Is It Failure or Time to Redirect with Randi Boyette

Danielle Cobo  0:00  
Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of dream job with Danielle Cobo. I'm your host Danielle Cobo, and today we have another fabulous guest. Today our guest is Randy boy yet and she is worked for companies such as Dior, Chanel, Hugo Boss and Bobbi Brown. She's been over 13 years in corporate America climbing that ladder to the National Director of Sales for Dior, and now she is the founder and CEO of Spark medical, she has turned a company from the very ground into an eight figure company. And in addition to that, she is a mom to twin furbaby dogs. So thank you so much for joining us, Randy. We're excited to have you. Tell us a little bit about yourself and about your career journey because you have definitely navigated through corporate America to now owning your own business

Randi Boyette  0:56  
So thank you so much for having me today. exciting to be here. I've always been I've always been a hunter or hustler when it came to work right out of college. My first job, even though this is going to definitely tell you my age range was selling pagers in a corporate environment. Okay, so this is before we even had cell phones. I was going into corporate America like huge corporations and selling them pagers for their sales teams. And right off the bat, I was closing the biggest deals in the company, and they kept promoting me. However, even though I love being their sales superstar, I hated selling pagers, right because I was passionate about it. So I, after a year of selling pagers, because they recruited me right out of college, I quit my job selling pagers, and started on the ground floor of the cosmetics industry. I had already completed half a master's and was killing it at my job. But I decided that I wanted to be in the cosmetics industry in the corporate cosmetics industry. And the only way to get in there is to start at the bottom. So I took a job working behind the makeup counter selling lipstick and mascara, because that's the only way to get noticed and get in. So while my father was dying over the fact that I was went from making a really good salary to making 750 An hour working behind the cosmetic counter. I said, Dad, I promise you I have a bigger plan. And within two years, I was climbing that corporate ladder.

Danielle Cobo  2:35  
Wow. So starting from, you know, working in the makeup counter to eventually becoming the National Director of Sales for DVR that is definitely navigating all the way through that corporate ladder and really putting in the groundwork of starting from right from the beginning.

Randi Boyette  2:54  
Yes, yeah, I always was hungry, I knew what I wanted. And I knew what I had to do to get it. And whatever that meant. Even though it meant living lean for a couple of years, I was ready to do that to to accomplish what I needed to do.

Danielle Cobo  3:09  
So we've talked a little bit speaking of being lean earlier in our careers, you know, you have started this business. And you it was a business that you've grown into this eight figure company and you started with no funding, it was all about you investing in your own money. And what's interesting, and this is an interesting kind of stat to share out there. And why podcasts like mine exist is 90, or 90% of the entrepreneurs out there that make more than six figures is men. So we only as female, we only make up 10% Of those six figure businesses as the entrepreneurs. So tell us a little bit about, you know, how you came to starting this business, why you left corporate America and how you've grown this business into where it is today.

Randi Boyette  4:01  
Sure. So while I had been a great success in business, I was a terrible failure in my personal life while I was climbing the corporate ladder. So I was not doing well at maintaining relationships, friendships, family, I really struggled with with the balance. And after 13 years of being spending four or five days a week in planes in different cities, I decided it was time for me to get grounded and figure out where where my life was going to go what I was going to do with my life. So I took a step back and decided that I was going to do some consulting work and then I was going to be able to set my own schedule. And that is when I founded spark. I decided that I was just going to work with a few med spas and help them with their marketing and get things off the ground. I really liked that. That type of industry and I had a knack for understanding what worked in the industry and It was great. I love doing it. And I remember my first year I had four customers, and I thought it was just a bang up here. And I remember getting my one of my first paychecks from a new customer, and getting so excited. Whereas I had made very large paychecks viewer previously in my career, but there wasn't the same feeling as when it was self driven, that I had created that customer and that that money was a different type of money in my mind. And I remember like going and treating myself and buying myself some new perfume that I wanted, because I remember like treating myself and it just felt different. Because it was not somebody else's business that they were just paying me for that it was a different type of accomplishment. But it was also this new energy that I had never felt before, even though I was always driven to be number one at what I did. This was a whole different type of energy and a different type of drive. Because I was fueling this machine. And once I got to four customers, and I wanted eight, and then I wanted 18. And then I wanted 28. And I remember when I hit 100. And I remember getting to five or 10 employees, and now we have over 100 No milestone was ever enough. And it still isn't right. So I can't explain what that hunger is, other than it's something innate that is within me that no matter where I go, I want the next step. In fact, my business partner said to me, when we reached a certain financial milestone last year, he said, Oh, Randy, you know, is this enough? Or, you know, or is it? When is it going to be enough? And I said, no, like, it's never gonna be enough. So just, I want to keep going and see where we can take it.

Danielle Cobo  6:46  
Oh, my gosh, I love that story. Because I always say you can hire people with industry experience, you can hire people that have have a proven track record of success. But you know, one of the things I always look for in hiring candidates is those intangible characteristics that drive that motivation, because you can teach someone, the processes organization and the technical aspects of the job, but you can't teach somebody to wake up every single morning and have that drive. And that is the key to success as an entrepreneur is to really just set these bold goals and go after them. And I can relate a lot to what you're saying, because I remember that feeling of when I left corporate America and also getting these, you know, big paychecks. But when you when you create a business, and you start to get these clients on your own, and you get to see them have success through what you've created, it's so rewarding. so rewarding.

