Leave Nothing To Chance

 

We have come so far in the industry. When we look back at how things were done, we can find glaring contrasts with the way we are now. Whereas we could not imagine marketing without meeting face-to-face, the pace of technological advancement showed us it’s possible. And it’s taking the industry to new heights. Sharing their perspectives from before to now, John Solleder interview Karen Ford and Elaine Lynas. Having started in the network marketing industry way back in the 1990s, they each share the changes they have seen up to now and how they have navigated through them. They also talk about why we should join an MLM company today and share their advice on working with the new generation. The new year has just started, but already, the network marketing industry is further building itself to help people change their lives. Join this conversation and discover the opportunities to live a life of freedom!

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“Building It Until” With Karen Ford And Elaine Lynas

This is going to be a lot of fun. This is the very first show in 2023. Happy New Year to Elaine, Karen, and all of you reading. We have a lot of stuff coming up, including in April 2023, the recognition of my being 40 years full-time in the network marketing industry. We’re figuring out how to celebrate that. I had lunch with an industry icon, Larry Thompson. We were discussing how he celebrated his 50th a few years ago, which I was part of. He had some good suggestions. We’ll get to all of that in the New Year. I’ve got two exciting guests. I want to get into their stories. First of all, my friend for many years, Karen Ford, in beautiful Virginia and a new friend, Elaine Lynas, up in London, Ontario, welcome.

Thank you.

Let’s get into it. I have a few questions for you, Elaine. Let’s start with you. How long have you been in the industry?

I am 44 years in. I was eighteen. When I went somewhere for dinner one night and had a whiteboard sprung on me, that’s how I discovered this crazy industry.

Was the whiteboard during dinner?

It was after dinner. We were invited for dinner and then had the whiteboard come out. That’s how I discovered it.

A lot of people were introduced to the business that way. Karen, how long for you now?

I started in 1990. I’m hanging with you. I’ve been here a long time.

You’re both veterans. You’ve both seen a lot of change in the industry. I know some of the changes that I’ve seen. Karen, let’s start with you. What are the changes that you’ve seen going back from 1990 to 2023?

It’s completely different because the very first time I was even introduced, nobody in my family had ever been in network marketing. I was always told, “You don’t do that. That’s a scam.” I never even looked at network marketing, but I found myself in 1990 and divorced. I had two beautiful children and was working two jobs. Truly, I was looking for something to change my life because, at that moment, it wasn’t pretty. I overheard a conversation where someone was meeting someone in a restaurant. That’s how I knew network marketing to be you meet up with people, in meetings, in restaurants or wherever you can.

Things started to change. I did that for many years until the last couple of years. Now everything is online. The truth is I didn’t know how to do Zoom. I didn’t know how to go and communicate with people. I didn’t know how to not meet face-to-face or belly-to-belly because you’re the one that taught me this industry. I did what you did. It’s been completely different learning how you can manage your time and do it at home any time of the day. Put a little lipstick on, and you’re in a meeting.

It’s been great. I love how we are now. I miss what we used to do, meeting up in restaurants and meeting rooms because you got to build relationships at a different level. Having the Zooms and being online all the time, live on Facebook or Instagram, helps you in any situation to be able to broaden how you do business. I love it. I’ve had great success during that time. I can’t say it’s good or bad, but I know I’ve made more money since I’ve been doing Zoom. It’s a good thing.

 

Elaine, what additional changes that you’ve seen now since starting many years ago?

There are many changes. It’s hard to pick a couple, but something I was thinking about even in the way business is done. Many years ago, we were talking fax machines and a lot of different things that we don’t use now to build our businesses. Back then, I remember the nights trying to get orders in, and you were taking all the orders over the phone. I’m handwriting how many of this and that. It was my turn to call it up to the next person. It was truly like the chain phone call going up the line to put all the orders in. Not only that, you’re going and having to drive to pick up products.

I would drive back then from London to Bowmanville, Ontario. My time for product pickup was 5:00 on a Friday. You’ve got all that traffic on the highway and to go, then I would pay for all that product, bring it back, and disburse it to the different people coming to pick it up. You were relying on people whose checks were good and all of this kind of thing, yet we built. We drove, and we did. I think back to those times and think this is simple because you ordered direct from the company. I’m not worried about whether your credit card clears or not. That is one big huge change that I miss, a lot of the belly-to-belly. We would do a lot of in-home things in-home, get-togethers, outside of overviews and stuff like that.

