Beyond the Kitchen
Beyond Beautiful: Disability, Liberation, Love
Season 3, Episode 10 - Beyond the Kitchen
🧭 Episode Summary
What does independence look like when you have the right tools, opportunities, and support to do things on your own terms?
In this episode, Mandi talks with Marlee Kivens about her journey with Spina Bifida, discovering independence in the kitchen, and building a successful Pampered Chef business. Marlee shares how the right tools helped her move from relying on a PCA to cooking independently, while direct sales gave her confidence, community, and a flexible path to entrepreneurship.
Mandi also reflects on her own experience in direct sales and how it helped her discover her advocacy voice and reclaim ownership of her disability story.
This conversation is about independence, disability, entrepreneurship, community, and the courage to “do it scared.”
💬 Key Themes
Entrepreneurship
Community
Independence
🚨Partnership
Intersectional Access has a partnership with Buoy, a company that creates hydration drops designed to support people living with chronic illnesses and conditions where maintaining hydration is especially important. Before agreeing to collaborate, I reached out to my community to hear about their experiences, and many people shared that Buoy has been helpful for managing symptoms and staying hydrated. One thing that stood out to me is their Chronic Illness Support Program, which offers people living with chronic illness 35% off their orders for life. If you use my referral link, you’ll Up to 31% off + free dopp kit on first order over $40. Everyone else will receive 20% off their orders. I do earn a small commission from purchases made through the link, and that support helps sustain the podcast and the work I do to amplify disability-centered conversations. Use this Referral Link.
📜 Full Transcript
Mandi: Welcome to Beyond Disability Liberation Love. I'm Mandi, your Queer Christian Disabled host.
Buoy Advertisement
Mandi: Today we're going beyond the kitchen. When we talk about independence for disabled people, we often focus on the big things, where we live, how we get around, or whether we can work. But sometimes independence starts somewhere much more ordinary. It starts in the kitchen. Today's guest, Marlee Kivens, knows that journey firsthand. Marlee grew up in her father's business in Minneapolis before finding her own path in direct sales with Pampered Chef. Living with spina bifida and learning disabilities, Marlee built a top performing business, earning national awards, achieving top sales rankings, and even earning an incentive trip to Texas. But her story isn't just about sales. At one point, Marlee relied on a personal care attendant to help her cook. Today, she cooks independently, and along the way, she discovered something bigger. Confidence, community, freedom, and the belief that she could build a business that worked for her. And Marlee's story actually connects with my own in a really meaningful way. I started my own journey in direct sales back in 2014 when my son was just six months old and I needed a job that would help me support my family. I joined a jewelry company called Chloe + Isabel, and while I didn't know it at the time, that experience would become an important part of my own advocacy journey. During my years with Chloe + Isabel, I became empowered to see my disability and my experiences differently. I learned that my story belongs to me. I get to decide how much of it I share, when I share it, and with whom. My disability isn't something that someone else gets to define for me. It's part of my story, part of my lived experience, and when I choose to use it that way, a tool and a part of my brand. That experience helped me find my advocacy voice. So when Marlee and I started talking about what direct sales has meant in her life, I understood something about her story that goes beyond the business itself. Sometimes an opportunity gives you more than an income. Sometimes it gives you community. And it can give you confidence. Sometimes it gives you a way to discover what you're capable of, and sometimes it gives you the freedom to build something that actually works with your life instead of requiring your life to work around it. Marlee puts it beautifully. Be a role model for your children. Show them you can do this. Live for today. You may not have tomorrow. So today we're talking about determination, independence, disability, entrepreneurship, community, and what becomes possible when disabled people are given opportunities to define success for ourselves. This is a story about more than what's happening in the kitchen. It's about possibility. So let's go beyond the kitchen. Hello, Marlee. Thank you so much for being on Beyond Beautiful. How are you today?
MARLEE: I am fabulous. How are you?
MANDI: I am really good. So we have listeners who obviously have not had the pleasure of meeting you. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey?
