Today I am so excited to welcome to the show Tyronica Carter. She is one of Paparazzi’s biggest stars and newest Elite Leaders! Hold onto your bling, cuz this show is gonna blow you away!
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Today I am so excited to welcome to the show Tyronica Carter. She is one of Paparazzi’s biggest stars and newest Elite Leaders!
Tyronica has reached the rank of Fashionista in Paparazzi. She is Crown 25 and as of this recording, she has 3004 team members. Isn’t that amazing?!
Tyronica has been a full time teacher for 15 years and she has also been married for 15 years. They have 2 boys that are just adorable. If you see them on Facebook, you will be like, “stay away from my teenage girls, cuz you guys are heartthrobs”.
In 2015 and 2016 she won the Paparazzi incentive trips. That is where I first met her was on the trip in Cabo. And also in 2016, Tyronica won Rock the Runway so she has one of the Zi collection necklaces named after her.
Now if you are super lucky in the future, they will bring that back from the Paparazzi time capsule, but odds are that if you weren’t there and you did not snag a Tyronica, you’re not going to get to because it’s that special. Just available in 2016.
Tyronica did I leave anything out?
Tyronica: I think you did a good job, Awnya.
Awnya: Awesome. Well let’s just right into the questions for today.
What got you started with Paparazzi??
Tyronica: I began Paparazzi March 2015. And 2 years prior to that, I was doing a vending event because I also make and sell handmade candles and air freshener. And so I was doing an event vending my candles and there was a girl there selling Paparazzi.
This was 2013, and I noticed how everyone was going over to the counter. I saw $5 jewelry. So mozied over there myself and I even bought a few pieces. I spoke with the girl, her name is Lisa Hill. She is my sponsor now. And I spoke with her about the opportunity.
She told me about it and I was like “Wow, this is cool but you know, I’m just now starting my candle business, which is my baby, I make them myself. And I really want to work on my candle business and build it up. Like you said, I’m a teacher. I was learning about marketing my candles and I was learning about networking. I just wasn’t ready to add anything else. So for 2 years, believe it or not, Lisa and I chatted back and forth.
There were times I called her and I said, “Ok Lisa, I’m ready! I want to start it.” I left her cold. I didn’t start. She would follow up with me every now and then but I just wasn’t’ ready.
Finally, in 2015, I told my husband at the beginning of the year, I’m ready for us to add a new stream of income. And I said, “I think I want to do the jewelry business.” He said right away…he was supportive and he said, “I think you will do really good at that. You love costume jewelry and you can work it.”
So I called Lisa and I set up a meeting and I said, “Okay, this time I’m serious. I wanna do the business.” My husband and I met with her for lunch. Little did I know that the starter kit had become $99 because I was prepared to pay the $300 (which I should have done anyway because I sold that much jewelry my first month). But I joined and from there, as they say, the rest is history.
I’m so excited that I made the decision to do so because it has been awesome since that day.
Awnya: I love your story. And another thing that we actually chatted about in the pre-interview chat is that you have a husband and you have 2 boys so you needed some estrogen in your life. You needed that girl time. We’re glad to have you.
Tyronica: I did! I definitely needed that girl time and to do girly fun stuff. So that was a good plus as well.
Awnya: Another thing that I just wanted to highlight in what you just said for everybody listening is- you didn’t jump right in right away. A lot of times, people don’t. It took you 2 years. Lisa had to be persistent. She had to follow up.
If she just would have been like, “This girl’s never gonna do it,” after the first couple times, we wouldn’t have you and several other Elite Leaders that are under you, teams rocking like crazy, if she’d just let it go.
Tyronca: Right! I use that story a lot with my team to tell them that because I let them know. Hey, when someone tells you no or they’re not interested or they just kinda give you the cold shoulder, we know, all the time we say, no means Next Opportunity. This wasn’t their opportunity to do it so there will be another opportunity.
I gave Lisa the runaround for 2 years. There were times I called her and said, “I’m ready”. And then I would just not call her back to sign up. So I was that person for her for 2 years. But when I finally signed up, she didn’t doubt me or put me off. She said, “Okay, let’s meet up.” And from here, I signed up. I was ready. That person has to be ready.
