“What you are becoming is more important than what you are accomplishing.”
The theme of our Nation, rise above it comes from a song in a movie. This movie parallels our journey with Arbonne in many ways.
Determination … A talented track runner from Jamaica gets bumped out of his chance to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to compete in the Olympics. Rather than just wait for another chance four years later, or giving up, he chose to go outside his comfort zone and make his way to the Olympics. It hadn’t been done before, but the chance to create a Jamaican bobsled team became his avenue to fulfill his dream. Without the right tools or equipment, he went on to find a coach, found the right prospects for team members, and made due with what he had.
In Arbonne, I have had to move outside my comfort zone at times and had to decide to just make it happen. Having a no-matter-what attitude is a must — regardless of the speed and pace you decide to progress at — just don’t give up! I didn’t wait for the perfect tool, perfect verbiage or perfect coach — I knew what I wanted and I set out to get it!
Belief … Every key member of the Jamaican bobsled team faced a doubt in their own belief of making it to the Olympics and achieving their dreams. That is, everyone except the main character. He plays a central role in re-instilling the belief of their coach — never doubting his own belief and determination. Fears were faced, but they were just moments to strengthen their beliefs when the criticism arose. They all developed confidence in each other, strengthened faith in themselves and ultimately made their beliefs in a dream become reality.
Fear existed as I built my business with Arbonne, but belief is what moved me through those times. Your upline and crossline are there to help you when doubt begins to settle — many times they are able to see beyond the moment and reassure you how worthwhile the journey is! By deepening my beliefs, I strengthened my business.
Action … Without money, a bobsled or proper clothing, the team of four bobsledders and their coach sacrificed and took a leap of faith to get on a plane and head to Canada for a shot at becoming part of the Olympics. When their qualifying times weren’t good enough, they dove more and more into action. They were in constant practice both mentally and physically.
People are always afraid of what’s different — it’s how you react when facing the fear that matters. Sometimes action is the only thing that can distill fear — a rise-above-it mentality. When the phone weighed 500 pounds to call a prospect, I made a choice to rise above it. When sitting at a class, and the only two that showed were the host and myself, I chose to rise above it. When no one called me back, I chose to rise above it. Intentions are a great thing, but they won’t bring you results … only action will.
Dealing with dream stealers … The movie “Cool Runnings” began with the dream two men held, of running in the Olympics, being stolen by another who trips and takes the two down with him. The father of one of the characters tries several times to steal the dreams of his son, thinking, “father knows best.” Each time characters in the movie faced dream stealers, they persisted and were motivated to work harder. They persevered.
When I have faced dream stealers their doubts or skepticism could have driven me “home” or driven my determination. When someone says no, it drives me harder to look for a yes. I learned not to take it personally — as Rita says, “They only say no because they don’t know enough.” Don’t let anyone steal your dreams!
Having fun … A Jamaican bobsled team that had many reasons not to laugh, made sure they did a lot of laughing. They enjoyed their journey … laughing together, playing together, dreaming together, working hard together … but always having fun doing it. They kept their sense of humor as they traveled into the unknown.
The purpose of having my own business is to enjoy doing it. I traveled through unbalanced times, stressful times, fearful times and doubtful times. But, when I learned how to laugh and took the time to laugh through them, they really didn’t seem as bad. Being able to take incredible vacations with my Arbonne family is fun, being able to get out of debt is fun, being able to get jewelry on stage is fun, being able to sponsor kids to church camps is fun, being able to hand your sister-in-law keys to a Mercedes is fun, being able to share this gift of Arbonne with others is fun! Always take a step back and make sure you are enjoying your business.
On a personal note … Without Arbonne, this last winter would have been a much harder time. My son was born on January 1, 2004 only to end up back in the hospital when he was five weeks old with an upper respiratory infection. My husband could take time off as much as he needed to take shifts at the hospital — it didn’t matter if he didn’t get paid, Arbonne was there. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t be at all of the meetings, or classes I had committed to, my Arbonne family and team was there. It didn’t matter that I had to take four months off to tend to my family, my Arbonne check still came in every month, and it grew. The meaning of residual income and network marketing became a solid reality to me when I had to depend on it. My hard work and investment in my business and team for the previous two-and-a-half years was more than worth it to be able to have it take care of you when you need it the most. Arbonne is a gift that does keep on giving because of the people that surround you. So many people have been there for me, even more so then they even realize. Arbonne President Rita Davenport, ENVP Donna Johnson, ENVP Cecilia Stoll, RVP Cindy Esterly, NVP Karen DiCenzo, ERVP Kim Kearns, soon-to-be-NVP Christie Dreiling, ENVP Neta Irwin and my Tame the Tornado, fellow VPs and new friends.
For paving the way and sharing this awesome gift with me, my upline and best friend from high school, ENVP Shannon Johnson: Thanks to Arbonne our kids get to grow-up together on family vacations even though we live thousands of miles apart. To ENVP Susan Hutton and ENVP Julie Newcomb: You two are to blame for starting this whole thing — thank you! To ENVP Euphiazene Linder: I am proud to call you my great-great-grandmother!
Any success is ultimately a blessing from above, but I have heard that getting to District is all about you, getting to Area is mostly about you, getting to Region is very little about you and getting to Nation is not about you at all. They never cease to amaze me, my ever-so-quickly-growing team: RVP Lori Loza, RVP Candace Nystrom and RVP-to-be Casey Simmons; AMs Jenny Johnson, Renee Taillon, Lory Muirhead, Audra Berger, Pam Fadness, Marybeth Lozano, Sue Giachello, Gayle Miller and Robyn Nielsen: You all are rising above it! And my many DMs: May you continue to see the vision, drive with passion, enjoy the journey and fall more in love with this company and business each and every day! Onward and upward! I am so proud of all of you. This is only the beginning.
To my family: Mom and dad, thank you for being an example and instilling the true meaning of giving, prayer and hard work. Your endless hours of help with the kids and helping on those last-minute qualifying moments — knowing you didn’t really need anymore Arbonne products! To Jason, Candace, Josh and Mariann: Thank you for babysitting, and being the best brothers and sister-in-laws, and friends, that I could ever imagine! To my cousin, AM Jenny Johnson: You were my backbone these last 8–9 months. You supported me physically, mentally and emotionally; you kept my house running and my business functioning. I love you more then you’ll ever know! I believe in you! To my husband, Rich: Thank you for your belief in me, this company and the industry! Also for your help building ‘our’ business, your support with the kids and the house. You truly are the greatest gift from God! To Tanner, Kassidy and Brayden, my Why and helpers: You are my joy, my precious little gifts from God. Arbonne is blessing your lives more then you’ll understand for a long time! Love you forever, love you more, love you forevermore!
The testimonials on this Web site reflect the actual experience of each individual, are anecdotal only, and may be atypical. The testimonials are not based upon any clinical study.
