Podcast Episode: Hey, nice to meet you…I’m Vicki.

Who Am I? The Real Story Behind the Business

Let me give you the unfiltered truth about who I am and how I got here. I’m a born and raised New Yorker living on Long Island with my husband Keith of 12 years, our 10-year-old son Zach, and our 84-pound golden retriever puppy Charlie who’s basically a handful on four legs.

My life is literally “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” – I’m 100% Greek, my parents live in the apartment attached to my house, and my sister lives half a mile away with her family. Everything I do, I do for my family.

If you’re looking for some polished, perfect entrepreneur story, you’re in the wrong place. I’m here to tell you exactly how it really happened – the messy, imperfect, sometimes completely backwards path that led me to building a seven-figure digital business.

From Average Student to Corporate Climber

I’ll be honest – I was an average student at best. While my sister was the rock star heading to Boston College to become a teacher, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life.
I studied communications at Syracuse University – you know, that degree that qualifies you for everything and nothing all at the same time. I graduated with more student loan debt than most anesthesiologists and still had no clue what to do next.

Here I was, fresh out of college, drowning in debt, with a degree that didn’t point me in any specific direction. Sound familiar? The pressure to “figure it out” was overwhelming, and there I was, completely clueless but trying to fake it like I had my shit together.

The Enterprise Experience That Changed Everything

That’s when I decided to work for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Their management training program is bar none the best in the country, and it taught me everything – customer service, sales, relationship building, going above and beyond for customers. I was getting paid $32,000 a year to vacuum cars in high heels and a business suit, but that job made me into the Clydesdale work ethic horse I am today.

I became one of their youngest branch managers ever, and to this day, I attribute any success I’ve had to what I learned at Enterprise. That company will make or break you, and it definitely made me.
Enterprise taught me how to work with difficult customers, solve problems on the fly, lead a team, and most importantly, never give up when things get tough. The job was hard as hell, but every difficult moment was preparing me for entrepreneurship, though I had no idea at the time.

The Pharmaceutical Sales Trap and Publishing Success

From Enterprise, I moved into pharmaceutical sales, selling birth control to Upper East Side Manhattan OBGYNs. I absolutely hated that job with every fiber of my being. They pay you tons of money – what they call “golden handcuffs” – but you compromise everything to be a pharmaceutical rep.
Let me paint you a picture: You’re basically a glorified drug dealer in a business suit, trying to convince doctors to prescribe your medication over the competitor’s. The money was good, but I felt like I was selling my soul every single day.

Thankfully, a massive layoff hit (blessing in disguise), and I became a publishing sales rep for Pearson Education. I sold math and science textbooks to college professors, which is hilarious because I dropped out of chemistry and physics in high school. But I loved that job – it taught me professional customer service and technology skills that would later become crucial when I entered the digital business world.

The Network Marketing Discovery That Started It All

In 2014, while pregnant (though I didn’t know it yet), I saw people posting about a weight loss program on Facebook. I found myself on a call with a woman trying to sell me weight loss products from a network marketing company.
She asked me one question that forever changed my life: “What are you going to do when this baby’s born?”

I said what every other person says – go back to work. But she planted a seed, and even though I thought it was “one of those pyramid scheme things,” I watched her succeed for months before joining.
Here’s the thing nobody talks about: I had a really bad taste in my mouth about network marketing. My parents had been involved with other companies, and I’d seen the typical stereotypes play out. But this woman was different. She wasn’t pushy or promising overnight riches. She just asked a simple question that made me think about my future differently.

Building a 7-Figure Network Marketing Empire

I spent 10 years with that company and found wild success – I was a seven-figure plus earner who built an organization of several thousand people. I busted my ass to get there, but more importantly, I fell in love with training, teaching, and inspiring others.

That company taught me leadership, vision-based conversations, certainty in communication, and how to stand out online. I built that entire business mostly online, learning Instagram skills, Facebook strategies, closing in DMs – everything about the digital space.

But let me be crystal clear: this success didn’t happen overnight. It took me years to figure out what I was doing. I made every mistake you can imagine. The turning point came when I stopped trying to be like everyone else and started being authentically me.

By 2016, I was able to leave my corporate job and become a full-time network marketer. The skills I developed – leadership, online marketing, relationship building, sales psychology – became the foundation for everything that came next.

The Pivot to Digital Products

Fast forward to 2023, when the entire network marketing industry hit a plateau. I discovered people on Instagram claiming to make six figures selling courses they’d bought for $497. It sounded too good to be true, but I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing.

The skeptic in me had to investigate – I messaged every single person promoting digital products, asking the hard questions: How much are you really making? What’s the catch? Is this actually sustainable?

Most didn’t answer, but one person gave me straight answers, and that conversation changed everything.

Taking the Leap: From Student to Expert

In June 2023, I invested $497 in my first digital product course. By July, I had started my new Instagram page and finished the course, learning about sales funnels, business automation, email marketing – all the tech stuff I never knew in network marketing.

That $497 investment was terrifying and exciting. Here I was, someone who had built a seven-figure business, feeling like a complete beginner again. The course opened my eyes to a whole world I didn’t know existed.

I learned that everything I’d been doing in network marketing was building someone else’s empire. Now I was learning how to build something that was 100% mine.

My approach was showing up simultaneously as the expert and the student. I shared my expertise in sales and relationship building while documenting my learning journey. This authenticity became one of my biggest differentiators.

The Results Speak for Themselves

Over 140,000 followers later, I created a level of success in the digital product space that took me eight years to achieve as a network marketer. What I built in one year in digital products matched eight years of network marketing success.

Is this normal? Probably not. But remember, my story includes 20 years of sales experience and 10 years of network marketing behind it. I didn’t start from zero – I had decades of foundation.

The Reality Check About “Quick Money”

Here’s the real talk: when people enter this space saying “I need money now,” I tell them this isn’t the thing for quick money. Get money now by becoming an Uber driver while you build your business. There’s a big difference between building a real business and the “make quick money now” messaging that makes me nauseous.

This business model requires an investment of time, energy, and often money before it pays you back. The people who succeed understand it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Building a Community of Real Entrepreneurs

Today, I have over 1,700 students in my community where I host weekly office hours, helping them build businesses they actually give a shit about. These are real people with real goals – teachers, moms, corporate professionals – not get-rich-quick dreamers.

There’s an entire opportunity online that most average people don’t even realize exists. My passion lies in teaching people that step-by-step process to build their digital empire the right way.

The Bottom Line

That’s my 41-year-old story on this earth, and I’m so glad you’re here to share it with me. The journey to online success might not always be easy, but honestly, what in life that’s actually worth it ever is?
The online world is full of opportunities for people who are willing to work for them. Not get-rich-quick opportunities, but real, sustainable ways to build income and impact doing something you actually care about.
I’m here to help you navigate that path without the BS, without the hype, and without the false promises. Just real talk, real strategies, and real support for building something real.

Ready to dive deeper into building your digital empire? Subscribe to Beyond the BS and follow me on Instagram @the_no_bs_newyorker.