Today, I had the honor of interviewing Dawn Ortiz, one of Paparazzi’s newest Elite Leaders at the time this episode was recorded. Dawn is a sweetheart and has some great info and advice to share with you!
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Today I’m joined by Dawn Ortiz. Dawn has been with Paparazzi for 4 1/2 years and she is one of our newest executive producers which is elite level. She is crown club 25 and life of the party gold. Dawn has 637 team members and 130 of those are personally sponsored.
Dawn has won 1 1/2 trips this year to the Dominican Republic also won the trip last year to Cabo and a cruise in past years. Dawn has 2 kids ages 22 and 25 and she lives in Virginia. Dawn also won Rock the Rock the Runway in 2016 so there is a necklace named “The Dawn” it is beautiful and a matching bracelet and it sold out. It was the first necklace to sell out from the Zi collection. I cried cuz I didn’t even get one.
One of the biggest honors, I feel like in Paparazzi to win that, and Dawn did it! Now 3 months after Dawn joined Paparazzi, her sponsor quit. So she compressed up to Lisa Ambercrombie who is another Elite leader and who lives only 10 minutes away from dawn.
So Dawn, I’m going to go a little off script here and I’m going to ask you a question I didn’t send you, but I think you will get my point with it. Have you found that it’s difficult being 10 minutes away from another Elite leader?
Dawn: No, I actually absolutely love it. A lot of people ask that question or have that comment that if they were to sign up to be a Paparazzi consultant there’s too many consultants in the area or the area is saturated and I can 100% attest to that not being a true thing.
Even if you have a ton of consultants in your area cuz the fact that Lisa and I do live 10 minutes from one another in our tiny town, well to me it’s tiny cuz I’m originally from New York. But, it’s 26,000 people and there’s about 15 consultants in our town including me and Lisa who are in the Elite rankings and we do not compete for business or for events or customers.
It’s actually a benefit to be so close to one another and have other consultants cuz we’re like a little family and if there’s inventory that we need for a customer that maybe we don’t have, one of our team members maybe has it.
If there’s events that we can’t do we share it with one another. So we just have this great little family and network so I love being close to Lisa. She is just awesome so the fact that I’m just 10 minutes from her is the Bomb-diggety.
Awnya: I love it! I knew that was going to be your answer that’s why I kinda threw that one at you at the last second.
It’s great to have that support system and I feel like it comes down to and abundance mindset vs. a scarcity mindset which is actually a call topic I have coming up on another episode.
But when you are just walking around saying “Oh I have all these problems. Oh, there’s all these people,” then of course that’s gonna happen in your life but if you’re like, “There’s enough customers for everybody and there’s enough business for everybody and being close to these other consultants is a blessing!” then that’s what is going to be in your life. And you definitely live that, both you and Lisa.
Dawn: Absolutely!
Awnya: Let’s jump into the questions that I actually sent you!
How did you get started with Paparazzi??
Dawn: Well, please forgive me if I cough in between every one. When I talk, I get out of breath, but when I talk about Paparazzi I get excited too because I love it so much. I normally get out of breath even without bronchitis, so now with it, makes is doubly tough.
But the way I got started with Paparazzi was at a music festival there was someone with a booth. Actually Lisa was there with a booth with another consultant. And I saw this big sign that said 4 for $20 and I was immediately drawn to that.
I was like “How could this jewelry be 4 for $20?! No way!” I just started grabbing jewelry and I found out that it was something I could do myself. And I didn’t even wait for the consultant to call me. I went home and researched and discovered that this is something that I know that I could do. And I called that consultant up and asked a few questions that I had and that was it!
And the rest is history.
Awnya: When you called her, did she answer right away? Did she have to return your phone call?
Dawn: She pretty much answered me right away and she answered my questions. I was just really blown away by what I discovered about the company. Two of my most important questions that I had that I couldn’t really find he answers to when I did the research was 1- Do I have to order jewelry every month even if I don’t need to order jewelry like if I didn’t have any parties going on or anything.
Little did I know that that would never happen! I always sell a ton of jewelry every month. But I had been in Direct Sales Companies before. Two other ones like a long time ago and that was one of the things that I didn’t like about it. That you had to place orders every month to maintain maybe your discount or just your privileges as a consultant. And that was a good thing that I learned from her that I didn’t have to do with Paparazzi.