MARLEE: Well, I'm Marlee Kivens. I am from Minnetonka, Minnesota. I have a disability called spina bifida. And when I was born, my back was open with a bubble of dried blood and nerve endings from my lower back and doctors attached what could be attached and severed the rest. So I have a lot of mobility issues and I have some arthritis in my hands and I have a variety of different medical issues due to my disability. I am a Pampered Chef consultant. I have been with Pampered Chef for almost 12 years. And what else do you want to know about me?
MANDI: No, that was all great. Thank you so much for sharing all of that and I'm excited to get more into your journey around Pampered Chef. We're definitely going to talk about that. So I know when we had previously spoken, you shared with me that you grew up around entrepreneurship through your father's business. So I'd love to know a little bit more about that and what lessons you absorbed from watching him that still influenced you today.
MARLEE: My father owned a store in south Minneapolis. We created cemetery memorials. We sold granite countertops and concrete bird baths, fountains and statues. He had the business for over 30 years. I grew up in the business. I started at the age of eight sweeping floors and I learned the business literally from the ground up. I ended up being his right hand person and I would run the company while he was semi-retired in Florida and also during his medical issues. He had three or four heart attacks. After I graduated college, I came back. I went to the University of Minnesota Duluth. I came back and within a couple of months of graduating from college, he had his first heart attack. So I literally was thrown into running a company with his first heart attack.
MANDI: Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. And also three heart attacks. That's a lot to go through and to kind of be thrown into this business essentially. But it does sound like it gave you a lot of opportunity to learn on the job, so to speak.
MARLEE: Yes, I learned how to communicate well with bereaved customers. And I learned how to sell just either it was granite countertops or it was the concrete bird baths and statuary and fountains or the granite memorials. I observed my dad a lot while he was selling growing up, and then I learned how to do it. And ultimately that's kind of what drew me into direct sales as well, was being compassionate, selling and telling my story while helping others.
MANDI: That's awesome. So I do want to talk a little bit about your experience with your disability and how has living with your disability shaped the way that you approach work and independence and success.
MARLEE: Well, Growing up was difficult. My parents were told when I was born to put me into an institution because of the disability and they got a lot of negative feedback while I was growing up that I wouldn't amount to anything and they wouldn't, and I like, I wouldn't walk and I wouldn't go to school and I wouldn't be able to drive and I wouldn't graduate college. Just all of these things that I wouldn't be able to do. And they believed the hype of all of that. I had to learn how to advocate for myself. I was a poster child for the United Way. And in this, in this poster, this doctor taught me how to self-advocate. He would bring me around to doctors appointments at the University of Minnesota and teach me how to ask the questions that I needed to ask and just learn how to be my own person. And, and with finding out about Pampered Chef, I went to a party almost 12 years ago. I found out how user-friendly the product was. I had had a PCA while going to this party. I'd had a PCA for, I would say about 10 years prior to going to this party. The PCA would help me create all of my meals because I couldn't lift the box, store cookware or bakeware or use the prep tools because of the arthritis in my hands. I would drop things and not know that I was stepping on broken glass or having to clean up spills was difficult because of my mobility issues. So the PCA was creating all of my meals for me. And once I went to this in-home Pampered Chef party, I got to play with the tools. I got to see how user-friendly they were, how ergonomically designed they were, and how lightweight they were. Came home with a garlic press, had never had fresh garlic before. That was my first tool. And within six months of going to this party, I let go of my PCA because I could sit at my island and I could create all the food that I wanted to create. I became independent almost 12 years ago in the kitchen. And I have sustained my independence throughout. So independence is very, very important to me. I want to be able to do things on my own instead of having help if I don't need it. Don't want help forced on me.
MANDI: Yeah, no. That is such a powerful testimony and you shared a few things in there. So I think it's really important to address the fact that for a long time and even today, many people with disabilities are given these prognosis in life that are very tragic and dismal from doctors and parents are told all the time your child will not be able to do X, Y, Z. And institutionalization is such a real thing. And even today continues to be common. I think that especially pre Americans with Disabilities act, it was even more common. And especially before we had laws about people having the right to live in their community, this was even more common. But it is still something that is rampant today where people dispute disabilities are institutionalized. And sometimes it is even an economic decision because the cost of care is thought to be too expensive in the home, when that's actually not true. It actually costs more to have a person with a disability institutionalized than living at home. Right. So I really appreciate you bringing that up and just sharing that piece because it's such an important part of our disability history. And then I just wanted to also clarify. So PCA is a personal care attendant and I wanted to actually ask you about that since you shared that there was a time when you relied on a PCA for cooking and now you're able to cook independently. I know you shared a little bit about what that journey looks like, but what did it teach you about yourself, this journey to this independence?
