Candid Conversation with Adrienne Barker, MAS

Yes, first of all, I want to thank you for having me here. I think that what you're doing is awesome, and you just took the lead and said, well, I'm not going to just sit here at home and do nothing, and you just started talking to everybody and bringing everybody, you know, connecting people. That is fantastic. So yeah, thank you. I was a distributor for about, I don't know, 8 or 9 years. And then before that, I was always in marketing, and I kind of went into the direction of helping people with the whole thing, not just promotional products. And then at one point I realized that I had to make a decision because the type of clients that I worked with for promotional products were not the same type of clients that needed integrated, the whole marketing. Plans, they were smaller businesses that needed more. And that's what I really like to do. And then eventually I just said, well, I cannot be a jack of all trades and good at everything, it's very hard. And I just specialized in distributors. So now I help distributors market their business using all the modern tools. That's what I'm doing right now.

What I love about you, Gloria, and it feels like you came, so I was like 3 years just doing the promoindustry.guru, curating the news in the industry when I was in Tucson and, you know, not in the industry but keeping a finger on it. But then I came back to South Florida, then I, then I started to learn from you and I'm watching you and you're now speaking at the different events. But what I love about you is some people say, oh, like the cobbler's, the cobbler's child doesn't have shoes, but not you. You actually market yourself. So you branded you, Gloria Lafont, so you're a brand yourself, right? And then your, your business. So I would not think twice about saying, okay, Gloria, I need help, because I know that you are real because you've already proved it. You've already marketed yourself.

Well, you have to show by example. You have to lead by example. Even if you sell promotional products, you have to lead by example. What kind of products are you showing your clients? What kind of— how are you marketing your business? And that shows. That's how you build credibility, you know. You either— the thing is that with distributors, I find that a lot of distributors are very, very, very knowledgeable, but they don't communicate that knowledge, you know. Nobody would know that they, they have so much knowledge. So that's really where the trick is, and I think that's my sweet spot. That's what I love to do. I love to The branding part is what I love to do. The messaging, how to say that you're the best without saying it with those words and showing what you know and showing your sweet spot. That's kind of, that's what I enjoy doing.

Yeah, that is. And it really shows. And as much as it sounds like, oh yeah, everyone should be doing that, it really, it really isn't the case. And that, that is right, you know. And for me, with beautiful Halo, which I love this piece. Is this nice? I actually have to tell the story because I responded to an email. So we all say it's easy to complain, oh, I get so many emails, I don't know what to do. But the truth is, when we are in business for ourselves and working hard, there's no 8 to 5. So at one point you got to open up an email and decide. And I opened up this email, I said, uh, I wrote back, yes, I'm going to stop at your booth. I didn't know, and I stopped at his booth and he hands me this. And John is such a nice guy too. He's a wonderful man that would just do that. So all the people that didn't bother to, I feel bad for them because I was smart enough to do it. But I actually think that years ago I thought of, like, myself branding myself and making sure, because you have that difference. Do you brand yourself or do you brand, you know, with Halo? I don't have to worry about it there. A beautiful big brand.

Right.

But I have had that here. So I'm in Daytona Beach in a new area. You know, I don't want to be the person that walks in the door. I remember being in Hollywood when I first was in Hollywood, Florida, and I was at an event. And I remember someone said to me, just, just watch what happens. And I said, okay, and we were in a bowling alley. And all of a sudden a woman came over and she said, do you have a dog? And I'm like, um, no, I don't have a dog. Oh, oh, okay, bye. And she ran away. And I'm like, oh my God, I know people with dogs though. Like, she didn't even— I was like, is that what you mean? And they're like, yes. Like, everyone will like look and see if you're not that potential niche that they have, they'll like say away. So that's like kind of like, whoa, that's exactly what not to do. But I was— I quoted someone on bags, grocery bags, And you know, I don't like to give a price right away. There's so many different questions. And then he said, well, you're a dime a dozen. There's like, there's, you're, there's so many of you in Daytona. And I was like, um, I have my MAS, I'm certified, I'm 35 years in the business. I don't think anyone's got this, this brain. But that's, that, that is really the marketing part of it. Can we go into that a little more? How do you tell someone? Because you're right, how do you make it? You have to be cocky in a way. You have to be proud of what you do and be able to self-market it and get your name out there without being arrogant.