And I can’t remember what the other questions was right now that I asked her. But maybe it will come up later in the call.
Awnya: There you go.
What is your why? Why do you do Paparazzi?
Dawn: When I originally found it, my job of choice was daycare. I started a daycare in my home and I was very successful with that. I was a single mom with my 2 kids. Even though they were in their teens, my daughter might have been 20, my daughter has a lot of medical issues and she always has since she was 10. That’s why I ran a daycare in my home cuz I couldn’t have a conventional job where I could go for 9-5 so to speak and be able to go to all these doctors’ appointments and help her with all the needs that she has.
So I had my daycare but I also had my dad who lived with me. My dad is 90 now and he lives near my brother in Florida. But at the time when I had my dad, his income also helped me so I was okay with just doing my daycare.
Then my dad went to go move with my brother in Florida and I knew that I needed something else, I needed more income. Paparazzi just happened to be there right at this time of transition for me, when I knew I needed something. I knew that that was the thing I needed.
So that became my why. To just have enough income to be able to continue to stay home and do my daycare and be able to take care of my daughter the way I needed to. And it very quickly became something that grew more than I could ever imagine, right away when I first started Paparazzi.
So I immediately saw the potential and saw the big picture of what it could be and downsized my daycare even, taking on less children and then eventually to where I am now where I don’t do daycare at all, I just do Paparazzi.
Awnya: Is that still why you do Paparazzi or has your why changed at all since when you first started?
Dawn: Yes! So the original why is still there, to make enough money to support my family and my life. That will always be part of it. But gradually as I grew in the company and started to have more people on my team, my why got additions to it. Additional whys, I call them.
I just absolutely love being able to help teach other women, or men, there’s a few men, how to run and start their own successful businesses as well because I know it changed my life. To be able to be a part of helping other people do the same things is absolutely unbelievably fulfilling to me and it just brings me so much joy.
And so that has become part of my why to help other people to do the same. And just the overwhelming joy of getting to know so many team members and customers. I love my customers too. And so many people who aren’t on my team but are also in the company, like you. And having such wonderful friends and looking forward to getting together with them. So it’s all a big, big why.
Awnya: We are going to jump into one of my favorite questions.
What is your worst Paparazzi moment? Take us to that moment in time, draw us a picture of what that moment was for you.
Dawn: Okay. Well, I kinda have 2 that I thought of and one is probably one that many people have had happen to them before. It’s setting up for an event, and you know you do all this prep work and you get your boards ready that you display your jewelry on. You have all these ideas for your setup and you get to an event and this is an outdoor event and boom! The wind just knocks everything over.
And this actually was one my first events that I booked on my own, cuz my sponsor helped me book a couple of events or she had events already booked and I had done them. But this was like my first one. It was a huge one and it was a lot of people. My whole setup was destroyed. I lost so much jewelry and it was just pretty bad.
And pretty bad to happen when I first started, I could have said, “Oh, that’s it. I’m done.” But I didn’t. And I just kept going with it and I’m glad I didn’t give up because of that.
But the other worst moment, it’s not really a worst moment, it’s just a moment that stands out to me as a moment of feeling defeated and just feeling like,”What else can I do to get to the goal that I’m trying to get to?? If I did all of this, what could I possibly do? I don’t feel like I could do anymore!”
It was this past year. Paparazzi has this contest that’s called Rock the Runway, which Awnya told you that I had earned. And each month 2 consultants earn a spot to get a necklace named after them and walk the runway to model this necklace. And I so, so wanted that so badly. I wanted to have a necklace for myself with my name on it. I didn’t want to model because I’m too shy to do that, but I did wind up doing it.
Every month, I gave it my all. It’s like, for 4 months the competition runs and they choose 8 people. They actually choose 10, but they choose 2 each month. I did everything I possibly could do and I was on that leader’s board in like 3 or 4th place, sometimes 1st or 2nd cuz they updated each week. And then Boom! At the end of the month they show who the winners were.
Every single month, I just missed it. I just fell short of getting that runway. I would feel so defeated. And just like crawl in a hole and say, “Oh my goodness. I’m never gonna get this. I’m not gonna do it.” and I took a day to feel sorry for myself.
