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Welcome to Make Your Passion Pay, hosted by LuAnn Buechler, a seasoned leader with a master’s degree in Hospitality Administration and a recipient of the TLC Award for Leadership. This podcast is designed for business owners who have left toxic environments to create their own thriving workplaces but find themselves struggling with team building and mindset. Join LuAnn as she shares insights and strategies to help you cultivate joy and a positive mindset in your business and personal life. Drawing from her experience working with renowned leaders like Dr. Ivan Misner, LuAnn guides you in building a supportive community and mastering the art of people management. Each episode offers practical advice and inspiring stories to empower you to transform your work environment into one that reflects your values and passions. Tune in to discover how to lead with joy, foster meaningful connections, and truly make your passion pay.
Welcome everybody to the Make Your Passion Pay podcast, where we look at the six P's in the playbook to making your passions pay. They are clarity, connection, community, collaboration, creativity, and commitment. And I have with me today a very committed and dedicated business owner, Marlee Kivens. From growing up in her father's business in Minneapolis to thriving in direct sales with Pampered Chef, Marlee's journey is one of resilience, independence, and success, which all take a strong commitment. Despite living with spina bifida and learning differences, she builds a top-performing Pampered Chef business, earning national awards, top sales ranks, and even an incentive trip to Texas. Once reliant on a PCA for cooking, Marlee now cooks independently and inspires others to find freedom and confidence through the power of direct sales. Her secret? A passion, of course, for helping others, honesty in her business, and believing in herself every step of the way. Welcome, Marlee.
(00:03:56.327) Marlee B Kivens: There's
(00:03:56.927) LuAnn Buechler: No, I missed it, but it was a quote from Marlee: be a role model for your children. Show them you can do this. Live for today; you may not have tomorrow. Oh yes,
(00:04:09.227) Marlee B Kivens: mm-hmm.
(00:04:10.727) LuAnn Buechler: What is that? What is that Roosevelt quote? Eleanor Roosevelt quote.
(00:04:22.527) Marlee B Kivens: I don't
(00:04:23.027) LuAnn Buechler: know. The past is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. The present is a gift.
(00:04:30.927) Marlee B Kivens: Nice.
(00:04:31.427) LuAnn Buechler: Alright,
(00:04:32.727) Marlee B Kivens: so
(00:04:33.827) LuAnn Buechler: Be in the present, enjoy that gift is what you're saying in your quote, as well as I and Eleanor.
(00:04:42.827) Marlee B Kivens: Yep, you have to live in the moments. You have to live one day at a time. And I don't like to focus on the future because I may not have one. I mean, I got to do everything I want to do today and not put it off.
(00:05:00.427) LuAnn Buechler: Live to the fullest today, intentionally. Would you agree?
(00:05:04.027) Marlee B Kivens: Yes, I would definitely agree.
(00:05:06.327) LuAnn Buechler: Now, Marlee, did you set your intentions in the morning for how your day will be?
(00:05:13.927) Marlee B Kivens: I go through my calendar and make sure I know what I have to do, and then I sprinkle in things that I want to do intentionally throughout my day.
(00:05:24.627) LuAnn Buechler: Nice.
(00:05:25.427) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah. So I I have a whole list of things that I want to get accomplished by the time, I'm in bed tonight and I journal every night, letting letting myself reflect on the day and I I make myself write at least one good thing that happened each day.
(00:05:47.527) LuAnn Buechler: Awesome. So we would encourage you to take that up just a little notch and write three things that you're grateful for every day, right?
(00:05:57.027) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, gotta have at least one though.
(00:06:00.027) LuAnn Buechler: Yes. At least one you can always find at least one,
(00:06:04.227) Marlee B Kivens: yes,
(00:06:04.727) LuAnn Buechler: But yeah, the more the better, right? So recently I had a young woman on his podcast. It is the Gratitude Geek.
(00:06:12.027) Marlee B Kivens: Oh
(00:06:12.927) LuAnn Buechler: And she calls gratitude April, this strategy.