Randi Boyette  7:43  
Yes, yes, it's so great. And it's funny that you just brought this up, I had screenshotted, a, something I saw on social media the other day, and it was like some words of wisdom from Elon Musk, I believe. And it said something like, if you need daily words of motivation, from the people around, you don't become an entrepreneur, right? Because the only thing motivating you are the voice, or your own voices in your head, right? Because you have got to be the one that keeps going. And that door is going to get slammed in your face many, many times. And you're going to have to figure out a different way to open that door. So yes, it's a different kind of fight and a different kind of hunger.

Danielle Cobo  8:25  
And that hunger can lie whether you're I mean, it's absolutely necessary. When you're an entrepreneur, there's no doubt about that. Because if you want to be successful, it is 100% dependent on you, you're creating the business you're creating, I feel like you're wearing 100 hats, you're the marketing person, you're the finance person, you're the actual, you know, CEO of the company, you're running in all different areas. And whether you're an entrepreneur, or whether you're in sales that drive that motivation is so critical. And also looking at your business and evolving every step of the way of going, pivoting, looking and saying what's working, what's not working, where do I get to pivot so I can continue to grow the business?

Randi Boyette  9:06  
Yes, yes.

Danielle Cobo  9:08  
What have you learned through, you know, your career in sales? What do you feel like has been your biggest successes? And what do you feel like has been your biggest failures, as you've, you know, grown through the years? What advice would you give to women out there?

Randi Boyette  9:23  
Um, I think as far as success, you know, something you said before, is that the business has always been self funded. Right. And that doesn't mean that I had a trust fund, right, because I didn't self funded meaning that, you know, I controlled my own spending habits so that I could build my company, you know, so I feel that going accompany to an eight figure level without having any outside funding that I didn't realize until I arrived here and started meeting other entrepreneurs and speaking to them on a regular basis. How rare it is that people don't have funding, right? In fact, for a minute, I thought I was doing something wrong. I was like, well, everybody else has funding and I don't have funding, what does that mean? But like, then my friends were like, no, no, you don't want funding, it just means that other people are now controlling, you know, different aspects of your business and helping you make those decisions that you might not want them to make. And, you know, there's different things around that. But, you know, so I would say that, that was like a big success factor for me was, was figuring out that it was so rare to have a business this size, that that didn't have outside funding or, or much of anything else for such a long time. As far as failures, I will say this, and I don't want it to sound like some, you know, like, I'm my own meme by saying this. But I really, every time I stumble on something, I don't ever look at it as a failure. I just kind of look at it as I got to redirect. And every time I've, I have let you say like failed, or something I did didn't work. I always even when I was young, whether it was business, personal life, whatever it is, I always thought to myself, Well, that just wasn't supposed to work out that way. It's supposed to be a different way. And so I've never looked at a fumble as a true fumble. I always just took that and crafted it into something else. And that I think is also some type of entrepreneurial spirit. But I never really looked at failures as failures. I was this is okay, this is an opportunity to create something else.

Danielle Cobo  11:39  
I love that because you're right. I mean, every I always say that are our biggest challenges and life become our greatest strength. And we learn I feel like we learn more from some of our failures than we do from our successes because we get to look back and reflect and go okay. Hmm, that worked. That didn't work. Okay, well, maybe I would adjust it, how would I approach it differently to get a different outcome, and it's through those times where we really get to stretch and grow and evolve and get to where we want to be in the future is through those peaks and valleys?

Randi Boyette  12:17  
Yes, yes, I would say, you know, one of the things to be fair, and one of the things that I feel I struggle with, and maybe other entrepreneurs do as well, and maybe other female entrepreneurs, especially, but one of my challenges has been the passion that you put into your own business is so much so that when somebody perhaps rejects you, or insults your business in some way, it's very hard not to take it personally. Right. And so, you know, I do a lot of reading and about, you know, trying not to take things personally in business and, and, you know, sometimes a customer will say something like, you know, ask a question that's just, it's inappropriate the way they asked it, or they're just rude and, and I have to just take a breath. And remember, like, this isn't an attack on us is an attack on your business, just take a breath. Because when it's ours, and we've been the one scrapping from day one, it's a different kind of insult than if you're working for someone else's company. And they tell you, it's no good, right? So I definitely struggle. And that is a lesson I'm still trying to learn is not taking things personally.

Danielle Cobo  13:33  
Yeah, and that's hard to do, right. Because especially as social I always say, like social media has changed our lives forever. And in a lot of areas, it's been really good and a lot of areas. It's also created this platform where I always say you get kind of the trolls out there, the ones that, you know, hurt people hurt people. And you know, they'll just kind of come after you. And whether it's in your business or your personal life. It's hard not to take things personally, you know, it kind of I know that on the tail end of being in corporate I used to kind of absorb everything that was said, and I started to notice my confidence just going down and down and down. And it wasn't till I left corporate where I was going, Wait a minute, like why would I Why was I letting other people's opinions you know, affect me so much. And, and we're really when we believe in ourselves, that's when others won't believe in us. So we're doing ourselves a disservice if we start to absorb all that negativity, and lose sight of the value that we bring.

