February 18, 2025 • 13 mins
In this episode of The Direct Sellers Podcast, Rachel breaks down a critical truth: You are not your company. Too many direct sellers build their entire identity around their products, but what happens if the company shuts down or they decide to move on? That’s why personal branding is essential.
Rachel shares:
- What personal branding really means (hint: it’s not just your logo and colors).
- Why building a brand beyond your company gives you more security, credibility, and options.
- Real-life examples of direct sellers who have successfully built personal brands.
- How to start branding yourself today—without overcomplicating it.
- Why personal stories build trust and connection (and how to use yours effectively).
She also reminds us: Your company is just a chapter in your story—it’s not the whole book.
If you’re ready to create a brand that makes you the go-to expert (instead of just another product seller), this episode is for you.
Resources & Next Steps
🔥 Join Your Backup Plan: Learn how to add another revenue stream and build a brand beyond your company. www.rachelaperry.com/backup
📲 Connect with Rachel on Instagram [@rachelaperry] for daily branding tips and direct sales strategies!
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! 🚀✨
Hang out with me more!
Send me the message PODCAST over on Instagram at @rachelaperry and I’ll send you my "Parties-Optional Profit Plan!"
For Additional Resources for Direct Sellers:
www.rachelaperry.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Direct Sellers Podcast, the podcast
for direct sellers who are readyto get uncomfortable, build
their business and grow a teamwhile changing the face of the
direct sales industry.
I'm your host, rachel Perry.
Join me as we get real and talkabout all the things you need
to kick some serious directsales booty From overcoming
(00:26):
limiting beliefs to sharing theexact strategies you need to
attract the right people whobecome customers and beg to join
your team.
I've got you covered, girl.
I'm going to be your new BFFwhen it comes to balancing life
and kids while building yourdirect sales business with poise
, peace of mind and, of course,a good set of fake eyelashes.
Let's get started.
(00:52):
Hello, my friends, welcome backto another episode of the Direct
Sellers Podcast.
I'm your host, rachel Perry,and today we're going to dive
into the phrase, if you will,you're not your company.
I've had some people reach outand they're like what do you
mean by that?
So today we're just going todive in on like what personal
branding really means for you asa direct seller.
(01:15):
So one of the common mistakes Isee a lot with direct sellers
is that you build your entireidentity around your company and
I get it.
I get it, because you wouldn'tnecessarily be here, you
wouldn't be selling your productright If it wasn't for the
company and so we sort ofidentify ourselves as the
(01:38):
product lady, insert productright.
But the problem with that isthat we're not representing
ourselves, we're representingthe company.
Okay, and there are some risksthat come with that, because if
the company were to shut down,what do you have?
(02:01):
If you've built yourself up asthe product lady and as the
person who sells whatever andall those things, what's going
to happen if your company closesor if you decide to leave your
company or if you join adifferent company?
It becomes hard and it becomesa little bit bumpy, right?
(02:25):
So I want to help you buildyour own brand.
So let's talk about whatpersonal branding actually is
and what it isn't.
Okay, it's y'all listen, wayback when, when I was with the
tag team, I really only thoughtbranding was your logo and your
(02:46):
colors and the fonts that youused and how everything looked
like, the aesthetics.
But that's not what it is.
That's a part of it, but it'sreally just a tiny part of it.
Okay, your brand is you.
It's you.
It's who you are.
It's what you like, it's you.
It's who you are.
It's what you like, it's whatyou stand for, it's you.
(03:10):
Your company is just a littlebit of who you are, but it's not
you.
Does that make sense?
Your brand should be built onyou, not the company that you
sell for.
Okay, did you hear me?
Did you hear me on that one?
You know, for example, if yousell beauty products like makeup
(03:31):
, skincare, you know, whateverhair care you can be sharing
pieces like information about,like, how to take care of your
skin and how to apply certainmakeup.
But you're not just talkingabout your company products,
right?
You're?
You're teaching strategies andskills and methods and all of
(03:52):
that and educating and alsosharing a little bit about you
and how you use the makeup andas you're sharing that, you're
sharing a little bit about whatand how you use the makeup and
as you're sharing that, you'resharing a little bit about what
you love and who you know.
That's building a brand.
Then, let's say, your companywere to close the doors and
they're like we're not doingthis anymore.
And you're like, okay, well,I've built a brand teaching
(04:13):
women how to apply makeup, howto take care of their skin and
how to really take care of theirhair.
It's all like around that.
