Latest / Pathological Positivity / Positivity That Pays: The Future of Leadership in Direct Sales – with Carlos Aguilera – Episode #677
Transcript
- This is Live On Purpose Radio episode 677, positivity that pays the future of leadership in direct sales with Carlos Aguilera. Now is the only time to create and live the life you love. I'm doctor Paul Jenkins, the positivity psychologist. My job is to connect you to powerful positive psychology principles that immediately upgrade your relationships, business, and mental health. Are you ready? Let's jump in. Hello, my friends. Welcome back to Live On Purpose Radio. This is doctor Paul, the shrink who expands your life, bringing you another episode of Live On Purpose Radio. And today's conversation is one that I've been looking forward to because it shines a light on something that's been missing in the world of direct sales and and, frankly, in business in general, I think. And I am excited to welcome my friend, Carlos Aguilera, to Live On Purpose Radio. Welcome, Carlos. So good to be with you, doctor Paul. I gotta give you a few props here, Carlos, because people don't know who you are yet. Well, some people do. In fact, a lot of people do. Carlos is coming from the world of direct sales, and he knows this world inside and out. He's worked behind the scenes as a corporate executive with big companies in the direct sales industry, like Marinda, Tahitian Noni, Beachbody, and others. Carlos, you've helped thousands of leaders to grow their businesses. And this is a credential that I am personally very proud of because you showed up in our certified positivity practitioner program, and you are now also a certified positivity practitioner. And I think that's awesome. I had to. As soon as I found out what that was, I was like, my goodness. I need that certification. I need to be able to to understand how to inspire and bring positivity to people's lives. Well, you know, there's a lot of reasons why that's so important. I'd love to start by just having you share some of your experience. I've given a little introduction, and I probably left a bunch of stuff out. But, Carlos, tell us a little bit about where you're coming from, what your professional experience has been, and then I'd love to pick your brain a little bit about what you've learned about these leaders in the direct sales industry. Doctor Paul, I've been super blessed in my life. I've been able to... Through direct sales, through this amazing corporations like Tahitian, Non International, Morinda, and Beachbody to travel the world. I've I've been pretty much everywhere except for Africa, and I wanna fix that. So I know that you... You're gonna help me with that. So I've invited you to come to this. But guys, direct selling is such an... A wonderful, wonderful industry, wonderful industry. It employs or it provides income to millions and millions of people in The US and around the world. And from what I understand, is it close to a $100,000,000,000 industry worldwide. And... Can I clarify something, Carlos? Because I know a lot of people. I've got friends. We've all got family members who are in a company. You know, they share a product. It it might be cosmetics or nutritional products or or fitness products. You are coming from the corporate side. That's right. So you've been affiliated with the companies that actually provide those products for the sales teams to go out and share with the world. And so I just wanted to clarify that the bulk of your experience is not out there as a distributor or a representative. It's it's more in the actual structure of those companies. Is that correct? Did I understand that? Correct. That is correct. And and our... My role was to take on the operational side of things. Our entrepreneurs, people who are building a business with a Tahitian Noni or a Beachbody or other companies that have consulted or worked with. They are the the leaders who... The ones who attract people and they go to give them the training and teach them how to sell, and they build a phenomenal opportunity for themselves and others. Sharing products that are worth it, sharing products that people love and they find valuable. That's why those companies are so successful because they have products that are very valuable. And my role inside those companies was ensuring that the opportunity was viable, making sure that, for example, we were open in countries like Chile or in Colombia or in The US or in Canada. And we were shipping the products that you were selling and also paying the commissions when those commissions were generated. That was my role. I was in charge of overseeing those things. But, as a communicator, as a marketer, also was storytelling and teaching people how to tell their stories and helping people be recognized when they were achieving things and taking them into into, amazing trips to The Caribbean or to other continents. So it was a phenomenal experience for me. And and and it really impacted me because the the the the women and men that I... That had the opportunity to associate with, to work with, were phenomenal leaders. People who are inspiring others. I am... I'm thinking about my own experience, Carlos. And this goes back a few years because I remember Vicky and I were reading a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad Mhmm. By Robert Kiyosaki. And we were just new in our family, in our relationship. And a lot of people, like we were at that time, were looking for ways to supplement their income or learn about personal finance. That's why we're reading the book. But I've I've noticed that there's a lot of these companies that provide opportunities for people to actually learn about business or to learn about sales or how to run a a home based business. And I think a lot of listeners to our show here are in that mindset or they have been there like we were at a time. And I remember Robert Kiyosaki saying at some point it, it may have been in a talk. I heard him give maybe in one