Well, not only— it's not so much being arrogant, you know, nobody wants anyone that sounds like that anyway. It's just about finding what you're good at, because yes, you sell products, you can sell any product, but, uh, who do you want to work with and what— why would you sell them that product? What can you achieve with that? Like for example, you know, if you're going to be in a trade show, you want to be the booth that is most visited, for example, you know, so you have to kind of go a little bit more into why would somebody buy products in the first place, and then talk about what products and go into that conversation. But the first conversation has to be about the purpose of doing the giveaways as they call them, right? You know, why do you want to give that out? What is your, What is your goal? What are you trying to achieve? And how does that, how is that part of the rest of the marketing you're doing? Because sometimes I find that you speak to a client, and I see many distributors talk to a client, and they think that somebody asked them for X product, and they go into there without realizing that the product fits into something that the client has, a whole thing that they're doing, and your product is a part of that. So if you know more about the client and why they're buying that, why, what is it that they want to do, then you have a different conversation. I think it's a difference in the conversation. And this reminds me of Mad Men. I love that show. I remember what Don Draper used to say, that if you don't like what they're saying, you have to change the conversation. That's so true.

I know sometimes I will say to someone, I'll let them know that I may be asking a lot of questions because I noticed that there's two groups of people. Some of that really also on their end want to learn, recognizes that you're ready to get to the bottom of it and really help create a full, you know, campaign. Or they just calling and they're like, what's the price of that mug? And I just want to know the price.

Right.

So I think you have to know. Yeah, you have to know the difference between what they want. And so sometimes I'll just be— I'll say, you know, this is what I do.

Would you—

would you know, I could quote you on you know, the pen, or we can have a discussion on how you're actually going to use it. And I don't mind at all. I was saying the other day, I must have given away like thousands of taglines in my life.

Right, right. Yes. And that's good. And that's how you help. But yes, there's always going to be people that will not really get it. You know, they won't understand it. Those people are not your ideal client because you also need to know who is your ideal client. Who are you talking to? And I mean, when I first started my business here in Plantation in Florida, I joined the chamber. I kind of went to all kinds of networking events, and I joined this particular chamber because I liked how at the end of each event, or at the beginning, at some point of the event, everybody would introduce themselves. So they would go one by one introducing, I'm such and such, and I do this and that. And then you would know who was who. I think that was great. So I came up with my introduction and I said, I don't remember exactly what I used to say, but if your marketing is boring and you're not really getting anything from it, talk to me, I'll be, come to me after the event. And you know that I walked out of there with meetings many times, and I would give the little mints, I remember the mints and the hand sanitizer, which are now a big commodity. The main things, I had people call me months and months later. You know, I saved this because I knew I was gonna need to work with a marketing company. So that's how you change the conversation. That's really the whole point.

I love that. I love that you, you know what, you really could go to the large, and I'm not sure if you are or aren't, but like you take some of our larger companies and go in and be and help the CMO salespeople, 'cause you really, just like any other group, we have our own private group out there. And it's interesting 'cause you could see, I tend to pitch the fact that, you know, because I grew up in a family business and I had to file and I had to read every catalog, literally I had to read it from start to finish. So, and just like you, so if someone said to us a ceramic mug with full color imprint, we would know off the top of our head the supplier, but it's too easy for, for distributors to go on and ask those questions. And I love that the suppliers are there to give them the answer. My only thought is, is that why we're seeing it consistently asked is because if you don't search for it yourself, you're less likely to remember it. Am I wrong in thinking that?

There is a little bit of complacency, I find. You have to develop your supplier network. Who are the suppliers you want to work with and kind of work backwards. You know, this is what I want to offer because this is the suppliers that I want to work with instead of like shooting darts, you know, maybe if I'm shooting darts, I'll never hit it. So it will be like me shooting darts. I'll never hit the target. So it's, I think it's just the way the whole industry is approached. You know, anybody joins in, there is very low barrier of entry right now, at any level, in anything today. Anybody can become anything, you know?

Right.

