Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Flater.
Hi Christy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I started my business as an independent contractor with Mary Kay® at the age of 25. At that time, my husband and I were in our newlywed stage with no kids. My favorite outfit was a t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap and I believe the only makeup I wore was mascara and lip gloss.
Let’s just say, I didn’t fit the ideal of what you think an independent beauty consultant would be. What enticed me to start my own Mary Kay® business is I wanted a career that would allow me to live my ideal of being the mom I always wanted to be. Plus, I wanted more control over my time and what MY priorities were instead of someone telling me what they were or should be. What started as a way to create more income and flexibility in my life turned into a passion to build women up and give them the opportunity to embrace their unique beauty. Most women that struggle with confidence think they need to change to look like the perceived image of beauty.
But the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” has a literal meaning that the perception of beauty is subjective or people can have differing opinions. This means that different societal trends, cultures, nationalities, and countries can perceive a certain look as flawless and captivating, but it might be ordinary or unappealing to another. The solution for women is to find their way to be beautiful! I expanded my business to include being a beauty coach. To guide women to unleash their confidence by discovering their beauty personality type and customizing a skincare and makeup regimen that reflects their true identity and lifestyle.
Official Accolades: pronounces name: KRIS-tee FLAY-ter.
Christy embraces her journey as a faithful Christian, happy wife, loving mom of 3, dedicated entrepreneur, and advocate for living life with Fabry disease. She loves date nights with her husband, reading great books, volunteering in her community and church, being outdoors, taking naps, and spending time with her family.
Christy’s previous occupations include retail associate, substitute teacher, over 7 years in quality assurance and warehouse distribution, and over 5 years in office management with a property management firm. Christy attended the school of life and left the traditional workplace to pursue her dreams, find more meaning and purpose in her career, and gain more control over her work/life harmony.
Christy has been building her business in direct sales with Mary Kay® since December 2005 and chose to build her team to earn the position of Independent Sales Director. Christy has put herself in the driver’s seat of one of the best-in-class car incentive programs by earning the use of 8 career cars through her hard work and applying the skills taught through the valuable resources and education offered. Christy is blessed to have her business offer the opportunity to travel with the most positive people and engage in a daily growth environment where she can apply her strengths of courage, enthusiasm, and wisdom in building her business and supporting others in building their businesses, too.
With a bright hope for the future, Christy’s mission is to coach women with desire and commitment to intentionally design their positive influence for future generations through improving their today. Christy chooses her position as an Independent Sales Director in Mary Kay® as the vehicle to fulfill this mission. She invites you to learn more about this business model that helps women discover a financially viable opportunity to empower choices and reveal true confidence and strength.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Is there such a thing as a smooth road? Whether in business or life overcoming obstacles is the constant that you can count on. One obstacle that has been unique to me is living life and running a business with a rare genetic disease called Fabry disease (for more information you can visit fabry.org or fabrydisease.org). All 3 of my children have been diagnosed as well and our already hectic schedule with teenagers is compounded by regular appointments with specialists and every other week IV infusions at Primary Children’s Hospital that around 5 hours roundtrip to complete to receive enzyme replacement therapy.
I have come to understand that this is a progressive disease and prevention is the better tool to equip ourselves.
Fabry disease is a systemic disorder meaning it affects all areas of the body. Fatigue is a major obstacle. I have what my husband calls mini comas. Where I take a nap for 3 hours in the middle of the day, wake up do my thing then go to bed early and sleep for another 12 hours. I experience heat intolerance and cold intolerance. 70 degrees is my max comfort level and 60 degrees is my minimum comfort level which is difficult to regulate when living in Utah with summers reaching over 100 degrees and winters can drop as low as 20 degrees or less.
Plus, there are some symptoms on the inside that I don’t see every day. In 2020 during the middle of the pandemic, I had a pacemaker implanted and found out that it is pacing 40% of the time. That shocked me that it was that high and yet it has been a breath of fresh air to have my heart function like it ought to. So how do I juggle my symptoms while coordinating care for myself and 3 children while still being a wife, a mom, and a business owner?
