The Secrets to Success According to a Multiple Six-Figure Skincare Mogul

the secrets to success according to erin sanderson

As much as I love giving y’all advice and sharing how I built my own business, I know the value of learning from other people who are *killing it* in their field. Which is why when I came across this total fucking gun of a woman, Erin Sanderson, I immediately stalked the shit out of her, tracked her down when I saw she was in Nashville and made damn sure she would come onto my podcast as a guest. *weeeeee* Thanks, interwebz!

So who is this total powerhouse, why am I lowkey #obsessed with her, and what do you stand to learn from her?

Well, for starters, she’s a multiple 6-figure business owner of her non-toxic skincare line and clothing line. If that wasn’t badass enough, she’s since expanded into becoming a membership queen and is taking over the women’s empowerment event scene as the creator of the coolest event I have ever heard of (legit) in Nashville.

Oh ya, and she’s also literally a rockstar. Lol no biggie.

So if you can’t figure it out already, this is a gal after my own heart, and someone you need to learn a thing or two from.

Erin and I caught up on my latest podcast episode to talk about her secrets to success, what she’s learnt while growing her empire and a few other things that I just know are going to inspire the fuck out of you. In fact, I was so sure that you could learn a thing or two from this #legend of a woman that I have also some key takeaways from our podcast together for you, right here in this very blog you are reading.

You’re.

Fucking.

Welcome.

It’s time to get stuck in, boo, with the first piece of advice Erin has to offer...

Swim in your own lane + you’ll stay in flow

Erin attributes her roaring success with her skincare line (immediately selling the fuck out right after launching, in true boss bitch style) to staying true to herself and doing things her way. It was what enabled her to flow and for things to be easy. She also maintained pride and integrity - “every little thing about it I had my hand in… when it is your name on a product, it matters”.

It’s because she was passionate about it and she remained focused on doing things her way that she was able to create such huge success. She quotes Oprah to bring this point home - “When you feel like you are swimming against the stream of your life, it’s because you’re in someone else’s flow”.

Looking back at my own journey, I can see how much this rings true for me too - particularly looking back to my fit coach days. In hindsight, I wasn’t fit to be a fitness coach because I was out of integrity, drinking wine every night, throwing water on my face and hash-tagging “Sweaty Selfie”, cussing the whole fucking way, bitching and moaning that “I hate this, this is stupid”. Is it any surprise that I wasn’t getting hired? I should have been nobody’s fitness coach, and like Oprah says, I was swimming in someone else’s stream. It wasn’t until I started doing what I really wanted to do - helping bitches transform their entire lives - that the ‘flow’ happened for me. That’s when people were sliding into my DM’s saying ‘omfg Jamie you totally changed my life’ and making me warm and fuzzy. As Erin says - “you know you’re in your own flow when the compliments you receive resonate''.

In summary, slayers, shit is SUPPOSED to be (and totally allowed to be) easy AF. If you’re not in flow, if you’re not swimming in your own lane, then that’s when shit gets hard or feels like an effort. It’s really that simple a principle. So how can you apply this to your own journey?

Flow doesn’t come - the realization of ‘wow this really gets to be this easy’ - unless you stay firmly in your own lane. That means not blindly following things the way other people told you to do it. That means not trying to squash yourself into somebody else’s biz strategy, their way of doing things or forever living in their shadow.

That means doing you, no matter fucking what! Which brings me nicely to the next piece of potent advice and truth-bomb that Erin had to drop during our chat.

Remain true to yourself + trust your fucking gut

Something Erin and I have in common which came up as pinnacle to both of our ability to create huge success was our desire to stay in our own lane and just be true to ourselves. Ya, I got in the room with people more successful than me, but when push came to shove I was always trusting my own instincts and intuition as to what I would take on as gospel #truth.

Please, please, pleeeeease boo, don’t disregard your own gut instinct, your own intuition and your own ability to channel some enormously epic shit straight from the source.

Erin says “give yourself that forgiveness to not be what everyone else thinks and what everyone else wants you to be… take our advice but put your own spin on it.” I wholeheartedly agree with this, slayers. I’ve always been an advocate of the belief that your number 1 guide should always be your gut. Once you’ve listened to your gut, then you can take advice from others who have already been there, done that.

As Erin points out, if you follow your gut, what’s the worst that could happen - “even if you don’t get it right the first time… such as life”. I want to add a big fat #YOLO on the end of that, and if you’re still worried about fucking shit up on your first go, then go read this blog here where I’ll convince you why it’s really truly (I promise) impossible to fuck shit up because you will always grow and learn from it. The more cataclysmic the fuck up, the bigger the lesson, the faster the growth.

Also, just sayin’ boo, you’ll find it easier to take the right steps and follow your gut so long as you have a clear vision in sight.

Stay true to your vision (even if it’s not crystal clear)

I asked Erin for some advice for a multi-passionate girl who wants to do all the things, and this is what she had to say:

“You can have it all, you can do all the things, but you have to have a vision… sometimes you can see 10 years out and sometimes you can see 10 days out… don’t make yourself feel bad if your vision isn’t crystal clear for the next 5 years.”

Oh looooordy, can I relate to that sentiment. If you’ve been following me for a while now you’ll know that while I have always had a pretty clear vision of where I want to take my life and my biz (you kinda gotta know where you’re going so you can plug it into the cosmic GPS for the Universe to take you there) I also allow for some flow and movement. Go here and read my blog about how I set New Year’s resolutions if you’re curious how I do that. Basically, I block out a vague idea of what I want to achieve, by when, but I allow some space for things to happen that deviate from the plan. You wouldn’t want to miss a miracle redirection or a magnificent download because you’re too hellbent on “I have to be doing x thing in 10 years time”, now would you?

It’s great to have multiple passions, and you will find some way to weave all of the things in, according to Erin.

She tells me how she’s managed to weave in all of the random hobbies like making music into her lifestyle and big vision, even though they are seemingly unrelated.

BUT, a caveat, is that you have to have at least a vague idea of where you want to go and what you want to create before you get started or it’ll be pretty impossible to move forward in any capacity.

As Erin says, you don’t have to have a whole decade mapped out (and so help you God if you don’t hit every single goal-post in perfect timing), in fact sometimes you might only be able to see ten days ahead of you. But it’s important to have some semblance of a grand plan - whether that be how you want to feel, the sort of hours you want to work, the income goals you want to hit, or what you would like your lifestyle to look like. If you’re someone who works well on a painstakingly specific vision because it helps you to hit your goals, that’s great (and truly commendable, boo). Just make sure you don’t get too caught up within your rigid structure that you’re not able to deviate when juicy detours or cosmic downloads drop in.