The Direct Seller's Podcast
The Direct Seller's Podcast
Lost Your Rank? Here's How to Rebuild Your Confidence and Business!
Let's talk about the elephant in the room that nobody wants to discuss—what happens when you lose your rank in network marketing. Whether you dropped from pink diamond to blue diamond or lost that coveted leadership position, the shame and self-doubt can be crushing. But here's the truth: rank drops happen to almost EVERYONE in this industry, and they say absolutely nothing about your worth as a leader or person. In this episode, Rachel gets real about why ranks fluctuate, how to protect your confidence when it happens, and most importantly, how to turn this setback into the fuel for your epic comeback story.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Rank drops are normal business cycles, not personal failures - They happen due to team changes, market shifts, life circumstances, or strategic business decisions, and they don't erase your past achievements or skills
• Your identity isn't your rank - When you tie your self-worth to external validation like titles and recognition, you set yourself up for devastating confidence crashes that keep you stuck
• Control your narrative instead of letting shame control you - You get to decide how you talk about your situation—choose "I'm rebuilding" over "I'm a failure" every single time
• Use the experience as credibility, not shame - Having both success AND setback makes you more relatable and trustworthy to your team than someone who's never struggled
• Focus on rebuilding fundamentals, not rushing back - Build solid foundations like repeat customers and consistent activity rather than chasing quick rank advancements that won't last
• Redefine success beyond rank - Stop letting company titles determine your worth and start measuring success by skills developed, people helped, and personal growth achieved
CTA
Your comeback story is waiting to be written, and Rachel's cheering you on every step of the way! Ready to turn your setback into your setup for success? Head over to Instagram and slide into Rachel's DMs with the word "PODCAST" to grab her free 90-day action planner—because who doesn't love a good template to map out their comeback? Plus, she promises no weird "hey girl" messages or pushy sales pitches. Just real support from someone who gets it.
Don't forget to subscribe to the Direct Sellers Podcast and leave a review if this episode hit home—your comeback story could inspire the next network marketer who needs to hear this message!
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Welcome to the Direct Sellers Podcast, the podcast for direct sellers who are ready to get uncomfortable, build their business and grow a team while changing the face of the direct sales industry. I'm your host, rachel Perry. Join me as we get real and talk about all the things you need to kick some serious direct sales booty From overcoming limiting beliefs to sharing the exact strategies you need to attract the right people who become customers and beg to join your team. I've got you covered, girl. I'm going to be your new BFF when it comes to balancing life and kids while building your direct sales business with poise, peace of mind and, of course, a good set of fake eyelashes. Let's get started.
Speaker 1:Hello, my friends, welcome back to another episode of the Direct Sellers Podcast. I'm Rachel and I am so happy that you're here, and today we're going to talk about something that is happy that you're here, and today we're going to talk about something that is it's such a struggle that so many network marketers deal with at some point I certainly did, and I know everyone that I've spoken to has but nobody really talks about it. What we're talking about is what happens to your confidence when you lose your rank. So maybe you lost some team members, or maybe your personal volume dipped. Maybe there was a compensation plan change that affected your position, or maybe life got in the way and you couldn't maintain the activity level that you needed in order to keep your rank. Whatever the reason as to why you went from, you know, pink diamond to blue diamond or whatever, from whatever rank you worked so hard to achieve, back down to something less, it often feels like a failure, and I want to start by saying this if this has happened to you or you're afraid that it might happen to you, you're not alone. This is one of the most common experiences in network marketing, and yet it's something that people suffer through in silence because they're embarrassed or ashamed. I think there's so much shame that we connect to things like that, and today we're going to talk about it. We're going to talk about why rank drops happen, although we know how to protect your confidence when they do and, most importantly, how to use this experience as fuel for your comeback. But I think what I want you to take away from this more than anything is that when you lose your rank, it literally means nothing about who you are, how valuable you are or how great of a leader you are or if you're good enough. It says nothing about that.
Speaker 1:There are so many things that come to play in ranks. They happen to almost everyone in network marketing at some point, and I don't care how successful someone looks on social media or how confident they are at conferences. Most people have experienced some kind of setback that sounded weird, setback in their rank, okay, or position or wherever they are in leadership. And there are so many reasons why this happens. Sometimes it's business related, like maybe team members have decided to leave, or this month customers didn't reorder, or the market changed, or the economy sucks or your, your company, changes something, right? Sometimes it's life related. Sometimes there's a health crisis or a family emergency or, I don't know a job change or mental health reasons. Literally, there are so many reasons, okay. Sometimes it's strategic. You might make a calculated decision to focus on a different area of your business, or you might decide you know what I'm scaling back I need to work less because I need to be more present in my life, knowing that it might affect your current rank. But sometimes, honestly, the reason it happens is just because it's the natural ebb and flow of a business. That happens when it's based on human behavior, right and market conditions.