So then you can join anotherdirect sales company that's
similar, or you can buildsomething of your own, and you
know what I believe?
I believe you should be doingthat now, but you've already
established this brand where youteach women how to feel
(04:38):
beautiful.
This brand where you teachwomen how to feel beautiful, how
to take care of themselves,right, what they should be doing
and what they shouldn't bedoing.
That's a brand.
So here's some of the benefitsof having a really strong brand,
a strong personal brand.
People, they know you andthey're going to come and buy
from you first before they justbuy the product.
(05:02):
Okay, they're going to be likewait, rachel, I love Rachel,
rachel, I know she sells thisstuff.
I'm going to go to her ratherthan just being like let me go
look up the product.
And when you have a brand, youcan then pivot, you can expand,
you can add revenue streamswithout losing credibility,
which is what I'm teaching thegirls inside your backup plan.
Right now, they're all stillworking their direct sales
(05:24):
businesses, but they're justslowly adding another revenue
stream, one of their very own.
Okay, a brand gives youauthority.
So if you were to leave yourcompany, your company were to
close.
Whatever happens, your audiencestays, your brand stays.
What you sell might change, butyou have already built this
(05:49):
personal brand that's not goinganywhere.
There's so much security inthat.
So what I want you to do rightnow is think about how could you
and maybe you've alreadystarted building a personal
brand.
Hopefully, if you've beenlistening to me for long enough,
you're like okay, rachel, yes,I've started building my brand,
but I am still getting questions, which is why we're going to
keep talking about this and,honestly, we're going to talk
(06:11):
about this a lot becausebranding is so important.
You know, branding is liketelling a story.
It's like letting people in towho you are, not just what you
sell.
Part of my brand right now isthat I have teenagers who all
have various learning challenges.
(06:33):
Right, that's part of my story.
That's part of how I can helppeople.
Right, it's all when I wasselling, when I was in jewelry.
Like part of my part of mybrand was that I was doing
Facebook parties and I wasreally successful at them and I
had doubled my sales.
That was part of what I did.
But also part of what I did washelp women feel beautiful.
(06:54):
Right, there are just differentways that we, different things
that we can offer with our brand.
Okay, so let's talk about howyou can start building a
personal brand today.
So, if you're listening to thisand you're like, you know I
think I'm leaning too much intomy company, like my feed.
All the things that I'm sharingare kind of product posts or
(07:15):
join my team posts, or I havejust been reusing other people's
images.
Okay, if that's you let's talkabout.
You need to define what youactually stand for beyond the
product, beyond what you sell,beyond your team.
Who are you?
What do you stand for?
What is your superpower?
(07:37):
What lights you up?
What could you talk about allday, every day.
Okay, define what that actuallyis.
All right, share personalstories that build trust and
connection.
You know, I share a lot ofpersonal stories with you guys,
partly because, hi, you're mybesties, but also because I
(07:59):
think it's you get to know mebetter.
Have you ever I don't know,hopefully you feel this way
about me, but have you everlistened to someone's podcast or
watched videos and then youfeel like, if you were to see
them in real life, you couldpick up where you left off, even
though you never left off?
Do you know what I mean?
You just feel like you're theirfriend.
I hope all of you feel that wayabout me and I hope that if you
(08:21):
were to see me, you would comeup to me and we could have a
conversation, because that iswhat builds trust and connection
it's your personal stories.
Okay, then you're going tocreate content that positions
you as the go-to expert withyour product, but not just
because of it.
Okay, so, basically, you mayshare the products and you may
(08:44):
talk about the products, butyou're talking about more than
just your products.
So you're talking about morethan just your lip gloss, or
more than just your electrolytes, or more than just your
collagen, or more than just yourspices, whatever it is.
You're also talking about howto make their lives easier.
For example, I have a studentwho sells Pampered Chef.
(09:04):
She's amazing.
She is always in the kitchenbaking things and she shares
that process, using, obviously,pampered Chef products, but
she's sharing.
The bigger picture is thatshe's sharing how to make
sourdough bread or how to makedifferent recipes, or she shares
a recipe.
She shares something that she'smade for dinner.
That creates that conversationLike what is that?
(09:26):
Can you give me the recipe?
So she becomes the go-to expertwhen it comes to cooking and
creating fun things in thekitchen.
So I just, I just want you tounderstand.
It doesn't have to becomplicated, it really doesn't.
Branding doesn't have to.
The beautiful thing, thebeautiful thing with branding is
(09:48):
that you already know, like youdon't have to go out and do
something.