Awnya: What a great testament to that follow up and that pushin it, grinding it out until it is the right time for somebody.
What is your why? Why do you do Paparazzi?
Tyronica: My why is that as many of you know, educators, we have a hard job and we don’t get paid a lot of money. I’ve been teaching 15 years with a Master’s degree and even that check was not putting myself and my husband and my family in a financial situation that we felt like we were stable enough to pay our mortgage and pay our car notes.
So as I said, I started my candle business which was good, but again, it was something I was building, my baby, myself up. So I didn’t know a lot about marketing and networking and stuff so the business was ok, but of course it would have never covered or taken over my income the way now that Paparazzi is beginning to.
So I started Paparazzi because I said, “You know what, let me get at least another $500 a month coming in the house,” not really knowing the business, that was my goal. “Let me get another $500 additional a month.”
And so I began Paparazzi and the first month, I signed 4 people, made Director and my check was like, “ok!” It wasn’t $500 but it was more than what I was expecting. And also knowing what I had made on hand sales that month, I said “Okay, this looks okay!”
And so that was my why. My why was to make additional income. And then, another thing I tell my team all the time, is as you begin to hit certain goals in your Paparazzi why, your why changes. So over these past year and a half, my why has changed a lot.
So then it became, “You know what, this is really cool. I’m learning a lot”. A lot of us, we grow up and our parents teach us, go to school, get a job, go to work. We aren’t always taught Entrepreneurship.
So then my why became to teach my children about owning a business. Working for themselves. And I’ve learned so much and then they are seeing me work in my business that they’re learning about it as well. So that’s one of my whys.
I wanted to get out of the classroom. That’s another reason as my why begins to change. This business could actually get me out of the classroom and be home more and spend more time with my boys. Even though they are getting older and growing up on me, I still haven’t been that mom to them that I want to be or the mom that I expect my student’s parents to be to them. So my why continues to change.
Now, my goals, a lot of them, I’m meeting them. So one of my next why’s is to not only get myself out of the classroom but to retire my husband eventually.
Awnya: That’s beautiful. And you actually even took care of my follow-up question with, “What has your why changed into now?”. I didn’t send you that one, but it’s so true. When you start, things are different than when you have 3000 people on your team and you’re a Fashionista. It has to grow and evolve doesn’t it?
Tyronica: It definitely does. And you’re not even in that mind frame when you begin. You can’t even imagine what your mind frame and what you’re gonna be thinking a year and a half and when you grow and when you reach the rank of Fashionista.
It’s amazing just how you grow as a person and the way you look at things, change. And that has definitely happened with me with Paparazzi. And I just can’t’ imagine how else my why can change and grow because I feel like those are my ultimate whys is to retire myself and my husband and to live a lifestyle that we want to live of being able to have our own time and money and have control over that.
Awnya: Won’t that be amazing?! I can’t wait to see that Facebook post!
So now we are going to take a bit of a shift because a lot of the consultants out there, myself, I used to be included in this, I’ll admit it. We believe that the Elite, you guys are super human. And so this next questions is designed to let everybody know that you guys have bad moments too, some of them worse than what we experience. And you’ve trudged through them and you’ve kept going despite all of that and you’ve learned from it.
So take us to that moment in time that is your worst Paparazzi moment.
Tyronica: I believe that my worst Paparazzi moment has to be, and this has happened to me a couple times, where I have had people host Facebook parties for me and I’ve been the only person in the party.
You know, where they have invited several people, I have gone in, no one is interacting. No one has bought anything and not even the hostess sometimes is interacting.
I remember the first time that happened to me. And luckily the first time it happened to me wasn’t the first Facebook party I had because I can only image what my reaction would have been then. It may have been a couple of months in, and I just wanted to stop. But I didn’t because my prior Facebook parties, I had so much fun.
It was fun interacting with the people and I had kinda had the hope that, “You know what?! Maybe if these people aren’t here, they’re going to come in later. They’re busy right now. They’re doing homework right now with their kids. They’re cooking dinner, so they can’t come right now.”
So I kept posting and I kept posting. I don’t wanna say it made me feel any better. It didn’t. It was still lonely. I continued to post the games and play the games. Like, you know, people were there. I just continued the party as if people were there. But then that’s happened to me several times.
