The Direct Seller's Podcast
The Direct Seller's Podcast
What Network Marketing Success Really Looks Like
Tired of feeling like you're constantly chasing someone else's version of success? In today's episode, Rachel gets brutally honest about why the traditional markers of success in network marketing—ranks, trips, and titles—are leaving ambitious direct sellers burnt out and feeling like they're never enough. In this no-fluff episode, Rachel challenges you to ditch the one-size-fits-all success playbook and create your own definition of what winning looks like. Whether you're hustling 24/7 but feeling empty or questioning if you're "really successful" without that coveted trip, this episode will completely shift how you measure your wins.
Key Takeaways
• Success is internal, not external - Hustle doesn't equal success, and you can work your butt off without feeling successful if you're chasing someone else's metrics instead of your own
• Traditional network marketing success markers are flawed - Ranks, trips, and team size don't always reflect your real work, impact, or how hard you're grinding—they're just your company's definition of success
• You can build the business YOU want - Stop being tied to goals your company or upline set for you; define what success means based on what you actually want from your business and life
• Success has seasons and doesn't require constant hustle - The toxic hustle culture in network marketing is burning people out; true success can look like consistency, trying new things, or being present with family
• Redefining success gives you freedom - When you create your own success metrics, you release the stress of "not being enough" and stop the exhausting comparison game
• Ask yourself the hard questions - What does your ideal life look like? What's "enough" income for you right now? What do you want your business to create in 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years?
Closing CTA
Ready to break free from someone else's success playbook and build something that's truly yours? Hit subscribe so you never miss Rachel's real talk about building your direct sales business with intention (and without the burnout). Then slide into Rachel's DMs on Instagram and send her the word "PODCAST" to grab her free 90-day action planner—because who doesn't love a good template to help you map out YOUR version of success? And if this episode hit you right in the feels, leave a review and let other network marketers know they're not alone in feeling like the traditional success markers just aren't working.
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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. Hello friends, welcome back to another episode of the Direct Sellers Podcast. I'm your host, rachel Perry, and today we are talking about how you measure success. Now I'm going to be totally real with you. I don't know, I'm sure I've done a podcast episode on this before and actually maybe recently, but I really wanted to share this with you because this has kind of been my experience this week and I just I really wanted to share it again with you because I feel like I feel like these things happen to me, because I meant to share them with you. So we're just going to do that. We're just going to do it and we're going to like we're just going to talk about it, okay, because I just I don't know, I feel like it's important, but just want to catch you up on how John Mark is doing. I don't know if you care, but he's my college freshman that we just dropped off at school and he's been there a week as of this recording and I'm not going to lie, the first weekend was really challenging for him. It was really challenging. He got pretty down in the dumps more than that, like I would say, probably. Just it was a lot of change for him and for those of you who know, he is neurodivergent, he has pretty severe ADHD and also has anxiety, and so he just he just like pulling him out of all that he's known and throwing him into the complete unknown, along with also losing your privacy and missing your mom and all the things, was hard for him and the counseling services was not open last week or last weekend, so I ended up driving down and taking him out to dinner, which was good, it was good for me, it was good for him and it was important because he needed to know that he had a support, that he wasn't all alone, and it's only an hour away. So I was able to do that and it worked out. It worked out. We overcame that hurdle. He overcame that hurdle, and what's so crazy to me is that at the time of this recording he's been there just about a week and I swear he has changed so much. He's grown up, not changed. He's grown up so much and it's it's so, which is what happens right when they're at college. But wow, so fast. So I'm praying for him. This weekend it's a three-day weekend and I'm I don't think he's quite found his people yet, so I'm hopeful that we won't have a replay, but we have things in place if it becomes a hard time. But he's doing it, y'all, he's doing the dang thing.
Speaker 1:So today, like I said before, we're going to talk about how you measure success. And here's the thing y'all, if you're still in network marketing, you may be measuring your success based on your rank, whether you've earned your trip, how much money you're making, what title you have. And the thing is, y'all, if your success is only defined by whether you earned the free trip, girl, it's time we talk, because it's about so much more than that, and the problem that I have with the direct sales industry and really culture in general is that it pushes very narrow success markers. So if you rank up, you're doing great, but if you lose your rank, well, you need to be working harder. If you earn the incentive trip, yes, you're amazing. You're amazing, you're going to get pampered. But if you don't, then are you really taking this business seriously?
Speaker 1:It's like there are so many things and it's not that the companies necessarily do that and I know that in sales in general is like this but I just feel like we are measuring the wrong things because those markers aren't always sustainable, they don't always reflect the real work, they don't reflect the real impact, they don't necessarily reflect how hard you're working, and so many of you talk to me and you're like I am working so hard and I am not getting what I thought I would get from that. Another thing that I've heard a lot of you say is that while you're always really happy for your team leaders or you're upline when they get their awards, it's kind of frustrating because you've worked so hard You're not necessarily getting the recognition they are. So if any of that resonates with you. I just want to encourage you and let you know you're not alone and I'm going to help you. Listen, it's not just if you're in network marketing, I mean if you're building your own income stream.
Speaker 1:This is something that I've struggled with is measuring my success based on how much I have in my bank account and y'all. It's about so much more than that. It's about so much more than that we think, or our brains tell us, because society tells us like, in order for you to be successful, you need to be making a certain amount of money, or if you're successful when you make that certain amount of money, and that's in any career path. But y'all like path, but y'all like success can look so different. Success can be stepping out and trying new things. Success can be being consistent.