MARLEE: It taught me not to listen to the negativity. It taught me to believe in myself that I could do something or accomplish tasks without having help. It taught me to try to be as self-reliant as I possibly can.
MANDI: Yeah, I love that. And has gaining confidence in the kitchen impacted other areas of your life?
MARLEE: Yeah, I mean, public speaking, telling my Story if I can do things in the kitchen with the proper tools, anyone with a disability can do it. And going back to being a Pampered Chef consultant, I don't just sell products to sell them. I want somebody to be able to use the product and not buy it just because it looks pretty. I want them to actually be able to use the product. So I like to find out why they want to buy that product and for, and if it's a product that I don't agree with, if it didn't work for me, I'm not going to have them buy it for themselves because I don't want them just to spend money to spend money and not be able to use the product the way that they want to use the product. So I, and I really want to focus and I mean it's my desire to focus on people that have disabilities and get them the product into their homes so that they don't have to rely on a personal care attendant if they don't want to. They could do the cooking and the prepping and the baking themselves if they so desire with the proper tools. And I would. And I like showing them how to use the tools as well. Whether it's on a zoom call or making a video and sending it to that particular person so that they know how to use the product before it comes to them.
MANDI: Yeah. So you've really been sharing some things that I think are unique to the direct sales kind of framework or model of selling. And I have a heart for direct sales because I've definite part of that community and I think it's an amazing opportunity. But there are a lot of folks who are not familiar with direct sales or maybe have misconceptions about it. So can you share a little bit about what direct sales actually is and then maybe just share a little bit about Pampered Chef in particular and what attracted you to Pampered Chef?
MARLEE: Well, direct sales in general are companies that you don't have to go to the big-box stores to get a particular product. Like Pampered Chef is cookware and bakeware, prep tools, pantry items, barbecue items, some outdoor items, entertainment items, things that help you in the kitchen. It has a good reputation and a good warranty and has me as the person who, if there is a problem, I am available to help that person with the product. I mean, when you go to the big-box stores and want to purchase a product and have questions, yes, you can go to the customer service desk, but they're not going to know all the answers. And if I don't know an answer, I can go to my director or my executive director or my director's team and ask the question to the entire community and get an answer for them and then contact them and give them the answer that they are looking for.
MANDI: I think that was really great because I think people hear things like multilevel marketing and it can be something that's kind of scary. I think people think about like pyramid schemes and people who get scammed. And I encountered a lot of that kind of mindset and objections when I was in direct sales. But I think you explained it really well. It is really just this customized shopping experience for people and you have a consultant typically who's, you know, local to you and someone who typically is using the products themselves. And it is also a really great business opportunity for people. And we're definitely going to touch on that as well the business side of it.
MARLEE: And I can reach people across the United States and on military bases that are run by the United States, so I don't have to be local. I'm a virtual consultant. So, and the parties that I host are all over the United States, so if somebody wanted to get Pampered Chef product at a discount or even free, best thing to do is to contact me. And I can tell you about the party aspect of Pampered Chef. And you did touch on the. You used a phrase of the pyramid schemes. Pyramid scheme, yes. Pampered Chef is not part of a pyramid scheme. It has been around for 46 years. It's not going anywhere. There may be companies that are pyramid schemes but they don't last long because they don't have the training and they don't have the background to stay afloat. So do your research and find out which direct sale companies are reputable.
MANDI: Yeah, absolutely. So I would love if you could share maybe some challenges that you may have faced when you started building your Pampered Chef business.