So people join in and they don't really know anything about marketing, they don't know any— all they know is they can sell products. And compared to other businesses, you don't have to buy anything to sell it. You can sell anything and not have any inventory. That is beautiful for somebody outside of the industry that is looking to sell products. You know, you don't have to buy anything. That is a big plus. And then they see this universe of things and it's like a ginormous ocean, products, suppliers, emails, offers, images. So they don't really know the industry. You go in and you don't know the industry in many cases, and you can see because of the from the questions they ask. They don't really know. You have to take the time to learn it. And what kind of a business person are you going to be? And sometimes they complain that they have to pay $12 to have the art converted. Please, is $12 such a big deal as a cost? It's not a business mentality, in my opinion. They don't go in with a business mentality. It's like easy money. That it's not there, by the way. I haven't never found any easy money, so.

I think this is an important conversation to have because, you know, I don't care, like, you know, as far as when things scroll or I read it, you know, I read it, I smile, but I think just like exactly what you said, if you want to be in any of your professions, you wanna be good at it, you're not gonna learn if you, if every time, if, you're going to have to ask someone to do it for you. The key to me— and but I do think that age— not my nickname because my nickname is Age, but actually A-G-E. But age, there's a point in life where you say to yourself, like for instance, if someone asks me a question, there's two things. One is you can, you, you know, like some people like to throw things out there. And let me see if I'm saying this correctly, like they'll ask a question when they already have the answer in like, let's say, their email. And at one point I remember saying to myself, you know what, I'm never gonna ask someone a question until I can make sure that it wasn't answered already. So I'm not going to say, what was the color of the mug? Unless I go through all the emails and if I really could prove that I don't have the imprint color, then I'll ask the question. But I noticed that you don't wanna get lazy in any of your industry, whatever you're working with, because it doesn't make you look that great either. You look like you haven't read it. And so we all make mistakes. But I think that even, and I hope, I'm gonna post this on our private group. A lot of people, I'm the same, sometimes I wanna know what's going on with something. I wanna see who's asked for a particular speaker. I'll use a search bar and I'll look and then I'll go through. But some people, and I get nervous 'cause they're hurting themselves and their professionalism because you tend to remember Who is asking who? And then you see them at a show and I don't like people having to almost lose their credibility because of, uh, silly Facebook posts that they're doing.

The thing with that is that that is a whole attitude, you know, it's an attitude of leaning on something, you know, not going out and getting it, but kind of waiting for that to fall in your lap, you know. And then those people don't, I don't think they do so well in business either. You know, that translates into other areas. And I think that in this day, you have to really open your horizons and you have to be open to other ways of communication, like what you're doing right here. You know, now everybody in your area is gonna know you, I'm sure. You know, you say that, they're gonna know you now, right?

You know, I love, I love the industry. I love the selling. I feel like I'm really good at it. And because I understand it and I know the whole marketing, I love score, but I, I'm not like cold calling and I'm, and I'm, you know, with my networking, I'll often go to a networking event and I'll leave and I'll say to myself, wow, I never even like really, I just, I learned about everyone else, but nobody really knows who I am. I didn't do, and then I think, well, I don't want to be that pushy person. So what's happening now is I'm back to square one as far as clients go. You know, I'm not able to bring clients with me, so now I have a whole new territory. And actually, just this morning I decided that I would put the promo industry.guru and that it is okay to use this as a— I don't want to make this like, oh, it's all about, you know, because I really did it because I want to show off the friends. I want people to learn. But I am now saying, you know what, I need to at least be smart about it because that is the whole idea of it. But Gloria, so you— okay, so this is candid, this is all conversation fun, you know, my daughter interrupts or my husband's knocking on the door. But you're doing a webinar, and I tried to do— I did like, I think, 2 where I did the auto recording, so I got the presentation. It is not easy to do a webinar. So tell me a little bit, not only you're doing it and then you're presenting them, so I— can you take over? Because I want to hear The what, the who, what, why, how, what a webinar does for your business, how it helps other people.

