Thrival from Ordinary to Extraordinary

Brown

Chapter 1: From the Beginning

As a child growing up, I was chemically wired by God as a direct personality. Also, I am a momma’s boy and proud of it. I am considered a people person, I have always liked people, and I am very talkative. Because of my personality, I was a perfect candidate to be a networker. Little did I realize that I had been training my entire life to be a great networker.  

Developing friendships is what I have always desired to do and as I have gotten older, I have realized that influencing people is what defines a person. When I was young I did childish things but as I have matured, I have put away those childish things (doing wrong). Even as I write, I must be aware of doing the right thing consistently. Much of the time I want to play but I need to work, this is the right way, most of the time.

It all began in March 1997, while I was running three companies, seeing my own patients, and raising a family of four children. I really had no time for another business. However, a colleague of mine sent me information through the mail that ended up buried in a stack on my desk.

After approximately a week passed, he called my office after hours to talk. Our conversation began with some small talk before he asked me to go get the information while he waited. At this point, I had not yet looked at the information. I retrieved the information, opened it and scanned it as we talked. I immediately noticed that one of the most renowned labs in the field of nutritional medicine was involved. To me, that was all the validation that I needed.

Not only did my colleague send written information, he also sent me a cassette tape with information. That was very important for my personality because I need to hear and see information to grasp the importance of the information. As I drove with my parents later that week to my aunt’s wedding, I listened to that tape. I will never forget how excited I became when I heard about this nutritional concept that I was already using at a much higher cost. If I went with the network marketing side of the business instead of going directly to the lab as a clinician, it would save me money and I could make money by developing a network. I started to understand the networking concept. J. Paul Getty said, "I would rather make 1% off 100, than 100% off 1. I already believed in this concept by J. Paul Getty, but the more I heard it the more it moved me. If I wanted all my dreams to come true this saying had to be woven into every business sense I had. This concept, I believed, was what missing in my business sense that would put me over the top financially. If one of the richest men that ever walked in America believed this concept than I needed to believe this also!

By reviewing the information sent to me, I saw a service and a product that not only was affordable, but it also had a business opportunity. However, I needed to do some clinical evaluations to see if the product was as good now as the manufacturer had been over the previous fifty years in nutritional products. I soon discovered that this company was legitimate. Now I had to figure out the major dilemma concerning how to fit yet another thing into my very busy schedule. Knowing that successful people respond quickly once they have most of the facts, I seized the opportunity.

The dilemma really came because there was much to understand about this industry that I just did not have the time to learn. However, that was okay because I was really interested in the great product that the MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) company had. My interest in the product had me making more time for the business.  Because I was intrigued by the company and the business plan, I spent time trying to understand how to get paid. In time success with the product translated into my working the business. This happened because of the excitement created about the product.

Even though the business plan sounded too good to be true, the product had so much potential that the pros outweigh the cons at this point. Because of that, I continued the investigation stage of my new potential business. Since I was a very busy person, my number one problem to overcome was finding the time to work this new business. I overcame this obstacle by telling myself that I was not going to work the business, I was just going to use the product. This allowed me time to figure out a way to fit this new program into my busy schedule. Also, I started communicating each morning with my upline, which allowed me to learn much about the business. When I realized that I could not ask my upline nutritional questions about the product because their focus was on the business, I knew I would have to learn about the nutritional side while leaving the business side to them. In my case, most of the people I knew were nutritionally minded. Because of that, I had to handle most of their questions from the beginning. After showing them a great product and teaching them about the different personalities of my upline leaders, they were now ready for instruction about the business. I started my business this way to keep many new people from being chased away by the focus only being on business.

Remember, if you want something done; give it to a busy person. Also, remember, if there is will, there will be a way. The more time and money you spend on something the more of a life it starts to take on its own. It is just like being pregnant, in the beginning, you do not see anything growing; but, all of a sudden, the woman starts showing overnight. That is what happened with me. Although I was very busy, as I invested time and money into this product, my business began to take on a life of its own.

As I learned more about the new product and company with which I was working, my belief grew. As my knowledge and belief grew, so did my business. If you have a great product and you start developing some good testimonies with your new product, your belief level begins growing and you begin sharing more frequently with more people. The next thing you know, your business starts growing.

