money/personal finance and retirement.  Then I’d like to start spicing it up with stories like money issues in a blended marriage, child support vs staying afloat in a bad economy, laid off while on maternity leave and any other topic that you think women would be interested in reading about here.  This can also include topics around relationships and career etc-

Guest Posters

This is the option for you if you’re seeking to build your online visibility but don’t want the commitment of writing on a weekly basis for the site.  Your articles must be relevant to the site’s audience ie women and personal finance/career.  If you are unsure, take a gander around the site and read previously written articles to get an idea.

Article Submission Guidelines For All

• Topic should be related to personal finance, women, or a combination of the two topics.  Email me first to approve the topic.
• It must be your original content, not published anywhere else.
• Feel free to add up to 2 links back to your own web site within the content.
• No affiliate links.  No product links
• I reserve full editorial and approval rights, including removing your link(s) and adding my own links to the article.
• Include only images that allow for derivative rights (so I can resize and use them), or that you own outright.
• Please include your introduction.  This will be shown at the top of the article and can include 1 link back to your site and 1 link to your RSS feed.
• Please send HTML code.
• If all these guidelines are satisfactory, please fill out this contact form and highlight Guest Post in the subject, copy and paste your article and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

If you’ve already written me about either one of these options, please go ahead and resubmit your inquiry (I know, feel free to yell at me on Twitter) along with an article you would like to submit using the Guest Post Inquiry label.  This way we can get going sooner rather having me email you back and forth 10 times about topic inquiries and article.

I will get in touch with those of you who fit with what I am looking for this weekend

Tonight as I was getting to know my roommate for Blogworld, she asked about my passion for writing about women and personal finance, pretty much where it comes from.

It hit me that I’d never really blogged about it here, at least not in it’s entirety.

I’ll start by saying that I have always loved talking about women and money, the implications, risks and benefits from being empowered when it comes to money.

But, it starts even earlier than that.

My father passed away at the tender age of 11, and, without going into all the sordid details around it, this meant my mother was now a sole parent and not just a single parent.  His will was written in a manner that meant whatever monies I would get would not come until age 21.  However, the guy who was named executor of the will was a thief and pretty much stole all the money.  No dice. No money. Ever.

Watching my mom save her money and amass an emergency fund big enough to get us through 1.5 years when she lost her job during my senior year of high school taught me painful yet promising lessons about money.  No prom, college had to wait a year after I graduated high school and it meant I had to contribute to household expenses from the job I had working in retail for that year.  I was a selfish bish LOL

Still, while going through the motions, I learned the importance of saving for a rainy day, understanding money just as much or more than your partner/husband and learning how to land on your feet in the coldest of life’s storms.  As a result, I ALWAYS have a back up plan while never getting too attached to material things.

This single event, my father passing away and all that ensued as a result, made me resilient and passionate when it comes to women and money.  I want women to understand that just because we aren’t socialized to be the breadwinners, doesn’t mean we can’t WIN when it comes to money: single, married, divorced or widowed.  We don’t have to wait around for prince charming to guarantee financial security.  In this day and age we can make our own money, count it, save it, spend it, invest it and enjoy it.

I love talking to women who have their finances together, I feel like YES, this is it, that’s GREAT!  And yea I get all excited and tingly inside so I know that this is passion, so Im on the right track.  I love when women share with one another ways to get ahead in their careers while teaching each other how to get ahead financially.  Sure, some don’t talk about money because they are embarrassed or they were taught “you just don’t do that”.  But I mean the talking about money where you’re helping someone, not bragging about all the worthless crap you’ve acquired that you can’t take with you when you die.  I mean, real talk, helping each other get to the finish line and running back to give the runners up the baton.  Feel me?  That’s where my passion lies.  Helping women be the best they can be in their financial lives.

In my own marriage, I am the money nazi making sure that I know just as much or more than my husband when it comes to our finances.  So, Im not just preaching without practicing my mantra of know more than and/or just as much as your partner when it comes to your money.  I live it.  And I want you to be just as empowered in your daily lives as it relates to money as well.  But keep in mind, I still have my own struggles.  Still working on becoming debt free while tackling my six figure student debt as I wrestle with flirting with going back to graduate school, putting me further in debt #honestytime.  At this point, my plan is to find a company to pay for it all because I don’t want to borrow another red cent but that’s another blog LOL

So there you have it, that’s why I blog.  Thank you for supporting me thus far in my efforts to share my thoughts and even glimpses of my personal finances with you.  You all make this blog worth while and I am happy Girls Just Wanna Have Funds exists—->Breaking Financial Ceilings One Stiletto At A Time!

I’ve made this request on Twitter a couple times but then backed away after receiving responses so this is my attempt to do this again. I am a control freak so this is not easy but here goes.

I’d love to have a partner in crime as it relates to this blog.

