LIVE With Top Earner Paula Chavez

In this episode, Ray speaks with Paula Chavez about her top earner journey in network marketing and her experience with the Millionaire Round Table.

If you want to see the full training click HERE or the image below…

Ray Higdon: This next person, one of my favorite people on planet Earth, someone that I worked with for a few years, and she’s now in our Millionaire Round Table, which is a group that we run. She is a top earner in her company. She is a rockstar and I’m just so proud of her. Please help me welcome Paula Chavez. Paula, what’s going on?

Paula Chavez: Hi, everybody. Hi, Ray. I’m super excited to be here and so honored, just grateful. I never get tired of telling you how grateful I am for you, for this community, for these people. And I know you sometimes don’t like to hear it, but I like to say it.

Ray Higdon: I love to hear it. In the past I really struggle to accept it, but I love to hear it. I’ve always loved to hear it.

Paula Chavez: It’s true. It’s true. Making sure you know.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. So Paula, tell us a little bit about your journey. How did you get started in network marketing?

Paula Chavez: Okay. So I’ve been in network marketing for about 10 years. I didn’t fully understand the concept. I actually joined a health and wellness company. Back then when I started, I had gained a ridiculous amount of weight after having my second baby, so I just started because I wanted to lose some weight and I was home. I was just sitting on the couch. I had totally lost myself in the weight gain, in the being a mom, and just being home. So I just wanted to lose some weight. I found fitness, and through fitness, I found myself again. I had previously done real estate, and before that I’ve been in this country for 20 years, so before that I had all these other dreams and things and then became a mom. So I gave up on all of that, and through network marketing, I kind of found myself again, like the desire to pursue something. Yeah. So that’s how I found it.

Ray Higdon: That’s awesome. So when we started working together, that was a few years ago, and I mean, you were already doing pretty good. You were already making decent money, et cetera. What were some of the tweaks, because you’ve since start doing a lot better, and so what were some of the tweaks that you made that were helpful for you?

Paula Chavez: Well, after being for so long in network marketing and just trying to figure it out, just being a mom and doing all the things, I had a hard time figuring out how to get people to do what I was doing. I felt like I couldn’t explain it, so I thought I was doing things the wrong way. I thought maybe I’m not good at this. Maybe I’m not [crosstalk].

Ray Higdon: Because a lot of your team, they weren’t doing the work. Is that what you mean?

Paula Chavez: Yeah, I remember our first conversation. I said, “I don’t know how to motivate people. I see a bunch of zeros in my downline. This is ridiculous. What am I doing wrong? Help me. I’m stuck.” And you said, “Whoa, hold on.” And from that moment on, yeah, everything changed because you helped me see things that I wasn’t seeing.

Ray Higdon: And what did that lead to? What did you alter? Did you alter your expectations or did you change some things in the team or what did you do?

Paula Chavez: Well, you did help me realize something that is big, and it’s even though we believe in the opportunity and even though maybe we’re being super successful and we’re seeing some people having success, it all comes down to, it’s not necessarily that you are not doing the right thing or that you are stuck as a leader, but it’s that some people don’t want that. Some people just want to belong to something, that some people just want to be around you or they just want to put their feet, one foot in the water, but not necessarily both or go for a whole swim.

So that was a big aha moment for me. And since that moment, I don’t lead anybody with pressure. I hope, I don’t know, the way I show up is different. I don’t show up trying to get everybody to do what I want and to have the same goals as me, but just to give a place for everybody to find themselves, to go at their own rhythm, to have the information available. And like you said, whoever raises their hand, help them. So I make myself available to provide that information and inspiration leading by example, but ultimately, that was a big shift in my mindset. And from that moment, I started sleeping there because I was always blaming myself. And you said, “You have this mom guilt that you need to get rid of it.” I was like, “Oh, you’re right.” And yeah, it totally changed the game.

Ray Higdon: Most leaders, they put so much pressure on their team and themselves, but that’s how they got where they are, so they’re afraid if they let up, that everything’s going to collapse. But you saw the opposite. You saw when you actually let up, you slept better, but you actually got more results in your team, didn’t you?

Paula Chavez: Oh, yeah. Aside from sleep multiplication more, and I love that. Going through that hardship and that awareness, it’s helped me now help my leaders because I get the same conversation that I had with you. I get it with a lot of people. I don’t know how to motivate my team. I’m not a good leader. I don’t know what else to do. I’m so frustrated. I don’t know how to get some people to do the work. I’m like keep doing your work. Inspire people by your actions. And by the way, you show up than by beating yourself up and trying to motivate people that maybe have things going on in life, and they’re just happy being around you.