What is the lesson that you learned from that?
Tyronica: The lesson I learned from that was: use those bad experiences as practice. As I continued to post in the party, I got good practice out of that, cuz, like I said, I didn’t post or continue to post. I didn’t rush through it as if, “Okay, nobody’s here let me just do this.” I didn’t do that.
I ran that party the way that I wouldn’t have run that party if there was 50 people in there. And so I believe that what I learned from that is that I can use that experiences as a practice moment because it may happen again. Or when I do my next Facebook, “Oh, I did something different in that party that I can use in my next one.” So that’s what I want people to learn.
When you have any bad experience, and that one is mine, I’ve had the bad experience, of course we’ve all had the bad experience of opening a piece of jewelry and it breaking on you. Or it didn’t come out right. So use that experience as a practice moment, you know?! “How can I continue to make that better? Or let me keep going through this difficult moment so if it happens to me again, I’ll know exactly what to do from that.”
Awnya: I love that you say that you can always learn and you can always continue to grow. Because that is a constant thing. No matter what rank you are at in Paparazzi, you can always continue to grow, right?
Tyronica: Yes!
What is a habit you have that contributes to your success?
Tyronica: One habit you I have that I feel contributes to my success is that I always try to outdo myself. I know its kind a cliche-ish and people say all the time, “You are your biggest competitor. Look at the person in the mirror, that’s your biggest competition.” To me, I take that to heart. That is absolutely true. That is my habit. I continue to outdo myself. I compete with myself.
Trent always says to, “Do better this month than you did the month before.” I remember the first time that I heard him say that and I was like, “That’s it! That’s what I do!”
That’s my habit that I am. I’m always looking at, “Okay. If I did add 1 consultant this week then next week, I want to try to do 2.” Or “I did this many last month, how can I do better this month?”. So that’s my habit that I’m continually challenging myself.
I feel like I definitely hold myself to high standards. And that’s a notch that I want to reach. Just imaging the kid that as they continue to grow and practice. There’s a string hanging from their ceiling at home and they go and they’re jumping and they are trying to reach that ceiling.
They don’t necessarily have to always grow taller to reach that string. They can reach that string by running faster to jump higher, they can reach that string by stretching of by doing whatever they need to to better themselves so as they continue to practice and practice and practice working on their jump, their reach, their aim. That’s gonna make them reach that string at the top.
So that is definitely something that I practice that I feel like contributes to my success is that I do outdo myself. I don’t compare myself with other people.
I do see other people in other teams, other people on my team who started asking me, who are doing a great job and I applaud their success. I don’t compare myself with them. My path and my destination is my own. I’m not on this path or road per say with somebody. I work with my team members – we’re all doing this together, but my path and my destination is my own.
Awnya: One of my all-time favorite quotes, and it comes from someone named John Lee Dumas, he has a podcast that I absolutely adore, but he says, “Compare and despair.” What he means by that is that you shouldn’t be comparing yourself with others.
You should be comparing yourself with the version of yourself yesterday. And that’s exactly what you are talking about here. You’re trying to exceed yourself. The only person you are comparing yourself to is yourself yesterday. Anybody else, it doesn’t matter what they are doing. You gotta stay in your lane and focus.
Tyronica: Exactly. Yes! Indeed. And I think a lot of people lose focus when they do that. When you’re trying to keep up, as that old quote says, “Keep up with the jones’”. You know, it’s nice to look at the Jones’ and it’s nice to say “Congratulations, High 5!”
You know, but a lot of us, and especially as women, we tend to carry envy in our hearts. And, “Oh! What are they doing?” And you can’t do that. You have to focus on yourself. And I believe that comes with a lot of self-love and a lot of intrinsic motivation and you have to have that within yourself to do better and to succeed and surpass those things.
Awnya: And everybody’s journey is going to be different whether it’s your Paparazzi journey or your journey in life. God has a plan for everybody and it’s not all the same just like we are all not the same. So comparing to somebody else’s journey, it’s just gonna make you unhappy. Love that!
What is a piece of advice you would give to a brand new Paparazzi consultant just starting out in their business?
Tyronica: When I have my new consultants join, one thing I love to tell them, is you MUST brand yourself!