The simpler your product base is (like when Amway started over fifty years ago with one environmentally-sound soap that would save the plant) the easier it is to stay focused, the more people you will attract, and the quicker your business will grow. The problem many companies face is as they grow, the company adds too many new products. The additional products cause the new marketers to lose focus. This loss of focus causes confusion that passes through your organization. A simpler product base is better in my opinion—less is more.

The concept of network marketing or distributing a product from person to person had never been merged together with a pay plan before this time. Prior to this time in business history, the majority of distribution was corporate to corporate or business to business. Now the concept of person to person distribution was introduced through the idea of network marketing.  Little did we know it would change the face of business around the world.

One of the reasons that I invested into network marketing is I wanted to live the American Dream. Since network marketing is responsible for 25% of the new millionaires in the USA during the last 5 years and 33% worldwide, I was confident in succeeding in this market as long as I wisely chose which company with which to invest. If this information does not impress you yet, this should; the wellness industry is positioned to double over the next 3-5 years because of the perfect storm that is occurring with the Baby Boomers aging. This is predicted by Paul Zane Pilzer, who is one of the best business forecasters of our time. I believe that many Baby Boomers are growing the wellness industry through network marketing because of the economic downturn. Explosive growth is being created in the wellness industry as Baby Boomers enter this industry through network marketing. The Wellness Revolution: How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry by Paul Zane Pilzer is a must-read book.

Another reason I invested in network marketing is this industry is gearing up to become a trillion dollar industry in the next few years. When this industry does become a trillion dollar industry, you also should want to be part of the growth of this industry in order to capitalize on the profit as hundreds of new millionaires are formed. This business will go from a one-half trillion dollar industry to a trillion dollar industry in the next few years. Be positioned and be prepared like I am which means having a network marketing organization developed. This tsunami is coming and if you are not prepared it will go right over you and you will not benefit from the massive growth. Being prepared is the best way to take advantage of the next great industry that occurs. You can ride this wave to highest level imagined or you can watch it go right on by you. Some people will wonder what happened, some people will watch it happen, but the smart ones will make it happen!

One of the things that I did to start learning about this world of network marketing is every morning before work, I contacted my upline to learn and to share my successes with the product. Each day I learned a little more about the product and the business. Before long, I was flying in leaders to do business presentations because there was a conflict with my profession. Being a nutritionist, I had to be careful to not give the wrong impression to my clients. I did not want to appear to be just promoting a product for financial gain. I had to balance my expertise with the business. I accomplished this objective by having other people present the business overview while I presented the product overview. Little did I realize that I was creating the first core-training city.

After I started developing leaders within my core team in north Virginia, I was able to go to other cities and start other core training cities. Not only did these core cities have the fastest growth in the business, but also these cities were where leaders were developing the fastest. The key to growing a strong business is to develop leaders within these core cities.

I continually repeated this objective as I traveled around the country building both friends and leaders simultaneously. I realized the more I traveled back to the same area the better the relationships evolved and the quicker my leaders were developing other leaders. My leaders were then able to send other leaders to new locations to develop other core cities. This is the most amazing concept that I have ever seen in network marketing.

When you have other leaders who teach and support your style of leadership, those leaders will continue to develop where you leave off. This did not happen in my first company. The leaders used two different styles-leading with the business and leading with the product. Leading with the business includes asking business questions such as the following: Are you opened to a business opportunity? Do you want to make extra money? or Have you ever considered having a home-based business?  Leading with the product includes asking health-related questions such as the following: Do you supplement? How much do you spend on your supplements? Are you looking for a natural way? Do you need more energy? and Are you looking to lose weight? Through the upper management, the company promoted the style of leading with the business. This style was aimed more at the people who led with their head and pocket instead of being aimed at the people that led with the product and with their heart. The people, who led with the product and with their hearts, used personal stories of people who overcame health challenges with the different products that the company distributed. People attract like-minded people. If you are a person who leads with the business, you attract others who will lead with the business. If you are a person who leads with the product, you will attract others who will lead with the product and become very passionate.

The company leadership disapproved of leading with the product and they shunned and belittled people who led with the product. The leadership said that leading with the product could not be duplicated. Because of this, the leadership drove away most of the nutritionally-minded clinicians and health people. The meetings and trainings for the company were too heavy with the business aspect. Typically, there was not enough information about the product presented at meetings. This was the major complaint from my guests because they were nutritionally-minded. They desired more information about the product at the meetings instead of information about the business.