MARLEE: The pyramid scheme was one. My family doesn't agree that I am Pampered Chef consultant because they do believe it's a pyramid scheme. No amount of talking or trying to convince them is going to matter. They have their set ways and that's fine. I'm going to be a consultant for as long as I can be. And the other challenges are if I've had challenges of customers that are not happy with the product and they keep complaining about the product. So I give them, I do my best to teach them about the product that they purchased if they're having something, if they can't get it to work right, and if it's just, if it's just that they want to complain about it instead of actually working with me to find a solution, then I give them the number to Pampered Chef and they can return the product. And there have been customers in the past where I've just had to bless and release. They're just, you can't make them happy and no amount of trying to help them will make them happy. So I have, you know, I have apologized or I have said, you know, I don't think this product is good for you or I don't think our relationship is working. As a consultant, you are welcome to go find another consultant to work with you or you can call Pampered Chef and say, see if you can get more answers to your questions. But those are, those are the, I mean with any business you're going to get customers that aren't happy. So just in the beginning I was taking it to heart and after almost 12 years of doing this, I have, I have thick skin and.
MANDI: No, that's so, that's so true though. I appreciate that you uplifted the fact that this is in any business, right? I mean even the big box stores, they have an expectation of products that are going to be returned. And you know, this is not unique to direct sales or any kind of. It doesn't speak to anything about the quality of the product. This is in any business like you said. And I love that phrase, the bless and release, I think that is so applicable in business and really in any kind of relationship that's kind of going nowhere or toxic. That idea of just bless and release is really powerful. So I will be using that phrase and that's great for sure.
MARLEE: And Pampered Chef does have a 30 day money back guarantee. So if something is not right within 30 days, Pampered Chef, just either I or the customer can contact Pampered Chef and they will send a return label to have things returned back to the home office outside of Chicago.
MANDI: That's awesome. I know that you became a top performing consultant and earned national recognition So was there a moment when you realized, you know, like wow, I can really do this. Can you like think of a specific moment that it just hit you?
MARLEE: Yeah, I went to an online convention a few years back and I, it's the first time I went virtually because I couldn't afford to go in person and with my disability was I couldn't Figure out how I was going to navigate the convention center in Chicago and the rooms and things. And I got an honorable mention by my director, my executive director, and home office because I had reached a level of sales. I had reached $50,000 in sales at that point. And just knowing that with all the health issues and the setbacks with my disability, knowing that I could be at home and work my schedule around, work my business around my schedule and have parties. And during the pandemic, I was doing 15 parties a week because people had realized that they had to stay at home and they didn't have the proper cookware or bakeware or whatever it was. So people were craving to get new products into their homes. So during the pandemic, that's when I earned the incentive trip and I earned the top 3% of consultant sales, and I won an award and I was mentioned at that conference as well, and I didn't go. And it struck me and it turned my life around basically that I could achieve all of this while having a disability. I didn't put my disability first. I put me first with all of this. So it's been a very positive experience. And when my direct, the first time my director and my executive director acknowledged me, I cried because I hadn't been acknowledged before in any type of job that I had had previously. And my executive director sent me a gift of appreciation, and my director, I believe, sent me flowers. It was just. It was a moment where I could just be grateful and gracious and have a lot of gratitude that I was actually being appreciated by somebody and by my team, by the team that I was part of. So I hope that answers your question.
MANDI: Yeah, absolutely. I love all of that so much, and thank you for sharing, like, those personal stories in that personal moment. I definitely want to dig more into the idea of entrepreneurship, especially for people with disabilities. But just before we get into that, I know we talked a little bit about some of the misconceptions around direct sales, but hearing how powerful of an opportunity and an experience that it's been for you, what is something that you wish more people understood about the direct sales industry
MARLEE: that it's not a negative space. That anybody can do direct sales. Anybody can. Whether you have a disability or not, anybody can be a consultant if they want to be a consultant. Within Pampered Chef, you. It doesn't take a lot of money to join particular companies. It doesn't. For instance, with Pampered Chef, you don't have to buy products just to Just show or to have you pay a certain amount. I mean right now you can get into being a consultant for $29 and that just includes an apron and I think a couple of products that you have choices on. I mean there's different levels of packages that you can pay for for to buy into Pampered Chef, but as little as $29 to become a consultant. It's not expensive. You decide how you want to be, how much you want to be a part of it and how much product you want to have on hand. You don't have to buy product. Being a virtual consultant, I don't have to have product. I bought product for vendor events because I used to go to in person vendor shows at a farmer's market and I would get help unloading my car and putting up the tent because that's something I couldn't do on my own. So I had help doing that and I had product to show and not to, not for people to buy right off the table. They had to place an order in order to buy the, buy the product. It's just something for them to touch and feel and know that the product is actually real instead of in a, in a catalog somewhere. So it's.