Yes, well, I do the webinar for two reasons. Number one reason is that I do to educate distributors in the industry. I feel that distributors in the industry are like inside a box, you know, they're in this box and everybody has to follow what everybody else does. And I've had distributors say, well, but everybody does it like that, why are you telling me to do it differently? So I, when I came in, I saw like a gap, you know, there is a big gap between the way business is done here and the way business is done in the world. And there, you, with the webinars, I want to teach people how to think differently. You have to think differently about your business. It comes a point, you know, when you reach a certain age, you go back to the subject of age, where you've learned a lot, you've had a lot of experience, a lot of people have helped you get— I mean, a lot of people have helped me get through where I am today, and I have learned a lot from a lot of people. So I think it's my duty to teach now other people and guide other people. That it's, it's one part, something that I really, really like to do. I really enjoy doing that. So I put— and also when you do that, it helps you organize your ideas, you know. Okay, so how is this? How does this work? You know, and I'm kind of curious in that way where I'd like to kind of scrutinize things, you know, because time changes and things change and things are gonna be very, very different when all of this whole thing opens up. And in my last webinar, I was talking about it because back in the '90s I had an experience where the economy totally collapsed. My business had to close it overnight because they passed a law that my clients were no longer allowed to advertise in that way. We had, along with my then-husband, I had a direct mail business where we did the fulfillment of the mail. So none of our clients were allowed to advertise with direct mail any longer as of XYZ date. So along with us, many businesses in the area closed down. That had a domino effect because printing companies, the post office, just a few months before they had opened a very, very large facility. This was in Fort Myers, and they had to let go of most of the people inside of that facility. It was really, really bad. It was— the economy had just plummeted, and I think that that also just helped it. So we had looked into getting into the printing business, bought a printing press, but guess what? The printing business was undergoing a major technological change. That's when the printing industry got totally bulldozed by, by all the technology where all the small print shops disappeared. So at that time, there were a lot of franchises there were franchises like Quick Print and Minute Man and whatever that a lot of retired people had invested in. You know, they moved down to Florida, bought the franchise, and then they lost everything because that just went— all those equipments, you know, they were like dinosaurs all of a sudden. So anyway, the point is that I really don't want distributors to have that experience right now. And I've been thinking about it even before this pandemic thing, that this was gonna happen. As soon as the economy started to go down, a lot of distributors are gonna go out of business because they had a very, very outdated business model and you're just not gonna make it. It's gonna happen the same thing that happened with the printing industry in a way. But a lot of distributors are really going to evolve. You know, with things is what I feel. And that's why, where I want to come in and offer a different perspective, you know, completely different perspective from what you see out in the industry at large. I've never seen anybody talk about SEO.

I love it.

You know, nobody, nobody talks about that and talk about social media as posting random stuff. That's not social media. So how you do it, you need to connect, you know, and it's different. It's not just that. Same thing with content. Everything needs to work together. So that's, that's what I'm doing here, actually.

You're so— okay, so you're doing that under Action Marketing?

Yes.

Okay. And then, then tell— explain the PRISM, the Promo Business Success.

Well, yes, that is something that I started when I was making a decision as to whether I should go and start working with distributors, because I had a book of business locally in my area, and I worked a lot with arts organizations and nonprofits and things like that. And then I started doing Hangouts, Google Hangouts with distributors. I belong to a group, and they started to ask questions, and I would be the one always answering questions about marketing. I learned a lot about the industry and the ins and outs and all the intricacies from them, very, very smart people, and I was always the one contributing. So at one point they were doing Google Hangouts every week where I would, they would say, okay, so do a review of my website, and then I realized that I was always talking about the exact same thing. All the websites had the exact same thing comments, and I felt that I wasn't really doing anything for anybody. That wasn't helping, you know? So I kind of decided to go a little further, and that's when I started the Prism, the blog, but then this took over, and at this point, to be honest, I don't know what to do with the blog, actually. I don't know what to do with that portion. It seems that it served its purpose. I wanted other people to be able to also post, but like with anything else, it needs a lot of maintenance and work and focus on it, That's a good question. I don't even— I don't know what to do with it right now.

You know what I think would be really cool is if you actually did something similar to this and maybe have the distributors show you a product. Like, so I was just thinking, so I was talking, I did a tissue cover for a client, very, very cool for air conditioning. So you know how like the air conditioning units, they have to have like a cage on them now to protect them? So So he has this, I'm like, you know, like, let's talk about it because I know years ago you could write it up and put it, you know, the counselor will do something, but that would be really cool to get, have a platform to almost before it goes into like the Pyramid Awards and some of the awards that are offered out there that a distributor actually shows what would be considered a case study, but it would be real, right? So that you could actually, and then that would have the distributors really understand what you do too, because If they're— because distributors really do need you. And I love— and then you— and I love to see that you were speaking. So you spoke in Las Vegas?

Yes, yes, I had 4 sessions, 4 training sessions.

