A FASHION REINVENTION - Cookie Lee

THE COOkIE CONNECTION | SPRINg/SUMMER 2009
how to
Grow Your Cookie Lee
Business into Your ONLY Job
When I signed up with Cookie Lee I was waitressing 30 hours a week on weeknights and weekends
at an Italian restaurant in Maine. I was also a mother trying to stay home with my two baby boys,
Brady was two at the time and Grant was ten months. The waitressing job was difficult to fit into
my life because my husband had to leave work early in order for me to leave for the restaurant
a half hour away. I was never home for dinner, I got home at ten p.m. or later each night and I
couldn’t afford a sitter. I wanted something more!
Working an Inflexible Job
It was always my goal to leave that job so I could do
something I was passionate about and have more
flexibility to be home with my boys. The restaurant
job was just a means to an end. Before I had kids, I had
traveled around the world, graduated college and worked
in marketing with a horrible commute. After having my
boys, I still wanted a career I just didn’t know what I
wanted to do but I knew it had to be flexible. Not only
was the restaurant job something I was not passionate
about, I realized you can only make so much money in a
night, it was mundane, it was physically demanding and
someone else was making my schedule.
Seeing the Opportunity
When I signed up for Cookie Lee I didn’t know what to
expect. My cousin Executive Director II Cindy Brooks
sent me the catalog and it took me two months to call
and say, “I want to do this!” I joined in November 2007
and thought about making Cookie Lee a part time
career until I read the March 2007 Cookie Connection
with Katherine Chrisman and saw the kind of money
top leaders were making. Then, I started thinking big
and thought if they can do this I can too!
tara JoHNSoN
Executive Director I,
Alfred, Maine
ABOUT THE EXPERT
Executive Director I Tara Johnson
is currently Cookie Lee’s 3rd Place
Rising Star and achieved a National
President’s Recruiting Award at
Cookie Lee’s annual convention
in 2008. Within her first year, she
achieved QuickStart and JumpStart
which earned her both the Pink
and Purple CZ rings and two Starlet
glam bracelets. She was also able
to earn the Dream getaway Trip for
her and her husband! She currently
has approximately 70 people in her
Downline and balances it all with
being the mother of two to grant
(2) and Brady (3) with supportive
husband kevin.
Finding the Need
At this time there were also financial worries in my
personal life. My husband Kevin is part owner of a
company that was struggling and we were worried
that we would lose all the money we had invested. The
thought of that was paralyzing. Even when Kevin came
home with this news, I knew there was not a possibility
for me to work full-time job and leave my children. I
thought I had to do something to contribute to our
family’s financial situation. It was within that week
that I signed up with Cookie Lee.
Experiencing a Quick Transition
I started asking for fewer nights on the restaurant
schedule and after only four months into Cookie Lee
I told my restaurant manager that I would like to take
a little break and focus on doing shows. I was worried
that my new jewelry business was too good to be true,
and I would have to go back to what I was doing before.
But I never needed to go back, and I haven’t gone back
since February 2007! Now, instead of waiting on people
they are waiting on me!
Wanting to QuickStart
When I signed up, I hit the ground running. I recruited
my first Consultant from my mom’s office show before
the end of November. I followed the QuickStart Guide
to Early Success and was able to achieve it in my first
three months. By the time I quit the restaurant, I was
a Unit Manager II. I don’t know if it was the title that
made a difference in how quickly I was able to leave my
former job or just how fast my business was growing.
I felt confident in my momentum and motivation to
succeed and those factors made me feel like I could leave
my other job. I had come to realize that in two nights of
doing shows and sharing the Cookie Lee opportunity, I
could make the same amount of money as four nights at
the restaurant.