Another reason that I entered network marketing is I loved helping other people excel. First and foremost, because I am a nutritionist, it was only natural for me to get involved with a product-based business. The problem with leading your business with the product is most companies teach people to lead with the business. Let me explain why this is a problem. Although the people that lead with the business aspect of their company have a great product, their owner and leadership team teaches to lead with the business. If they do not follow the methods of their leadership, they are treated like black sheep. They believe that product leading is not reproducible, that is nonsense! Despite their belief, I became a three-star diamond with this style of recruiting.

While working this network marketing business, I built eight core training cities around product-based people. The leadership came behind me and divided the allegiance of my people. The leadership did this by telling my people that they could make more money leading with the business aspect of the company instead of the product. Making more money equaled a better way or the right way to work your business.

Little by little, the leadership entered into the core training cities that I had built from the ground level, talked with everyone and tore those cities apart. After eight years with this company where I was constantly rebuilding what was being torn down, I lost my way and went into neutral. After coasting for a couple of years, my network fell apart. Over this two-year period, my income went from $5,500 a month to $1,500 a month, and I went further into debt. My wife had to go from working part-time to working full-time, and everything began collapsing.  Once that started occurring, my income could no longer sustain my family and I went further into debt. This is when I started praying and looking for another opportunity. Within six months, I was introduced to a new company with an amazing product by placing a phone call to a long-time friend and patient.

I was first introduced to my current company by my friend that could be classified as a MLM junkie. He had never seen a MLM that he did not like. He has been enrolled in more than 100 MLM companies. One day, when we were having a conversation by phone, he began talking to me about his health condition that I had tried unsuccessfully to treat for five to ten years. His health condition that I had not successfully treated was pre-cancerous skin tags on his face and scalp. As we talked, I was amaze to learn that those skin tags were gone! Not only were the skin tags gone, but the scabs that he picked at were also gone.

After revealing that information to me, my friend began telling me about the product that he was taking when those skin tags disappeared. This product came from a tree and was available as a drink in a can. By drinking one can of this product a day, his skin tags were gone along with other health issues. Obviously, I wanted to know more. He shared with me that his product was organic, OK organic certified (the highest organic certification in the world), the only none-pasteurized drink available, and the most nutritious drink on the planet. 

I told my friend that I needed some product to try. After he told me that he would get me some product, he did the best thing possible by connecting me to his sponsor. Once my friend provided more information about the company, he disappeared. Since he would not even return my calls, I signed into the business on my own. This is where it all started with me. God used a broken man to show me the answer to my prayers and to start me on the next phase of my life.

After putting together a clinical review with an internal medicine doctor (Wanda Dyson) with whom I was working, I found this product to be the most amazing product that I have ever seen in twenty years of clinical practice. Every patient who we put on this product over the next four months had amazing results. That is when I knew I was going to pursue this company full-time. The product was so good that Wanda told me if anyone ever asked me about the product that all I should say was this is the best product I have ever seen PERIOD.

My plan was to work this business full-time for one year starting in September 2009. My one problem was I needed to make money quickly. When Thanksgiving came, I needed money for Christmas, so I took a full-time job in order to have money for Christmas. As the new year began, my business showed promise. I increased my income by thirty-five percent monthly for the next four months. After developing an average, I realized if I continued this average over the next four months, I would have a decent monthly income.

The company created some amazing promotions through the summer to stimulate growth through the summer months when traditionally, MLM companies experience a slump. My organization continued to break records. I could now see myself being one of the top leaders in the company by the year’s end. I was able to reach the emerald profit-sharing pool one month later than I had projected. This was very important to me because the company had just offered a 5% profit-sharing to the first 100 emeralds. This was a dream come true—owning a piece of the rock—part of the company instead of just being a distributor. I also declared that I would be a diamond by the national convention on October 23, 2009. I did obtain that goal.

All the planning and building that I did over that year created an income that will take care of my children and their children. When I look back at the previous sixteen months, I realize that this long-term gratification was worth the wait, matter of fact; it was worth its weight in gold! I always knew that I could become great in network marketing providing I had a company and a product that I could trust. I fulfilled both of those criteria when I was introduced to this new company and the founder! Those were the two things I needed to become great; to go from ordinary to extraordinary!

Today I continue to train other leaders every morning at 7:00 a.m., five days a week as I have been