So I’m telling you, it’s one of the biggest frustrations of leaders. And I say to everyone, find people that want to do the work. Still love on everybody, because your definition of work or what you want is different for everybody. And seasons change too. Somebody may right now just be, they just love the products. They just want to be around you. They want to discount on the products. And then something in their life may change. Like last year with the circumstances, we had a lot of people that were just discount. They just wanted to be here for the discount. And then they were home, no job. They had more freedom. They had more flexibility or now their desire changed because now they needed an income that they didn’t have. It was pulled from right from underneath them. So you were ready. I was ready. Our guides are training. Everything was ready, so it was there available. But if I had not made that shift in my mindset, I would have gone crazy trying to help everybody and be available 24/7 just because of that mom guilt.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. And the flip side of that too, is whatever you do for your team, your team thinks they have to do too. So if you’re there and you’re answering every question, you’re answering every phone call, then they’re like, “Oh, man, that’s what I got to do? Eh, I don’t want to do that.” And so you’ll actually have people sabotage. You got a couple cool comments here. So Jen says, “As personally sponsored by you, Paula, I can say that what you’re saying is amazing and has helped me so much.”

Paula Chavez: Oh, Jen. Love you, Jen.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. And then I saw one other one. Kamila maybe. “I can totally relate to your story.” So it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool. And again, it’s just so many leaders that are just so used to that pressure and know that it’s longevity, it’s not intensity. And some on here are used to me doing laser coaching. So this is more of an interview with a leader than laser coaching. So I’m currently not laser coaching her. So a couple people are like, “Hey, when’s he going to hit her?”

Paula Chavez: I’m very coachable. Ray always [inaudible] says … I ask a question that sometimes I don’t hear the answers, but that’s how we grow. We need somebody who’s already been through what we are going through.

So here was the biggest thing. One of the biggest things for me too, was you helped me understand. I was doing the right things, but I didn’t know I was doing a few things right. I was teaching in a way, but I thought it was my fault. I didn’t understand that not everybody had the same. I’m like, “Oh, my God, we have this opportunity. Why wouldn’t you want this?” And you said to me, “Look, there are people that are making $20,000 a year and they’re fine. They don’t want more. They don’t want to do the work required to get more. Love on them.” And I’m like, “Oh, that totally makes sense.” Otherwise, everybody would be killing it.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. I remember I had to learn this lesson in multiple areas of my life, first in network marketing, because I used to get on the team calls and be like, “If you’re not prospecting 10 people a day, what’s wrong with you?” And my five percenters were like, “Yeah, man, that was awesome.” And I’d see people quit. I’d see the team reduce. Where’d Theresa go? She was just here.

And so I had to learn it there. I also had to learn it with my sons. When I was in sixth grade, I was moving 100 Airheads a day. I’d buy them for 10 cents. I sold them for a quarter. I had a big brown bag. I’m slanging candy, man. They actually created a candy role because of me. And so I’ve just always been that entrepreneur sales type kind of person. And my sons, when they were, oh, 10 years old or something, had them speaking in front of crowds because I thought I was always terrified of speaking and that would be helpful. So they were selling popcorn for the Cub Scouts. They were selling candy for their school in front of hundreds of people on stage.

And then one day I remember I told them, “Hey, I was going to sell those toys. If you want to sell them on eBay just sell them and you can keep the profit or keep the money.” And later on I’m like, “Hey, how’d you do with those toys?” And they’re like, “Ah, people don’t want to pay the shipping.” And that’s when I realized that they didn’t have what I had as a kid, and so I stopped trying to push them into what I hoped. I hope they become this. And I’m like, “Oh, wait a minute. You know what? They got their own thing going.”

And so Ethan’s going into sports management. Brandon is double majoring in psychology and philosophy. He wants to be a therapist. So that’s awesome. Good for them. Very different from me, but that’s okay. Now, if I wanted to have a terrible relationship with them, I would just try to push them into being an entrepreneur. Why are you doing that? Go be an entrepreneur. And that’s the leader that’s trying to push their level of desire on the people in their organization. They don’t realize it. They’re like, “I want it more than them.” Well, what does that mean when a leader says, “I just want it more. I want it more for them than they do,” it means that they’re a disappointment, which is how they felt with their parents, which isn’t good.

