Balancing Pampered Chef & Maternity Leave?

[vtolin]

I'm new to PC now about 2 months or so. I'm 5 mo preggo and doing well! But, I have questions, I see where to remain an active consultant you still need to sell $150 worth of products per month....right? I will be having a csection (most likely Feb) and my husband is only able to take off a couple weeks due to hectic work schedule that time of year. I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter as well. I'm guessing it's going to be difficult at least for the first month or so to get back into my main swing of things. I am just worried about staying active with PC.....should I try and find a way to do just catalog shows during that time?

 

[skaugchef]

Yes, I would recommend having catalogs shows going on during February and March.

 

[vtolin]

What do you guys think about maybe promoting an extra incentive if you host a catalog show in those months? Like extra % off of an order or something like that?

 

[kristina16marie]

i had my daughter in april (i also had a 4yr old & 2yr old at home) and leading up to my "maternity leave" i just announced that i was only booking catalog shows. i also announced it in my newsletter and asked for people to help me out. it worked like a charm! the month i was on maternity leave, was my highest month ever!

 

[KaiKendall]

Frozenchef and myself both are having babies (well frozenchef had hers last week, i'm jealous! i'm due any day now), and she has done an AMAZING job filling up her calendar with a ton of catalog shows and even a few cooking I believe.

I have 4 catalog shows (not TOO hopeful cause I've had a lot of flakes lately, but it's a numbers game), and 3 cooking shows set up for November. I did take the first 2 weeks off, wanted to take more, but it's SAT and I really want to earn something! lol.

It's your business so really you can do what you feel comfortable with. C-Sections require more healing time, so don't push it if you can't. Luckily with my hosts, they know I'm gonna be fresh outta the hospital! $150 is only one show, so if that's all you can do (one catty show counts) then that's ok. There's also an actual "Maternity Leave" you can take if you can't submit a show. You can be inactive 2 months before you lose your career sales, but if you call HO i believe (not sure cause I dont plan on it) they will put you on maternity leave and give you an extra 2 months I believe.

I do have an extra incentive for my hosts who host Catalog shows, I'm giving them an extra $15 in FPV and submitting as a cooking show instead. It's not something I have ever done, but I wanted to thank my hosts for supporting me during baby time.

Thats the great thing about YOUR business! Good luck and congratulations!

 

[cheflorraine]

My baby is 3 months old now... time really does fly quickly with a baby in the house!The other thing I found really helpful is to have cooking shows lined up for when you want to start up again. If you already know you're having a c-section (I had one as well, but didn't know that so far in advance), then you can give yourself a good 6 weeks before doing cooking shows again. My first show back was booked at 6 weeks, but once the time came closer, I was a little nervous about doing it that soon, so I postponed that party until she was 8 weeks old. But it was nice to have 4 parties booked for my return!

 

[vtolin]

Those are great tips!! Thank you so much!!! I think that's what I'll start doing...and might have to start promoting catalog parties sooner as my Dr doesn't want me pushing it due to my history with my first child. I think I'll definitely try the incentive too to try and boost the bookings!! THANK YOU!