I Built My Scentsy Business Without Ever Doing Parties
How I built my business from home, online and in a way that suited my life
When people think about Scentsy, they often think about parties.And that makes sense.Scentsy has traditionally been a party-plan business, with Consultants sharing fragrance, products and samples with groups of people in homes and social settings.There’s just one problem.I have never done parties.Not one.And somehow, the woman who never followed the traditional party-plan model still managed to build a Scentsy business that eventually grew into a team of more than 80 Consultants.I definitely didn’t plan it that way.I simply had to find a way of doing Scentsy that fitted my life.
Traditional Parties Were Never Going to Work for Me
When I joined Scentsy in 2019, my life looked very different to what it does today.I was homeschooling Jordan and his autism meant much of my time and attention revolved around home and his needs.My mental health was also in a very different place.I wasn’t comfortable in myself.I didn’t have a big social circle.And the thought of walking into somebody’s house, standing in front of a group of people and running a Scentsy party was about as appealing to me as volunteering to give a speech in my underwear.So I didn’t.It wasn’t some big business decision.It was simply me recognising that if Scentsy was going to work in my life, I needed to find another way.
SOCIAL MEDIA BECAME MY PARTY ROOM.
What I did have was social media.It meant I could build my business from home, around homeschooling Jordan and everything else that came with our day-to-day life.I didn’t need to organise a party, travel to someone’s house or stand in front of a room full of people when I wasn’t comfortable doing that.I could share a product from my lounge room.I could offer samples.I could answer questions when I had time.I could have conversations with customers while still being available for Jordan.And as my confidence slowly grew, so did the way I showed up online.Social media basically became my version of a Scentsy party room.Instead of a group of people sitting together smelling fragrances, I might have several completely different conversations happening online.One person asking about wax.Someone else wanting a sample.Another person messaging because they had seen something I posted three days earlier.There was no party finishing at a set time.The conversations could happen when it suited them and when it suited me.That flexibility is a huge part of why I was able to keep going.I didn’t have to build Scentsy around somebody else’s idea of what a Consultant should look like.I could build it around the life I actually had.
I STARTED WITH SAMPLES AND REAL CONVERSATIONS
Julien’s original suggestion was simple, take $200 from our family budget, advertise some free samples and see what happened.Those samples ended up being the perfect starting point for the way I wanted to build.I wasn’t asking strangers online to simply believe me when I said something smelled amazing.They could try it for themselves.Some people took a sample and I never heard from them again.Others came back and ordered.Some became regular customers.And slowly, those little online conversations began turning into relationships.I wasn’t building through parties or standing in front of groups of people.I was building one message, one sample and one customer at a time.That felt natural to me.And most importantly, it was something I could keep doing.
SOCIAL MEDIA LET ME BE MYSELF
Social media gave me something I really needed at the time, space to build confidence without pretending to be someone I wasn’t.I didn’t have to suddenly become an outgoing party host just because I had joined Scentsy.I could write a post when I felt comfortable.I could share something funny.I could talk about products I genuinely liked.I could answer someone privately if they didn’t want to comment publicly.And over time, showing up became easier.The woman who wasn’t comfortable standing in front of a room full of people was suddenly talking to customers every day.Then I started attending Scentsy training events.I started meeting Consultants face to face.Eventually I was travelling away with women I had met through Scentsy.My comfort zone didn’t disappear overnight.It just slowly got bigger.
THEN MY BUSINESS GREW
The funny part is that doing things my own way actually worked.My customer base grew.My sales grew.And eventually my team grew to more than 80 Consultants.During the huge growth period around 2020, I found myself running a business that was far bigger than anything I had imagined when I first started offering those free samples online.And I had still never built it through parties.I built it through social media.Through posts.Through messages.Through samples.Through recommendations.Through customers telling other people about me.And through showing up consistently enough that people knew where to find me when they wanted Scentsy.
IT WASN’T ALWAYS ABOUT SELLING
Social media gave me something else too.Adult conversation.When so much of my life revolved around homeschooling and caring for Jordan, even a conversation that started with a Scentsy Bar could turn into something completely different.We talked about children.Families.Work.Life.Things going wonderfully.Things going terribly.Sometimes fragrance was simply the reason the conversation started.And for someone whose world had become very small, those connections mattered.Some customers became regulars.Some became friends.And some of the women I met through Scentsy became people I would eventually travel with, laugh with and share real life with.That part of the business was never something I expected when I started.But it became one of the parts I valued most.
THE WAY I SHARE SCENTSY HAS CHANGED
Social media isn’t the same place it was in 2019 or 2020.Reach has changed.Algorithms have changed.People interact differently.And my business has changed too.These days I also have my own Liane’s Luscious Scents website so people can find useful information through Google rather than relying entirely on a Facebook post appearing in their feed.But the basic principle hasn’t changed.I still prefer sharing products I genuinely use.I still like explaining why I like something.I still want to help people work out what suits them rather than just telling them what to buy.And if I don’t think something is right for someone, I’m happy to say that too.I’d much rather have someone come back because I helped them choose well than make one sale because I talked them into something.
THERE ISN’T ONLY ONE RIGHT WAY TO BUILD SOMETHING
Looking back, I’m actually glad I didn’t force myself to build Scentsy the traditional way.Parties work brilliantly for some Consultants.They just weren’t right for me.My circumstances were different.My personality was different.My family needed something different.So I found another way.And that little online business built from home gave me customers, a team, friendships, travel, confidence and experiences I never expected to have.It also taught me something I still believe now.You don’t have to copy somebody else’s way of doing things for your way to work.Sometimes the thing that looks like a limitation simply pushes you to find the method that fits you better.
STILL DOING IT MY WAY
Seven years later, I’m still sharing Scentsy online.Still talking about the products I genuinely use.Still helping people choose what suits them.Still building relationships one conversation at a time.And still not doing parties.If you’ve found Liane’s Luscious Scents because you’re trying to work out what fragrance or product would suit your home, send me a message.Tell me what you already love, what you absolutely can’t stand, or even just what you want your home to feel like.I’ll help you narrow it down.
Independent Scentsy Consultant based in Muswellbrook NSW, helping customers Australia wide