And then I was just like “Ok, I gotta do it again. I gotta try again.” And I did it again. I did it for 4 months. And every month I came in like 3rd or 4th place. And it was so devastating that last month when I opened up that email to see who the winners were and I was very happy for the winners and excited for them.
I told my boyfriend Earl, “I didn’t do it. I didn’t make it.” I was almost about to cry and I scrolled down the email and then I saw that they choose 2 other winners and these were the people who earned the most points throughout the whole 4 months. And so it’s kinda like my worst moment but also a most wonderful moment cuz then I was like – I said to Earl, “I didn’t do it.” and it took like maybe 5 seconds to scroll down and realize, “But I did do it!” and I was just like screams with joy and I was so happy.
And it turned out that in retrospect, looking back at those 4 months, feeling defeated each and every month, that I actually felt happier about my accomplishment and the win that I did get because it showed that I had consistency and that I didn’t give up even though I had lost it each month. And so I felt proud of myself because of that very reason. Does that make sense?
So I was just so excited about that!
Awnya: With good right! It’s like I tell my kids sometimes, If I just buy this for you, like a candy bar or something, it’s not going to mean near as much as if you have to work for it and then you get the reward afterwards. It’s so much more rewarding. You value things so much more when you have that struggle and you have to work for it.
So what is the lesson you want us to learn from this?
Dawn: Do not give up. That’s like one of the number one things in this business is not to give up when things don’t seem to being to going the way you want them to be going or you feel they should be, just realize that it’s an up and down road and not give up because good things are comin’ to those who persist and don’t give up!
What is a habit you have that you feel contributes to your success.
Dawn: Definitely what I just said about not giving up. Anytime anything seems hard or tough I have a lot of patience to stick things out and not give up, but one thing that I teach my team that is very, very important and it’s not easy to do and it is a habit. It’s something that you have to work towards, is being consistent. Consistency is a major, major key in running your business.
If I was to give you an example of it, a lot of us have Facebook sales groups where we sell jewelry on Facebook. If you post some jewelry in your group one day and you skip several days and then you post again, people don’t get used to seeing you. You’re not there. You’re not like a store out in the public world that’s open every day. You are just whenever kind of person. And you’re not going to have great success in selling in a group of that sort.
But if you are consistent and you do the same things all the time, every day, people get used to seeing that, they get used to seeing your business and your right there always in their sights. So being consistent is major. Even if it’s not something that you do every day but that you set to do once a week or twice a week, you stick to what you say you are going to do and that will take you a long way when you grow your team and with your sales as well.
Awnya: A lot of times, its’ hard, especially when you don’t see those immediate results. Like with Rock the Runway like you were just telling us about. You could have quit after the first month, or the second month, or the third month and said, “You know what? It’s just not happening.” But you stuck it through.
What advice would you give to a brand new Paparazzi consultant?
Dawn: I would most definitely tell them to take in as much knowledge as they can about how to run their business and to listen to those who are teaching them who are above them in their upline because when your upline is telling you different things that have worked or does work, they are telling you from experience.
They’re giving you these guidelines and showing you where to begin even before you get your starter kit. And so by listening to that and by applying the information they are giving you is so super important cuz that’s what’s going to get you off on the right foot.
Just be eager to learn and apply what you learned and start yourself right off knowing that you need to be consistent and that’s how a business gets off the ground is by someone putting in all this effort and consistency.
Awnya: I love what you said about listening to the voice of experience. A lot of times, I’m classic, jumping in and I feel like I have to reinvent everything. So I’ll find like a Bingo and I’m like, “I have to reinvent that”. And I spend so much time trying to re-invent the wheel that I miss other things.
So listen to the voice of experience. They’ve been there, they’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have and just do what they say.
Dawn: Right! And not that people can’t come up with new and fresh ideas cuz that is always wonderful. That’s always a great thing. That’s what keeps our business exciting. New stuff!
That’s one of the things I love about it is that there’s always something fun and new to try and do. But the basics. The basics are the basics. If you learn those, then you can grow from there and be as creative as you want to be.
Awnya: I love that! That is perfect.
What is a quote that inspires you?
Dawn: I have this quote that I love. And actually, I think it is a quote that is from somebody somewhere. I should know who said this but I don’t. I just know it was in a song.