Specifically, someone with a passion for talking about women and personal finance.  I can’t stress this enough as you really need to have an interest in this area.  Ideally, I would like to partner with someone on writing blog posts (staff writer), planning and expanding our Meetups and overall blog development (social media, advertising, conference planning, spin off venture etc).

Ideally, you have a great personal writing style, know how to build a community, engage readers and more importantly, love writing about personal finance, again as it relates to women.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in discussing more then email me through the contact page and we can set up a time to chat more.

Thanks!

Yes I know that I haven’t updated the blog in a few weeks, but I have good reason!  I’ve been studying for my licensing exam and the GRE at the same time along with balancing my J-O-B.  So last Saturday I took the licensing exam  which meant taking some time off from writing the blog to buckle down and get-er-done!  I plan to take the GRE on the 8th of November but I can ease up a bit since Im not doing double duty anymore.  Next year I hope to secure entrance into a doctoral program thus my need for a new GRE score since my old scores aged out *sigh* it’s been 5 years already.

I should know my results in about 6-8 weeks for the licensing exam (paper based).  So please forgive my absence and pardon the dust as I get this show on the road again! 

*snicker*

What can I say?  There are people with larger problems, Ms Steins worrying about squeaking by on $300,000 just sounds silly when she has within her means to scale back and save more.

Earlier this week the post, Reason #423 Why You Should Check His Credit went live on this site.  What followed was angry commentary from men who were no less than PISSED that I advocate that a women be financially knowledgeable about a man’s finances before saying I DO.

First, let me clear a few things up about this blog:

• This blog is obviously written by a woman, and that would be me, Ginger.  It is written by a woman for women on the topics of personal finance and everything that goes along with it.  Why?  I find that women are often left out of the equation when discussing this topic as issues that pertain to them are seldomly addressed.  Therefore articles are written from my perspective.

• My intent here is not to compete with Money Magazine, Kiplingers, et. al.  or any other personal finance blogs for that matter.  I leave the laser analysis of current financial news up to them.  I provide commentary, advice and discussions on articles within the realm of personal finance that affect women.  This blog is written in my voice and has Ginger stamped all over it.  

• Yes, one of my mantras is that women should ask to check their mate’s credit report before walking down the aisle.  Why?  This prevents issues down the line and everything is laid on the table so that each partner can make an informed decision.  Marriage is much more than butterflies and a wedding.

Last Friday, I was invited to the AvonTweetup with the fabulous Suze Orman in New York City along with other women who blog about various topics.  One thing we all shared in common is our desire to see our businesses and personal finances succeed.

First, I think you all should know, if you have ever questioned whether or not Suze is for real—>she is every bit of electric, magnetic, passionate-whatever you want to call it in person as she is on TV.  Her authenticity permeates the room and you just know that she cares about every person to whom she gives advice.  

But make no mistake she is an astute business woman and I totally respect that about her.  She gave us no nonsense, respect yourself and demand what you are worth advice that made me just want to go out and really pursue all of my dreams as it relates to this blog.   Her drive and passion is evident and yeah I just feel really privileged to have been able to meet her.  So, make no mistake, Suze is it folks!

A few of the nuggets of wisdom she imparted to us included:

Fear and powerlessness repels money! #avontweetup

People who control money can smell fear – stay in the truth of your power and money will come #avontweetup

Leverage is what got the U.S. into trouble. Do not leverage to invest because you have the responsibility to service that debt. 

Nothing matters but that you are on track to live a happy life #avontweetup

The question is: what makes you feel more powerful as a woman? @suzeormanshow #avontweetup

“If I can’t write a check, I can’t afford it.” #avontweetup

Suze says “only buy something with new money that comes in after taxes” #avontweetup

Suze’s view on debt:  ”By hurting yourself you are hurting the ones you love.  What changes a woman is her understanding that by hurting herself she is hurting the ones she loves. ” #avontweetup

“It is your profound fear of loss that prevents you from experiencing gain”

Build what you really want to build, your brand, with honesty and integrity 

Take the personal out of it, be positive, skip FEAR, HELP one another 

@suzeormanshow on contingency plans: Pay student loan, save for emergency funds, then credit card debt in this order! 

#avontweetup in the current market pay student loans 1st, fund emergency then attack credit debt. credit companies are shutting down accts w

SaveYourself.com – women open an account and get a 15% return @suzeormanshow #avontweetup

Is there a way to generate income right now, consider being an Avon rep. They make good cash to more than tide you Suze’s mom was an Avon rep in 1962 to help support their family! That is full circle, baby! #avontweetup

 

I know that I sound like a crush crazy school gal but she inspires me on a daily basis around writing this blog and even more on a personal level.  I remember giving my mom Suze’s first book when my dad passed away.  She had all this money in the bank and I didn’t want to see her spend it on junk.  So I bought her the book and she learned what she needed to do in order to make a new life for us after my father passed.  

I hope we cross paths again, surely if I could have her as my personal financial advisor I would, but I’ll just have to settle for her book until then!