Okay. I mean, I've been trying to speak for years and I keep getting denied. So can I just go— I mean, it is not easy. People hear and say, oh, but it's so easy. No, it's not easy. It's not easy to have the right topic and know what you're doing. And so I was going to do etiquette so that, you know, nobody really likes that conversation anyways. But the fact is, is that you did it. And then I saw that they were very successful.

Yes, they were successful. I made some suggestions to them. I don't know what's going to happen because, um, I felt that they were like filling in spots and I would have liked it to see like a continuation. If I did 4, then let it be a continuation. Instead of, because one of them was strategy, social media strategy, and that was like at the end, that was the last one. And I had a number of people do all of them. So to them, part of what I was saying, I had an introduction for each that was the same because you gotta start with somewhere. And to me, I think the strategy part is so important and people wanna go right into the tactics. Tell me how many posts do I have to do per day, tell me where do I, which button do I push. Yes, we're going to get into that too, but first you want to know why you're pushing the button, you know, why would you want to push that button? That's the first thing that we need to start with. So it was a little bit, I felt that it kind of diluted the whole thing, but that was my feeling. It actually worked really well. They were, PPI was very happy with the whole thing and they want to do it. They actually came to my website And they found the tutorials that I had done.

Wow.

That's how they wanted me to say that. That's how they chose the topics.

You know what, Gloria? I think actually, um, when I get my little stimulus money, I would like to hire you because I would like to myself make sure— because actually now this is real candid conversation here, but when I think about it, it's easy for me to think, oh yeah, I know what I'm doing. But the reality is I really don't know what I'm doing, you know. And so I'll take, you know, I try to be consistent, but I don't even know if it's relevant. And then the other day I was like, oh, I have all these analytics, but I have no clue what they really mean. Like, I could, like, yes, like a mountain, but I don't even know. And then I will do, I'll spend very little money on Facebook ads, but I somehow Facebook ads, they used to have the option that you could pay a dollar a day and have it be for friends of friends, but that's gone now. Like, you have to create your own audience, unless I'm doing it wrong on my end.

You have to create your own audience. And the good thing is that you can select people— for example, in your case, you can select people in your area, in your city, okay, that are interested in marketing, for example. Yeah.

Oh, so they did remove that. They did remove that friends of friends because I kind of like that. That was even I thought that was cool.

I don't even know. Why would you want to add? You want to add to your friends or your friends do— you don't know what they even do.

Right. That's why I really, really believe. And then include it in your package. Do you also— because I think the same thing with the website. And you and I, I think we're on some of the women helping women entrepreneur groups.

And it's—

and I love those groups. And I just love it because it's really fun to read and just to support other women. But sometimes they'll be like, oh, Oh my God, I just, my website's live now and I'll go on and I'll be like, woo. And then I'm thinking, well, maybe if they go on to mine, maybe they're saying the same thing, like woo. So I feel like I need to have someone because what happens is everyone else is going to say, oh, it's good, Adrienne. Yeah, no, I like it. Mm-hmm. It's really nice. So you really need to pay for someone to be honest with you and really look at it and say, get rid of this. This is a mistake.

You know, at some point and give you some guide. Pointers and then you can take it from there. But the most important thing, like for example, you're working with a company like Halo, but you want to have your own brand because today I think that all of us, we're all public figures. I like that. It's no longer like, if you don't want somebody to know something, don't post it. So in a way you cannot seperate your business from your personal image, you know. And yes, as a person you are you, but today the one thing that has happened is that all businesses have faces now. Before there was a big facade, now there's their faces behind that, you know, now they're even home, they have little kids running around, so it's becoming more real and I love that, I think that that's fantastic. So as a, as a part of Halo, you have all the platform that Halo gives you, but then you have to brand yourself within Halo as an expert. So as a rep for them, and then as you have to do your own thing, your point of view, your advice.

I missed that. It got— it was like a cliffhanger. You were talking, you have to brand yourself within Halo, and then you froze, and I'm like, I'm like on the edge of my seat. No, but I want to hear it. Maybe it worked live, but I didn't get it.

Okay. No, I was saying that you work with Halo, but at the same time you have to brand yourself also as an expert. And then Halo is behind you, but you are your expertise. You need to brand yourself, your opinions, your point of view, your, the way you work, you know, different things that that are going to position you as the expert and the person that people want to talk to when they need something. But you got to define who would those people be. That's kind of the starting point.

