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Mums, Money & Flexibility: How to Start a Flexible Home-Based Side Hustle Around Your Family · Work It Like A Mum

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm Elizabeth Willis, and I'm obsessed with helping as many women as possible achieve their boldest dreams after kids.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: And helping you to navigate this messy and magical season of life.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a working mom with over 17 years of equipment experience, and I'm the founder of the Investing in Women Child Board and Community.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: In this show, I'm honoured to be chatting with remarkable women, redefining a working world across all areas of business.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: They'll share the secrets on how they've achieved extraordinary success of the children, the boundaries of palette, the challenges they face and cover the owner of a success.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Shy away from the real talk.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: We cover a top think of this as coffee with your mate, mixed with an inspiring talk, sprinkled with the career advice you wish you really had.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you're closer and get ready to get inspired and chase your oldest dreams or just survive Mondays.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Work It Like a Mum podcast.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: This episode is brought to you by Investing in Women.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Investing in Women is a job board and recruitment agency helping you find your dream part-time or flexible job with the UK's most family-friendly and forward-thinking employers.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Their site can help you find a professional and rewarding job that works for you.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: They're proud to partner with the UK's most family-friendly employers across a range of professional industries.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Ready to find your perfect job?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Search their website at investinginwomen.co.uk to find your next part-time or flexible job opportunity.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now back to the show.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Today I am chatting with Gemma Greystone.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Gemma um is a talent acquisition manager by day.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: She is also a mum to two small children, and she is going to be talking to us about her side hustle and how she has earned additional money during her maternity leave and how she has made it work for her around her two small children.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I think she'll also be giving some tips to people that want to maybe start up their own side hustle around their families as well.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Gemma, for joining us today.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's a real pleasure to chat with you.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Nice to be here.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So what made you, you know, guess start thinking about a side hustle and wanting to earn a bit more money during maternity leave?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think to be honest, the side hustle part I thought about for a long time.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of people have because you see a lot of people doing side hustles now.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for me it's always been like, what can I, what can I do?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: What's easy?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of things require maybe like a bit of an investment up front, which currently being on maternity leave is not something I'm able to do.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And um with this, I had seen a lot of posts on LinkedIn.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So some from myself, because I followed the um Investing in Women page.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And also Sam, who we both work with now, um, she had posted a lot about you know what she was doing, the earning potential.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm honest, I kept seeing these posts and I just kept thinking, nah nah nah, too good to be true, too good to be true.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's a scam, it's a scam, we get that scam.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna do it.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think I just had a bit of a bad week.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I've been um asked to go back full-time to my job.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was hoping for part-time.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think I was feeling a little bit down and thinking, right, you know, what does my future look like?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Where else can I perhaps look at doing things?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So one day I just thought, right, I'm gonna reach out to Sam and have a chat.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I pinged her, said, Hey, can we just jump on a call, just find out a little bit more about it?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think just speaking to her one-on-one, it was really easy.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: The conversation flowed really nicely with lots of things in common.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And when she broke it down, it was it was just sounding really easy.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then when she said it's£10 to join, yeah, I thought, what is£10?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like the way we just want to.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: What can you get for£10 quid?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought I could I could spare£10.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: That could be my running business and see where it's gone.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it has definitely been worth it.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Even the first time I signed somebody up as a customer, I was like, well, that's my£10 made by however much you know, it was done, and and that was it.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's been a a very good decision.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: So what's this?