First, I have accepted this disease as more of a companion in life instead of something I must fight against or deny. I have been able to embrace more of living a full life with Fabry by implementing a couple of tools that help me: 1. #1 Schedule my day based on my energy level and allow me to take a break.
One of the most frustrating byproducts of living with Fabry disease is the difficulty of planning. I feel the anxiety of my schedule when I see a day that is too full and the uninvited thought that taunts me of whether my body will be able to handle it. I’ve learned that actively saying no to certain things can allow me to say a better yes to the things I value. When we wake up, my body is already running on empty, so I’m intentional to give myself pit stops throughout the day before I completely break down.
#2 I use a calendar for everything! Probably to the point that people would question my sanity. It is a necessary thing to have me feel like I can have some control over my schedule. It is a part-time job to coordinate treatments, checkups, and insurance for 4 family members with Fabry especially when 3 out of the 4 are on treatment. We generally schedule 3 months in advance with our treatments and because we see specialists for everything, it is usually 4-5 months in advance for checkups and assessments.
It just easily allows us to see where we can take vacations and be spontaneous instead of having to cancel plans because we are surprised by our appointments. I also use my calendar as a reminder for me. I schedule all-day events to remind me to do things that I can have recurring events every 3 months, 6 months, or yearly. It can be things like emailing our doctor to complete the yearly preauthorization for treatment, refilling prescriptions before they run out, and even a reminder to schedule the next round of treatments, etc. I am only one person and I need all the reminders I can get. Plus, it feels really good when you remind yourself to get something done and be ahead of the game.
#3 Delegation is a necessity, not a luxury. The truth is we will never have an even distribution of our time or even enough time to accommodate the priorities in our life, so why do we keep striving for this myth of a “balanced life”? It is dangerous to perpetuate the “having it all” mentality by “doing it all”. I want to bring to light the tradeoffs that I face in choosing a family or career, especially when running my own business. Creating a team of people around me that can support me personally and my business through automation and systems has become essential for me to live a full and rich life that I enjoy.
Lebanese-American writer, poet, and visual artist, Khalil Gibran said, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls.” Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart, especially for those diagnosed with rare diseases. I won’t ever be thankful for Fabry’s disease, but I am grateful for the reflection of compassion, strength, and love it has shown me through the beautiful faces of so many that are smiling through their struggles, too, and succeeding in life.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What sets me apart from others is I truly want to gift women with the resources I have gained as I stumble along this journey of improvement, too. Whether it’s building your beauty confidence to enhance who you are and reflect the beauty that is already you by sharing simple makeup fundamentals to learn the truth that anyone can be their makeup artist or teaching women how to implement simple life systems for consistent tasks to free your mind and your time.
To coach women at a higher level through the business model of Mary Kay that helps women discover a financially viable opportunity to empower choices and reveal true confidence and strength. All of these are vehicles to fulfill my mission which is to empower women to improve their today and intentionally design their positive influence for future generations.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
This is the most difficult question to answer since no one ever achieves success without a helping hand and support from others. There are too many women that I have had the privilege to cross paths with and that have influenced me in powerful ways.
I am grateful for the mentorship of so many of those angels that were on the Lord’s errand that graced me and our growing business with wisdom, encouragement, and direction in the times when I needed it most. Of course, I must give appreciation to my clients and team members that trust me with their vulnerability to coach them and support them in developing a vision and plan to achieve their goals. I also want to give a special appreciation to my virtual assistant, Rachael Hunter. She is my right hand and oftentimes my left hand too.
Her loyalty and big heart influence so many without her even realizing it. And lastly, I am forever grateful to my best friends and greatest cheerleaders, my spouse, Nathan, and my 3 children. They have allowed me the patience to grow into more than I knew I could and gave me the wings to fly.
Contact Info:
- Website:christyflater.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christyflater/
Image Credits
@steph_smith_photography