of his books where he said direct sales, network marketing. These are ways to learn what you need to know. And it's not necessarily the end all be all because people have other things that are even more important to them in life, but they're trying to find ways to create time, freedom and money, freedom. And so it has a big draw with a lot of folks. So as you're introducing your experience here, Carlos, I'm just thinking through my own history, and I've been involved in a couple of those companies before. Nothing ever really huge, you know, because I think a lot of people who get into it, well, they they don't succeed like some of the leaders do up on the stage. And I'm just curious if you have some perspectives about the leaders because you've worked a lot with the leaders, those really successful people in their companies, and they have teams filled with people like me at the time, you know, who were just trying to maybe find a way to improve their life or their lifestyle. Most people who join a direct selling company or opportunity as a distributor or as a as someone who wants to sell the product, they're not looking for a career change. They're not looking for a new I think that's true. Make a business. What they're looking for is an additional 300 to $500 a month. That's most people. That sounds about right. Yeah. And when... And and companies, it's like a gig. It's a a a gig that they want to do on the side. Whatever work they have or whatever keeps them busy and paying the bills, this is something that will supplement, complement what they're already doing. Something that may offer perhaps a vacation at the end of the year, paid for by a company that you love their products. That's what most people are engaged in. They're excelling. That's what they're looking for. But there are very few, a group of elite performers who are all in, and they wanna run with it. And I was working with them. And guess what? Main focus of those leaders who are the the top performers was ensuring that the majority of their team were fulfilling their dream. And their dream was to make 500 to $1,000 a month. And that's it. So when you realize where you fit right in an organization and you understand how to help others achieve their their goals is when the magic happens. And that's why it's so exciting for me to be able to talk to these guys who are coming from different backgrounds, different countries, different cultures, telling me how is it that they were organizing their teams so they can be making those $300 or $500 that they want an extra a month. And because they were doing that, then they were earning these trips or they were traveling or they were changing the the lifestyles. And and that was very exciting for me. One thing I love about this industry, Carlos, and it's interesting because a lot of people have a a love or hate relationship with direct sales, network marketing. We all know somebody who's involved in it. We've... A lot of us have been involved in it ourselves. And the thing that I love, though, about it is that it creates opportunities for normal people to improve their lives, and the leaders have to become true leaders. Mhmm. They... It's not just someone who's good at sales. They have to be really good at helping people, like you said, to achieve their dreams. Help... Who was it that said the best way to get what you want is to help other people get what they want? That was Jim Rohn. Was that Jim Rohn? I know he was someone who's very, oft quoted in that area. And I really believe that. This fits right in with some of the positive psychology models that I've developed. Happiness, for example. You're familiar with that because you're a certified positivity practitioner now. And understanding that we all have something to offer to other people. And in offering that to them, we actually get what we want. It's just, it's exactly what Jim Rohn said. And doctor Paul, and that... And that's one of the keys because there are many industries that have a very bad rep. For example, it's it's it's very common to hear jokes about attorneys, and nobody likes attorneys. But it's very it's very common to hear about a a a... Is a used car salespeople. Right? Right. We hear them about psychologists too. Psychologists also. So is it is the marketers? Or marketers. But as I've been in the industry for so long, I've noticed really what happens, and I'm pretty sure you can explain it better than I can, but it's expectations. When a leader is selling the correct expectation and they have a plan to lead people towards that goal, then it's not a negative experience. And it... Yes. That that is ringing with me because I think the trust is lost when there's a lot of fluff and flash, the hype, the rah rah, and no substance behind it. Is that what you found as well? That's exactly what I found. So it's very interesting because the leaders who are most successful, they're actually not necessarily the ones who are more outgoing, but the ones who are more focused on processes. This is what I do when someone comes in. This is what I teach them to do. These are the checklist that they're going to follow and this how they find the success. So so it's not necessarily someone is super exciting. Come on, let's go do this. But if someone says, Hey, I know the path. I know how to get there. I can show you how to do it. And what's... And what that creates, doctor Paul, is trust because, oh, this person has a path. Then it really depends on me, how I follow it. Instead of someone saying, hey. Let's go do this together. In fact... The mindset the mindset is very important. I would say it's essential. Definitely. What what I'm hearing from you is it's not enough to just focus on mindset or motivation. There has to be some kind of a path, some kind of a practical, applicable way to get there. And I... And I'm curious to ask you this, Carlos, because in your experience with different companies in different, industries. That mindset piece, how core is it? How core