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Because you said I was looking at this.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um tell tell us what this is.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I have become a partner with Utility Warehouse.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and actually not somewhere I had heard of before, which again, a lot of people that we speak to have not heard of Utility Warehouse.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and obviously I'd I'd seen it on the post, so I knew what I knew what it was when I was having that conversation, but I really didn't know what it meant.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's brilliant.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a brilliant company, the offerings are great, and I think that's the best thing about it is I'm able to earn money by saving people money.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like a double win.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like a you're doing somebody something really nice, but you're also getting the benefits of it as well.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, what do utility warehouse do?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: If people that haven't, you know, we'll assume that a lot of people listening to this, they may have never heard of utility warehouse like a lot of people haven't.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: But they're essentially like a multi-service provider, so they provide energy, broadband, mobile, and insurance.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah, what we do is we will do essentially like a bill review of them where we can go through, check you know what they're paying now, and when then we can showcase what we offer.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a bit like a cost comparison of what our bills are, and because it's multi-service, we tend to be cheaper because the more services you take, the better price you get for things.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, so it's just it it's you know it's a great option for people to have all their bills in one place and get them cheaper because let's be honest, it's energy and broadband.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Who wants to pay more for such boring services?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they're the same, aren't they?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's and a lot of the time, actually with the broadband, I find we can check the download speed and we're we're higher for less money as well.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: So there's it always seems to benefit you know who you're speaking to, which is great.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: What's the most you've saved someone on their bills?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think the most was I think it was£104 a month, so it worked out to about£1,250 a year.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot, you know.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's the price of a nice holiday for you know.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well that's it.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: My friend, she loves to travel.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: She goes on so many holidays.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I said that, I said that's a that's a nice plane ticket somewhere, that's a nice holiday, you know.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And why pay that?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Why pay that to you know another company when actually that can be in your pocket, especially now when things are tighter, everything's going up?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't want a little bit extra money in their pocket?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So as I say, you're not getting anything different.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Your house is still being heated, but you've just got extra money each month.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that felt like a really nice one, actually, when we saw that toting the numbers up, I was like, wow, that's a lot of money.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is a lot of money.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because I always think you'd have to be get quite a significant pay rise.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because obviously, you what you actually end up in in your pocket post-tax is more, you know, you'd have to get a bigger pay rise than£104 a month or£1,200, whatever it is, a year a year.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: You'd have to be probably nearer the two grand.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: And who's getting those pay rises at the moment?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody, so yeah, it feels like we're we're kind of providing like a nice service as well.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So what made so you you obviously joined as a partner, you gave you£10, you thought, I'm gonna give it a whirl.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: What do you get for your£10?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So for the£10, so become a partner, so um, and then obviously you'll you you'll do your training, and the first um the first six calls you do are supported.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll have like a mentor or team leader that will support you on the calls, so you can get really up to speed with the training.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: But then essentially after that, you are a kind of fully fledged UW partner, so you can go out and showcase the services um to everybody else.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: But the benefits that come with being a partner are really great as well.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so not only do we get paid on um if people become customers with us, but we get points as well.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the points can tot up to things like free energy.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll get um months where we get our energy bill paid for us.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's lots of incentives.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, being a partner is is definitely the way forward.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: I would I would say to anybody who's a customer, be a partner as well.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because for that£10, you know, you could be saving so much more on your bills just by showcasing it to other people.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously we've got the referral, but actually, if they were a partner and they they got customers, then they're gonna benefit more financially and also you know get all the perks of being a partner as well.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's really great.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was you see, I was a customer for about three years before I became a partner.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've been a customer for ages, and I was always glimmer referring people, and now when you look back, you think, Oh, yeah, all that money you could have made.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: All that money I could have made, and you just do it though, don't you?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: You just like if you go to a nice restaurant, anything you just recommend it, don't you?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think um obviously you get the£50, don't you?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: For if you're a customer.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you're a customer and a firm.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you get£50 off the bill, they get£50.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it's still worth doing if you weren't looking to become a partner, but when you're a partner and you can earn up to£250 to sign a customer, that's a big difference, you know, if you're doing essentially a bit of the same thing.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: So what so tell me, what can you earn then as a partner?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, up to normally it's around sort of up to£250 um per customer.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's if they it depends on how many services they take.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there is the potential to earn more.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've got more than one customer in a month, then that can go up to 300 pounds if it's sort of between three to four services.