Speaker 1:But here's where it gets tricky. In network marketing, your rank isn't just a number, it's not just a title. Often I see this happen. So often network marketers tie their rank to their identity, to their status in the company. You know your access to different things in leadership or the trips and the recognition which is awesome that you get those when you reach a certain rank.
Speaker 1:But then when you lose it, it's literally devastating. Right, it's devastating to be excluded from events because you've lost rank and because ranks are often public within your company, everyone sees it when you drop. Your upline knows your downline, knows your sideline, knows, right, everybody knows. And it's not like in a traditional business model where you can have a bad quarter but nobody needs to know that information. Right? So when your rank drops, it doesn't just affect your income, it can feel like a public failure, like everyone is watching you fail right. Like you've let your team down, you've let your upline down, you've let yourself down, you're just not good enough. And that's all a lie, it's all lies. And the worst part about it is that you start questioning everything, like was I ever really cut out for this? Did I just get lucky before there's that imposter syndrome. Do I even know what I'm doing? Am I fooling myself, thinking I can be successful at this? Can I really get back to it? And so many network marketers who lose a big rank tend to not get back there again because it's so devastating. So let's talk about what this rank what do you want to call it? Like rank dropping? I hate that. Whatever, this is what it does to your confidence, because understanding what it does is truly the first step in rebuilding this confidence.
Speaker 1:So when your rank drops, your brain starts telling you stories, right, like your inner mean girl. She's like you really aren't as good as you thought you were. Oh my gosh. Like people are judging you. They're looking at you. You've lost your credibility, sister. You don't belong here. You're not a leader. You should just quit before you embarrass yourself further. And these stories go on and on and on in a loop. Right? They make you feel and they make you. These stories that you tell yourself make you feel so defeated, because they feel real and there might be some truth to them.
Speaker 1:Maybe people are talking, maybe you did lose some credibility, maybe you're not where you thought you'd be by now. And let me tell you, when I was in direct sales, when I was actively building my network marketing business, there were so many times when I was like, why am I not where I thought I would be by now? But here's what your brain isn't telling you. Okay, temporary setbacks don't erase past achievements. Those achievements were not by accident. They weren't Like. You didn't just fall into them.
Speaker 1:One season of struggle does not negate years of growth and I need you to hear that. If you were director, national director, pink diamond director, whatever, and you lose that rank, it doesn't mean that you've lost all the skills and knowledge that you gained. But I've seen this happen over and over again and it's stories that leaders tell themselves that because they, maybe I, you know, what worked then doesn't work now and therefore I'm not, I don't deserve this rank. Your brain also is not telling you that many of the most successful people in network marketing have experienced these setbacks Like. Your brain doesn't tell you that. It's telling you all these bad things. It's telling you that you suck, basically. But what it's not telling you is that, first of all, it can't take away the years of growth that you've had. It can't take that away, right? It's not telling you that the most successful people in network marketing have also experienced things like that. Right, they've lost ranks, they've lost teams, they've even started over completely. But the key here is that they've used those experiences as learning opportunities rather than reasons that they suck or reasons that they were never good enough anyway.
Speaker 1:Right, because what happens is so many people who go through this loss of rank they've lost the car or they've lost the. Do companies do that anymore? Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm like do companies do car bonuses? I think some do. But anyway, if you lose that car or you lose the trip or you lose whatever leadership role you had, a lot of leaders fall into this trap of being like well, see, there's the proof, there's the proof that I wasn't good enough. But what successful leaders do is they take it as that experience as a learning opportunity. As that experience as a learning opportunity. Because the thing is is when we tie our self worth to external validation, we lose our confidence. The company was telling us that we were successful because we had this rank, but now that I've lost that rank, now that means that I'm not. I'm not successful, right, but that external validation was never a solid foundation for our confidence anyway, because it's too fragile, it's too dependent on things that are outside your control. Do you see what I'm saying? So how do we protect that confidence and our mental health? Because y'all that's serious when you lose your rank.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to give you a couple of strategies that will work, okay, so the first is feel the feelings, allow yourself to feel them, but don't stay there. Don't stay there. It's normal to feel disappointed. It's normal to feel frustrated, maybe even embarrassed. Don't pretend that those feelings don't exist or push them away, or positive thinking your way out of it. Like, give yourself permission to feel all those feelings, but give yourself a time limit. Feel it fully for a day or a week, or whatever you need. Let's try not to go beyond the week, okay, but then let's shift into the problem solving mode. Okay, let's take this as a lesson. Now what are we going to do?
Speaker 1:The second thing you need to do is control the narrative. So people are going to notice that your rank drops, but you get to decide how you talk about it. You can be honest without being dramatic, right, like I'm just rebuilding, yep, this happens Rather than being like I suck and I've lost everything and now my upline doesn't want to talk to me, right? No, no, no, no, no. Saying something like I'm now rebuilding is different from I'm a failure. Control what you can control. That is your response, okay.