is it to the teams, to the leaders? Just share with us what you've noticed there. So let let me tell you a couple of stories. K? And and once again, I was always working with the top performers, so it is easy to get skewed and thinking that everybody's that way. No. You're talking. I was talking and and and dealing mainly with the top performance in each of these companies. Like, so top 10% or less. Yeah. Less than that. Maybe a 1%. And and and and what that meant is that, it was very easy to feel like you're being successful because you're talking to very successful and charismatic people, people who knew how to lead and move others. But there was a reoccurring, reoccurring conversation that we will have after the party was over, sitting at the beach somewhere. And and after the the new product was launched, we sit down at the beach and just look at the sunset and have a conversation about how is the business going? And the and the question would go down to this. Carlos, I love this place is so amazing. I'm so glad that I earned it. I'm here, and I'm here with some of my team members. But let me tell you this. Some of these guys just now told me that they're gonna quit even though these are some of their top leaders. Some of the top leaders, and their leaders are thinking they're gonna they're gonna quit. They don't feel that they're going anywhere. And it's interesting because these are the same people who, one, are making money, are traveling, and are enjoying all of this connections with the top leadership of the company, and they, in their mind, were ready to quit. So my question then went to the next point. And that's why when I was, being part of the certification, I was like, oh, this is what we're missing. And it's this because these guys have a plan of where to take them. And if people follow the plan, they will find success. They they they have a leader who's... That's constantly there, encouraging them. The company, we as a company invest hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, in creating phenomenal opportunities for them to be motivated. Hey, a trip to to The Caribbean, a trip to Thailand. What else can be done? And I kept on thinking the same thing that my friend who's there or a top performer in the company is saying, why aren't... Why is my team quitting? What... What's going on in their mind? And that was the key, their mind. And what I noticed is this. You you tell me about it. It's it's it's really that there is a quite a disconnect from saying, I have a plan, and then saying, I'm gonna act on that plan. The action was missing. As you're sharing this, oh, it's got my brain buzzing, Carlos, because you're speaking my language now. In fact, a lot of my colleagues in the speaking industry love to get an invitation to go to one of these big companies. They're events. Right? Because there's a lot of energy. There's a lot of people there. And they pay top dollar for names like John Maxwell or John Gordon, who is someone that I personally know and and speak on similar topics. Or, Mel Robbins, just came a couple of weeks ago to a big conference here in Salt Lake City. These are big names, and they're paying top dollar to bring them in. Why? Because they know how important it is to get that mindset. But the problem that I've seen... And I've spoken in some of those events, Carlos, but I've... The problem that I've seen is that they can get all fired up, and then what? That... Because they go home to the same place where they they left to go to the event, and they don't have a process or habits in place to maintain that positive energy that they felt at the event. The events are great, and I think they're probably essential for these companies to be successful. And Any company, any any Salesforce needs events and training and inspirational thoughts on ideas that will give them... Get them excited. Yeah. The issue that I'm... That I found and what... And I was thinking to myself, this is exactly what the industry needs is learning how to use the equipment. Yes. It's not necessarily, hey. I'm gonna fill you up with gas and go and burn it off for the next two and a half weeks. And then when it runs out, what do I do? However, if you teach somebody how to generate their own positivity, how to create an atmosphere where my relationships with those who are key in my life, whether it be my kids or my my my wife or those who I find dear to me around me is not working out because I'm so focused on building a business that nobody understands, by the way, because I'm just doing it in my basement. Right. Right? Then then it's easy for me to call up my upline and say, I'm ready to quit. I'm ready to quit because my kids hate me. You know, my my husband and I are not doing well. I don't feel this is gonna go anywhere. One of my my top recruiters told me that she's done, and that is one of the things that is missing. Not necessarily the business plan or how to get to those 500, 1,000, or $10,000, whatever you're looking for, because that's given, that is there and and the top leaders know how to do it because they did it themselves. But it's learning how to use your mind to solve the everyday problems that suck away the energy if you don't have it in the right in that right, priority. What do you think of it? This is this is exactly why I invited you to the mic today because your real world experience in this particular industry... And I don't think it's limited to direct sales or network marketing or any particular industry. I've seen this across so many different examples of this. I have a client, for example, one of my client, private clients, and I don't have many now. I only have a handful that I see privately. This is a CEO of a big company, and he estimates that he's spending about 80% of his time trying to take care of the mindset of his people. And that's not... I mean, he's like a rocket scientist. You know? I'm I'm just picking something so that you'll know. That's not what his training is. But as a