That’s the number one advice I give anybody who’s beginning Paparazzi. You have to brand yourself. You’re the jewelry girl now. So because of that, you need to go out there and show that. You can’t sell jewelry if no one knows your jewelry girl.
You can’t have people to join your team if they don’t know what they’re joining and you aren’t showing them that. So brand yourself. People buy into you. They don’t necessarily buy into the product. They aren’t necessarily buying into Paparazzi when they purchase from you. They’re purchasing from you because you have branded yourself.
When they join you team, they’re joining you as their leader because you have branded yourself and shown yourself approved as the jewelry girl.
Be consistent, especially when you feel like giving up. A lot of times you hit that road we wanna give up. That consistency has to be there. And once you’ve branded yourself that consistency will come.
So brand yourself as a jewelry girl.
Awnya: And I can attest to the fact that Tyronica, she does this herself. I see it every day on Facebook and I follow her just because everything is so uplifting and so positive. And its constant, everyday and I love it. And it’s not always like, “Hey buy jewelry from me. Hey join my team.” Sometimes it’s just a thought, but they’re always positive, they’re always uplifting. She posts pictures of herself wearing jewelry. If I did not have a jewelry girl, I would know who to go to because she is consistent and she has branded herself.
What would you suggest to a consultant who is feeling stuck in their business? What is 1 thing you would tell them to do?
Tyronica: I would tell that consultant to Follow the Leader. One of the things that I preach and I tell my team all the time on our calls and our videos is to follow the leader. When I first started Paparazzi and I was stuck because I had not a clue about marketing, business. I’m a teacher, I don’t’ know those things.
When those emails come out every Wednesday, I look for the top leaders. I was like, “Who is it that is at the top? Who is getting the kudos every week?”
And I found those people on Facebook and I befriended them. And I looked to see. I didn’t necessarily look to see exactly what they were doing but more or less the style of what they were doing.
I realized a lot of things I needed to change up about how I was putting it out there, so I looked to see what these people were doing and then I tweaked it so that it could be me, you know. A lot of times we like to share and do things that we see other people doing, which is ok, but you definitely have to make it your own.
When your friends and the people that are following you on social media, they see things, they’ll say, “Okay that must be a scripted something because that doesn’t sound like her.” However when you put into your own words, into your own passion, then you begin to draw the attention of the people who know you, that are following you. Being stuck means that you’ve reached your minds peak of imagination. It doesn’t mean that there’s nowhere else to go.
Sometimes that’s all we know or we don’t know what else to do. So your imagination has kind of reached its peak, so I would say again, Follow the Leader. Befriend the top consultants in the company.
I tell my team, another thing I tell them all the time, is, “My Paparazzi and your Paparazzi is the only Paparazzi you see in your timeline, it’s not enough. Its not enough. You have to befriend other people. Even people outside of your team.” Find other people and befriend them because you need to revamp and refresh your ideas and by surrounding yourself with other Paparazzi consultants that will get you there.
I think, my gosh, I probably befriended in the past year and a half maybe 400-500 Paparazzi consultants. I did say befriend the top leaders, but there are some people who are Directors and Premier Directors and Executive Directors who are on top of their game, so you want to find those people too.
There’s a lot of people who are on the leaders board who are not always Elite. They are people who are just maybe starting out. More people who have just kinda the light bulb clicked and they are starting to build their business too. So those people who you are seeing always kinda in little Paparazzi circle or just outside the circle, that’s who you want to befriend. Those people who continue to give you life and vision for your business. Because that’s gonna help you to get out of that rut that you feel like you are in.
Awnya: So the thing that I loved about what you just said there is you’re looking for new ideas by networking with other people, you’re looking at what they are doing. Because, I mean, it’s great to have a team, but sometimes you’ll get new fresh ideas from people on another team. So it’s great to network to get those new ideas, to keep things fresh, but also you want to network UP.
By looking at who’s leading the pack, but looking and who’s on those leader boards, you are seeing who is driven, who is motivated, who is growing. You don’t necessarily, this is going to sound bad, but you don’t want to reach down when you are networking people. If you’re reaching down, if you’re reaching to the sides, you are not going to grow as fast or as much as if you reach up. And you’re making friends with people who are more positive, more driven, more successful.
