Today we’d like to introduce you to Joyce Morrison.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Most people see me today as the strong successful entrepreneur that I have a grown into and I see a life that I am so appreciative to have. Most people don’t see that I grew up as an only child being raised by my single deaf mother with financial struggles. I had to grow up fast. I had a lot of responsibility in helping to take care of my mother. As soon as I was old enough, I took on the responsibilities of her translator, I can remember as young as eight having to translate important phone calls for her. Having to financially and emotionally struggled alongside my mother as a child, put me in the place today where I can look back and use those experiences to not only help myself but to help others facing similar issues today.
Today, I am married to my business partner and best friend, Jerry. We started our own medical distribution business in 2015, SLR Medical Consulting. I am a proud bonus mom to our daughter Chloe and doggie mom to our boy Milo. My husband and I love to travel and I started my travel blog in mid-2017, WanderlustWifey, that I am still learning to grow along the way. I competed in my first pageant when I was three years old and continued to do so throughout my childhood into my early 20’s. I am your current Mrs. DFW International 2019 and will be competing in Mrs. Texas International in March. I am so thankful to have my pageant platform to help raise awareness and funds for Vogel Alcove, and Best Buddies Texas, who are helping children and families that are facing experiences that I had faced as a child.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not. I don’t think I could find an entrepreneur that had smooth sailing while building a business. There are growing pains, there are errors, there are setbacks. This is natural and how we all learn how to get to where we want to go. The medical sales industry is heavily male-dominated, to be more specific, the spine and neuro-medical sales industry were even more male-dominated. I was intimidated as a woman going into an industry like this. Would they take me seriously? Am I old enough? Will they respect me? I had tons of these questions flowing through my mind each day. I told myself, as long as I know my industry and study the product there is no way I can fail. I am still in the learning phase and I recently struggled with the formatting of my blog. I started my blog in story form and realized readers didn’t want that, so I had to adapt and change the blog. I hope readers are finding my new format easier to read and more enjoyable with the new elements that have been added this year.
My advice to women starting their journey is to believe in you! That’s all that matters. If you are wanting to start a blog, and you are discouraged by seeing bloggers with thousands of followers, it’s ok… I say show up for your followers you have today, and if it’s 100 people, those 100 people are here for you and they are believing in you too!
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I got started in the medical industry in 2011, the year I met my now husband, Jerry. He was actually the one who got me into the medical sales industry. We both worked for multiple companies from 2011 to 2015. My first year was pretty brutal. I covered over 350 spine cases myself while learning the ropes of the industry. The following year, I took an educational route and became a regional education specialist teaching reps and surgeons on surgical products and directing cadaver labs. I had gained such priceless knowledge over these four years working in the education field.
Around the Fall of 2015, my fiancé at that time proposed that we leave our companies and start our own distribution company. Putting all our “financial eggs in one basket” was frightening, but we decided to make a run for it. We rented out a 160 sq ft office with no windows in uptown and we both worked from there. The first year was a struggle. We had challenges introducing new products to the market place and actually finding new customers. We dedicated our first year to make sure we succeeded, as we knew there wasn’t another option. I remember we had been working so hard one week, maybe 70-80 hours, that on a Friday, we wanted to go out and try to enjoy a date night. We decided to go to the movies and we both fell asleep in the theater and we woke up around 1:30 am and we discovered were left there. It was so funny at the time, and looking back we are proud of that time and all the hard work we had poured into SLR Medical. We have now grown exponentially over the past three and half years, moving into 6,000 square feet, opening our own cadaver lab training center and we have both been able to find excellent employees to share our many hats with. We are excited about the future and technology of medicine and we look forward to continually growing SLR.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I have recently been listening to The Influencer Podcast and have learned so much about growing my influence with my travel blog, Wanderlust.Wifey. I also enjoy following Gary Vaynerchuk, he has become a passionate and strong influence within the entrepreneur and the business community.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4100 Harry Hines Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75219
- Website: www.Joyce-Morrison.com
- Phone: 9403916486
- Email: Joyce@wanderlustwifey.com
- Instagram: _wanderlustwifey_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wanderlustwifey/
- Twitter: wanderlust_wife
- Other: www.wanderlustwifey.com
Image Credit:
Personal photo by: Andrew Khomenko
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