MANDI: Yeah, I love that. And I just for myself, direct sales came into my life during a much needed time as well. I had just had my first and was transitioning out of full time employment and I didn't have a backup plan and I actually had found a jewelry company that unfortunately is no longer around. But I found a jewelry company and really fell in love with both the products and the community and the business opportunity. And there was a period of almost a year where that actually helped to sustain my family. And so I definitely agree that this is such a wonderful opportunity for anyone, but I do want to specifically lean into the experience of being an entrepreneur and having a disability. So from your perspective, do you think that entrepreneurship offers unique opportunities for disabled people that traditional employment sometimes doesn't?
MARLEE: Yes, I am, I am, I am a living fact of that. I had to go on Social Security disability. I couldn't work in the corporate world anymore. My mother had sold my father's business. He, he, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I was his part time caregiver for a while. He passed away almost nine years ago. And during that time, that's when I found Pampered Chef to help me with finances, you know, paying bills and paying credit cards. And it helped me financially to be a part of it. And I didn't have to leave my house if I didn't want to. I could do it all from my computer. I didn't have to have any ADA or accommodations unless I was going out into the community. Then I would ask for accommodations from the vendor, the vendor coordinator for help on setting up the vendor table and area that I had to be in because I knew I couldn't do that on my own. But I think anybody with a physical or learning difference could do direct sales. I don't think anything should or could hold them back from being a part of a network of. It's a network, it's a community. It's something to connect with and not be homebound without social interaction. It's just—I think anybody could give it a shot and it would be helpful. Mind, body, and spiritual.
MANDI: Yeah, I love that. And again, I agree with you that the community aspect was so special, the business that I was a part of. And I ended up being a part of a few different businesses after I made some amazing friends that are still friends today, people that I still connect with today, even though I am not in direct sales right now. And so it did provide both a financial path, a community path, and there's a lot of learning as well, and skills that are transferable into other opportunities, whether that's marketing or, you know, you mentioned public speaking previously, and all of those types of skills are things that are marketable and you can take with you if you do decide to move into something else. So I agree with you. It's such a great opportunity. And Mike, I'd love to know. Oh, go ahead.
MARLEE: The team that I'm part of, they're all over the United States. My director is in Arizona, my executive director is in northern Minnesotand my consultant teammates are all over the country. So, I mean, we get together or we try to get together, at least on Monday nights. And I have a team meeting and that's where we all become social. And I mean, that's the social aspect of learning from each other and growing with each other. It's just. It's a powerful experience.
MANDI: Yeah, I appreciate that. And we've talked about the ways that the opportunity benefits people, especially people with disabilities. And I want to kind of flip that question a little bit. So what strengths do you think that disabled entrepreneurs are able to bring to businesses that may be unique or different or even more sought out than maybe even nondisabled entrepreneurs?
MARLEE: They can bring their life story to it. I mean, I tell people why I joined Pampered Chef is because I gained my independence. I mean you have to find why you're in. If you decide to go, if you could decide to go into any type of employment situation, you have to figure out what your why is and if you are not happy with where you are within the working world, change it. I mean you have the power to facilitate what it is you're going to do with your life. Nobody else can tell you what to do. I mean yes, they could tell you what to do, but you don't have to follow it. I don't have the support of my family with Pampered Chef, as I said before, but I'm still continuing with it because it suits me and it helps me with everyday ADLs in the living skills and I wouldn't be able to function in the kitchen without these products. So it gives you have to find your happy place. You have to find what, what, what brings you joy and what keeps you going every day. Let's just.