And so instead love on them, keep them around the campfire. They may catch a spark, and don’t try to push them. Now, if they raise their hand, then all aboard. So I’m sure if someone came to you and said, “Paula, you know what? I’ve been kind of hanging out for a year, but I’m ready to make some money,” you would have very clear steps, wouldn’t you? You’d say, “Go do this, go do this, go do this.”

Paula Chavez: And the thing is I also change that, like the hope part of it. Oh, you know what? I’m just going to welcome them and love on them and hope that one day they want to do something. Everybody comes into your team, into your life for a reason. So just some people, sometimes even they challenge you, the relationship challenges you in a way that it forces you to learn from how you’re handling it and then you grow from that, and maybe that relationship gets affected, but you learn how to … I think everything has a reason. I always try and I teach this. I talk about this with my team. If you’re struggling right now, if you have that feeling of stuck, don’t blame yourself. Think, “Okay, what is this trying to teach me right now? What is it? What’s the lesson in this mess for me?” Because it is happening for a reason instead of saying, “Oh, nobody likes me. I’m not good enough. I’m not good at this” and turn around, there’s growth in there, so embrace it.

But one thing that I wanted to share with you guys is, as you were talking about the selling candy, that was me in Colombia. I’m from Colombia, Latin America. I grew up, I was always selling stuff. I sell dinner to my kids and I’m like, “Yeah, you got to eat the apple because the apple is so good for you and you’re an athlete.” All the time. I sold candy too. And back then it was a big deal because it was imported candy, like Milky Way. Here, it’s in every corner. There? When I was in school, that was like-

Ray Higdon: How’d you get it? It was imported. How’d you get it?

Paula Chavez: So think like a Costco, but more like a illegal market of stuff.

Ray Higdon: Black market?

Paula Chavez: Well, kind of, but there were stores. It wasn’t like shady stuff, but it was probably a lot of … Now that I think a about it, I don’t even want to know the details. Don’t ask me. I don’t know.

But anyway, I sold silver jewelry. I sold all the things. I made bracelets. I made keychains. I’ve always liked having my own income. I hated asking my parents for stuff. I would always buy my things. It was just like a personal satisfaction. I loved having that independence. I never leave my house without my keys. If I’m going somewhere, I want to have my car. I like that independence.

So all of this to share with you guys, when I came to this country, I came temporarily. I had just graduated from school. I came here. It was supposedly to practice my English, see my dad, spend some time with my dad, and then we would go back home to Colombia. But destiny had other plans and I’d say God had other plans too. I came here just with a small luggage, small bag. Think about this. I’ve been here 20, 21 years. Back then, a single girl on a plane from Colombia, there was something shady about it. Something was happening there. So you have that fear.

Then I got here. After a few months, September 11 happened. So there was a lot. 9/11 happened. There was a lot of changes, a lot of stress, a lot of things. I found myself not going back home because getting paid here, I started cleaning houses and babysitting kids, and it was against my family’s will. I just graduated from one of the best schools in the country. A lot of stuff. And you come here and you tell your family back at home that you are cleaning houses, basically you’re a maid and you’re cleaning houses, you’re watching kids. What?

So it was almost a dishonor, but at the same time, I’m willing to do whatever it takes because I saw opportunity in this country, just like I saw it in our marketing. So when I look back living in an apartment in the Bronx, just sleeping on a mattress on the floor with some white plastic chairs from the dollar store and eating bread from the corner store and coffee, and I always thought there has to be something better.

And once I became a mom, my dad never told me no to anything I ask. My dad always said yes. And having our three kids, we got to a point where, and this is just about three and a half years ago that my kids were, “Mommy, can we go have ice cream?” “No. “Mommy, can we buy this notebook?” “No.” It was no, no, no, no. We were in a lot of financial stress, and I had to make a decision. I had to make a decision. I’m going to commit. I’m going to give it my own.

And Ray, you say this for all the time. Pain was pushing me because I was in a lot of pain. I thought about the future retirement telling no to my kids all the time, not being able to say yes like my parents said to me all the time, so that helped me decide that I was going to go through any challenges and that I was going to use any help I could get. So I’ve always see who’s doing better than me, who’s done what I want to do, who can help me, who can tell me what I’m doing wrong and how I can do better, and I think that’s so important in this business.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. Love it. Love it. Love it. People love hearing that story. Getting a lot of great, great comments, so really cool. So if someone’s on here, what might be a good tip for someone on here? They have a team, they’re frustrated because a small percentage of their people are doing anything, or maybe no one’s doing anything. What would be a suggestion for them?