How can I, how does someone like, okay, you froze.

You froze, I guess.

Check with you, like, what does that look like?

Will you—

do you have different prices?

Okay, I didn't hear your question. Are you still there? I don't know what happened. Can you hear me?

I took myself off. If you can hear me, that's all that matters. I can hear you. So, okay, you don't need to look at me. I'm funny looking anyways. So, so how do you have different prices? And I'm really being serious right now. I really would like to actually invest in myself and, and, you know, I could take a million classes, but that doesn't mean that I've actually absorbed or know what I'm doing. And I am a learner because I have to have people teach me, so it's very confusing to me. So Will you send me, like, how does that work? Like, and I'm not only talking for myself, other distributors out there too. Are there pieces of you that we get? So how do you put your pricing together? And you don't have to get prices now, but how— what kind of packages?

It all works as a, as a one entire thing that is, I call, strategy first. So you, you basically, you need 3 things. You need to have a website. Your website is your place of business. Your website is where you convert clients and visitors into phone calls, so you need to have a website. And then your content that you produce, you need to produce content and you need to optimize that website. The content that you produce is going to be distributed to, uh, through social media, through paid advertisement, however you want to do it, and that's going to drive traffic to your website. And then you want to do the social media, which is the distribution, and then the SEO, which is how you get found. So it has all those pieces that work together, and for distributor, all of those pieces are important. The other important piece is email, because email helps you nurture your clients. You have to do regular emails. So then my packages include all of those services. Now it depends on the client and how they're set up internally. If they have a team, they may have a team that's going to be doing the social media, part of the social media. So we produce the content that they're going to be sharing, but all the content is relevant to their audience and to their business, because you have to kind of, the content has to connect those two dots, your business and your clients, the products you want to sell, the services that you want to sell, to your ideal clients. That's the purpose of the content. So there is a lot involved in that, and we do it on a monthly basis too, because every month it may change. This month we may do more of this than this. Like this past month, since all of this pandemic thing, we had to kind of stop everything we were doing because none of that was going to be— we couldn't continue with the same things because it's like you're talking, you're going to be totally tone deaf, you know, if you continue with that. So we had to kind of make a change and we've been talking to all our clients a lot to direct the whole thing. You know, where is this going? What are we doing? So that we kind of stay on top of how things are progressing. So that's kind of, it works. I don't know if that answers your question.

It's, no, it's perfect. And I'm thinking right away, I have two websites. So maybe that's like, I have one that's like USA made, cause I, like USA-made products than the other one. So I could just be a mess right away. So we're gonna take this off 'cause I actually would like to work with you. So right now, get people get going like back into business. First of all, have you had a chance to check out the promo show and how you could go in and actually like see what that looks like with the suppliers that are, have their displays in their living room or their garage, wherever they have it? And then you, It is really cool. So actually, like, we could do that too. So like, I should probably do that. That would be kind of a cool thing to do and then have my little display up and bring people in, because I used to love doing the end-user shows.

I think that you can— there's a lot of things you can do. And the fact that you're so extroverted and you're just willing to just, you know, go live, it just gives you a big advantage because this is really what it's all about, you know, being yourself and then having, having a purpose to the whole conversation kind of thing. You know, so I'm going to talk about these things here and this is how I'm going to do it with you. I see a lot of room, a lot of things you could be doing, a lot of things.

I, yeah, I was told like 3 years ago to do all of this, you know, interview the suppliers in the industry. And I was like, yeah, no, because I kept thinking it had to be perfect. And I would tell people, just, you know what, we're not perfect. We're only human after all. I love that song, by the way. So better to make a mistake because mistakes are made and mistakes are made in our industry. Some of our best, best conversations are the, the things that don't, weren't proofed before. I used to have, when I did the curated the news, I would find so many different things. There were so many stories about someone that would do a big program, but they would have a word misspelled. Those were the highly, everyone read that. It was so funny. So I think that right now— and I did this because I want to show off my friends, and I want to show off the industry and who's behind the scenes of the industry. And you are so important to this industry, but we need to have more distributors know that. And then we need the suppliers to understand too. And then we need the distributor owners to realize it and say, oh, let's get Gloria to come into our business and help the new distributors that we've signed up. But maybe because if I'm 35 years in the industry, I need Gloria's help. Okay, I'm looking at the camera right now at myself, I guess. But I actually— we're never ever perfect that we can't say that we need help. And the truth of the matter is, I am kind of alone on an island. I don't call Halo and say, hey, can you check my website? Does it look okay? And again, people are so afraid to hurt your feelings. That they don't want to say, yeah, no, it doesn't look good, or your picture.