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this is for a call that's probably 45 minutes long.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can do it whenever you want.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's fully flexible.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously you're self-employed with this, so it's your essentially it's your sort of little business.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: So um it can be done in your lunch break if you're working in the evenings or on weekends, I guess whatever suits for you and the customer.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um so again, that you know, that makes it really, really easy.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: You're not sort of tied into hours and things like that.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, the potential earnings really, really great.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I've had um some customers that have taken like one service, I think somebody took energy, which was£50, but still that's£50.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then just energy over.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but so yeah, so really, really good earning potential as well with the goals.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um talk us through some of the incentives as well, because you mentioned about some of the incentives.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so as I said, we've got the the free energy, uh, which is that's getting four points a month.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think if you get that for a three-month streak, then you get free energy, um, and you can continue doing that throughout the year.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: So again, that's like a could be a massive chunk of your annual energy bill.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we also have holiday incentives as well, so there's different levels, so you can um select what holiday you're working towards.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are, I guess, some of the sort of more smaller ones, so the mini achievers retreats, as they call them, which is like a weekend in centre parks, but we all know how much centre parks cost.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's a small holiday, that's an absolute fortune sometimes, um, all the way up to all inclusive trips into Europe.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I think this one is Cyprus, isn't it?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they're all inclusive, they're all paid for.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's different options as well.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got family trips, so I think that's up to a family of four, but there's also trips for couples as well.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, you can kind of pick and choose.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to take the kids, don't you?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Family.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we've got the Christmas incentives as well, which we're all working really hard towards.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, what's the Christmas incentives?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: So there's different levels.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so level one, which is available to anybody, is to um if you get enough points, you will get a Christmas turkey.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Which is the most random thing I heard when I first started.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Someone kept talking about the Christmas turkey, and I thought it was a joke.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I didn't really question it because I thought, oh, it must be like an inside joke.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I found out that is actually something that we work towards, I was like, I want that turkey.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's meant to be.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: I've not been in the apartment very long, but I do think it's meant to be like an organic, you know, from a nice farm, like big one, yeah.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Not like a little what we normally do, not little.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like nice farm shop up north or something.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, and I mean again, that's Christmas dinner paid for.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Just for doing what we're doing anyway, that's Christmas dinner paid for us and extended family.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: So um, I have achieved the turkey, so I'm buzzing about that because I really wanted it.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then there's a couple of other levels as well.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: So level two is um£250 worth of shopping vouchers or a Fortnum and Mason hamper, so you get to pick.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: So again, like a load of shopping vouchers before Christmas, great.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you wanted to use that as your, you know, buying Christmas presents, isn't it?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Or you get the big hamper and you treat yourself to it or gift it, whatever you want to do.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then level three is again there's two options, isn't there?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I think for couples, it's it's like a boat, it's it's like a boat party.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Boat party.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: An overnight stay in London, um, everything paid for, food, drinks, you just gotta wear your fancy outfit and go and have a nice time, don't need to bring anything.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then for families, it's a day out at Warwick Castle um and uh overnight stay as well.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So like such great things to work towards because you're doing the work anyway, the point's gonna cut doing it.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um so just to just to have that little extra thing to work towards, as well as the financial game, I think is really cool.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Just makes it more fun.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a really fun way to earn money.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think and what I would say is like I say I'm not I'm not a salesperson, you know, I do talent position, I'm not in sales, that's not sort of where I feel like is my strengths, and I'm generally not a competitive person, but when I see these, it's like I want them, like I want to get the point.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're not competing against somebody else, though, are you?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: You're just you're just like you can see what you need to get to get your incentives, so you're just competing against yourself, yeah.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And as it gets closer, as your points start to build, and you think, oh, this is in reach now, like I can get new things, and why not?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, everybody looks freebie or gifts.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: How do you gather?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's a lot of questions people ask me.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: How do you gather your customers?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: So you have obviously started the business, you've flown, you've done really well.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: How did you get your first few customers?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: So my first customers were sort of friends and family, really.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I reached out, um, you know, the first I say, the first six calls we do are supported.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: So they're essentially like training calls because when we start, you know, we don't know what we're saying, we don't know what the presentation looked like and how we go through it.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we're supported.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of that is kind of listening and learning.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: So in the first instance, yeah, it was very much asking friends and family, can you help me?