(00:06:18.827) Marlee B Kivens: Interesting
(00:06:19.527) LuAnn Buechler: And hey, you're going to love this tip that she gave us, and that was every time you put your hand on a door or pass through a door, you say, thank you for the opportunity.
(00:06:32.527) Marlee B Kivens: Well, and when I wake up each morning, that's what I basically tell myself and tell the universe: thank you for letting me wake up.
(00:06:40.627) LuAnn Buechler: Yep. Thank you. My meditation I do in the morning says, thank you for letting me rise again today, which I love—that rise again today. So, tell us about your rise in the Pampered Chef business. Was there a business before Pampered Chef? Oh, you said you were in your dad's
(00:06:59.027) Marlee B Kivens: business. Yeah, my dad owned a company for over 30 years in South Minneapolis. He sold cemetery memorials, granite countertops, and concrete birds and fountains. And he inducted me into the business, starting at the age of eight. Wow, I would sweep his floors on the weekends. He was open Saturdays, and when he was having sales, we would be open on Sundays as well for the concrete bird baths and fountains and things. And I just learned the business from the ground up. Basically, I mean, literally from the ground up, and I ended up being his right-hand person and I ran the company while he was semi-retired and living in Florida in the winter. So
(00:07:50.927) LuAnn Buechler: Wow.
(00:07:52.327) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, so
(00:07:53.427) LuAnn Buechler: I never heard that.
(00:07:55.027) Marlee B Kivens: So
(00:07:55.427) LuAnn Buechler: That's that business, now retired,
(00:07:58.827) Marlee B Kivens: It is still operational, but he sold the business in 2003—no, 2005. He sold the business. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, so he had to sell the business, or my mother forced him to sell the business. I mean, I found a lot of his mistakes while working for him, and in hindsight, it was his disease. I would, you know, correct them. I was his administrative assistant, basically, and I also learned how to sell. We went to trade shows and we went to the state fair and had a booth, and I just learned everything I knew about people-centered communication through him. So
(00:08:48.727) LuAnn Buechler: Wait, wait more to learn from getting active in a parent's business than sitting in a classroom.
(00:08:58.227) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, I mean you can only learn so much in a classroom. You have to learn it in real life. I mean, from the bereaved to something fun, with the granite countertops and the concrete bird battens and fountains. I mean, we had it all in our building.
(00:09:19.127) LuAnn Buechler: A ray of emotions.
(00:09:20.527) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, it was, but I also had communication skills from my education at University of Minnesota Duluth. So I took some communication courses there and that helped me to learn how to talk to people that were going through crisis. So, it was a well-rounded education through my father and through college. And I left college kicking and screaming because I didn't want to come back to Minnesota. I mean, to the Minneapolis area. I found my identity at Duluth, I found my voice at Duluth, I helped create inclusion. I'm a person with a physical disability, so my parents didn't think I could do a lot. They didn't have a lot of faith in me. They didn't think that I would be able to be on my own, and I actually went to college. I mean, nobody thought I would walk. Nobody thought I would go to public school. Nobody thought I would be able to drive or learn to drive. Nobody thought I would graduate high school. Nobody thought I would be able to go to college, or graduate college or live on my own. And I broke all the barriers and I'm like, go away. I can do my own thing. I'm self-sufficient and I had a couple doctors along the way that helped me to learn how to be self-sufficient and ask the questions that I needed to ask for medical reasons and beyond, and showed me how to be an advocate for myself.
(00:11:18.327) LuAnn Buechler: I was gonna say, and you are a complete advocate for years now.
(00:11:23.227) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah.
(00:11:23.627) LuAnn Buechler: You know, whether medical advocate, you're doing it all.
(00:11:27.827) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah. I started a group called Access for All at the UMD campus, and it is still going. Now, it's for people with learning differences and physical disabilities.
(00:11:41.327) LuAnn Buechler: Since we're on a podcast, some people are just listening to us. They're not even looking at us, and that's okay, but they still can't see physical disabilities. One of my friends had a traumatic brain injury.
