My start in the network marketing world is quite the fascinating story. In a nutshell, I got a job right out of college, gained a lot of weight, found some program called P90X on an infomercial one night while eating a bowl of ice cream, bought it, lost a bunch of weight and got fantastic results, and then was invited by my "coach" to join her in the business to sell the program to others. Now before I talk about actually joining the business, you have to understand that everyone told me not to do it. I was told it was some scam because "all MLMs are scams." Right. Just like with everything else, I did my own research into it and discovered that if it was the right company with the right products, the opportunity could be outstanding. Well I felt it was the right company with the right products and ultimately decided to get involved. 

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I crushed it from the very beginning. Well, not really. I had no idea what I was doing. I was young with an ego and thought that I knew everything about how to become successful. I did not. I was humbled real quickly, especially after I received a $6 check 8 months into it after working many hours a day and not really sleeping. This was tough because Melinda (my wife) and I were really struggling financially around this time. In fact, it was so bad that we relied on food stamps to feed ourselves and our daughter. We also slept on a couch in a tiny one bedroom apartment so that Madison could sleep in the only bedroom. That couch was our bed for 3 years. Being the way I am, I couldn't accept this situation and knew that it was my responsibility as a father and husband to get my family out of it. 

Then I sought help. I was mentored by someone who had achieved incredible success in the network marketing world. He told me that if I wanted to create the financial freedom I was after, I had to get out of my own way, put others first, develop into a leader, and then teach others how to lead. I listened. That same year I quit working for my father, went full time with my network marketing business, and worked my tail off, eventually becoming the #1 distributor in the entire country. I had won the "Top Coach" award. From that moment on I established one of the largest and most successful teams in the entire network. The team I created was called Team Next Level. As the years went on, I ended up mentoring someone who also became the Top Coach in the entire company two years in a row, Melinda and I both became members of the Million Club (over $1M in earnings), we mentored many others who also became part of that same club, and we eventually were able to build a seven-figure network marketing business. I even became an author and published two success books: Just Suck It Up and How to Not Suck at Network Marketing. We had achieved everything we had wanted to achieve. But every good thing must come to an end.

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The company we were with started going downhill quickly. Being analytical, I studied the financials and knew that it was just a matter of time before the network came to an end. At the beginning of 2024 I predicted that the network wouldn't be around by the end of the year. I was right. The company put itself into such a bad spot financially that it had to terminate the network. We were with the company nearly 17 years, had built an incredible organization, and established friendships that will last a lifetime. But it was time to move on. 

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We really weren't that interested in joining another network marketing company. We didn't need to. Fortunately, I planned accordingly in case this would happen. But after discussing it with each other and our family and friends, it made sense for us to at least look into the option. We had worked too hard for years to build credibility, respect, and trust to just throw it all away. Plus, we had a lot of people on our team waiting for us to make a decision to see if they could join us or not. After looking at many different companies and studying their compensation plans, financial security, and products, there was only one that stood out, and that's Shaklee.

Shaklee is a health and wellness company that's been around for many, many years. At the time I'm writing this, it's been 67 years. They've gone through a major growth phase over the past decade, though, by rebranding, upgrading their products to match market quality standards, and changing their marketing strategy. It's been effective because the company is thriving! In order for us to join, there were two major requirements. First, the quality of the products had to match or exceed our standards, which is incredibly difficult to do. When I battled Lyme disease in 2015, we shifted to a natural, organic, toxic free lifestyle. That means that everything we consume has to be super high quality in order to keep my immune system strong and remain in remission. Shaklee products exceed my requirements. Quality is important, too, because we have thousands of people who trust us and we will only recommend product that we are 100% confident will help them on their health journey. Second, the compensation plan had to be better than the one from my previous company. I did not want to get involved with another binary plan. After reviewing the Shaklee compensation plan for hours, I quickly discovered that it was in fact a much better plan. After discussing with Melinda, we decided that Shaklee was going to be our new home.

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We have hit the ground running! One of the great things about starting over is that we can avoid all of the mistakes we made early on with our previous company. There were a lot of hard lessons learned. I have a very clear vision on how to build another very successful network marketing business. I've got all the systems in place to grow this quickly and to help everyone who joins us do the same. I developed an excellent Getting Started Right training and am going to be developing more advanced trainings as well, including leadership development trainings. As far as tools, support, mentorship goes, you're not going to find it better than what we have to offer. I will be here to guide and support you and make sure you stay on track 100% of the way. Joining a top network marketing team has its perks! We know what we are doing and how to mentor others. 

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If you would like to join our team, Team Next Level, please fill out this form below.