That goes in life. It goes in Paparazzi. It goes with whatever you do. So you want to make sure that you are networking up and reaching. Because that’s where you want to go, right.
Tyronica: Or those people that are growing with you. So definitely reach up, because that is exactly what I did when I first joined. But you also have those people that are growing with you, so you are riding that ride together. So if you are the same rank, as long as you guys are growing together and that person is continuing to give you those nuggets and feed you with that positivity. And you’re seeing that they are making progression as well, then that’s definitely that’s who you want to see in your news feed as well.
Awnya: Absolutely. Somebody else said, “You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with” and I think that, in a greater extent, that’s Facebook too. If you’re spending time with some Debbie-downers or some people that are just complaining all the time, you’re not going to grow and exceed as fast as if you are finding those people who are the movers and the shakers.
Or if the people that you are surrounding are those positive, uplifting examples.
Like when you talked about your husband, in the beginning, he wasn’t like “Girl, you are a full time teacher, you sell candles. What are you doing trying to take on a jewelry business?!” He was like, “You know what?! Do it!” And that is the kind of people you want to surround yourself with. Those that are going to lift you up. I love that.
We could talk about this all night because it is one of my passion subjects! Let’s keep moving on.
What is a quote that inspires you?
Tyronica: I love quotes. I love the fact that…As a matter of fact, when I do my newsletter for my class every week, I google inspirational quotes from parents and I put that at the top of my newsletter every week. One thing I love is that our founder, Trent Kirby, I love going to his page and looking at his quotes. And there’s so many there. But the one that he’s recently posted that gave me an “Ah-ha, I love it, that’s it!” moment, he said,
And that quote right there was just like a drop the mic quote for Paparazzi and for any person that’s pursuing a dream. So many times, we’re saying, “my team is not doing this.” and “I can’t motivate them” and “they’re not doing this” and I tell people all the time, “look, those are grown people.”
We learned at convention that we don’t motivate, we can only inspire you’re team. When you are working with grown people who want to make their business, you can’t MAKE them do it. So this quote was just so on point when he said that if they are excited about it and its something that they’re passionate about and that they really want, they don’t have to be pushed.
What is their vision? What is their why for Paparazzi? Why are they doing this? Where is it that they want to be? I gave my team, and I did this last year too, I told them to make a goal for Dec 31, 2017. We don’t just do monthly goals. What is your goal for this whole year?
So that is your vision. And if that’s your vision straight ahead, they your monthly goals are going to be the stepping stones that we are going to take every week, every month to get to Dec 31. So that quote right there was just so perfect and on time for what your position as a consultant with Paparazzi should be.
You shouldn’t have to look for your upline to do incentives every month in order for you to be pushed to sign so many consultants. It shouldn’t be, “Oh! Whoever signs 5 people this month is going to get…” That shouldn’t be what’s pushing you, your drive and your vision.
You should say, “Hey, I wanna get out of the classroom. I don’t care what Lisa is offering. I’m going to surpass whatever she says anyways because that is my drive. And what is driving me is that I have a goal and I have something that I’m striving for and I’m not stopping until I get to that finish line.” So that quote right there I really love and I think it’s perfect for being a Paparazzi consultant.
Awnya: I completely agree with you. I love that one
What is a book you’d say is a must read and why?
Tyronica: There’s a book that I read years before I became a consultant, years before I started selling my jewelry. I don’t even know why my husband and I have this book (I think we may have gotten it at a garage sale) cuz I didn’t have any businesses or anything like that.
But it’s called “Getting Past No, Negotiating in Difficult situation” by William Ury. And I like this book because it, of course, one of the biggest things that we have in Paparazzi is recruiting and people telling us no or people saying, “Well, when I get paid”, or “this weekend. We’ll talk this weekend”. We always have someone that just doesn’t give us that yes.
As a matter of fact there is another book that I plan on reading soon, there’s one he has out that’s called, “Getting to Yes”.
But I love it because in the book, he gives you 5 simple methods for negotiating with anyone. When you’re thinking (and it’s not just about Paparazzi)… maybe it’s because I read it before I became a consultant, it’s just negotiation period.