You already have.
You, you're right here.
You are right here, sister, solet's start leaning into more of
you.
Like, what do you stand for?
I have another previous studentwho sells Sensi and she has been
(10:08):
, I think.
She's on a health journey andshe's just been sharing more of
that in her stories and on herInstagram and she still shares a
part of Sensi.
But she's sharing more of thishealth journey and her and her
family life and it's beautifuland I love it and I'm getting to
(10:31):
know her more Because I'mlearning.
I'm on this journey with hernow, like I'm following along as
she goes for her walks.
I'm following along as sheshares things that she's doing
in her life, like I am followingalong people, even if they're
not on that same journey.
People feel connected to youbecause you're sharing part of
(10:54):
your journey.
I've talked on here about myjourney with hormones right
Cause high perimenopause.
I've talked, I've told you guys, I've told nobody else that I
just started Zetbound.
Okay, literally, I've toldnobody else.
It's a secret, actually, it'sreally not a secret, but I just
feel like I can share stuff withyou because you're my besties,
(11:15):
you know I've.
I just don't.
That's not something thatnecessarily that I'm going to
put out there yet, just becauseit doesn't really go with my
brand, to be totally honest.
Okay, to be totally honest,that's what it is.
It doesn't really flow, but Ithink that's what draws us to
each other.
It's learning about people andand getting to know each other
(11:35):
in different ways.
So let's close with this, andthis is a short podcast, but you
know, sometimes we just don'thave time to be listening to 35
minute podcasts.
Okay, okay, the company with you, you're with right now, you
guys, is just a chapter.
It's not your whole story.
That's pretty powerful, right?
(11:57):
I don't know if you've thoughtabout it like that, but it's
just a chapter in your book.
It's not your whole story.
Now, it might be severalchapters in your book, but it's
not your whole story.
Now, it might be severalchapters in your book, but it's
not the only chapter.
Okay, you are more than yourcompany.
You are you and we want to knowmore of you, and building a
brand is giving you the security, it's giving you options so
(12:21):
that you're in control, not atthe mercy of your company.
Okay, okay, you guys, Iappreciate you being here.
Are you listening?
Like I love that I can shareall the things with you.
I just, I really do.
I just love you.
I love you so much and, um, Iappreciate you listening and
I'll be back here next week foranother episode of the direct
(12:42):
sellers podcast.
Until then, my beautifulfriends take care podcast.
Until then, my beautifulfriends take care.
That's it for this episode ofthe Direct Sellers podcast, but
our fun doesn't have to end now.
You'll catch me hanging outover on Instagram between
episodes and I'd love for you tojoin me.
(13:03):
So hop into my DMs.
I promise you're not gettingany hate girl messages and I
promise I'm not going to beasking you to weirdly buy
anything.
Send me the message podcast soI can send you my free 90-day
action planner, because whodoesn't love a good template?
Welcome to the Direct Sellers Podcast, the podcast
for direct sellers who are readyto get uncomfortable, build
their business and grow a teamwhile changing the face of the
direct sales industry.
I'm your host, rachel Perry.
Join me as we get real and talkabout all the things you need
to kick some serious directsales booty From overcoming
(00:26):
limiting beliefs to sharing theexact strategies you need to
attract the right people whobecome customers and beg to join
your team.
I've got you covered, girl.
I'm going to be your new BFFwhen it comes to balancing life
and kids while building yourdirect sales business with poise
, peace of mind and, of course,a good set of fake eyelashes.
Let's get started.
(00:52):
Hello, my friends, welcome backto another episode of the Direct
Sellers Podcast.
I'm your host, rachel Perry,and today we're going to dive
into the phrase, if you will,you're not your company.
I've had some people reach outand they're like what do you
mean by that?
So today we're just going todive in on like what personal
branding really means for you asa direct seller.
(01:15):
So one of the common mistakes Isee a lot with direct sellers
is that you build your entireidentity around your company and
I get it.
I get it, because you wouldn'tnecessarily be here, you
wouldn't be selling your productright If it wasn't for the
company and so we sort ofidentify ourselves as the
(01:38):
product lady, insert productright.
But the problem with that isthat we're not representing
ourselves, we're representingthe company.
Okay, and there are some risksthat come with that, because if
the company were to shut down,what do you have?
(02:01):
If you've built yourself up asthe product lady and as the
person who sells whatever andall those things, what's going
to happen if your company closesor if you decide to leave your
company or if you join adifferent company?
