When I traded my suits and heels for yoga pants and sneakers to stay at home with my firstborn I was lucky enough to join a local mom’s group where I met some awesome moms. Now that my kids are growing, I’ve also met some great mamas from preschool and other outside activities. I truly cherish these ladies as we are we’ve developed some amazing friendships that make me laugh and keep me sane.
While navigating the stay-at-home-mom world, I have also come across another kind of mama. The ones that immediately try to strike up a “friendship” only to find out there are ulterior motives. These women will always invite you to their social functions where they are selling something. Never out to drinks or dinner with no reason. They are the ones who stick by you closely trying to get you to join their selling pyramid…only to drop you like a bad habit when you make it clear that you aren’t willing to join in.
Let me interrupt myself to make clear that I appreciate the hustle. I’ve been in sales since I was sixteen years old. I also have quite a few close friends who are work-from-home-moms…doing direct sales for various companies. In no way am I putting down the entrepreneurial spirit behind these businesses. I respect and support their businesses. I also respect that they keep our friendship separate from their sales goals.
I guess what I’m trying to say is…”hey mom, selling xyz, can we just be friends??” Can we meet for coffee or tequila and get to know each other? Can we trade stories over what we did before staying home with the kids? Can we laugh over what our toddlers are saying? Can we support each other with an open ear when we’ve had a tantrum-filled week? Can we vent about our spouses? If I don’t come to your party or join your sales team, can we still be friends? Can you let whatever you are selling grow organically? If not, I guess it is best for the both of us to go our separate ways.
Let’s all kumbaya this crap and live by this Malcolm Forbes quote: “You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.”
With love,
Shahla
Yes girl, yes! It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth! This personally happened to me, and honestly, I’m still holding a grudge that this “friend” all of a sudden dropped me because I didn’t want to join whatever it is she is selling. Not going to say what it is but its popular and I know you’ve heard of the company lol. But it just makes me said that sales is the one thing on their mind only. What about just being friends??
Thanks so much, Lucy…I was such a chicken posting this. I literally almost hit delete a dozen times and in the end was like…what the heck if any one is offended it is because it hit close to home 😉