The Giveaway is now Closed. What a great group of entries!
Sandi Sullivan, AKA Mom CEO, helps mothers start their own home businesses in the natural household products industry. One of my readers, Danielle Ray, took a risk, clicked on the square button ad and sent Sandi an email. Now she is head of the fastest growing team in the company!
Intrigued? Me too! Let’s ask Daneille a few questions:
Q. Tell us about your family.
I have been married for 13 years. My husband is a high school student pastor so our lives revolve around teenagers! We have 4 kids: Bronson 11, Cohen 9, Lanna 7 and Gavin 5. We raise chickens for eggs, take care of a garden and we always have a project going! Right now we are adding on a covered porch to the back of the house. We also home school so we can have the flexibility to take trips and vacations when we want. I think my goals for my children are like most people, I want them to be independent adults who make wise choices and learn from their failures. I want them to be confident enough to do something different if what they are doing is not working. I want them to be able to set goals and pursue them. I want them to be able to get their groove on on the dance floor. I want them to do hard things. I want to be a good example to them.
Q. What was your career before starting your home business?
A. Up until last month, I worked as a nurse on weekends in Labor and Delivery helping new people come into the world. While my job was very rewarding it also required me to be away from my family for 12 hour shifts. Our hospital is requiring more and more classes, certifications, and in-service hours in order to keep working. I realized no matter how much I worked my income potential was not going to change without sacrificing more time. The month I decided to resign, my check from M* was $11,580. I figured that I would have had to work at the hospital everyday, 12 hour shifts for an entire month to make that much money. The difference is that I had only worked about 30 hours total for the whole month in my M* business!
Q. How did you first find out about MomCEO?
A. I have been following The Grocery Shrink blog since the summer of 2010. I was looking for ways to stretch our dollars with 4 kids! I love the advice, stories, and encouragement Angela offered. One story was about a lady, Sandi Sullivan. She talked about how she was able to be at home with her family but still have an income working her business in her spare time. I sent her a message through the MomCEO button and she called me the next day.
Q. What made you take the leap and join Sandi’s team?
A. After talking with Sandi I decided her company really met a need we had in our own family. Not only did she offer an alternative to conventional products, but they were focused on wellness and better health. That really sparked my interest because I have been a nurse for 15 years. I know it is better to prevent health problems than to treat them after they have already started! From the products to the business concept, it really made sense.\
Q. How has starting your own business changed your life
A. I would say my life has been “enhanced”. We have always managed our money well. We have a budget. We enjoy “re-purposing” things, growing a garden and raising chickens. The difference is that now, we have the time to do more. The things that we dreamed of doing one day, we are getting to do now. We have been able to save enough money for our whole family to visit my sister in South Africa. The best part is, I don’t have to get permission for extended time off! I have been able to set a schedule, and work as much or as little as I wanted. Time is a freedom that you do not have working a normal 9-5 job (well, for a nurse a 7-7 job). I am able to stay home with my kids, but still have a full-time income
Q. Your personal team is now the fastest growing division in the nation. What things did you do that were so successful
A. Our success comes from working together! It really is about being a team and helping others reach their goals. Some people are just looking to supplement their income, some want to replace their income. Sandi has coached my team and helped us every step of the way. It helps that she was there to guide us to avoid the trial and error that comes with starting something new. She helped us do well from the start. Some people can set high goals and get there, but for me, it was all about baby steps. The best part of setting little goals is reaching them, celebrating, and setting the next goal. This is what made it fun for the whole family. We made goal charts that my kids filled in so they felt like they were a part of the business too. I don’t know how it happened that we became the fastest growing, I just know it has been fun. So, I guess fast is fun