It becomes hard and it becomesa little bit bumpy, right?
(02:25):
So I want to help you buildyour own brand.
So let's talk about whatpersonal branding actually is
and what it isn't.
Okay, it's y'all listen, wayback when, when I was with the
tag team, I really only thoughtbranding was your logo and your
(02:46):
colors and the fonts that youused and how everything looked
like, the aesthetics.
But that's not what it is.
That's a part of it, but it'sreally just a tiny part of it.
Okay, your brand is you.
It's you.
It's who you are.
It's what you like, it's you.
It's who you are.
It's what you like, it's whatyou stand for, it's you.
(03:10):
Your company is just a littlebit of who you are, but it's not
you.
Does that make sense?
Your brand should be built onyou, not the company that you
sell for.
Okay, did you hear me?
Did you hear me on that one?
You know, for example, if yousell beauty products like makeup
(03:31):
, skincare, you know, whateverhair care you can be sharing
pieces like information about,like, how to take care of your
skin and how to apply certainmakeup.
But you're not just talkingabout your company products,
right?
You're?
You're teaching strategies andskills and methods and all of
(03:52):
that and educating and alsosharing a little bit about you
and how you use the makeup andas you're sharing that, you're
sharing a little bit about whatand how you use the makeup and
as you're sharing that, you'resharing a little bit about what
you love and who you know.
That's building a brand.
Then, let's say, your companywere to close the doors and
they're like we're not doingthis anymore.
And you're like, okay, well,I've built a brand teaching
(04:13):
women how to apply makeup, howto take care of their skin and
how to really take care of theirhair.
It's all like around that.
So then you can join anotherdirect sales company that's
similar, or you can buildsomething of your own, and you
know what I believe?
I believe you should be doingthat now, but you've already
established this brand where youteach women how to feel
(04:38):
beautiful.
This brand where you teachwomen how to feel beautiful, how
to take care of themselves,right, what they should be doing
and what they shouldn't bedoing.
That's a brand.
So here's some of the benefitsof having a really strong brand,
a strong personal brand.
People, they know you andthey're going to come and buy
from you first before they justbuy the product.
(05:02):
Okay, they're going to be likewait, rachel, I love Rachel,
rachel, I know she sells thisstuff.
I'm going to go to her ratherthan just being like let me go
look up the product.
And when you have a brand, youcan then pivot, you can expand,
you can add revenue streamswithout losing credibility,
which is what I'm teaching thegirls inside your backup plan.
Right now, they're all stillworking their direct sales
(05:24):
businesses, but they're justslowly adding another revenue
stream, one of their very own.
Okay, a brand gives youauthority.
So if you were to leave yourcompany, your company were to
close.
Whatever happens, your audiencestays, your brand stays.
What you sell might change, butyou have already built this
(05:49):
personal brand that's not goinganywhere.
There's so much security inthat.
So what I want you to do rightnow is think about how could you
and maybe you've alreadystarted building a personal
brand.
Hopefully, if you've beenlistening to me for long enough,
you're like okay, rachel, yes,I've started building my brand,
but I am still getting questions, which is why we're going to
keep talking about this and,honestly, we're going to talk
(06:11):
about this a lot becausebranding is so important.
You know, branding is liketelling a story.
It's like letting people in towho you are, not just what you
sell.
Part of my brand right now isthat I have teenagers who all
have various learning challenges.
(06:33):
Right, that's part of my story.
That's part of how I can helppeople.
Right, it's all when I wasselling, when I was in jewelry.
Like part of my part of mybrand was that I was doing
Facebook parties and I wasreally successful at them and I
had doubled my sales.
That was part of what I did.
But also part of what I did washelp women feel beautiful.
(06:54):
Right, there are just differentways that we, different things
that we can offer with our brand.
Okay, so let's talk about howyou can start building a
personal brand today.
So, if you're listening to thisand you're like, you know I
think I'm leaning too much intomy company, like my feed.
All the things that I'm sharingare kind of product posts or
(07:15):
join my team posts, or I havejust been reusing other people's
images.
Okay, if that's you let's talkabout.
You need to define what youactually stand for beyond the
product, beyond what you sell,beyond your team.
Who are you?
What do you stand for?
What is your superpower?
(07:37):
What lights you up?
What could you talk about allday, every day.
Okay, define what that actuallyis.
All right, share personalstories that build trust and
connection.
You know, I share a lot ofpersonal stories with you guys,
partly because, hi, you're mybesties, but also because I
(07:59):
think it's you get to know mebetter.
