Managing My Pampered Chef Business After Baby: Concerns and Questions Answered

[emiscookin]

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been on in a while.

Well, as some of you know, I am 5 months pregnant and we just found out two days ago that we are having a GIRL!! Soooo excited!! Haven't been able to think of a girls name yet so if you know of any cute ones, please shoot them my way.

I will be a first time Mom and there's so many things I have been nervous/concerned about and one of them is...will I be able to keep up with my Pampered Chef business during the first few months of my little girl's life?

I really want to breastfeed so I know there's going to be feedings every two hours which means NO SLEEP and without sleep...I'm not very functional. I know that a lot of time will be given to my baby which I have NO problem with!! I have been waiting for her for SO long!! I've always dreamed of being a mother.

So I have a few questions. Does PC give you a "break" for a month of two if you let them know you just had a baby? So if you don't submit $150 in sales you'll be ok? Is it 3 months that if you don't submit that many in sales you become inactive or lose your consultantship? Also, say I stopped doing it for 5 months or so...would I have to pay a fee to become active again? I thought I heard that you have to purchase the starter kit again and...uhhh... NO! I already have a TON of tools & don't need to purchase another starter kit!!!

Will I lose my career sales if I go inactive? I haven't hit $15,000 yet.

I want you all to know that I really LOVE Pampered Chef and I don't just wanna quit altogether, but I know I will need time to care for and adjust to my new baby girl. So I have turned to all of you to help give me a peace of mind. Thanks so much! {{{hugs}}}

 

[cheflorraine]

Our baby is 6 weeks old as of yesterday... so my experience is recent! I believe NooraK's baby is still a bit younger, so hopefully she'll add her thoughts too...I didn't do any cooking shows in July or August (our baby was born July 28), but I stayed active each month - I had a catalog show (a friend of mine) one month, and the other, my sister and my mom wanted some things, so between the 2 of them there was enough for a show. Decide which months you want to take off, and then send out an email to your customers letting them know you'd love to do catalog shows that month. It's worth staying active, I'd say...
I had planned on 'returning' to cooking shows in September, and had my first one booked for today initially, but since I had a c-section, and also had some challenges getting started with breastfeeding, I called the host a couple weeks back and rescheduled for Sept 21, so by then my baby will be almost 8 weeks old.
My plan is to have enough milk pumped so that my husband will be able to keep her for the evening (I've been pumping and freezing the milk). I'll see how it goes and keep you posted...
My overall plan for now is to try about 4 parties/month, and see how that level of business feels. If it's too much, I can always cut back - the beauty of PC!!Enjoy your pregnancy, and enjoy the 'simple' life while you can. We love our baby, and are so thankful for her, but life is definitely a little more complicated now!

 

[esavvymom]

I really want to breastfeed so I know there's going to be feedings every two hours which means NO SLEEP and without sleep...I'm not very functional. I know that a lot of time will be given to my baby which I have NO problem with!! I have been waiting for her for SO long!! I've always dreamed of being a mother.

So I have a few questions. Does PC give you a "break" for a month of two if you let them know you just had a baby? So if you don't submit $150 in sales you'll be ok? Is it 3 months that if you don't submit that many in sales you become inactive or lose your consultantship? Also, say I stopped doing it for 5 months or so...would I have to pay a fee to become active again? I thought I heard that you have to purchase the starter kit again and...uhhh... NO! I already have a TON of tools & don't need to purchase another starter kit!!!

Will I lose my career sales if I go inactive? I haven't hit $15,000 yet.

I want you all to know that I really LOVE Pampered Chef and I don't just wanna quit altogether, but I know I will need time to care for and adjust to my new baby girl. So I have turned to all of you to help give me a peace of mind. Thanks so much! {{{hugs}}}

yes- the feeding schedule will be tough at first. My tip- sleep when the baby sleeps! Especially since you have just one child, it will be much easier. And as she gets older (even a few weeks)- that two hour cycle turns into two and a half, then three. So it gets better.

As far as being active, check the Policy and search for the "Active/Inactive" section. There is something there about requesting an extension. I think you can only get one per year though. You'd be inactive after 1 month of not submitting the $150. You'll lose career sales (no matter how many you have) if you are inactive 2 months. If you are inactive 6 months, then you'd have to sign-up again as a consultant. So if you stopped for 5 months and weren't concerned about being active/inactive or about your Career Sales, you can start back up as long as you submit $150 in your 6th month.

And don't count out some catalog shows. maybe you can start lining them up- do a catalog show of the month or something. You might be surprised what you get! Take care of your business now and stay up with customer care, and you just might get all you need each month because of customer loyalty, newsletter/specials, and making phone calls to get catalog shows! Make a list of customer care calls to make- and when you have 5 minutes, make one phone call. Do that a few times a day and you'll have made 3 or more calls!! Me- I'd put the baby down for the nap and make a quick phone call then take a nap myself, or even while you are nursing!!! You'll be spending lots of time doing that! I read lots of books or watched TV/Movies during that time- but make a phone call or two once the baby settles in for a snack and you may be surprised at what you get accomplished.

Good luck, and congratulations by the way! So much fun!!!

 

[chefsteph07]

I started Pampered Chef when I got pregnant, I knew that I wanted to quit my FT job and do something else so I got my feet wet the entire time during my pregnancy. I never went inactive because I lined up catalog shows for about 2 months after...I scheduled my first cooking show exactly 6 weeks after I had my daughter and my husband came with me (and brought the baby). It was a nice help having my husband there (the host totally didn't mind) and he could carry things in for me, ect. Just take it slow and if you end up turning in only 150.00 per mo for a while, so what? At least you won't be inactive and you can get back in the swing of things when the time is right for you. Good luck!

