Unexpected Blessings (from Brittany Hembrough)

I want to introduce another blogger that I think you'll love! Her name is Brittany! We connected through an online business we both are a part of! Brittany is one of the most motivated people I know. She's overcome a lot and has always found a way to pick herself back up. This has always inspired me. So without further ado, she'll be sharing her story and how this simple online business has been a huge unexpected blessing in her life!

"Hi friends! Tonight we are going to be talking about something near and dear to my heart, but I know it’s a topic that some of you will roll your eyes at. Yes, we’re going to be talking about my journey so far with R+F. I have yet to talk about that on my blog other than in my introduction post and I’m honestly not sure why I haven’t talked about it yet because it is a HUGE part of my life and brings me so much joy!

Let’s start from the very beginning. I was first introduced to Rodan + Fields by my sweet friend, Julia. She had been a consultant for about a year and was having great success with it and thought I would enjoy it too. I straight up ghosted her for MONTHS thinking things like, “I don’t want to be THAT girl,” and “No one will want to buy anything from me, I don’t even have good skin.” Fast forward a few months and my sensitive skin was at it’s all time worse. Julia sent me a sample and I was FULLY convinced that I would hate it and that it would hurt my face since I was at the point of only being able to use water on my skin. I used the sample and was absolutely blown away by how amazing my skin felt after just one use! At the time I was going to school full time during the day and was working full time in the evening and had to cut hours here and there to make my clinical hours work, so I had also been looking for a way to make some extra money to fund my love for shopping during my last two semesters of OTA school. After seeing how much I loved just one single sample I knew it was something I could potentially represent. I talked with Julia more and learned about the doctors, the company’s values, and the business and quickly knew it was something I could share with my friends and family. My exact thought process was, “Why be just a customer? This will be EASY to share because the products speak for themselves!” So, I dove in head first as a consultant after never trying the products other than that one sample. Go big or go home right? That’s always been my mentality, so I saw no reason to change it here.

Fast forward 3.5 years and I can honestly say that this business is nothing I thought it would be and at the same time is everything I never knew I needed in my life. There are so many aspects to this business that I did not know about that have been a huge blessing to me. I honestly thought while joining that it would be nothing but getting better skin, helping other people get better skin, and making some extra income. That’s the only vision I had for this and I am so thrilled that I was so very wrong. Yes, the products are amazing and have transformed my skin. Yes, the income is amazing and I will talk more about that aspect here too. What I didn’t see coming was the community, gaining some of my best friends, amazing personal development and growth, reconnecting with old friends because they needed help with their skin, the joy I would feel when a customer tells me that the products I introduced to them not only changed their skin but have also allowed them feel confident for the first time in years (or ever), and the momma bear/best friend level pride I would feel when someone on my team tells me how this business has changed their lives.

First let’s talk about the community and the friends I’ve made so far. I never pictured needing new friends when I said yes to being a consultant, but luckily that is exactly what I got. You see, I was never the girl who had a ton of friends. I was not the popular girl. I honestly had a hard time fitting in anywhere other than with my family for most of my life and for the first time I feel like I’m somewhere that I truly belong. Some of the women are people I would’ve never met had I not become a consultant and some are women that I knew before and thankfully have become much closer with thanks to R+F.

It’s hard to really explain how it feels, but the best way I can think to describe it is feeling like I am at home when I’m with them. I feel like I’ve known these women for my whole life, I feel like I can be myself with them without being judged, I feel like I can tell them anything and they will still accept me. The community as a whole is amazing, but I’ve also been given some of my very best friends. They are some of my biggest cheerleaders and are also people I know I can turn to when I need support. For example, the last 6+ months have been the hardest months of my life (see my last blog post if you don’t know why). When I was knocked on my ass and didn’t know which way was up it took me a while to wrap my head around things. I initially told very few people outside of my family what was going on and over half of those people were those who have come into my life through R+F.

One stayed up until late at night for several nights texting me and talking to me on the phone when she should’ve been sleeping, one took me to lunch the very next day so that she could show me that I was not going to be alone, several checked in on me every single day for weeks and to this day check in on me regularly. They tell me both inside and outside of R+F how proud of me they are. We share our hardest, lowest times and our biggest, most exciting times with each other. I don’t know what I would do without them in my life and I truly believe many of them would say the same about me. This community is one of a kind and is something I am beyond thankful for.