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Can you jump on and do a training call for me?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, again, a time that suits you, probably looking at sort of 45 minutes.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, best case scenario, we might save you some money on your bills.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: If not, not to worry, you've done me a massive favor by helping me with my training.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was incredibly lucky because I think the first six people that I did it with, we were saving them all a lot of money and they all signed up as customers because why wouldn't you?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Even some people like I know my in-laws were a bit skeptical when I asked them to do it, and I think they had sort of said to themselves, like, we're not going to sign up, we're just doing the training call.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we sat down and I said, Oh, that's£75 less a month, they were like, Yep, where's my card?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then yeah, and then after that, really, it's been just kind of word of mouth.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: So with with friends and family that have signed up, and obviously they've seen how it works, they've got the app now, they see how that works, they've had the energy swapped over and the broadband swapped over, they've seen how easy it is.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's a lot of a case of sort of saying, you know, if there's anybody that you speak to, let them know what I'm doing.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I'll help with them.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we had a neighbor recently that was moving in.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: So again, I knew that they wouldn't have anything set up.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I, you know, sort of said, Hey, this is what I do.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you utility bars, if you want me to just, you know, come over, check your check what energy and broadband is going to be.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: And we did that.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I think there's lots of easy ways to to actually find customers.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can drop it into conversation in a really authentic way, especially where people are trying to save money, or you know, we hear about it like, oh, energy prices are going up again.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, my bill's this, my bill's that.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, to say, Oh, do you want me to just have a look and see if we can offer you it cheaper?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, that's how I've sort of been working on my customers at the moment.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And what do you think about the team as well?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: What's that been like?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the oh my gosh, the team have been incredible.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like it feels like you can do no wrong.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you have a call and you don't sign someone up, even when you say, Oh, I had this call, you know, it was a lovely call, but it wasn't quite right for them.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's like, Well done, that's great, you know, well done on giving it a try.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you do sign someone up or you get a promotion um or bonuses or anything like that, everyone's just like they're like the biggest cheerleaders.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: And bear in mind, I've not met a lot of these people.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I've met some of them.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: We went to an event a few weeks ago, that was really nice to meet people in person, but there's so many people I've never met, and I'm always cheering you on, and you don't actually get that a lot, even in companies that you work for.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think you do.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's always like an undercurrent of competitiveness in other companies because it feels like there can only ever be one person that can get to the top.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas this, I feel like everybody is everybody can rise, basically.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, even when you're, you know, we can sign up other partners as well, um, and we want them to do well.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're you're sitting there and you're saying, like, oh, how are you doing with your customers?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or have you got the turkey?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, who's got the turkey?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Who's got the vouchers?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think everybody, like you say, everybody wants everybody to do well.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like we're all winning together.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's such a nice team.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like we've got such a great team.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do, yeah.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I think as they're like, I always think the more people customers sign up, whether through me or not, then it's better because it's just my better brand awareness, isn't it?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it's the more people are hearing about utility warehouse generally, the more they're gonna trust it when we say to them, Oh, do you want to do a bill review if they've got a friend that's a customer or whatever?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I think obviously we have the the video as part of our presentation where we've got Ben Fogel, who's a brand ambassador.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think him doing the video really helps as well.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, like say, if you're sitting down with someone, they've never heard of the company and you're just saying, they're great.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes they need a little bit more in terms of find out.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And some people I've you know I've spoken to about it, have gone away and looked at it and they're like, Oh, yeah, it's like a legitimate company.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, it's flexible.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's for 250 business.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: What about people that have get a bit icky because it's like network marketing?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you have that.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's always had I have had people say, like, oh a pyramid scheme, like pyramid scheme.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think, and I've I've seen that before, like I've even thought about it before, like seen other people in maybe in like sort of the beauty industry and stuff before, I've seen people do stuff and I thought, oh, maybe I should try that.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: But again, it always feels like there's like a massive upfront cost to start it, and there's always like a certain I think with them there is it is more like that because you've got certain people at the top, and then everyone else kind of bubbles at the bottom.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Where for for me, this is my first experience with network marketing, and I don't know about I can't obviously speak for any other company, but I would say with utility warehouse, it feels like a complete level playing field.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't feel like anybody could necessarily do better than me or worse than me, you know, depending on their level.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the input that you get.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: If I work hard, if I find the customers, if I find partners, I'm gonna earn the money, I'm gonna get the points.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: The same as anybody else in the business.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it feels really, really fair.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: It does feel fair, yeah.