Randi Boyette  14:38  
Yes, absolutely. I agree. And we I have to remind myself, because I do care so much about the business that I have to remind myself like this is one person, one person's opinion move on Randy right and just keep going.

Danielle Cobo  14:51  
I mean, you've grown a huge business in such a short amount of time so you're always gonna have customers that you know for some don't like something. But yeah, look at the fact of what has grown in the past couple of years. And when did you start? That we talked a little bit about, you know, it's never too late to pursue your dream career. I say, if Betty White can be acting at 99 years old, it's never too late for us to do what we want to do. When did you leave corporate and decide to start your own business?

Randi Boyette  15:25  
It's a great question. I was 42 years old when I had the idea to start spark. And I, in a million years never imagined it would grow to what it is now. But it wasn't even until I was 45 or 46, when the company really started taking off and heading with the trajectory that it's on right now. But yeah, I was not into my 40s until I started spark. That is, so now I am. Now I am officially half a century. So I am 50 years old and still going still going strong, very strong,

Danielle Cobo  16:01  
while looking very young and youthful and beautiful. For those listeners that can't see right now. She is absolutely gorgeous. And there's something to be said about wisdom and confidence, also being very beautiful, and a woman.

Randi Boyette  16:17  
Thank you. Thank you.

Danielle Cobo  16:19  
So what are three things from our conversation? Today were three things you'd want our listeners to take away and be like, Okay, this is what I'm going to take away, I'm going to implement into my life, I'm going to kind of really absorbed this into how I show up as a woman in the world.

Sure, so I would say, you know, we, we control our on our own destiny, right. And along my career path, there were people that told me you can't do this, or you shouldn't do this, or it's not a good idea. You know, we, we create our own our own future. So whether, you know, things are on a bad path for you, or things are on a good path for you you chose, you choose that path and you can choose, you know, I remember reading something a long time ago, that sticks with me every day, like it's your story, you can change that story every day, right? Like you can get up and decide to change, that's not going to be how my story ends. And you can wake up and decide what your next day is going to be filled with. Second, I would say, listen to your gut instincts. As I get older, and, and, you know, in my 30s, I started to really develop this ability to like, read the room or read people or you know, whatever you say, but definitely follow those gut instincts. If something or someone doesn't seem right, then take an extra 24 to 48 hours to think about it. Because usually those instincts are correct. Even if some if you think it's the best deal of your life, or you know, somebody everybody's telling you that if something in your gut is telling you something is wrong, most of the time it is and and when you get to my age that I you know, I almost feel like the the instincts just get really honed in because you start to really pick up on those cues even more and more. So that's always interesting. And then the last thing and we didn't really dive into this, but if I could leave the audience with anything, I feel like the number one most important character trait for an entrepreneur and especially female is resourcefulness. Don't don't ever underestimate the value of the people that you've met along the way. And keep track of that and reach out to people and, you know, figuring out how to solve a problem. And, you know, people would come to me all the time in my career when I started Spark, can you do this? Can you do that? When I only did one small thing at the beginning. And but no matter what I would say yes. And then I would just find a resource to do it. So make sure you keep in touch with your connections. And no matter what it is, you can always find a way to solve a problem. And like they say, don't start a business, looking for a customer solve a problem and the customer will come to you. Right. So if you're solving people's problems on a daily basis, more people will come toyou. 

Ah, that is great advice. Great advice. I know that when I was when I was thinking about starting my business, I pushed back on it for a long time. I was like, No, I don't want to be on my business owner. I don't want to be my own business owner. And then finally, it was like okay, no, I had a recruiter tell me no deal. But look for a job. There is this service that you offer and career coaching and corporate training that isn't always out there. It's hard to find and it's a need and it's about solving that problem. And when you're able to solve that problem and you're able to help people out and make an impact. It doesn't feel like work. Feels like love.

Randi Boyette  20:00  
Right? Absolutely. Absolutely. 

Danielle Cobo  20:04  
Well, thank you, Randy for joining us now, where can people find you and your company?

Randi Boyette  20:10  
Sure, so you can find us online at Spark medical marketing.com. We also have an Instagram page Facebook page. And I'm sure we'll be doing some postings as well with you. So we can hashtag that as well and they can find us. 

Danielle Cobo  20:27  
Well, thank you. And I will also include those links into our show notes as well. So you guys can go ahead and click on the show notes and find exactly where to find Randy and spark medical marketing. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. And I'd love to If you loved our today's episode, I invite you to write a review. If you want to screenshot it and direct message me I will send you something special in return that will support you and accelerating your career. And of course, share this podcast with your friends and family and women that you want to inspire to step into their dream job, earn the income their worth and create the life they desire. Thank you so much for joining us and create an intentional day