Over the last 3+ years I have grown in ways I never saw possible and have learned so much about myself. This business has pushed me to step out of my comfort zone in so many ways, which in turn has forced me to grow immensely. I never anticipated growing a business like I have, but I now have the honor of leading my own team and standing beside other consultants to help them lead their teams. I run Zoom calls to train other consultants and am honestly still stunned sometimes that people want to hear from me and find value in the training that I provide.

I stood in front of a room of 50+ people in St. Louis with a mic in hand and shared my R+F story with those who wanted to learn more about doing what I do. Believe me, I was sweating A LOT during my first few trainings and throughout the entire event in St. Louis, but Brittany 4 years ago would have never even considered saying yes to things like that. This business has shown me a whole new part of myself; a confident, powerful, badass that I didn’t know existed before becoming a consultant. I never saw R+F giving me any of that, but am again thankful that it did.

This business gives me something to do for just myself, which is something I cherish. My entire life I have found joy in helping others, but often put myself second. Second to helping friends and family, second to taking care of my patients, etc. While it is something for just me, it has given me a new way to help others that I absolutely love. It gives me so much happiness when customers tell me that they have found a new confidence thanks to the products that I recommended for them. Receiving text messages saying things like,

“It’s only been two weeks and I can already see a difference,”

“I feel like I can leave the house without makeup on for the first time in my life,”

“My skin has never looked or felt this good,” and

“I was asked what I have been doing differently because my skin has changed so much,”

fills me with so much joy! So many people struggle with confidence and feeling good in their skin and being able to help with that is beyond rewarding. The same goes for sharing the business with people, not just the products. I am beyond proud of my team and love helping them reach their goals of paying off student loans, paying off credit cards, saving up for a house, paying for a wedding, building up a savings account, paying household bills, and so much more. I have also been given the pleasure of watching my teammates grow personally, becoming more confident and believing in themselves more than ever before. I have seen them grow just as I have seen myself grow and that fills me with pride. I really thought I would simply help people find good products, but I have been able to help people in so many other ways. That is something I will forever cherish and is again something I never anticipated.

Last, but certainly not least, is the financial blessings I have personally been given by this business. Like I said before, all I wanted was extra money to fund my love for shopping while I was in school since that had to be cut out of my regular budget. I quickly saw that this could be so much more than that if I put my mind to it and changed my goal from just shopping money to also paying off my car and my student loans. I met that goal and knew that I could make R+F whatever I wanted it to be financially.

Around that same time I was given an amazing opportunity in my OT career. I have always dreamed of working in pediatrics and was offered a job doing just that, but it was part-time and came with a pay cut from my OT job at the time. I felt very strongly that it was an opportunity that I could not pass up and that it was an opportunity that would make me incredibly happy. Deep down I knew that no amount of money would be worth turning that opportunity down, so I took the new position and utilized my R+F business to help make up for the cut I took and once again was in awe of what this business could do.

More recently my business has taken on a whole new meaning and role in my life. It has always evolved and been more of a “plan B,” something that could serve me where I saw fit, but never something that I truly relied on. It is now more of a “plan A,” something that is part of my everyday life and that I need in my life. While it isn’t my only source of income, it is a source of income that I now need in order to live my life the way I want to. I never planned on it being something that I needed, but life happens and plans change. My plan B turned into my plan A when I needed it most and once again, I am beyond thankful.

Guys, I could go on and on, but I feel like I’ve given you a really good snapshot of what this business means to me. Out of everything I talked about I think my favorite two parts of my business is one, the community and friendships I’ve gained and two, the way I am able to help others in so many ways. I am the most thankful for the income my business gives me, especially now, but I would continue doing this business without the paycheck. I would do it simply for the joy and happiness it gives me. I would do it simply for the way it has helped me grow and how it will help me continue to grow. I would do it simply for the ability it gives me to help others. I would do it simply for the people it gives me. That is how I know it is so much more than skincare, so much more than income, so much more than a business. It truly is so much more. This is my unique story; for info re: typical results search ‘Rodan + Fields IDS.’"

Brittany's story is one of my favorites. I would have never met her if it wasn't for this business! It's a joy getting to work with her and so many others. If you're looking for community and a way to make extra income, I would love to chat with you!