Speaker 1:The third thing is focus on what you can measure besides rank, like how many new skills have you developed? Or how many people have you helped? Or how have you grown personally, what relationships have you built? See, success isn't just about your position in the network marketing industry. In fact, I would say it has nothing to do with that. Right, because you look at other people who have ranked up and sometimes they've done some shady things to get there. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, if someone is ever like, no, that's, I've never lost my rank, you have to go. Well, okay, what are you doing?
Speaker 1:Fourth, remember that this is temporary. You can, you can build your, you can get that rank back. Teams can be regrown, income can be recovered. This season doesn't define you. It doesn't define your entire journey. You've built something before and guess what? You're going to build it again, and oftentimes it's even better the second time around, because you have more experience. You're bringing to the table so much more.
Speaker 1:And finally, lean on your real support system, not your upline, who might be disappointed because you didn't reach the rank that she wanted you to reach this month. Okay, not your team, who may also be a little little worried. Rely on your real friends and your family who love you, regardless of your business performance. Now, I know that some of you don't have a supportive family or supportive friends in that respect. So, then, I want you to really lean into, like you need a support system. So if your upline is not your support system, you need to create one for yourself, because when you have that support system, it helps you, supports you when you are in that space of feeling like a failure, right? So here's what I want you to do Now that we've gone through the emotions, we've kind of like figured out what we're going to do, how we've we've gone through the emotions, we've we've kind of like figured out what we're going to do, how we're protecting our mental health.
Speaker 1:Now it's time to talk about your comeback, because this is where it gets exciting, right? Because, sister, this loss of rank is not the end of your story. It can actually be the beginning of your comeback story, okay. So, first step what happened? Like what actually caused you to lose the rank? Was it your team's activity level? Was it your activity level? Did the? Did a lot of people leave? Where their market changes? Where did you have some personal stuff that came up? You can't fix what you don't understand, so let's get really clear on the reasons, without making excuses and without beating yourself up. Then I want you to figure out do you want to rebuild? Sometimes you don't want to get back to where you were right. I know a lot of people, a lot of network marketers, who have lost their rank and then they're like. You know, I actually didn't love how much time that took me to be in that space, so I think I'm actually going to be okay with the fact that I don't want to do it again. Right, because maybe your priorities have changed, maybe you've learned that something else, like maybe you've like wait a second. I think this idea of building an additional stream of income is more where I want to put my energy Like decide what you want.
Speaker 1:Step three start with your foundation. Instead of trying to rush back to your previous rank, let's focus on building some solid fundamentals, like maybe it's repeat customers, maybe it's more consistent activity, maybe you need to grow in a certain area, the things that create lasting success Okay, not just the things that give you that rank advancement or that quick trip that you're going to earn. Step four is use your experience as credibility. Just because you lost your rank doesn't mean you don't have credibility. You actually now have something that many people don't, which is the experience of both success and setback. That's going to make you so much more relatable, so much more real and so much more trustworthy, because people don't relate to people who don't struggle right. They want to follow someone who has experienced that and has come back. That's what they want, because that's relatable, right. They want to know how you overcome it.
Speaker 1:Step number five document your comeback. I don't mean you have to do like a vlog, but be real. Share your journey authentically. Not every detail, but the real story of rebuilding, because that serves two purposes it keeps you accountable and it inspires others who are going through similar challenges. And then the last thing and I think this might be the most important is to redefine what success means to you.
Speaker 1:We cannot continue to define success based on our rank, because that means then, like I said earlier, that when you lose your rank, then you're not as successful, and that's just not true. I mean, we can look at that from all aspects. Like, if you have a successful six figure business and then you stop earning, maybe you that next year you are bringing in 50,000 rather than 100,000. And the only reason you see yourself as a success is because you brought in six figures. That means then, at 50,000, you're not a success, but hi, you brought in $50,000. That seems pretty successful to me, right? So listen, I just want to encourage you. Just to recap, your rank is not your report card. Your rank does not define who you are. It's just a snapshot of a moment in time in your business, influenced by dozens of factors, many of which were completely outside of your control.
Speaker 1:The most successful people in network marketing aren't the ones who never experienced setbacks, they're the ones who know how to recover from them. Sister, your comeback story is waiting to be written. The question isn't whether you can recover from this, it's how amazing your comeback is gonna be. And I can't wait when you go through these situations be. And I can't wait when you go through these situations, right, like I can't wait to see what comes out of it, because we're going to. We're all going to have setbacks. We're all going to have setbacks. It's what you do with it and how you handle it that matters.
Speaker 1:I hope this was encouraging and helpful for you. I am here for you, I'm cheering you on and I'll be back here next week for another episode of the Direct Sellers podcast. Until then, my beautiful friends, take care. You'll catch me hanging out over on Instagram between episodes and I'd love for you to join me. So hop into my DMs. I promise you're not getting any hey girl messages and I promise I'm not going to be asking you to weirdly buy anything. Send me the message podcast so I can send you my free 90 day action planner, because who doesn't love a good template, template.