(00:11:57.627) Marlee B Kivens: Okay?
(00:11:58.427) LuAnn Buechler: And so she didn't visibly have a physical disability either and no one understood what she dealt with, right. But will you share with us? Would you mind, like you at one point? You said at 8 years old, you were sweeping the floor. You were walking then?
(00:12:15.927) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, I walked at that time. I had braces and my leg is shorter than the other. So I have a lift on my left shoe because it is three inches shorter than my right leg. That was a doctor's fault. They put the hip bone back in place and shortened the leg. They didn't tell my parents that was going to happen, but it did. So I do walk with a limp. At the age of 18, I think it's either 18 or 21, I had my left foot and ankle fused so that I didn't have to wear leg braces any longer, but I do wear ankle braces now just for stability. I was born with a disability called spina bifida. When I was born, my back was open and there were nerve endings outside of my back in a bubble of blood, a dried blood, and doctors put back what they could with the nerve endings and severed the rest. So I don't have a lot of feeling from the waist down. I have a lot of mobility issues because of it. I do have hand issues; gripping things or moving things from place to place is difficult. I can't lift heavy objects. In my intro, you said that I had a PCA and I did. I had a PCA helping me create all of my meals, a personal care attendant helping me create all of my meals here at the condo where I live independently, I might add. When she would help me create all of the meals, because of the box store cookware and bakeware and prep tools, I couldn't use them because they were too cumbersome. I would drop things. I would slice my hands and not know it. I would drop things and step on broken glass and not know it because I can't feel my feet. It's just been a whirlwind of trying to figure out how to live by myself and I needed some help. So I went to a Pampered Chef party almost 12 years ago and found out how user-friendly the product was and how ergonomically correct the product was and how lightweight the product was. I came home with the garlic press; that was the first piece I ever bought. I had never had fresh garlic before. I've always had the seasoning, you know, at the grocery store where you buy the little bottles. So it was an eye-opening experience to have fresh things like fresh garlic or people to have fresh vegetables and be able to cut them myself instead of having somebody else cut them for me. So 11 and a half years ago. The person that had the party asked me to join his team and I was excited to get out of my comfort zone and to show that people with disabilities don't have to hide at home and be hermits and show that I can do anything that anybody else can do. I was in between jobs at that point because I had had surgery and I was recovering from home and my father had been in Florida. That was his last year in Florida because of his Alzheimer's. That was a bad winter for him and a bad winter for me. They would call every day because at the end, I was the only person my father knew and knew by name. So my mother was the stranger in the room. He didn't know my sister, didn't know my niece or nephew. At the end, I was his part-time caregiver while doing Pampered Chef as well, but I'm digressing.
(00:16:49.027) LuAnn Buechler: Know what stories. You know what I want to emphasize is, you know, there's lots of people out there who will complain and moan and whine. We call them BMWs. Yep. About their life, who are perfectly healthy, perfectly capable, perfectly perfect, and they're still BMWs. It's like I want to go stop it. When you look at someone like yourself and all the challenges you face, conquer. That's a new word,
(00:17:23.127) Marlee B Kivens: folks.
(00:17:23.627) LuAnn Buechler: Yeah, heard and continue to thrive.
(00:17:28.027) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah. Yeah, Pampered Chef gave me the outlet to become independent, and I have been independent in the kitchen for 11 years. Basically, within six months of joining Pampered Chef, I let go of my PCA because I could sit at the island behind me, could bring all the product that I needed to my island, and I could create all the food that I needed to create without any help. So it's been a life change. It was a life-changing moment for me, just knowing about Pampered Chef and letting Pampered Chef lead the way of me becoming independent in the kitchen. It's just been a roller coaster, and it's been a fun roller coaster.
(00:18:17.527) LuAnn Buechler: So, it is a product that you are passionate about because it served you and it helped you. I think that's what I find with most of the people that I'm attracted to that are doing their business. They're sharing a product that is meaningful to them. They're not just trying to sell you a widget; they're sharing a product that is meaningful to them. You and I've always followed you since I met you in B, and what you're doing with your Pampered Chef business and tried to support. I have a friend who is into essential oils all because she had migraine headaches.