Paula Chavez: Guys, I will tell you get around people that are at a similar level as you are because one of the things that I found and that I see in my team and in my leaders is you think that being a leader, you need to be alone. Now you are this lonely person, and you’re not. And the reality is that there’s other people in your same situation, so it’s like this bunch of little leader islands that need to come together.

And when I started with you, so the way I found Ray, I watched a video. You know when Ray gets like, “Ughh,” and that was like, “Oh, my God. Who’s this guy?” My friend, Melissa Sutherland, she was featured in Rank Makers Live last year. I saw her, and she’s like, “You got to watch this guy.” And I’m like, “What in the world? Where is this?” So immediately, I don’t need to anything. Where do I find? She said, “He goes live every day.” And I’m like, “Oh, I need that. I need daily. I need that.”

And then it wasn’t that Ray every single day. That was my entry, but it was more the accountability from being around people that were going through the same struggle, the same ups, the same downs. Entrepreneurship doesn’t need to be a lonely place. Network marketing as a leader, you want to be around people that are at your level and also you want to be with around people that are a little bit better than you are. And I was just in an interview with Ray, with Jess, and her real estate coach. So that was great. He said, “I want to be the dumbest and the brokest person in his circle of that he’s learning from.”

So I would suggest that, definitely seek a place where you can be part of a community. And if you’re part of Rank Makers, you are on the right track. Do the things, do the activities, do the exercises, watch the daily video. That, to me, has been super powerful from day one. And always raise your hand and say, “Hey, I’m struggling with this. How are you guys doing this?” And for leaders in terms of activity for your team, don’t just say, “Whoever does this is going to be the winner.” I learned this from Ray. I would always do activities for the top people. I would only focus on the top people, the people that were producing, but create opportunities for everybody to feel like they’re winning so a lot of people doing a little, you have way more. You have more peace of mind. You have way more results, and small wins lead to people wanting bigger wins because they’re going to be in that environment where they’re feeling inspired by you and by the small wins and stories of other people.

So that’s been really, really powerful for us, I would say. I lead an amazing team. I love this industry. I love this business and I want everybody to be successful, but I also understand that everybody’s journey is different.

Ray Higdon: For sure. Well, that’s awesome. So two things. One, a lot of the concepts we talked about today are in our leadership book, which we also have in espanol. So we do have both. We got English and Spanish. So, available on Amazon if you’d like. If you are a six figure earner or higher, we also do have a program called Millionaire Round Table that Paula is a part of and that’s getting around people. So we bring some of our investment advisors or coaches into that group like Charles today, I think he has 4,000 rental units, 4,000 Airbnbs. He’s also got a couple car lots too. He’s a beast. He’s an absolute beast, but that’s who taught us how to handle Airbnbs and things like that. And we do bring a lot of the higher end kind of stuff into Millionaire Round Table.

And so if you’d like more information on that, you can shoot an email to [email protected]. We don’t actively market it because you do have to be six figures a year to be in that group or higher, of course. And so Paula, this was amazing. You got so many great comments. So many people are loving your story. And many are just saying how much they love working with you. You got several of your team on here too.

Paula Chavez: I have the best hype squad.

Ray Higdon: You came with your own cheerleaders. I love it. So thank you so much, Paula. I love your story. It’s such an honor to work close with you and thanks for sharing all your wisdom.

Paula Chavez: Thank you, Ray. Good luck in everything you also have going on. One thing that I love about you, you take us on that journey with you. So I remember when I started where you guys were, and now seeing it’s so inspiring. So following not just what you’re teaching, but something that I also watch a lot and I recommend everybody do, also look at the behavior. Look at the discipline, the consistency. Pay attention. Pay attention because there is so much value in everything that you do, ray. It’s incredible. So thank you so much. I’m so grateful for you, for this community. Thank you guys for watching.

Ray Higdon: Yay. Give Paula some love. Drop her some comments and give her some love. Feel free to share this if you got value from it. I think more leaders could use this information or actually reduce their frustration and increase their results. And so feel free to share, give Paula some love. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you so much.

Paula Chavez: Bye, guys. Thank you.