Have you ever I don't know,hopefully you feel this way
about me, but have you everlistened to someone's podcast or
watched videos and then youfeel like, if you were to see
them in real life, you couldpick up where you left off, even
though you never left off?
Do you know what I mean?
You just feel like you're theirfriend.
I hope all of you feel that wayabout me and I hope that if you
(08:21):
were to see me, you would comeup to me and we could have a
conversation, because that iswhat builds trust and connection
it's your personal stories.
Okay, then you're going tocreate content that positions
you as the go-to expert withyour product, but not just
because of it.
Okay, so, basically, you mayshare the products and you may
(08:44):
talk about the products, butyou're talking about more than
just your products.
So you're talking about morethan just your lip gloss, or
more than just your electrolytes, or more than just your
collagen, or more than just yourspices, whatever it is.
You're also talking about howto make their lives easier.
For example, I have a studentwho sells Pampered Chef.
(09:04):
She's amazing.
She is always in the kitchenbaking things and she shares
that process, using, obviously,pampered Chef products, but
she's sharing.
The bigger picture is thatshe's sharing how to make
sourdough bread or how to makedifferent recipes, or she shares
a recipe.
She shares something that she'smade for dinner.
That creates that conversationLike what is that?
(09:26):
Can you give me the recipe?
So she becomes the go-to expertwhen it comes to cooking and
creating fun things in thekitchen.
So I just, I just want you tounderstand.
It doesn't have to becomplicated, it really doesn't.
Branding doesn't have to.
The beautiful thing, thebeautiful thing with branding is
(09:48):
that you already know, like youdon't have to go out and do
something.
You already have.
You, you're right here.
You are right here, sister, solet's start leaning into more of
you.
Like, what do you stand for?
I have another previous studentwho sells Sensi and she has been
(10:08):
, I think.
She's on a health journey andshe's just been sharing more of
that in her stories and on herInstagram and she still shares a
part of Sensi.
But she's sharing more of thishealth journey and her and her
family life and it's beautifuland I love it and I'm getting to
(10:31):
know her more Because I'mlearning.
I'm on this journey with hernow, like I'm following along as
she goes for her walks.
I'm following along as sheshares things that she's doing
in her life, like I am followingalong people, even if they're
not on that same journey.
People feel connected to youbecause you're sharing part of
(10:54):
your journey.
I've talked on here about myjourney with hormones right
Cause high perimenopause.
I've talked, I've told you guys, I've told nobody else that I
just started Zetbound.
Okay, literally, I've toldnobody else.
It's a secret, actually, it'sreally not a secret, but I just
feel like I can share stuff withyou because you're my besties,
(11:15):
you know I've.
I just don't.
That's not something thatnecessarily that I'm going to
put out there yet, just becauseit doesn't really go with my
brand, to be totally honest.
Okay, to be totally honest,that's what it is.
It doesn't really flow, but Ithink that's what draws us to
each other.
It's learning about people andand getting to know each other
(11:35):
in different ways.
So let's close with this, andthis is a short podcast, but you
know, sometimes we just don'thave time to be listening to 35
minute podcasts.
Okay, okay, the company with you, you're with right now, you
guys, is just a chapter.
It's not your whole story.
That's pretty powerful, right?
(11:57):
I don't know if you've thoughtabout it like that, but it's
just a chapter in your book.
It's not your whole story.
Now, it might be severalchapters in your book, but it's
not your whole story.
Now, it might be severalchapters in your book, but it's
not the only chapter.
Okay, you are more than yourcompany.
You are you and we want to knowmore of you, and building a
brand is giving you the security, it's giving you options so
(12:21):
that you're in control, not atthe mercy of your company.
Okay, okay, you guys, Iappreciate you being here.
Are you listening?
Like I love that I can shareall the things with you.
I just, I really do.
I just love you.
I love you so much and, um, Iappreciate you listening and
I'll be back here next week foranother episode of the direct
(12:42):
sellers podcast.
Until then, my beautifulfriends take care podcast.
Until then, my beautifulfriends take care.
That's it for this episode ofthe Direct Sellers podcast, but
our fun doesn't have to end now.
You'll catch me hanging outover on Instagram between
episodes and I'd love for you tojoin me.
(13:03):
So hop into my DMs.
I promise you're not gettingany hate girl messages and I
promise I'm not going to beasking you to weirdly buy
anything.
Send me the message podcast soI can send you my free 90-day
action planner, because whodoesn't love a good template?
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