(00:19:02.427) Marlee B Kivens: That.
(00:19:02.827) LuAnn Buechler: Doctors couldn't solve for her, and she did the research on essential oils, solved her migraine problem, and lots of other health issues in her family because of essential oils.
(00:19:15.727) Marlee B Kivens: Wow!
(00:19:16.527) LuAnn Buechler: And she too was out there trying to market herself, and I really brought her home to her passion for why she loves the oils. And then say, just tell people that. Yeah, you speak, Marlee, from your passion of how the products at Pampered Chef helped you become independent in the kitchen, right? Is that when we build trust with others, right?
(00:19:42.727) Marlee B Kivens: That way,
(00:19:43.927) LuAnn Buechler: we're sharing our belief in a product
(00:19:48.027) Marlee B Kivens: And if there is a product that didn't work for me, I'm not going to have somebody buy it. Like you said, I don't make a sale just to make a sale. I want to know why they want the product, what they're going to use it for. And if there is another product that is better, then I will tell them about a better product. I have had several products that I have tried out that just didn't work. I mean, it was either too heavy or, with my arthritis in my hands, it didn't work. So I challenge people—well, I don't know if challenge is the right word—I give advice and I give alternative products so that they would have an easier time and a more fun time in the kitchen instead of struggling with a product that doesn't fit their needs.
(00:20:46.627) LuAnn Buechler: right? A fun time in the kitchen. I love that.
(00:20:51.227) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah.
(00:20:53.027) LuAnn Buechler: If you like to have fun in the kitchen, call Marlee,
(00:20:56.227) Marlee B Kivens: Definitely. I mean, my BNI tagline is, are your kitchen tools getting gnarly? Call your go-to gal Marlee. I'll help you have a Pampered Chef party, and then I go into how I want people to have fun in the kitchen. I give my commercial and explain how they can have fun in the kitchen with whatever product I'm highlighting that week. So
(00:21:21.527) LuAnn Buechler: you do demonstrations.
(00:21:23.627) Marlee B Kivens: I do, I do. I have a Facebook page for Pampered Chef and I do demos on my Facebook page. Lately, I haven't done a lot of them because I'm going through some medical issues, but before that, I was trying to do at least one demo a week. So
(00:21:45.027) LuAnn Buechler: live on Facebook,
(00:21:46.927) Marlee B Kivens: Live on Facebook, on my, it's called Kivens' Kitchen Kit. Yeah, Kivens' Kitchen Corner on Facebook. It's my Pampered Chef private page. So if anybody wants to see what Pampered Chef is all about, they can certainly send me a friend request on Facebook at Marlee Kivens and I will be happy to accept a friend request. Then I would add them to my private page,
(00:22:18.127) LuAnn Buechler: Okay? So you can see Marlee's name, Marlee B. Kivens, right on her name plate on her picture. So if you are looking at the video, you've got the spelling of that correctly and we will make sure the link to the Facebook page is in the show notes. So you can reach out and her website is pamperedchef.com PWS next slash Kivens.
(00:22:44.727) Marlee B Kivens: Yep,
(00:22:47.327) LuAnn Buechler: Of course that'll be in the show notes too. So,
(00:22:51.527) Marlee B Kivens: Oh, okay. And yes, I'm sure it'll be in the show notes, so,
(00:22:55.927) LuAnn Buechler: Yeah, hers are all K's instead of C's.
(00:22:58.227) Marlee B Kivens: So
(00:23:00.527) LuAnn Buechler: So what has been your greatest challenge other than your physical challenges.
