Several years ago after the birth of her son, April Barkley started selling her homemade products to friends and family and eventually opened an e-commerce shop. After several successful years she partnered with a small sales team to help promote her products and earn commissions! The affiliate program continued to grow as April saw how great it was to be able to give others the opportunity to grow their own businesses through the affiliate program. As of the beginning of 2019 Sugar Shower Co. is proud to be partnered with over 5,000 affiliates and the program gets bigger every day!
Sugar Shower
Sugar Shower operates in Chicago, and is run by a small local team consisting of April, her brother Derek, and a couple of part-time assistants. Sugar Shower also never test on animals! Life should never be boring, and that definitely includes bath time! Sugar Shower loves selling fun, creative and unique bath and skincare items that cater to women, children and even men! If a man wants to bathe with a donut soap, nothing should stop him!
Sugar Shower Co. sells bath products, skincare items, and cosmetics inspired by your favorite desserts, sugary candy, and other foodie favorites! Sugar Shower Co. also offers high-quality non-foodie items to appeal to all ages! Not only does Sugar Shower love bringing magic to their customer’s daily skincare routine but their affiliate program was born because they love helping women build their own business, provide for their family, and help them chase their dream. Sugar Shower is here to PROVE that a woman can be independent, financially stable, a provider, a mother, a business owner and rule this freakin’ world!
What inspired you to start Sugar Shower LLC?
It had always been a hobby. Near the end of my stay with my previous employer, my boss and I had some issues, not seeing eye to eye on a lot, I sometimes felt under appreciated in my position and dealt with poor treatment at work. When I left for maternity leave, I enjoyed my 3 months of being a mom but needed to go back to work, I was the breadwinner but my boss wouldn’t let me come back and hired someone else while I was gone. Without getting too much into it, I was hurt, I was devastated. I was left as a new mom with no income. Thankfully I had family to help me but I was so disgusted with the whole thing, it was at that moment I knew I never wanted to work for anyone ever again and wanted to start my own business and wanted to give women a chance to be the driver seat of their own future. And that’s what I did.
What fulfillment does being a business owner give you?
I have the chance to be in charge of my own future. I’m the type of person that would rather work 80 hours for myself, than 40 hours for someone else. My company is structured as a direct sales company. We have 5,000+ sales reps across the U.S. and Canada and mostly women, who sell our products and earn commission on their sales. When I hear stories about women joining Sugar Shower LLC and how it’s given them hope, and a chance to build their own future to make their own hours, sell how they want, make money for their family or kids, that’s what fulfills me. Our affiliate program was born because we love helping women build their own business, provide for their family, and help them chase their dreams. We are here to PROVE that a woman can be independent, financially stable, a provider, a mother, a business owner and rule this freakin’ world!
What do you have to keep in mind BEFORE getting into entrepreneurship?
You have to keep in mind that nothing will happen overnight. Nothing will be successful right away and to get to that point, you have to put in a lot of work and make some sacrifices. And you may need to live on peanut butter and jelly for a while haha. But don’t let it frustrate you. The best things come to those who wait and put in the work. If you want something, you can get it!
Being a mompreneur, what are the cons and pros?
Pros: I am available to my child at any point during the day. My son is in preschool but before he was in school, I was home with him all day. Though I work all day and night, I am still able to be there for him and to watch him grow. I never missed any of his firsts. Cons: Balance. You have to cook dinner and bathe your child and get him ready for bed but you also have orders to ship. How do you balance it all? What comes first? My son is 3 and I still haven’t found a perfect formula.
What sacrifices have you had to make during life as an entrepreneur?
I started my business at the same time that I became a mom, pretty much. So I had sacrifices to make in both areas. When you’re an entrepreneur, your work doesn’t end at 5PM. It’s not 9-5. It doesn’t end. You also don’t have days off. So you have to sacrifice a lot of your free time. Starting a business is almost like raising a child. You have to dedicate all your time, patience and money to help it grow. You have to nurture it. I’ve sacrificed nights out with friends, sleep, sanity. But I promise you, it’s all worth it.
What steps do you take when you want to get through a less of a good business day?
You have to remove yourself from that stress. It’s taken me a long time to realize this. If work is stressing me out, I remove myself, even if it’s just 15 minutes. Go somewhere quiet, close my eyes, meditate, recharge. If it’s nice out, go outside for fresh air. But you can’t force yourself to work through what’s stressing you out. You need to take care of yourself first and remove yourself from that stress.
Have you always been entrepreneurial?
I’ve always been around entrepreneurs. My dad and uncle are entrepreneurs and own a printing company. I worked there as a teen, during college, and even after and was always fascinated with the business and being your own boss. I guess it’s in my blood!
Do you believe in destiny or do you think you can control your fate?
I like to think there’s a healthy balance of both in life, work and in love. I like the idea of the universes’ plans unfolding for me as they are meant to but I also love the idea that as a strong, independent woman, I am able to control my own destiny. I’ve never felt more in control of my life than I do now, at 29 years old.
What advice would you want to give women who are starting a new business besides their own business?
Be scared, and know that it’s okay to be scared. And that fear, will drive you. I can say I’ve been scared AND confident in my years as a small business owner but nothing has driven me more and made me work harder than those fearful times. Fear about the business not taking off, not succeeding. It only makes you stronger so embrace the fear.
How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
Sugar Shower LLC continues to impress me, continues to surprise me. Our sales reps continue to impress me. We recently moved to our new office location and I’m looking forward to the coming months of getting a bit more settled in there so we can really take the company to the next level now that we have a bigger location. But with each new year, comes new challenges, new products, new sales reps, new exciting things. This year has been a big year for me personally too, not just with business, so I look forward to seeing how myself, the company, and my employees, continue to grow. There’s nothing more exciting than being a boss babe and watching yourself grow AND glow!
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