leader... And and and I'm thinking about you as you're listening to this podcast, dear listener. You're a leader if you are a parent, or maybe you can relate with what Carlos is saying here that you've got a team that you're leading, maybe in a business or in a community or a church or a synagogue? What... Where is your leadership role? And you can tell I get really passionate about this, Carlos. When you showed up for the positivity practitioner certification, I saw the lights go on in your mind because you know this is a missing piece out there, I think, across all domains of leadership. Definitely, doctor. And and and and one of the keys is that the the first thing that most people will be... Will think is, oh, then I need to become a coach. I need to train people how to do it, and that's phenomenal. We need coaches. We need people who are willing to step into that role of saying, hey. Do you wanna level up? Do you want to increase your potential? You wanna be a better parent? You wanna be a better PTO, you know, PTA, director. Do you want to... Whatever organization you're in, if you want to increase your performance, that's exactly what you wanna do. It was like become a coach so you can learn how to use these tools. But what attracted me to what you're teaching, doctor Paul, is that you've put together in a very simple way models. Models that help you understand how your mind works. And, guys, that's exactly what we need. We don't need to become, the coaches or the psychologists for other people. No. What we need to do is be able to teach others these models so they themselves can know how to regulate their emotions, how to have better relationships with people who are key in their lives so they can then help them achieve better goals or better relationships. And that's where, really, everything comes together. When you mentioned the models, this is one of my crazy human skills that I've just been blessed with. I... My brain has the ability to take complex psychological principles and condense them into very concrete visual applicable models. And there's several of those that you've become familiar with through your certification, Carlos. But I love the way that this has come together to... And you're showing some of them for those who are, following the video version of this podcast. These models are powerful manuals for the operation of the equipment of your own mind. And that... I think as we put those into the hands of leaders in a shareable way, it makes all the difference. In fact, you and I have had a couple of conversations about that. And I'm I'm just wondering, there are people listening who are going to be thinking, this sounds like exactly what we need. I think the future of leadership in direct sales and other industries depends on leaders having access to these kinds of tools because the humans on our team... I mean, forget about AI for a minute. I'm not sure how to do AI psychology. But the humans on our teams are going to need this more and more as we move into the future. Does that sound right to you as well, Carlos? Completely. I believe that AI will not displace human connection. It cannot. Right. It where we're connected with each other and the way we interact with each other. It's always going to be a key in any organization, any organization, especially in direct sellers, direct selling. But the key to it is to understand how how your equipment works. And it's very interesting because it goes back to the idea of saying, hey, let me tell them what they can do. No, this is first start with yourself, Understand how you can operate your own mind and then using the models, you can teach others how to have better relationships. And once again, any sales team, it comes down to relationships. Any influence that you have over people that you're selling to will come down. I mean, true enduring relationships. And by the way, direct sales, the the main thing that is selling is, it's, passive income or reoccurring income that will not work if you don't have a healthy relationship with your customers or with your team. And how do you have a healthy relationships? Doctor Paul is an expert in that. That's what he's been doing, whether he's been teaching. Well, I do sales trainings and, team trainings all the time. I mean, it's part of what I do as a professional speaker, as a psychologist. What I love about the direction this conversation is going is that we're making these models more accessible, shareable, and rewardable. As I learn more from you about direct sales and some of those models and how they work, we're scheming some things, folks, and it's too early to reveal everything about what we're putting together. But Carlos, you have come up with, an approach that will help us to get these positivity models into the hands of more people. We're calling it positives. You know, I'm thinking about how there are so many negatives out there. Where are you going to get your positives? And that's the question that, Carlos, I see you working on. Mhmm. Do you wanna tell people a little bit about just kind of what you're envisioning? I know, you're still putting some things together, but give us a little sneak peek. You know, many years ago, I read a phenomenal book by James Clear. It's called Atomic Habits. Yes. And there he teaches you how to create habits or how to break bad habits. But one of the things that he says is like, you never rise up to the level of your expectations. You always fall to the level of your habits or your systems. Your programing. Your programing. Yeah. Positives is a wonderful app that will be adding positivity to you daily. It will be adding not just positivity, but also hacks on how to bring positivity about even when faced with very serious or problematic issues that are happening in front of you, which, by the way, we all face them every day. So... Welcome to the planet. That's right. So so that's what we're working on and on on a way that can be applied to an an imam, an executive, a