March 25, 2014

Leap of Faith: New Experience

After reading through this and seeing my before and after photos, I'd love for you to check out my Nerium site at emilyjoy.nerium.com.  

Just last week, I did something I never thought I'd do. Ever. In a million years. I partnered with Nerium International to share and sell their anti-aging product. Something like this is way out of my comfort zone, but I just couldn't pass it up for a few reasons.

1) The product is simple. Just a day cream and a night cream. Easy enough, right?

2) The product works. My mom received a sample from a friend, and one day during her seven-day trial, she came over. When she walked in my kitchen, I looked at her and said, "Your skin looks brighter. Is it brighter?" She kind of laughed and said, "It's Nerium." I could see an actual difference in her overall skin tone. Then as I started to learn more about Nerium, I saw amazing before and after pictures of people I actually know. I've started using it on my face and hands, and I've been pretty blown away by two things. First, my hands have been an absolute wreck since our time in the hospital with Hayden because of the harsh soaps and constant hand washing. After using Nerium for less than a week, my hands don't have a single crack or dry spot. Secondly, the redness in my cheeks has reduced. I have naturally rosy cheeks, but not in a precious way, more like a bright red way, so I've appreciated the reduction in that extra pop of color. I'd prefer to let a nice shade a blush take care of that, thanks.

3) Of course, the opportunity to earn extra money is a plus. I work in nonprofit, which I absolutely love, but let's face it...I bet almost no one in the nonprofit arena has ever thought, "Wow--what should I do with all my money?" I'm hopeful partnering with this company will be a fun way to earn some extra income for my family.

4) I have a deep-rooted entrepreneurial spirit. And that kind of scares the crap out of me. I come from a family of self-employed people. My mom, dad, brother, aunt and a couple cousins all own their own businesses. I also like to say that my Nana wore pants and had a job long before women were supposed to do either of those things. Hard work is just not something we shy away from, but I've always been an employee. There's some safety and comfort in that. However, deep down I've always wondered about the possibility of doing something all on my own, and here it is.

My (embarrassing) before and after pictures:
In the first picture, you can really see the redness in the cheeks, especially on the left side, but that's noticeably reduced on the day seven photo. (I also obviously did a better job at sticking my chin out to look skinnier in the first photo, but that's really neither here nor there...)

Day 1













Day 7



















I really wish you could feel my hands through the computer. That'd be weird. The difference in day one (sand paper) and day seven (baby smooth) is incredible.

Day 1


Day 7