I met a woman— you're not helping anyone. It's not about hurting your feelings, it's about helping you. I—

there's a woman named Latoya Carey in town. Oh my God, Latoya is really beautiful. So I handed her my— I also do the global etiquette, which is very confusing too, and maybe I should combine them both. So I gave her my card, and I love her, she looked at me and she's like, it's time for you to get a new headshot. And I'm like, 4 years old, and she's like, you don't look the same, you need a new headshot. And then I actually won her new headshot, uh, at a 1 Million Cups event. And then now, so I'm waiting for her, but I love that she was so honest. I think that that is what makes a big difference in doing— and then how are you keeping yourself busy now? Like, so you're— are you still working? Because I would think distributors need to be ready for when we get back?

Absolutely, no, I have, I didn't know what's going to happen at first, you know, because nobody knew, I guess, nobody knew what was going to happen. And I talked to all my clients and they all said, well, no, I'm not going anywhere. And we just kind of, okay, so how, what are we going to do? What are we changing? So some of my clients went in the direction of the PPE, products. Some others didn't want to touch that. And, but they all— this is when they all value what I see, that the work that I'm doing and having me as a— because I'm really like your marketing partner, you know. You have somebody to talk about your marketing and what you want to do and how to make it happen, as opposed to wondering, okay, should I do this? Because it's very hard to do it alone. Thank you, yes. You're sounding bored. So that's what we've been doing and changing direction and, or, and you know, right now some of my clients did pay-per-click, so we're exploring if we should go, I mean, I stopped all of that because obviously nobody was searching for, but I had some clients that did have sales. You know, some of my clients are having, some of my clients are e-commerce. You know, they sell through e-commerce. Some others are more agency type of model. And, uh, so it's a mix. And I have been busy. I have been— I have been quite— I haven't really stopped working. Maybe I'm working more.

Yeah, you're putting out some good stuff. So your webinars are amazing. I think that distributors, that's a smart way to— and they sound good, they look good. So your way, you're, you're putting out perfection. Um, if I did it, it would be But I know it is hard though, because I mean, when I was doing it, I realized, oh my gosh, I was just consistently, every mistake. It's very hard. I don't know why it's easier to do this Candid, because I've already said, hey, there's going to be mistakes. But I really feel like what you're offering right now, I'm going to take advantage of it. So I really would like to have you send me your pricing so that I can prepare for that.

I need someone.

I used to say, I'm on your, I'm on your team, not on your payroll. But actually, I need someone on my team and kind of on my payroll to really help me.

Right. And I do have people that help me. I have a team, you know, I could not do all of this. I mean, impossible, impossible to do it all alone. And all of my team is, they're all young, really young. I'm like their grandmother.

That's awesome, but you're teaching them too, but they're putting out some great graphics.

Right, I have my graphics, and I also— especially the technical part, the building of the sites, the construction part, you know, I'm very much visual, so I'm on top of the visuals. I have a graphic designer and we work together, but I oversee all the stuff that goes out. But, uh, the— all the SEO work, I have two, two kids that are really, really good, really like, like nerds. But still, you gotta— like I tell him, you know, nobody's a superstar over here. Nobody works alone. We are a team. We're like a band, you know, like the Rolling Stones. I'm so impressed.

It is really not easy to do everything that you're doing. It is really not easy. And then you had to take a leap of faith too. You had to pivot yourself. I mean, you're a true pivot story.

Oh, I pivoted many times. Well, you know, my hardest job and what I came here to do on Earth was to raise my children, and they're— I'm done with that now. I can do my thing. You know, they're both productive people, productive adults. They have their families. So I feel that I'm done. You know, that's, that's what I came here to do, and it's done. Now I can do I can take chances now.

I love that. And you still look young too, which is really nice.

Oh, I really like you.

I feel like you're really— I really give you a lot of credit. You're a woman in a not so easy industry and you pivoted and then you're— and even just working, even how you're working with, you know, young, young, you know, the millennials or however, whatever the age, sometimes it's hard too because you're trying to communicate the different generations. And they're so lucky to have you as the, the owner of the company so they can learn from you. I'm sure they really—

it's a good team. It's a very— I have a really good team. I'm actually hiring somebody new one.

