Welcome to Chef Success! Tracy's Story of Becoming a Pampered Chef Consultant

[tjrakin]

Just wanted to stop in and say hello to all of you as I am a new member to Chef Success! I am thumbing through posts to help me aquatinted with site and a few of you and to answer my many questions.
I am thinking of becoming a PC consultant and have been doing heavy research on pros and cons and wound up here hoping for all the good bad and ugly! I have already met with a team leader in my area and she was very informative but she is only one person and all the search engines either take me to the PC website or threads that are 3-5 years old!
Little about me, my name is Tracy and I grew up in KY and moved to NC when I was 19. Since then I have gotten married and now have a 3 year old son. We were in NC 10 years and have recently moved to KS where my husband grew up and has family to help us win our little boy. I am a certified dental assistant and since mount here took a huge paycut! Daycare and cost of living is twice as much yet I get paid less??!! My ideal situation would be stay at home, have another baby and yet contribute to the household income. We couldn't live off my husbands salary alone. We talk about another baby but with daycare 600 a month and healthare, we just can't afford it! That's why I contemplated PC! I absolutely loVE PC and to cook! I abbé been to many shows and had a friend as a consultant a while but she worked fulltime and wasn't able to keep up and apparantely had to spend more of her own money on products so she quit.
My concern is not knowing anyone in this area except coworkers and I don't like not knowing what I'm doing! That makes me so uncomfortable and I can't be myself. Is it easy to catch on and is it worth it?!
I left my team leader last week feeling very positive and excited to get this started and hopeful by the end if he year quit my job and keep my baby home with me!
I know you can make up to 100 a show. Can some of you give me an idea on how mug when you first started, what I can expect and cover any of my other worries?!
Thanks a ton and look forward to hearing from a few of you and get to know you more!
Have a wonderf day!
Cheers
Tracy

 

[chefheidi2003]

First of all..welcome to Chef Success. I only started coming here after being in the biz at least 5 years but I have learned so much from this place. One thing that stood out you said that you know you can make UP TO $100 a show. You can make more than that and that is one of the great things about this biz. There is really no limit to what you can make.

I am sure it is hard not knowing anyone in the area but I dont' know much about that so others can help you better. But if you can get some coworkers to host for you. They will invite their friends and family..try to get bookings and your circle will grow before you know it.

 

[gailz2]

Welcome, Tracy! Your earning potential is unlimited. After you hit career high of $15,000, you get a raise! Instead of 20%, your base will be 22%. Then, each month the percentage can increase based on total monthly sales. And, when you start getting recruits of your own, you receive another %! Some months you may not have time to do many shows, and your paycheck will be less--0ther months, more!Don't worry about the expenses. PC offers a nice starter kit, along with recipes that use items from your kit. As you desire other pieces, you can then pick them up. Twice a year PC puts out new products, and a few months before that you have the opportunity to earn them FOR FREE! Also there are often other monthly incentives for the consultants. PC is a wonderful company to work for. I kept my own expenses very low for the first couple years and now my business has really grown.You may try getting into some fairs or mall shows to set up a table. There you can take orders, get names of potential hosts and customers, and book shows or even possibly recruits.The wonderful thing about PC is you can truly make it your own business. Coming to Chef Success was a huge step in the right direction. You'll find so much advice, guidance, friendships, etc. here. It is a wonderful format for sharing.Best wishes in your new career--and I admire you for wanting to take care of your baby yourself. You'll never regret it.

 

[lisasfuncooking]

Welcome! You sound like me, researching all the little details and making sure all of your questions have been answered. I thought about becoming a consultant for a few years before finally giving it a shot. In all honesty, my only regret was not starting it sooner.
Yes, there are minimal start up costs (kit) maybe some folders, paper, postage. I think I did my 1st show with my kit and $15 in office supplies. My biggest advice to you- is tell everyone that you want to become a Pampered Chef consultant. Ask them if they would be willing to help you out, being that you are new and trying to get your business going.
Most friends/family are very excited for you and willing to help. Once you know you have shows to get started, everything else falls into place. My director gave my good advice....When you 1st start and ask your family/friends, tell them if they can help you out, you will not ask them again to host a party for you as a favor. Once you get them to do a party, guests will book off them and you won't have to always rely on family/friends. Of course once your friends have a party, they will probably be asking you to have another in the future.
As far as the money, you start off at 20% each month. However you can make more than that too, depending on your monthly sales. So say your first month you have 5 shows each around $500. Your total month sales will be $2,500, in which you would get 24%. After you reach $15,000 in sales, you get an automatic 2% raise. Which means you start out at 22% each month.
Hope I was not confusing, just trying to type as quick as I can think.
Let us know what you decide :chef:

 

[minirottie]

One of the nice things about the New Consultant Kit is the recipes included use ONLY the items in the kit, so you can go do a successful show without needing any additional items. What I found nice was that two of the ones included were vegetarian, which I liked because I knew one of the guests at my first show was vegetarian, so I was able to please everyone the first time!

 

[TheNoviceGourmet]

Hi there,

I'm new to PC, and I have my first show on Wednesday night. I'm new to my community and I knew one person only and not well.

I recommend the following ways to get to know people:

If you have a child, attend school and or sporting events, it's a great way to meet other parents. If your children are young, how about asking the people at the day care, or asking to put a brochure in the doctors office, or how about the office staff there?

Church
Newcomers Organizations
Chamber of Commerce Events
Meetup groups - look online which has great groups in Canada and the US
Book Club (check at the local library or start one of your own)
Mom and tots groups

Don't join an organization for the sole purpose of meeting people who you would recruit or have shows for, join a volunteer group or some other groups because you enjoy the group.

I've been coming to CS since before I signed up and learned a lot. I've had only great experiences thus far, but I know that will continue

Best of luck
Nancy

 

[alabama pc cons.]

hi and hope you decide to join PC... I my 30 days will be up Nov. 3rd and while i didnt qualify ($1250 in sales) I think I did pretty well considering I am in the same boat you are in..... We just moved to a completely new area due to my husband's job and I know absolutely no one.... I am hoping to have a much better month in Nov. I think it is well worth the small investment and personally am glad I made it........... Hope that gives you a little inspiration...................... Jamie

 

[lesliec]

Sounds like you have already gotten some great advice and most of your questions answered. You really only need to know a few people. It only took me one show to get outside of my group of friends, although I have had more friends host shows since then. Tell the ladies that you work with that you are thinking about it. Ask them if they would be willing to host a show. See what they say. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised. People love PC. I haven't had trouble getting shows on my calendar.

 

[emiscookin]

Welcome!! I learned SO much from Chef Success! There was even a thread about how I ask a lot of questions. It was positive. I was just like you, I really wanted to KNOW everything and make sure PC was REALLY what I was comfortable doing! I gotta tell you, I have only MADE money with PC. In your first 90 days of being a consultant you can earn Pampered Chef Dollars by your sales and how many shows you do. I earned $300 PC Dollars and was able to spend them on supplies and new tools for my business!! I couldn't believe it! It's like I was getting all the stuff for free!!! You will not find a better home business to be a part of and don't be afraid to ask questions. Everyone here is very knowledgeable and don't mind helping you get started.

 

[raebates]

Welcome to our crazy little corner of the internet!