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't have a negative view of it at all.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I went for lunch, kind of just out his lunch with the top um partner in the business on Friday, and he I said, Oh, do you get the free energy every month?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: And he goes, only if I do the points.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yeah.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like an insane amount of money.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's still got to get the points.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: He's still got to get the point.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't get the free energy automatically.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: You've still got to put put the put the effort in.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought that is fair.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a it's had it's had a bad name, and and maybe fairly so for other companies that say can't speak on them.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I think here, again, even like when we go to Amplify, so that's one of the events we went to recently.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: The people that get on stage, it is anybody and everybody.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not, you know, you're not sat there and it's like a panel of incredible professionals that have been doing this for years.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is your Tom Dick and Harry from different parts of the country that have just thought, I was just gonna give this a go, and now I'm earning a hundred grand a year, now I'm earning this, now I've done this, I've got a house.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it it just feels like, okay, you can do it, I can do it, anybody can do it.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I say this to people when I talk to them, like, if I can do this, anybody can do this, just and there is people from all walks of life that do it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that is the beauty of the business.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: I've never, you know, when we're going to amplify, yeah.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, when you go to all the company comp corporate things and they always say, Oh, we're really diverse, we really value inclusivity, and everyone looks the same.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas this, I'm like, there's literally people from every age group, like from students up to people in their 80s, you know, people, you know, from able different ethnic backgrounds, you've got disabled people, it's literally every it feels like every type of person is represented there.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've got people see people that have have retired but still want to, you know, their toe in doing something now and then you've got people doing this around full-time jobs, part-time jobs, not working, whether that's for health reasons, maternity, redundancy.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's I think that's the beauty of it, is because it is fairly flexible and you do it on your terms.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I said this to Sam when I first had the call with her.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, what's what's the requirement of me?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what do what's the expectation?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's where I need to know.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because I was like, I'm on maternity, I have my daughter.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think at the time she was like nine months, yeah, nine months old.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I was like, you know, I I don't have loads of time because I'm with her.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And Sam was just like, whatever you can put in, you put in, and then you'll get out from that.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: There's no targets as such, you know, it's not like uh this is your target, this is what you've got hit every month.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's up to you.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you want your business to do well, you'll do it.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's why it works for everybody, because you can you can do it around your life, it it completely fits around what works for you.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: How have you made it fit around your two kids where have you slotted it in?
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Wherever I can.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, wherever if I can get child care help.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: So some calls I've had like you know, grandparents pop over and watch them for an hour.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I tend to do a little bit more in the evening, so um, you know, get them down to bed and then I can kind of come downstairs and do some calls in the evenings.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: That seems to work better for me.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, so I just I just try and slot it in wherever I can really.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: And again, and I think sometimes that's the beauty of it though, when you're speaking to people, especially people that are interested in being partners, is that you know, I have two young children and I'm making it work around them, you know, because I think sometimes it's easier for people to say, I'm just too busy, I'm just too busy too.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: But actually, when you realise, like there's always going to be slots in your week, I think that you could fill.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it might be that you say, All right, I'm not gonna watch Netflix for an hour that night because I'm gonna jump on a call or I'm gonna do some reach outs or whatever that is.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's all I think there is always a way of kind of finding the time if you want to, you know, if it's something that you're you're looking to do and you want to earn a bit extra money, but why would you not?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you not?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I just think especially the cost of living, everything's so expensive.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: And this is definitely for us relieved that pressure.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and with Christmas coming up as well.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, my a lot of my earnings are gonna go on my daughter's first birthday party to be missing.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be swallowed up before Christmas.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: But that I am already thinking that I'm like, that's Madeline's party paid for.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's Christmas.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: I did that, I paid for my daughter's birthday present and I got her a night like much, she's much better than she would ever got.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: I've got her an amazing climbing frame and it's like£850.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: And pre doing this, there is no way I would spend that on a climb, and but they've loved it, and then I got her a nice party, and I thought, you know what?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: That was worth every penny.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: It is, and when you think that that's just money that you wouldn't have had, yeah.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm the same.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: I found this insane cake for her for our party.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: I messaged the lady, I was like, I need this cake, can you do it?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: She was like, Yes, I didn't even ask the price, and then she came back and said it's£180, and I was like, for a cake, but I was like, but I I that's less than one customer if you do a three-service one.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: She's gonna have this cake, and that's the beauty of it.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think is you could take this as I want some new wardrobe, so I'm just gonna work hard at somebody to do that, or you know, it it can be as little as much as you want, right?