Okay, so go on to the website. You could tell— all you have to do is go on to either— and thank you, by the way, for taking, um, I think one or two of the blogs that I've written. So I wrote something about smiling because it's going to be weird. So we're going to meet people. You can't just pull your hand out and shake because you have to think that they may not like that. So we have to remember, but we have to come up with some way of, of, you know, wanting to let someone know that we really are happy to see them. We want to have something to hand to them but not make them nervous. All the antimicrobial products, we're going to see a ton of those, right?

I don't know what the new world is going to be like. And then we're going to have a mask, so how are we—

how do you show the smile? So I think that, you know, and but Pamela Eyring from the Protocol School of Washington where I went, she just did a really great fireside chat. And I think that we have to teach people. I will say what I noticed is that people don't stand up. Now, some do, but it's so rare that you go to an event and you're like, you'll stand in front of someone and like you should just pop up and stand up. So if someone's approaching, like right here, we'll practice right now. Hold on. Okay, so right here, come here. So my daughter comes up, so I, I would stand up and say, hi Alana, how are you? Now normally I'd shake hands, but now I have to say hello.

But the most important thing you could do—

she's so bad— but the most important thing you do is stand up now, because with a mask on and the fact that you can't do anything else, at least standing up shows respect, right? Yes.

Well, I don't know what I'm going to do because I tend to hug everybody. I want to go and hug.

No, someone could be like— the other day, we were washing my car in the little car thing over here, and some man had come over and he was looking for the building. And I felt— and of course, I'm not that— there's no pleasure in being that nice to someone. Like, there's zero pleasure. I don't— I'm not rude, I'm not nasty, I don't find any reason. So he came over and he's like, oh, will you look at my phone? So I did, but like, honestly, like, it was like so close a distance that I didn't know what to say to him because I didn't want to say like back off. Or so I did, you know, and I realized right away what the building was, but I was like, oh my gosh, this is so crazy, like how we have to— and then sometimes you just feel bad. Like someone was walking by and I'm backing up to make it better for them And I just said, I really don't like this. Like, I don't want anyone to feel like that I don't want to be in their presence because it goes against everything.

We're going to have to see how it goes. You know, I think that events are probably not going to come back for a while. It won't be the first thing. But I know what you're saying. I mean, you go out and you're so aware of the distance that you're keeping. I do my walks every single day. And I mean, I'm saying hi to everybody. From far away.

I guess you need a couple shirts.

You would be cute.

We could print up a couple shirts. I would love to give you a hug next year. So, Gloria, thank you. I'm going to throw this on the promotional— I won't say the name— our private group, because I think that everyone should really— and with your website, because I know what you're offering, and I'm glad that I'm going to be pretty soon in the position to take advantage. I think that you could kick me off to get me into where I need to be. Yeah, I'm not doing it myself, so that's for sure. I'm not getting where I want to be, so I need help. So I'm not embarrassed to ask for the help. And look at me, I'm telling right now to the world I need help. Thank you so much. You're beautiful too. You're a beautiful woman.

Thank you very much for having me in your incredible show. I love it. Thank you. Thank you.

I love the artwork behind you too. It's very pretty. Is it— is that a special—

your artwork? My mom painted those.

No!

Yeah, she's an artist.

Oh my God, where, where is she right now?

She's in Spain. She lives in Spain.

Oh my God, that is really a beautiful— I mean, I kind of thought maybe it's a photograph, but then I wasn't sure. Wow. Do you have a lot of her art in your house?

Yes. Is the Evergreen Lake that one in particular?

Oh, that one particular is very beautiful. Her colors are wonderful. Does she have a website?

No.

No. Oh, she has a daughter that can make her a website, I guess, or Facebook page. Does she have a Facebook? Does she sell her artwork?

Well, yeah, if somebody buys it, she'll sell it. She's done exhibitions and she's done— she sold art. Yes.

Oh my gosh, it's really good.

Yeah.

Oh, it's gorgeous. Oh, that's lovely. All right, well, thank you. Have a great rest of the day and have a great weekend.

Thank you so much for having me.

Oh my gosh, be good, be safe, wash your hands, whatever. All right, bye-bye. That was fun.