(00:23:09.227) Marlee B Kivens: Um, other than my physical challenges, what's been migrated, just getting—let's see, how do I phrase this? When I get bad news about my medical issues that have been going on, just not wallowing in it. I mean, I give myself one day to—I give myself the one day to be, 'Whoa is me.' Then I pick myself up. I have a poster in my second bedroom, or what used to be my office, and it's a picture of me with a doctor from the United Way. I was a poster child, and I didn't know I was a poster child for the United Way until my grandmother died and she had the poster in her basement. That was a surprise to me, and it was a surprise to my family—they didn't know I was a poster child either. I don't know how my grandmother got a hold of it. I mean, she wasn't around to ask, so I had it framed, and I look at that picture every single day and know that that doctor supported me and taught me how to be self-reliant. He has since passed away of Alzheimer's, and I don't want to disappoint him. I don't want to disappoint myself; I don't want to disappoint him, so I make it a point to make it—if I have to wallow, it's one day, and then I pick myself up the next day and I go forward. That's how I am.
(00:24:53.427) LuAnn Buechler: I love that, and I love that you set boundaries and intentionally allow yourself to feel the feelings.
(00:25:00.827) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah,
(00:25:01.527) LuAnn Buechler: We call it nature's guidance system in the work with the passion test, and we encourage—yes, you have to acknowledge and feel those feelings, but then reframe it, shift,
(00:25:13.527) Marlee B Kivens: yeah?
(00:25:14.627) LuAnn Buechler: Right. An emotional shift on it. And so, that's a beautiful thing and you have the tools. You use that posture as a reminder, right? Do that shift, right?
(00:25:25.527) Marlee B Kivens: And I make an appointment to post something on my Pampered Chef page every day, whether it's just a health update, a recipe, or a product highlight. I do that just so that I keep present in that page, so people know that I'm still available. I mean, they don't need to know that I'm going through medical problems unless I tell them. I am a virtual consultant, so I reach people from across the United States and on military bases that are run by the United States. They don't need to know that I'm in the hospital. They don't need to know that I'm not feeling well. I just post things in a vertical setting and I go about my day.
(00:26:14.727) LuAnn Buechler: You just keep going like the Energizer Bunny.
(00:26:16.927) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, try to anyway.
(00:26:18.727) LuAnn Buechler: Right? And so you've made a commitment to yourself on a couple of things there. Yeah, we all should be doing, and it's also intentional living, right? To say, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm making a commitment to post something every day, and I'm going to make a commitment that if I feel bad, I only do that for 24 hours and then I shift my emotions. I love that. And I think more people can honor that. They get in a pattern and repeat day after day after day.
(00:26:54.127) Marlee B Kivens: You have to break out of that
(00:26:55.727) LuAnn Buechler: cycle. I'd have to break out of that cycle.
(00:26:58.527) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah.
(00:26:59.027) LuAnn Buechler: And again, if people like my friend Marlee can do it, we can all do it with intention and the power of our commitment to ourselves, to our businesses, to our followers.
(00:27:12.827) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, because I, you know, I've got 300 people, close to 300 people, that are on that page. If they don't hear from me for a couple of days, they start messaging me and saying, where are you? What are you doing? You're not on your page. So are you doing okay?
(00:27:32.927) LuAnn Buechler: Well, and that's true, right? You've created people who care.
(00:27:37.627) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah.
(00:27:38.227) LuAnn Buechler: And a community.
(00:27:39.427) Marlee B Kivens: It is a community.
(00:27:40.527) LuAnn Buechler: It goes back to our community.
(00:27:41.927) Marlee B Kivens: Right? And
(00:27:43.227) LuAnn Buechler: Created community around you that cares about you and enjoys the products. And I think one of my mentors is Steve Farber, and he wrote a book called Love Is Just Damn Good Business.
(00:28:00.227) Marlee B Kivens: Yep. And that's how I feel about my BNI chapter as well. We're one big happy family. I mean, I can think of three people that I could call right now if I were in a funk or needed some help. There are days that the chapter members, I just text them just to say hi. So, hope you're having a
(00:28:23.327) LuAnn Buechler: Good day. Another one of our
(00:28:25.227) Marlee B Kivens: see what
(00:28:25.827) LuAnn Buechler: that connection.
(00:28:27.227) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah.