 

[Sheila]

I signed when my daughter was 4 months old, then had my son a year later so i was out of commission for cooking shows 2 weeks before (preeclampsia) and 6 weeks after (c-section recovery). I had planned to do the 2 month waiver, but they would not accept an email request. Before I could get a written request in the mail, catalog shows started to fall into place. They kept me active the whole 8 weeks. You may have to pump and let hubby do periodic night time feedings to give you longer spurts of sleep. That can also help for shows too.

 

[wadesgirl]

No they do not allow waivers like everyone else said but like they said there are ways to help yourself out. My HD was due at the end of September so she booked up September to help her out and then had catalog shows in October (plus one show that was being held over from September just in case). Well her baby ended up coming early and she had all the shows booked. She ended up "going with it" and only cancelled one show! She managed to keep all the other ones and had the host (who was aware of the situation) help her carry products in and she did the shows sitting down. She mainly did express type shows so that she wasn't gone from home for too long.

 

[NooraK]

Yes, my son will be four weeks tomorrow.

I really want to breastfeed so I know there's going to be feedings every two hours which means NO SLEEP and without sleep...I'm not very functional.

On this: Yes, on average the baby will nurse every two hours. But that doesn't mean she'll nurse every two hours on the dot around the clock. And you definitely don't want to teach them the habit of nursing on a schedule. DS2 will have spurts during the day when he'll nurse hourly, but he also sleeps 4-5 hours at a time at night. Just go with the flow, nurse when she wants to, and you'll get longer stretches of sleep. Also, if she sleeps in your room, it'll be easier to pick her up and put her back after nursing and fall back asleep, than waking yourself up enough to get up an walk into another room.

And you'll be amazed at how your ability to function on minimal sleep improves post-baby. It's a mommy thing.

 

[BlueMoon]

As I read about catalog shows, I think about the opportunity, if you have a lot of friends that are really into computers and texting and stuff--to have a virtual show, the whole catalog is online, after all...You just have to get someone who is into social media excited about it and I bet she or he could have a $150 or more show on line very easily. But it would have to be someone who has lots of tech savvy friends to be guests. Like maybe a college students?

 

[jendill]

My little one only nursed the first 10 months of his life - he wouldn't eat baby food. I just explained to my hosts that my baby may be showing up for a feeding before hand. Usually he came after the guests were gone and it was fine. All babies are different and it is definitely difficult to put a breastfed baby on a set schedule. Most hosts (and guests) are moms and understand. Catalog/online shows are great ways to keep yourself active and if you have a month without a show, don't stress about it! Your little one is more important!

 

[skaugchef]

I've had 2 babies with Pampered Chef. My suggestion is to keep doing Cooking shows as long as you can in your pregnancy. Then do catalog shows or collect random orders to pull together as a catalog show. My 1st baby with Pampered Chef came July 3rd. I did shows up to June 23rd. I had a catalog show didn't close until I came home from the hospital. I had my 2nd baby on April 21st. My last show was April 1st. So, I was active in April. I collected random orders & submitted $150 by end of May. Then I was doing shows again in June. I fed before I left & hurried home to feed again. It'll all work out.

 

[emiscookin]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Lots to think about.

 

[mountainmama74]

Yes, my son will be four weeks tomorrow.



On this: Yes, on average the baby will nurse every two hours. But that doesn't mean she'll nurse every two hours on the dot around the clock. And you definitely don't want to teach them the habit of nursing on a schedule. DS2 will have spurts during the day when he'll nurse hourly, but he also sleeps 4-5 hours at a time at night. Just go with the flow, nurse when she wants to, and you'll get longer stretches of sleep. Also, if she sleeps in your room, it'll be easier to pick her up and put her back after nursing and fall back asleep, than waking yourself up enough to get up an walk into another room.

And you'll be amazed at how your ability to function on minimal sleep improves post-baby. It's a mommy thing.

Totally agree!! My daughter slept 6 hours the night she came home from the hospital. She has always been a good sleeper! Let your baby tell you when she's ready to nurse. She will, don't worry!!

 

[cincychef]

The beauty of Pampered Chef is that you can do what ever works for you.
When I started Pampered Chef, I had a 6 week old and she came to my first 6 shows. They were all friends and family and that worked fine, I always asked someone to hold her or be in charge of her at the show, and I was only doing a show or two a month at the time.Two years later I had my third child and I was doing 4-5 shows a month, I was due the middle of Oct and I packed my Sept schedule (8 shows) and did them all, he came early so the last show I did was on 9/27 and he was born on 10/4. The last show I had my sister come and help me carry things. I also had to pass my one October show on to someone in my downline, since he came early. But we had pre-planned that and the host was fine with it, I was still in the hospital when she had her show. My goal was to jump right back into my schedule but that didn't happen, I ended up turning in 4 Oct catalog shows, two Nov shows and two Dec shows. My biggest regret is that I was one recruit away from director ship and my business took the back burner for about 10 months, by the time I was ready to jump back in, most of my recruits were in-active and it took me 2 more years to promote to director. The beauty of it though is I could do what worked best for me and my family.I had my 4th child last September and I was bound and determined to keep my business at the level I was at before he was born which was about 12 shows a month now. So I booked 25 catalog shows for September, packed my August show schedule, I did my last show 8/25 and he was born 9/3. 13 of the 25 catalog shows held and I turned in almost $4,000 in sales during my maternity leave. My first cooking show was 10/15 and I just host coached all my October hosts that I had a newborn at home who breastfed so they worked with me to keep the demo short and get the checkouts done quickly.I would plan catalog shows for however long you want to take off, keep in mind to overbook them and maybe offer some kind of incentive for turning them in on time. To me it is much easier to keep a few things going with my business when I need time off so that when I am ready to get back into it, I have somewhere to start.
Good luck!!! and do what works best for you and your family.