leader. Can I share something, Carlos? I think I've shared it here sometime before on on this podcast. But this is a very personal experience that I had when I hit a low point in my personal and professional development. I actually experienced a bankruptcy. I was at the bottom and I had a conversation with one of those leaders that you have worked with, and this particular leader was Mary Louise Zeller. She's in her eighties now. She's a six degree black belt in taekwondo and, an amazing leader in the direct sales space. I had had some conversations with Mary Louise and she was on this podcast, Mike. This is years ago, decades ago now. And as as I was interviewing Mary Louise, she leaned forward and she knew a little bit about my situation. K. She leaned forward and she said this, Paul, the troops are not coming. And she let that land, and then she said, we are the troops. Boom. Wow. What an inspiring powerful leader. She realized, we're not gonna sit around and wait for a company or a government or any other entity to bring this to us. We are the troops. And it it inspired me so much that it was a transformational point in my life. And I know today as as you and I, Carlos, are talking to other leaders who realize the troops are not coming. We are the troops. That changes everything. Mhmm. And and I see what you're doing, Carlos, is bringing the tools that those troops need, the the leaders who are willing to step up and take personal responsibility, not waiting for their company or a product to transform their people, but giving them the tools that they actually need. And then whatever product or, service that you're you're out there selling, it's gonna make all the difference in the bottom line. You've... What do you wanna say to that, Carlos? Yeah. It's, like, being an owner of your own life, and and that is key. Like, understanding that this is your life, and it's wonderful. It can be as wonderful as you want it, or it could be as terrible. It depends on you. A 100%. The cool thing about doctor Paul is that he's got models, psychological proven models that can help you. So your mind, instead of being weighed down because of all the issues you're having or all the negativities around you, you can use your mind to unlock that potential so you can act on those plans that probably your leader or your your boss has for you. But the reason why you're not acting on it or not doing those things is because you're literally your mind is is closed down. Now, if you are the one who is putting together that plan and you are seeing people not doing it, then you have to help those individuals understand how to unlock their potential and know how to use that equipment so they can then take action. Either way Uh-huh. The models are the key to teaching how to do that. And let me tell you, I've been around the industry for over seventeen years, and I've never seen anything like this. We... We've only been inviting people who teach wonderful concepts, like John Maxwell, like, wonderful speakers who who come in and and get people excited and ready to go and then they buy their books. And then what happens? Couple months later, the the leader still calls us, hey, what do we do now? Is this still not working well? When you understand what happens in your mind and and how to unlock this, how to use this to have influence on others positive, right, or how... Help them see positivity in what's what's... What is to come, then is when action happens. That's why I love these models, and I think that people need them more than ever, especially leaders. Now you're being an advocate for the models that I've built in my practice. That's right. But you're doing more than that. Carlos, you invited me to be part of a launch of this Positives app that is coming about. There will be at the time of this recording word, right here at the end of October in 2025. And at the time of this recording, we are anticipating in just a few weeks doing a pre launch by invitation only to leaders. Those who are resonating with this message and want to be a part of it. Carlos, I put together a special link right here on the podcast for people to get on the list, to be invited to that prelaunch. If you are a leader, if you are feeling the burden of helping other people to manage their mindsets, to learn how to use the equipment of their mind, What happens if your whole team is able to do that? So here's the link. It's easy to remember. Liveonpurposeradio.com, that's the name of the podcast, slash get positives, And that's plural, positives with an s. Get positives, all one word. Go there. There's a little form that you'll fill out, and then you'll be on the priority invitation list for when this prelaunch happens. Carlos, do you wanna say anything else about that prelaunch event? I'd love to have a conversation with you. If you're looking for something to add on to your teams or your to your family, this is the place where you'll find it. You'll find positives here. And in the conversation is ongoing, we just started. This is something that hasn't been launched yet. I would love to have a conversation and say, Hey, what can we add to your wonderful programs you probably already have? What can we... How can we add something that will improve the psychology of your team, improve the way they see the world, and they see their own goals? I tell you, from what I've seen already, Carlos, this can be transformational to individuals, to families, to teams. I'm excited to see the new leadership that is coming into this space, and, it's just exciting. Carlos, thank you so much for joining us here today at Live On Purpose Radio. What a fun conversation. What a pleasure. Thanks so much. Alright, folks. You've heard it. It's time to apply it. Let's go live on purpose. Did you get what you came for? Give yourself the gift of taking real action on what you realized today. Please share this episode with someone you know would value it, and leave us a rating too. It's time now to live on purpose.