(00:28:27.827) LuAnn Buechler: And my mentor that I was on a call with this morning was talking about us being in a trust recession.
(00:28:37.727) Marlee B Kivens: Ooh.
(00:28:39.727) LuAnn Buechler: Being in a trust recession because people don't know what to trust anymore. Is it live, or is it AI,
(00:28:46.527) Marlee B Kivens: Right?
(00:28:48.227) LuAnn Buechler: Right person? Or is it a robot? And what you've created is an identity that people know is the truth. It's you, and so they can trust you. It's so important, and I think that a lot of us could learn from that.
(00:29:05.427) Marlee B Kivens: Know, like and trust.
(00:29:07.127) LuAnn Buechler: Know, like and trust. So in your notes it says that to discover the value of direct sales, and I know that a lot of times direct sales gets a bad rap. We'll talk about network marketing companies as if they're pyramid schemes. Share with us your thoughts around that.
(00:29:28.627) Marlee B Kivens: Well, Pampered Chef has been around for 45 years, so it's not a pyramid scheme. I don't talk about Pampered Chef with my family because they do think it's a pyramid scheme. They don't agree that I am doing Pampered Chef, so that is a bone of contention with them. So they don't support me with doing this, but I don't really need their support. I know how the product is. I know that it works for me, so it's going to work for other people. I don't like that it gets compared to a pyramid scheme, and I try to demystify that train of thought with people. But you know, they're going to think what they're going to think, and I can't stop it. I can't control what other people do or think or say, right? I can only control what I do, think, or say.
(00:30:28.227) LuAnn Buechler: I love that.
(00:30:28.927) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah,
(00:30:29.727) LuAnn Buechler: That's another good one for us all to remember.
(00:30:33.827) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah.
(00:30:34.027) LuAnn Buechler: Which leads to our concept of taking 100% responsibility for your own life.
(00:30:39.827) Marlee B Kivens: And my own.
(00:30:41.527) LuAnn Buechler: Actions. Yeah, I can only control my actions, my words, my life. I can't control anyone else's.
(00:30:48.727) Marlee B Kivens: Great. I love to. I mean, I have enough time trying to take care of myself and my needs that I don't want to have to worry about anybody else and what they think of me or they're saying. I mean, there are people that are negative and I just bless and release. I mean, it's actually with the hard customers that come back and complain about something about the product. I give them the information if they want to return the product and I try to give them alternatives or try to help them on a video call if they're having a problem with the product. I try to be the teacher and show them how to work the product if they're having an issue. But if they're going to continue to be negative, I don't need that negativity around me. I just bless and release and let them go find either another consultant or not even use the product anymore. So it's up to them how they want to go forward.
(00:31:59.227) LuAnn Buechler: That is excellent. I love that. That's a great reminder for everyone as well. Bless and release that which no longer serves you, right? Direct sales, network marketing, whichever term you use, is a valid business model. And there are thousands upon thousands of companies out there using that model, and if it didn't work, they wouldn't do it, right?
(00:32:25.527) Marlee B Kivens: And there are many companies that fold because they don't have the proper resources or proper ways of training their staff and how to write product. But Doris Christopher, who started the product in her basement, has continued to thrive and she is still a part of the business.
(00:32:47.927) LuAnn Buechler: So do you have a team, Marlee?