Speaker 1:The external measures keep us chasing someone else's definition of success, like in our network marketing companies. We're constantly trying to get that trip. We're constantly trying to get that trip. We're constantly trying to get that rank. We're constantly trying to recruit more people, because that is our company's definition of success. But guess what, when we are trying to chase someone else's definition of success, it leaves us burnt out, constantly comparing ourselves and feeling like we're never enough, and it's also untrue, and I think what, instead, what we need to do more of is decide what is success for us.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you that what does success look like for you? I just asked this question in my expand program. We were doing a coaching call and I said what does success look like for you? Someone said connecting with others and making them happy. Someone else said being able to make my own schedule. Someone else said being able to serve other moms and help them avoid burnout. Here's the thing you can be hustling 24 seven and not feel successful, because hustle does not equal success. It doesn't. You can work your patootie off, working hours and hours all day, every day, and not make the rank or not get the income that you think that you deserve or you've been working for, and we think that we're not a success. But y'all, hustle doesn't equal success. Success is internal. Yeah, did you hear me Like? Success is internal.
Speaker 1:I think I've told this story before, but I remember years ago, a coach said to me I was doing a launch, right, so I was doing a challenge and I was, you know, opening a new program, probably. And he said to me, you know, opening a new program, probably. And he said to me Rachel, if you don't reach your goal, do you still consider yourself a success? And I was like, nope, I don't. He said, okay, so all the work that you put in showing up every day, doing all the work behind the scenes to make sure that people learned and grew from this challenge, that does not mean you're a success. And it was then that I realized, like, wait, what? I am measuring my success in the wrong way. I'm measuring success by the bottom line, the number of students I bring in, the amount of money that I make. But what if success was performing or not performing, but creating this launch and making a difference in people's lives, like seeing growth within the students? What if success was trying something new?
Speaker 1:If we start measuring success by what really matters to us, I think it's going to shift your whole business. So I want you to ask yourself, like what actually matters to me? What do I want this business to give me? Because you can create and build the business that you want. You don't have to be tied to all the goals that your company has set or your upline has set for you. What do you want? Maybe you want freedom to work fewer hours. Maybe you want to create an income stream that's yours alone and it's not connected to your company. Maybe you want more flexibility so you can be present with your family. Maybe you want more stability rather than chasing bonuses. Maybe you just want to be consistent. Maybe you want to do something new. Maybe you're feeling that pull to something more. Y'all success has seasons. There are times that we work hard, but it doesn't have to be a constant hustle, and this hustle culture that is within the network marketing industry is hurting us. It's hurting you.
Speaker 1:These measures of success that we are told day in and day out are just are. They're not true. I don't believe that they are measures of success. Does that mean that if you were in the trip and if you rank up, you're not a success? No, that great You've had. You've had some success, but that doesn't mean you are a success. That's not what makes you a success. The trip does not make you a success. The rank does not make you a success. Doing the hard things is what makes you a success. The trip does not make you a success. The rank does not make you a success. Doing the hard things is what makes you a success.
Speaker 1:Here's what I really want you to do today. I want you to think about what are your success metrics? What do you want your life to look like? What does enough income for you right now mean? What do you want this business to create for you in six months, 12 months, three years from now? Right, I want you to think about those things. I'm going to say them again what do you want your life to look like? What does enough income mean for you right now, and what do you want your life to look like six months from now, 12 months from now and three years from now? This is going to bring you some clarity that I hope will help you stop comparing yourself to others. So, if it is earning this next trip, why do you want to earn the trip? Because it's amazing and it's wonderful and you get pampered and all these special things. Well, guess what? What if you could earn enough money to pay for your own trip to wherever it is? I'm not saying don't go for that trip, but I'm just saying there are other ways to measure success. So here's what I want to and this is a short podcast, but here's what I want to leave with.
Speaker 1:Success isn't a one size fits all. The only definition of success that matters is the one that you choose for yourself. So take a moment today. What is success for you? Because if you've been hustling without feeling successful, I want to encourage you that maybe it's time to build something that's yours. Maybe it's time to change your success metrics. Maybe it's time to take a step back and go. Wait a second. What is it that I want and what is success to me?
Speaker 1:I remember when I was reaching the end of my time in building my jewelry direct sales business and I just remember feeling so worn out and not loving what I was doing and just kind of, I'd reached my, I'd lost my passion for it, I'd reached I think I'd reached the end, to be honest. And I just remember thinking like am I still a success If I leave my direct sales business? Am I still a success? And the answer is yes. I am still a success because I'm doing something for me, right. That is right for my life, that is right for my family.
Speaker 1:Please do not hear that I'm telling you you need to leave your business. It's just an example to remember why it's so important to measure your success and not to get sucked into what everybody else says means you're a success. What does everyone else say equals success Like. Fight against that. Don't subscribe to that, because it's just not true. If you earn rankings or trips or whatever, that's great and you should be proud of yourself, but that's not what success is.
Speaker 1:Success is doing the hard things. Success is showing up even when you don't want to. Success is being able to be present with your family. Success is connecting with people on your team. Success is trying something new right.
Speaker 1:I hope this was helpful. I hope you receive this with encouragement, because I just want you to know you are a success and when we're able to redefine what success means. It gives us so much more freedom in our lives and it releases that stress that we aren't enough, because y'all know you are enough just because you exist. Quick, short podcast episode for you this week, but don't avoid doing the work. Decide what success looks like to you and how you're going to measure that success, and I'm going to measure that success and I'm going to encourage you that it's not the team or it's not how big your team is, it's not whether or not you've earned your trip and it's not how much money you're making.
Speaker 1:All right, my friend, I'll be back here for another episode of the Direct Settlers podcast next week and if you're in Canada or you are in the US, I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. But I will be back here next week and we will chat about more good stuff. So until then, my beautiful friends, take care and God bless. That's it for this episode of the Direct Sellers Podcast, but our fun doesn't have to end now. 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 hate 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?