Q. How does your family feel about your home business?
A.It really has been a blessing for our family in more ways than just making money, we are also saving money. By learning about a new way to shop, and planning what we need for the month, it has kept me from running to the store every week to pick up a few things and leave having spent $75 each time. After 5 months of shopping with M* my husband called me in a panic because he thought I forgot to make the house payment. He said we had more money than usual in our checking account. I assured him I had made the house payment and it was because I was not going to the store every week now. The savings are continuing to accumulate. We still shop primarily the perimeter of the store, cook and eat at home, and wait for things to go on sale. For all those little things that seemed to rob our budget before, we are getting better quality products that we use delivered right to our door.My kids appreciate our home based business too. We went to the beach last week. We stayed in a very nice beach house, went to meet “Winter” from the movie Dolphin Tales, took an ocean safari boat ride and played on the beach. Bronson, my oldest said, “We never took vacations like this before. It must be because of M*.” We are getting to do more. We have more time, more money, and more dreams to fulfill. It has become our motto to save more, give more, and do more. I remember the way I thought it was going to be when I became an adult and had a family of my own… now I feel like I am doing life the way I had always imagined.
Q. What advice would you give to someone considering their own homebased business?
A. The best advice I can give to anyone trying to start a home-based business is to team up! It is hard to stay motivated and do well without other people doing it with you. It also helps when you are doing something that whole family can appreciate… getting your children involved helps them understand that the time you are not at home with them is being spent reaching your goal. We always celebrate check day and do something special… the great thing about kids is that getting go to Waffle House is a treat!
Q. You have generously offered a giveaway of some of your favorite products. Tell us about them.
A. I love our laundry soap. It sounds funny to say you love a cleaning product but I really do! I also love the Sol-U-Mel. It has so many uses but my favorite is as an air freshener. The best part about all our products is that there is nothing harmful in them. When I am done cleaning my house does not smell like chemicals, just clean
Thank you for your blog and the time you take to encourage others. I hope this in some way encourages your readers too. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share.
Now for the giveaway: You can win a sparkling home cleaning pack including:Laundry 4-Pack with 96-load MelaPower 6x and MelaBrite 6x Plus DiamondBrite Dishwasher Detergent and Sol-U-Mel all purpose cleaner
$75.00 Value!
To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below and be sure to include your email address. The winner will be chosen this Friday, May 4th a noon–right after I send out the new menus :).
I used Melaleuca many years ago and loved their products, especially their toothpaste. I would love to try them again! Melaleuca Oil is incredible.
Sounds very interesting! I’m trying to decrease the amount of “chemicals” I use but am still looking for a good dishwasher detergent. I wonder if this would fill the need.
hooray, another new product for me to try – it’s great to offer giveaways!
I am highly allergic to chlorine bleach, which is in so many cleaning products. Natural cleaners are definitely better!
Would love to try some different eco-friendly products. I try to avoid the use of any chemicals in my household. Thanks
I am intrigued by these products and would LOVE to try them! I spend a lot of time cleaning with vinegar because I like knowing it isn’t harmful to us, but it smells so icky to my husband and four kids! I would like to show them that cleaning can smell good and still be good to our health! 🙂
Would love to try these products. Anything to be more green is great!
would like to try these products-have not seen them in stores in my area-hope to see them soon!
I also am a nurse and very interested in natural ways to heal and prevent illness. Have even dabbled a little in the last few months with making some of my own tinctures, salves, etc. Would love to test the products….and if they are good enough, might even be interested in selling them 🙂 Thanks for the info.
These products look amazing!
Wow sounds absolutely great – are these products available in the UK? They are just what I need as I, my children and grandchildren all have sensitive skin due to varying conditions from eczema to a form of cancer.We have to be sooo careful with the cleaning products we use, something like this would be a lifesaver!
I would love to try these products. My youngest son has eczema and we have an all “natural” laundry detergent we use now, but I would love a chance to try these products with him, they really sound great.
Looking to use fewer chemicals. I’d love to try these products.
VERY INTERESTING- An answer at last!
My son has sensitive skin so this would be great
I just recently became aware of Melaleuca and their products! I absolutely LOVE their prenatal vitamins and their kids’ products. I love that they are natural and if you call poison control, they tell you that you may get a tummy-ache, but there is nothing harmful in them!! To a mother of 2 toddlers (and twins coming)…that is so reassuring!!
Never tried this but would love to. My best friend has children that suffer from a severe form of atopic dermatitis and products like this might would help. Looks like great stuff.