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can the frivolous things, or hopefully, what I would like to do is kind of make it more of a long-term income as well, whether that's on the side of a job or you know, I don't know at the moment.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of keeping options open to see what happens, but I think again, that's the beauty of it, isn't it?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, do you want just a little bit extra a month?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that, or do you want a lot extra a month?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, what do you earn?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: What did you earn in your first month, if you don't mind?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: My first month was um, well, I didn't actually start until the end of August.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I did two customers in August.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: So my first my first commission came in at£350, which for about an hour and a half's work.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna complain about that.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um but then in September is where I had my my bigger month.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I think in September it was about 1800.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's really good, isn't it?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: In a bit this month.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I think, yeah, I think all in all, probably sort of coming up to about two and a half.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's me doing seven weeks, isn't it?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Seven weeks.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say that's probably about ten hours work in total for like the calls I've done.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then you know, just sort of sort of.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Where'd you earn that really an hour?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, exactly.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Unless you're a lawyer, maybe.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna take that money anywhere else.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's just yeah.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think it and it is a good, you know, the team, like we've said, it's brilliant team as well.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if some of mine's been made of bonuses as well.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: So again, I think there's always that there's that push, isn't there, of kind of getting to the next level, like, oh, you've signed a certain amount of customers up.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, there's a financial bonus for you.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really nice as well, because some of that's not even through you know, doing anything, and you're like, oh, that's a bonus, or a box of chocolate sent to the house.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I love those little touches as well.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was very easily pleased.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: The turkey did it.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Those things, I don't know, they just they really make me smile.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: I like getting like a little parcel through the door, and I'm like, I know I did when you first got it.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, What's this?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: No one ever sends me a parcel.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I opened it, it was like my favourite chocolates.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, this is good.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: And they get bigger, you know.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, usually get the bigger promotions, the chocolate you get hotel chocolate chocolate boxes, but they it starts off quite small, the first box, doesn't it?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then as you go, um, as you get promoted, each promotion you get, you know, welded back, you bet you get a cash bonus, but you also get a box of chocolates, which gets bigger every time.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you're gonna get a good because you've literally just had your promotion, haven't you, this week?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: You'll get another one.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I was just one one customer away from that, and then yeah, kind of waking up and I was like, ah, it's there.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's such a nice feeling.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I feel like I've not got too much hopefully to do to get the next one either.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it it also feels like there's always that extra thing to work towards, so I say not just the not just the kind of financial part and not just the incentives, but actually there's these promotion levels where again, and it is that competition with myself, is like I wanna I want to get to that just to feel like I think I signed up to this really having no expectations and thinking, let's see how it goes, and to be in and already had three promotions in seven weeks of it just makes me more driven to to do that.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, do you think of like your job?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how hard is it to get a promotion?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, I'm so pleased you join the team.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: I've loved working with you.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: So if someone's interested in learning a bit more, um we'll put your sign-up link in the show notes.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, if you've got any questions, maybe or anything like that, where can they contact you?
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um so uh oh good question.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: So um would it be through the utility warehouse website if we put your link?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so on the website, um obviously I've got my personal link.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: So this is I've not put this out before, so I'm guessing it would just come through the link.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: But if anybody, I think obviously from like a LinkedIn perspective, if anybody wanted to connect with me and just even have like a you know, uh a quick chat about it, like I'm always happy to do that as well.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think sometimes it's it's just speaking to somebody one-on-one because you can hear all of this stuff, and again, you could still sit someone could still sit there and think, yeah, yeah, yeah, just have a chat.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'll be the first person to say, just do it.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing to lose, you know.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: You get you£10 back as well, don't you?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you you decide it's not for you, and I love that as well, it's completely risk-free, you get it back.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but as I say, what is£10 right now?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably a very fancy pumpkin spice latte.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's really even get you a meal, does it, Al, anyway?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: No, it doesn't, and you will definitely, you know, you'll definitely earn money.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I would always be up for kind of having a chat with people because I think I feel passionately about it now.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think like it's changed my life, even just in seven weeks.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: The things I'm able to do, it's taken the pressure off.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I'm on maternity, but I wasn't getting paid.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't qualify for statutory, so it's been a tough year, and I just wish I had found this earlier on.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you found it now, and I'm so pleased you did.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the thing.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think if anybody is, you know, thinking, Oh, I'll wait, I'll wait, I'll wait, don't wait, just go for it.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, now is the time.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much to to to earn and to work for.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like and the offers, we didn't talk about the offers, but the offers are insane at the moment, aren't they, for customers?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: They are so it becomes a bit of a no-brainer for your customers to get the customers.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's they've made it so much easier to do.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, brilliant.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much, Jen.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: We'll put all your links in the show notes.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then if anyone's interested in learning more, I can obviously give you a shout.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Please do.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and hope to see some people on the team.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: Lovely.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for that.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: And don't forget to share the link with a friend.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection request at Elizabeth Willet and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: You can also follow my recruitment site, Investing in Women, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dreams.