When it comes to anything in life that you’re trying to get past no with anyone for. I would definitely say read this book. Apply the 5 methods that he speaks of, to your Paparazzi business and how you can “negotiate” getting that person to join your team and getting past no.
Awnya: Oh! I’ll have to check that one out! It’s not one I’ve heard of before but I love new book resources, so I’ll have to check that one out.
Here on the Papa Rock Stars Podcast, I like to give a weekly call challenge.
So what is 1 thing you would challenge the listeners to do in the next 7 days to take action in their Paparazzi business?
Tyronica: I’m glad you asked! So you say what is 1 thing, so I’m gonna give you 1 thing that’s 4 in 1!
I have… I came up with it early spring last year. The branding, I spoke of that a few minutes ago. And I said -what can a new consultant…what would I tell them to do. And I tell them, brand yourself. That comes with a 4 step process that when I have new consultants, I tell them to brand themselves and I tell them to do their first 7 days in Paparazzi, this is what I tell them to do.
1- Get Noticed. Post every day. Begin to wear and model your jewelry every day. Tag close friends that don’t mind getting tagged. Like for my husband, he’s getting tagged in everything. I tag him in almost everything so if you have a friend, sister, someone who doesn’t mind, when you are doing that, you are getting noticed, and you are also bringing in new people that you wouldn’t have been able to reach out before because you are tagging somebody. So you’re reaching out to their friends as well. So first 7 days, Get Noticed.
2- You have to Build Trust with your social media people. People don’t trust what they don’t see. So you are going to start showing people that you are working your business and how your business is working for you.
So in those 7 days, not only are you getting noticed but you are giving them tidbits of how you are working your business. Carrying your bag around. You are going to show them how, “Oh my gosh, here I am at the gas station and the lady just saw my bag in my car and just asked what it was” or those type.
You wanna post those things. So, show people how you are working your business. Especially if it’s fitting into your everyday life. You’re at work and you’re wearing your necklace and your co-worker asks you about it and you say, “oh! I’ve got the same one in my car!” And you pull it out in the office and you make $50.
So post those things. Okay?! That’s how you build trust with people. And you have to consistently do all of these things.
3- Build Loyalty. I say all the time, “don’t be the next fly by night direct sales consultant.” I don’t’ want to step on any toes with that one cuz I know a lot of people who are in a lot of other direct sales companies, however, you want to try to build loyalty with the company that you are having an ultimate goal with.
So show and let people know how much you love and believe in Paparazzi. They have to know you are THE Paparazzi girl. At this point, I’m just known everywhere as, “Do you have your jewelry?!” “There’s that jewelry girl over there!”
Family members, I’m the butt of all the jokes about that, but that’s ok, I’ll be that. They know that I have that loyalty to my company. You know, they aren’t going to catch me in a whole bunch of jewelry that’s not Paparazzi.
4- Build Customers. Make your 50 PV every month! Make that 50 PV every month. When you build customers, you build them by having the newest and up to date inventory. Keep your stock fresh and with you at all times, so in these next 7 days, make sure you are buying the newest and the latest inventory and that you have your 50PV.
Getting your 50 PV only ensures that you have the newest and up to day inventory. So keep it fresh. So I’ll go back real quick. This week, get noticed, build trust, build loyalty and build your customers.
Awnya: Bam! What a way to end off the show! Like seriously. I’m like, I’ve got my next 7 days covered, I know what I’m doing!!
I love it, well, Tyronica, I have pages of notes! I just appreciate you coming on the show and sharing these tidbits with us because I know that it will make somebody else just explode their business and I appreciate you.
Tyronica: Definitely. I love helping people and you know, like you said, Elite people are just normal people. I’m a teacher. I say that all the time, like, guys! I feel like I’m up against other people who are business people.
I’m a teacher, a mom, and this is new to me, but I feel like my success is contributed to because I love it. And I show it and my enthusiasm with the business and in my posts. And I just want other people to have that same success and have that same feeling of achievement and accomplishment in this business.
Awnya: And that passion, it really is contagious. People they want to be around it.
Thank you again for listening to today’s call to all of our listeners and for Tyronica for joining us.
Show Notes
Tyronica Carter: Paparazzi Jewelry Elite Leader Interview – printable show notes