Mela stuff is amazing and it is all part of such a great company. I haven’t used Mela stuff in several years, but I sure do miss it. My little checks were only about $13-15 or so a month but I didn’t even try to do the business! I would just answer comments about our laundry smelling good or being bright white, or helping a mom with her little ones ear infection (you can use many of these products as a natural healer and some medicinal purposes as well) or by brining it up if their household suffered from asthma or allergies. If what just a fun little perk to get little bonus’ just from referrals and not ever trying! But the friends and other people I knew that actually worked it as a business had beautiful checks! This has stirred up some old feelings and I think I may look back into it again and maybe try to actually run the business this time. Thanks! 🙂
I LOVE Melaleuca vitamins … when I remember to take them regularly I never get colds/the flu bugs that are floating around the community.
I have been trying to switch to all natural cleaning products and organic foods. I have just recently become aware of all the harmful chemicals that end up in our cleaning products and our food supply. With so many wonderful natural products, it makes me wonder why we ever started using chemicals in the first place.
Hey! Would love to try this product! Our motto at our home “Natural is Better”!
Thanks for the info
I’m trying to cut back on all the chemical products I use too. This may be a good alternative.
Would love to try these products!
I would love to try these products.
Love using natural products… especially cleaning products 🙂
I would love to try these products
I’d love to go “green” in my home and would appreciate receiving the products to try out.
I considered joining this company last summer. The representative I talked to was great. I would love to try the products. As I get closer to retirement a home business sounds very appealing.
I’ve never tried this before. I would love to.
Ooops wrong email.
One more time. You can tell I really want to try these products.
This is fantastic! I’m glad to have entered.
I have very sensitive eczema prone skin. I’m also interested in moving us towards using more natural based cleaners. The regular cleaners I use now can leave me lightheaded just from breathing them in, and with a baby (well toddler really now) in the house I worry about what she’s exposed to. To put this in perspective my husband’s in the military, before our most recent cross-country move I was scrubbing every surface in our apartment in order to make sure we got back all of our security deposit. I came downstairs because scrubbing the tub had me feeling dizzy and wanting some air. My husband said he’d finish for me, got to the top of the stairs and made the decision to finish in the morning before our inspection and go to the hotel for the night since he didn’t think it was safe for us to be breathing in the air at all. We moved into a house at the beginning of the year since our new apartment was too small now that we’re a family of three and counting, and he insisted that we hire a cleaning service since he didn’t want me to expose our daughter to the fumes. Something more natural would make us all feel better.
This all sounds wonderful.
I love Melaleuca, my sil started me on this product but I have not tried the laundry soap yet. I also love the Grocery Shrink website too!!
This all seems so overwhelming. I just hope that I can get started on savings and healthy living.
I’ve just recently started tuning in to all the harmful chemicals in everything sold commercially. I am learning and taking baby steps to change what I buy and use. One change I’ve made is in bar soap…wow! amazing difference in my skin when I switched to a non-soap bar. I would love to try these products!
I have never tried Melaleuca products, but if it will save me money and is all natural I would be willing to try it.
Would love the products and thanks for reminding me about Malaleuca. I didn’t even now that the company was still around.
I use Melaleuca’s laundry detergent, scent free for my son. He is on the autism spectrum and it’s very important that we keep all unnecessary toxins out of his system. It has helped him so much.
Love this site. I can’t wait to save time and money. Thank you so much!!
I have been trying all kinds of new products to make my home more ‘green’ and my family for healthy. My skin has decided that it doesn’t like regular dish soap, our son has eczema and is sensitive to certain common products and everyone (but me) has allergies! I would love a chance to but these to the test with my family. Who knows, we could be future customers 🙂
I love natural cleaners and the fact that i dont need to worry about my bany’s safety or dog’s
Would love to win these!
I recently tried a few of the bathroom cleaning products, and my husband loves them. Would love to try the laundry items as well. Thinking we might give this company a try fully in the near future.
Thank you!
I have been wanting to try these products! I just found out about Sol-U-Mel and am really wanting to try this… hope I win ♥
These products look great! would love to win them.
Sounds like a great improvement has occured in this family’s quality of life 🙂
I would love to try it!