MANDI: Yeah, and this is actually a perfect segue because I think just like with any business or especially for newer entrepreneurs, it is easy to maybe have some self doubt, especially when you don't have the support of maybe people closest to you or people in your network. So when self doubt does show up for you, how do you move through it? What are some strategies you use?
MARLEE: I give myself one day to wallow. Whether it's getting bad news for health reason or whether it's I lost a sale because of something or I ticked somebody off or whatever. I give myself one day to do the why me the why me aspect and then I look at this poster and I change my tune because this doctor told me I could give myself one day to wallow in self pity and then I have to move on and be the most positive person that I can be. And everybody has issues, everybody has problems, but if you dwell on them, you're just going to be in that negative space. And I don't want to wallow in negative space. That just, it doesn't do anything for my business. It doesn't do anything for me personally. It doesn't do anything for family relations. It just, you have to find the positive in every day. I journal every night and I make myself write one thing that is positive from the day every day. Whether it's just I got up in the morning, I mean and, or I had a great sale or my, the host that is the current, my current host is at a great amount for guest sales and she or he is doing awesome it just. Or I saw my niece and nephew and they are the ones that bring me joy and light. And that's why I get up every day. You just have to find the good in, in the day that you're in. Because my motto is live for today, you may not have tomorrow.
MANDI: Wow. Thank you so much for sharing, like, that specific strategy of gratitude and the fact that you use gratitude in your journal and finding even one thing, I think that's so important. And when we focus on the things that we're grateful for, it's difficult to allow our minds to go to those negative places. So I think that's a really powerful strategy. And I know that you've mentioned how you have evolved in particular over the last few years since you've been with Pampered Chef. So I'm assuming that your definition of success has maybe also evolved. So how do you define success today compared to when you first started?
MARLEE: When I first started, I was in between jobs. I was in a negative space. I was recovering from surgery. That was a long recovery time. It was basically a year. I was a hermit. I didn't socialize with too many people. And the person that had the party that I went to, within a month of going to that party, he asked me to join his team. And I thought about it for a long time and decided I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted to show that a person with a disability is no different than anybody else and that I needed to prove to myself that I could actually do the job. I mean, I had been in sales my whole entire life, but this was a different pivot of sales. So I needed to. I needed to show myself and I needed to. I mean, I worked for my father because I didn't have a choice. Pampered Chef. I had a choice. Pampered Chef came to me as, as a viable option and I rode the wave. And I'm still riding the wave of it. It's just. It's been the best experience that I have had and I have a lot of self-esteem now. I have a lot of self-confidence now. I am. Even with going even the last four years with medical issues and going into the hospital a lot, I'm still having great sales and I have. I've been the top salesperson within the team consistently. And it's just, I bring my computer with me or my cell phone, depending on which hospital I'm going to, and I can do sales and facilitate parties from the hospital room or from the rehab center that I'm at. Nobody needs to know that I have a medical issue going on because I'm behind a screen. I just take things as they come. And I have proven to myself that I can facilitate my business while I'm going through whatever medical issue that I'm going through. So it's. If you would have asked me 11 and a half years ago would I be able to do it while I'm recovering from a month long hospital stay, I would have said no, because that was my mindset. But now I know. I mean, I've proven to myself in January, I was in the hospital the end of January to almost the end of February this year. I was in the hospital for a medical reason and I had my computer with me and I made top sales that month. And I mean, just because I reached out to people and I was present online while I was going through all the issues that I was going through.
MANDI: So that's awesome and you kind of touched on this. But I want to ask it more specifically, looking back, what would you tell the younger version of yourself who wasn't sure what was possible?
MARLEE: I just reached 55 years of age. I wasn't supposed to live past the age of three. And I am proving to myself every day that I'm a, well, I don't want to say survivor, but that I am an asset in the community. I take full advantage of whatever I can within the community and I self-advocate and I can get through anything as long as I have a semi, semi good attitude about it. I mean, there are, there are days that I don't have a great attitude and I mean, I'm not positive all the time, but had I had, somebody told me, I mean, I had two doctors in my world that told me that I could achieve anything I wanted to achieve. Didn't believe it at the time because I didn't have the positive reinforcement every day. I had it, you know, when I saw these doctors and they would push me and they would tell me that I would make it and that I was going to be a role model for the younger generation because I'm one of the oldest people with my disability, at least in the state of Minnesota. I've been told with this type of spina bifida. So I am the medical porcupine, the medical guinea pig right now. I am the advocate for the younger generation and myself. And I wouldn't have known that I could do this as a child. It just, it wasn't in the realm of possibility that that was my belief system back then. So I've come a long way.