And basically if you think about that, it’s true of everything that we do, like, the words that I just said, the words ended and then a new word starts. It’s just so simple when you break it down. But in life, when you are doing anything in life, it’s gonna have a beginning and it’s going to have an end. And even if something doesn’t end the way you want it to end, there’s always a fresh start. I’m always about fresh starts.
My team knows that I love Mondays. A lot of people in the secular work world hate Mondays and dread Mondays. I absolutely love Mondays because I love what I do in my business. Not that I don’t do things on the weekend for my business but on Mondays new releases come out. New jewelry! I love it cuz I can’t wait to see them and post them and share they with my customer and I just can’t wait to get the day started.
I absolutely love New Years’ too. But I don’t just limit myself to new years and Mondays. The way I am with that quote is that everything has a new beginning, you can start over. Something didn’t work right? Just try something new. I’m very plan A. If plan A doesn’t work then go to plan B. And go all the way to Z and start over again if you need to. So that’s kinda that!
Awnya: Such a good quote.
Here on the Papa Rock Stars Podcast, we like to have a weekly call challenge, so what’s 1 thing you would challenge the listeners to do in the next 7 days to take action in their Paparazzi business?
Dawn: That’s a good question! I would challenge them to look at their goals and where they want to be. And not just their long term goals and in the future, like, I want to hit a certain rank or I want to do this or that within in the company but take a look at your short term goals that are going to get you where you want to go and implement a plan on how you are going to do it!
Now thinking about what your goals are and what you want is the easy part, it’s implementing the steps you need to take to get to that that is the harder part. So I would challenge anyone to sit down and see where it is in their business and what their strengths are and where they have found success before and to go back and to do it again and repeat.
Sometimes we get so far ahead of ourselves and things start to change a little bit and we’re like, “Why isn’t this working or why isn’t that working?” but if you think back to when things were working or look at others and see what’s working for them and you go back to that point and do that again, you will find that it will work again. Because just like we were talking about with reinventing the wheel we sometimes get so ahead of ourselves and want to try all these different things, it kinda keeps us off our path and our focus off where we want to go.
So I would challenge anyone to figure out what it was in your business or what is working now and continue to do that and expand on that and learn from others and set those goals and reach them because anyone can do this. It’s just a matter of focus and knowing what you want.
Awnya: I love that! Back to the basics. It’s always a good plan to get back to what works.
I’m a classic, “Shiny object syndrome”. Like, “Oh! This is new and fun!” and “Awe! This is exciting” and then I’m like, “Wait, my sales are down,” or “Wait, I haven’t gotten as many team members this months.” Do what works. Get back to those basics. It’s always good to try new things, but…
Dawn: I think its human nature that we do that because it’s just exciting to try new things and it’s always good to try new things and even if they don’t work out, its ok. Because you learn from everything.
I always try to find the silver lining in anything. If I have a bad event or if I didn’t sell as much at an event as I wanted. I always, always try to say, “Let me try to figure out what was good about this event instead of harping on the negative and the stuff that didn’t go the way it should have went, I try and focus on what was good. What was the good outcome of this? And you grow from that. And you learn from that. And when you have things that don’t go right, it’s OK because if you know that you’re gonna be a leader, you can now relate to other people who have those same issues come up. You can say, “Hey, I’ve been there, and I’ve done that and just know that it’s okay and that it’ll get better.”
Awnya: It’s so true. And this silver lining and your positive attitude is one of the things I love the most about you. Because you are so inspiring to be around. And even if someone is trying to complain, you always find something good about it. Like when pieces sell out too quickly from the back office. You’ll say, “Isn’t it so amazing, our products are so in demand!”
That’s just one of the many examples that I can think of right now, but it’s so neat to have such a positive influence in Paparazzi and as one of our top leaders. It’s such a good example for everybody else. Not only in Paparazzi, but it’s just a good way to live our life, with all that positivity.
Thank you for coming on the call today and sharing with us! I’ve taken so many notes and I’m sure everyone else has too!
Dawn: Thank you so much for inviting me to do this. This was fun! Thank you so much!
Show Notes
Dawn Ortiz, Paparazzi Elite Leader Interview – printable show transcript