When I got the Member of the Month email, I was both shocked, and extremely proud. To be chosen as member of the month from over 100,000 affiliates has been a huge goal of mine, and I’ve been getting better and better week after week, month after month.
So here’s a bit about me, so you know what I’ve gone through to get to where I am today.
For those who don’t know me, I’m Kay Somji, born and raised in London, UK, and I currently reside in Calgary, Canada.
From a very young age, I’ve been an entrepreneur; it’s in my blood. My mum and dad have been self-employed since I was born, so while I went to school to learn to be an employee, what I learned outside the classroom was quite the opposite.
I saw my parents working 12-16 hour days, every day, even on Christmas, New Years Day, birthdays, and when they were sick. They NEVER had a honeymoon or a single holiday in the whole time I grew up.
Having this impression of business, a job seemed a good choice … You know, the cushy 9-5, weekends off, paid holidays etc. It sounded like a luxury from what I’d seen my parents do … However, I couldn’t stay away from entrepreneurship.
My first entrepreneurial venture was selling CDs at school at the age of 11. I did that for years, and made as much as most people with a part time job would.
Once I realized that I could make money without having to be at a job, it stuck in my brain. I remember once in school we were asked what job we wanted to have when we grew up, and I replied that I didn’t want a job, little did I know those words would shape a large part of my future.
I excelled in academics and sports (cricket especially) but the academics took priority and I went to university.
Struggling to find my calling. I switched degrees twice before settling on my third, actuarial science and statistics; yes, I had to choose the most difficult one haha. While it was difficult, it didn’t challenge me or grow me as a person outside the classroom.
I was introduced to network marketing in 2007, and I was immediately enthralled with the leverage I could create. While very enthusiastic, I fell flat on my face. I was able to sponsor people, but something about ‘student with mountains of debt' didn’t really scream successful entrepreneur to people, so I struggled to maintain a team.
Calling all my friends and family, doing hotel meetings, home parties etc. didn’t appeal to me and the internet became my new best friend to build my business online. I had no idea how to go about it so I took a break from my business.
Though I wasn’t actively building my business, I couldn’t stay away from it. I was always reading up on the industry and I came across Magnetic Sponsoring and the Better Networker forum, this is when I initially joined MLSP. I simply didn’t have the right mindset at the time to juggle 2 degrees and all of the training inside MLSP. Having been around traditional businesses, the concept made complete sense, get people to come to you; it made much more sense to become the hunted than the hunter.
While I focused on my university career, network marketing was always in the back of my mind and I knew I’d come back to MLSP. I actually stayed active for a long time, absorbing the information, but not taking any action.
I’d always been good at maths so my career choice seemed like a good fit, but towards the end of my degree it didn’t seem like something I wanted to do for another day, let alone for the rest of my life. Take it from me, don’t do something simply because you’re good at it…
I’d mostly worked retail jobs at that point, doing other things on the side for extra income such as lawn mowing, aerating, and looking for deals on anything that I could flip from electronics to bathroom accessories, so entrepreneurship was still deeply ingrained in me.
After university, I couldn’t find a job; I didn’t even get an interview for a whole year. During that time I worked at a gym and became the number 6 salesperson in the country, after working there for only 5 months. I landed an interview at one of the world’s biggest pipeline companies, and when I got the call that I got the job, I left the job at the gym, and went to work as a financial risk analyst, it had a nice ring to it.
Despite being the lead risk analyst on one of the biggest pipelines in the world, the job never challenged me and it became mundane. I never quite understood the traditional corporate world, sitting somewhere for 8 hours when my work was done in 4, and my requests to work remotely were swiftly dismissed. This was when I knew I had to make my home business work.
The main driving force came back to my parents, ‘my why' if you will. Retiring them was my main goal and I knew it would be difficult to do that with a job. I wasn’t fulfilling my purpose in life, plus 3 weeks holiday a year just wasn’t cutting it.
Now I’m not your typical success story of someone who started a business and immediately succeeded, I struggled for years.
Even in MLSP, I jumped from one strategy to another to another and I kept not taking action. Only after living off savings and depleting them, did push come to shove; I had to make this work or get a job again – my mind was already made up. 😉 Funny how sometimes our backs need to be against the wall to make us take action.
I began connecting with many of the top online leaders in our industry – when you get around these people, it becomes hard to not take action.
That turning point for me was Live the Dream 6, if there’s one thing I can tell you, get to events and get around the people who are where you want to be. Spend time with them and do what they do.
It’s only been about 1 year of consistent daily action, and I don’t recognize my life anymore.
In that time, I’ve become a highly sought after video marketer, I have requests to train teams on a regular basis, people ask me for coaching almost daily, I’m the number 9 ranked blogger in the industry for 2016, I travel when I want, and my mindset is unshakeable. This is largely due to what I’ve learnt in MLSP and from the other leaders in this incredible community.
I’ve gone from struggling to sponsor people and maintain a team, to sponsoring people every single week, most of them coming to me to join. I’ve also learned how to provide ongoing value to maintain my team and get them results too.
The success I’ve achieved is amazing, and I had no idea how many others I’d be able to help have their own breakthroughs and create profitable businesses. Not a day goes by without messages and emails from people thanking me for helping them. I don’t say this to brag, I’m extremely grateful for this and you can have the same impact, you just have to take the first step and this community can help you do that.
I’m happier than I’ve even been; I’m growing more as a person and getting better and better each day. I’m able to live the life I want, travel in the realm of 3-4 months out of the year, and impact more lives.
This isn’t about the money for me, I can walk back into the corporate world and command a 6 figure income, it’s about the freedom.
I didn’t come in knowing it all, leaders figure it out, and with MLSP in your corner you don’t have to figure it out alone. If you plug in, follow what other successful members have done, take action, and always be a student, this will happen for you too.
Success in anything starts with mindset, so here’s a few principles that really changed my business:
1. Make a decision that you’re gonna do this, don’t “try it out.” Imagine if someone “tried” to be a surgeon and quit after 6 months of university because they didn’t make any money.
2. Treat this like any other business; it takes time to acquire the skill set to become successful. And realize that you need to invest in yourself, every other business on the planet does, and you need to as well.
3. In contrast to number 2 (I’m not perfect haha), also treat your business like a job. Have a set of deliverables that you must complete, and treat them as if they were duties at a job, what would happen if you didn’t do what your boss told you to do…
4. Find those who have achieved the success you want, and model them. Get around them, and if you can, get them to mentor or coach you, this will be the fastest way to succeed.
5. Embrace the learning curve. Every time you fail, you are one step closer to success. It’s not supposed to be easy. You’re supposed to fall along the way, that’s what separates those who make it from those who don’t.
Consistency is key, do what you need to, day in, day out, no matter how you feel. Your vision is the only thing that will keep you consistent. Get very clear on the vision of the person you want to become, have a solid vision of what you want to create, and when you feel like you’re going off course, revisit that vision. Your vision needs to be so big, that everything else seems small in comparison.
Thank you to MLSP for this platform that changed my whole business and a large part of my life. I appreciate being selected as Member of the Month and I hope my bio has been able to inspire you to take massive action.
Go out there and create the life you dreamed of. I believe in you… – Kay Somji
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