(00:32:50.227) Marlee B Kivens: Are you? Um, I am part of a team. I don't have anybody under me, but I am. I have a director and I have an executive director, and they have been wonderful and they have been encouraging. And when I earned in 2021, 2022, 2021 is one. I earned the incentive trip and I earned the top 3% of sales throughout the top three percent of all consultants and directors and above. I earned an elite award for sales during the pandemic, and I was my own team at that point. I was my own. I, as a consultant, I earned the trip and I earned the award. I didn't have anybody under me, and people were flabbergasted when I got to Texas and I got to tell my story of that. I was just a lone consultant and I earned the incentive trip, and I earned the award that I earned in there. They're like, and you're not a director? Like, no, I'm just a consultant, just me. And it was hand over foot for sales and parties during the pandemic because people had to live at home and they had to eat at home, and they didn't realize that their cookware and their prep tools and their bakeware were not good and not of high quality. So, um, I was doing, yeah, I was doing 15 parties a week during the pandemic. Wow. Yeah, yeah. And it was all online, and it was all I either had Facebook or I had a catalog party where I just sent a shopping link, and that's how I did parties back then. And now I am exclusively doing just shopping link parties, or I'm doing a 20-minute Facebook party, Facebook Messenger party, where within 20 minutes, I post videos and recipes and tips and tricks and product information in 20 minutes. And the host invites a bunch of friends to this private Messenger group page that she creates, and she invites me to it. And I have a link that is open for three days after the party, and that's it. I mean, I can do a lot of 20-minute parties within a day if, if somebody, you know, if people wanted me to do that. So that's my new way.
(00:35:42.227) LuAnn Buechler: I think you are an exemplary example of using the six C's to making your passion pay. You've got clarity on your product and exactly what you're doing and why it's important to you. You've got connection to your upline team, connection to your BNI team. You're building community with those teams and those connections. I know you do collaboration, it's natural with your hosts, you know, that host parties for you and with others in your organization. And you're certainly creative with how you have parties, right? You know, 15 parties a week during the pandemic. That's crazy. Goodness.
(00:36:31.827) Marlee B Kivens: Yeah, I mean, I was at home. I wasn't doing anything, so why not have as many parties as I could and host? You know, we're hand over foot trying to get new product into their home so that they could do their cooking and their baking. So I'm like, okay, I found my niche.
(00:36:47.327) LuAnn Buechler: And
(00:36:47.727) Marlee B Kivens: I mean, I also want to show, or, well, I don't know if this shows, I want to be present for people that do have disabilities of any kind and let them know that they don't have to rely on a PCA if they don't want to. They could use the product and be as independent as they want to be, and that nobody has to force them to use services if they don't want to use it. I will help them. I will help guide them in how to use the product.
(00:37:24.027) LuAnn Buechler: Oh, I just love your commitment to it all and to others, Marlee. I just came up with a referral I think I have for you.
(00:37:33.927) Marlee B Kivens: Okay.
(00:37:34.527) LuAnn Buechler: A non-profit that specifically works with getting disabled people back to an independent lifestyle.
(00:37:43.727) Marlee B Kivens: That's awesome.
(00:37:44.827) LuAnn Buechler: Oh, long as we've known each other, if I haven't talked to you about this before, it's about time
(00:37:51.927) Marlee B Kivens: Anyway, yeah. It's double donation month, so I could do a fundraiser for any nonprofit or help a fundraiser with any nonprofit. They would get double what they normally would with Pampered Chef. Instead of getting 15% of guest sales, they would get up to 30% of guest sales. I love doing fundraisers. I love working with nonprofits. Anybody who wants to host a fundraiser for their favorite cause, August is a great month to do it. Right now, the host special for June is double free products. Once a host reaches 650 dollars in guest sales, they start earning double free product. The summer is a great time to have a party.
(00:38:37.927) LuAnn Buechler: With all that conversation about June, for releases in June.
(00:38:46.627) Marlee B Kivens: So
(00:38:46.827) LuAnn Buechler: that
(00:38:47.027) Marlee B Kivens: they know about the fundraisers
(00:38:49.427) LuAnn Buechler: Literally. All right, so we'll make sure again that the links to connect with Marlee are in the show notes, another c word. We just had a good conversation here, a good conversation that brought up another connection I can make for her. And so remember to have good conversations in your business relationships, my friends, and set intentions and make commitment to yourself and your business, and release and bless that which no longer serves you, right? Thank you for being here with me today, Marlee,
(00:39:30.027) Marlee B Kivens: everybody so much for inviting me. This was fun.
(00:39:34.127) LuAnn Buechler: And we love having fun. So everybody go out and have a fun week and we see you the next time on Make Your Passions Pay.