MANDI: Yeah, absolutely. And you have an incredible testimony to share. And I think that it's definitely encouraging for not even just other people with disabilities. But direct sales and entrepreneurship in general is not always the easiest path. It definitely takes dedication and diligence and a commitment. And there are plenty of nondisabled people who are not able to have that type of success in business. So I don't think this necessarily speaks to you just being a disabled entrepreneur, but just your ability to connect with people and do the work that you do, I think just speaks a lot of who you are and your character. And I think that your disability has really enhanced your ability to connect with people and added to your story, as you said. So I really appreciate you sharing all of your stories so far with us. And as we are wrapping up, I'd love for you to just leave a message for our listeners, specifically our disabled listeners. If they have an idea or a dream or a business goal, but they're not sure what they're capable of or they're not sure that they're capable of pursuing it, what would you say to them?
MARLEE: Do it scared. Just, just do it. I mean, if you fail, at least you tried. Just, just if you, if you want to see if you can accomplish something, don't hold yourself back. That's just—you have to be your own support system and just. I mean, I've been doing this for 11 and a half years. Did I think I could do it in the beginning? Absolutely not. I wanted some free product in the beginning. And I mean, I had my, I had a goal that I wanted to get some cookware. I got some cookware. I actually had donated cookware that I had and I got a new set recently. So it just, you have to keep evolving and keep going whether you have. I mean, just do it scared.
MANDI: And
MARLEE: that's all I can say.
MANDI: Yeah, no, I love that. I think that sums it up. I have those kind of two phrases, the bless and release and do it scared are kind of the key phrases I'm taking away from today's conversation. So I think that's an important message. And I love how you talked a lot about being a self advocate and really believing in yourself and not just depending on what other people think of you or see you or even what other people predict for you. The fact that, you know, you are your own believer and your biggest cheerleader is really special and is something that I hope more people are able to do and have that type of confidence. So where can listeners connect with you and learn more about your work with Pampered Chef?
MARLEE: They can. The biggest social app that I use is Facebook so they can send me a friend request at Marley B. Kivens. And there are two different profiles on Facebook. It's one where there's a single picture of me and it has my middle initial. That's the current one. Facebook decided to hijack my original one so they can send me a friend request and I would add them to my private Pampered Chef Facebook page and then they can get all the information there. Or they can just send me an email at mbkivens@gmail.com and then I also have a website www.pamperedchef.com/pws/kivenskitchencorner. So that's I love that.
MANDI: And we will share the links. I'll make sure to put all of the links that you just shared, your email on the website and the Facebook profile name in the show notes. So if people would like to reach out and find you, they can do so by going to the show notes and accessing those links. So thank you so much Marlee. This was really wonderful. I'm definitely reinspired about entrepreneurship and especially direct sales. It definitely makes me remember the days and miss the days of that type of community. So I really appreciate you sharing your story and the way that you continue to use your testimony to inspire other people. So thanks so much.
MARLEE: Thank you for inviting me. I had a blast.
MANDI: Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of Beyond Beautiful. I hope that Marlee's story encouraged you to find your own path and to use your toolbox and your identities in the way that you see fit. Next week's episode is one I owe this community. I'll be talking about disability theology and how I maintain my faith as a queer disabled Christian. And don't forget Mandy. Mail is back. Sign up to stay connected, get behind the scenes updates and receive a few things you won't find anywhere else. Until next time. Remember, Disability. Liberation. Love. are always beyond beautiful.
💌 Stay Connected
You’re invited to join the Beyond Beautiful Collective on Facebook or follow along on Instagram at Intersectional_Access. This podcast is built in community, and your voice belongs here.
Comments