It’s also having to pivot and learn new ways because when you love this industry and want to continue, you have to find new ways. You try to stay old school. You run out to people because there’s a whole new generation being brought up online, and that’s all they know. I try to get my grandkids to answer the phone. It’s like, “Text me.” There are a lot of big changes in the world. I believe that if we don’t pivot, we come up against a lot of brick walls.

When you love this industry and want to continue, you must find new ways. Click To Tweet

I even remember when we used to have to take an application, take the person’s check, stick it in an envelope, address it to the company, mail it, and hope that it got processed and didn’t get lost in the mail. Now, you pick up your phone, and the person is in. Let’s talk a little bit more about that from this standpoint, some of the best experiences and also the biggest hurdles that you’ve had to overcome in your life and in your business because our business is a microcosm of our lives. We do network marketing. It’s part of how we pay the bills and support our families. Life is going on at the same time. Elaine, why don’t you continue with that question?

It’s interesting because back in the day, when I saw this industry, a lot of it didn’t make sense to me. I was a 9:00 to 5:00 girl. I knew that if I worked Monday to Friday, I would get paid Friday night or Saturday. Learning how network marketing worked and that you did work and it took a while for those checks to come was interesting to me. It was foreign. I wasn’t that forward-vision person. That’s a learned thing that I had to overcome. It’s funny because people might say to me these days, “You’ve been doing this for 44 years. It’s easy. You know how,” but I had to start somewhere. We all have to start somewhere.

Here’s one of my biggest hurdles. I share this often and laugh when I think about it because I can go right to that place. I was terrified to talk to anybody. I’m thankful it was back. Some of the ways I did it were a bit archaic. Let’s imagine that you were my customer. Over the phone, I knew what you wanted. I’d place your order, get you to leave a check in the mailbox, get the check, come back and do all the things. I’d get the product and make sure you weren’t home, and then I would go and put the product on your doorstep. I’ll call you and let you know it was there, go back and get a check. It was all this legwork that I did because I was afraid to talk to people, but somebody shared with me what was possible and that I’d be able to give my kids other things that If I did these things over and over, it would get easier.

I fast forward to before the world changed where having been on stage in front of thousands, training, coaching and mentoring. I look at all of that, and it’s through growing, failing forward and hurdles, having to overcome those. That’s been a big thing. I go back and share that with people I am sharing the business with, especially if they’ve never done something and are fearful. I want to be transparent and let them know that, “We all have hurdles. It’s okay. Work your way through it. I’ll walk with you while you go.”

That’s been one of the biggest hurdles. Every once in a while, that little thing of belief in yourself crops up. You see other people doing something and think, “I don’t do it like that. I need to get better. I’m not as good as.” You’re constantly checking yourself and going, “I am good enough. It will attract the right people to my tribe.” I’m working with some new mentors and new coaches for myself personally. They’re stretching and growing me, but I’m ready for it.

We didn’t even have Facebook when we started. There was no such thing as Facebook, so we couldn’t communicate the way that we do now. It has been a learning curve for me. We didn’t have unlimited calling. I remember that In the very beginning, I took all my checks to pay my phone bill because I wasn’t disciplined or just wanted to talk to people. I wanted to share what had happened to a single mom. It’s all been a learning curve from when I started and you guys as well. I’ve learned how to grow. I learned from John. I can’t ever edify him enough because he is the reason that I have been successful.

I remember when you once said, “You have the eye of a tiger. Would you be willing to do something if I told you it would work?” I said, “Yes.” You said, “You have to do everything I tell you.” I’ll be honest. At first, I’m like, “He is a brat. I’m not going to do everything he tells me to do.” He was young and had great success, not just in the industry but in mom-and-pop businesses and investments. I wanted to listen.

He’d always talked about the ten-penny rule. He sent me out one day and said, “I want you to go out tomorrow.” Mind you, I had two kids. I had to get them to school, feed them and get to work on time. He said, “Before you go to work, I want you to put 10 pennies in your pocket and talk to 10 people before you go to work.” I’m sitting there going, “It’s impossible.” I kept going back, saying, “I told him I would do whatever it took.”

On the first day, I did eight. I thought I had done well. That evening I had to call him. He didn’t call me. I had to call him. I happened to be accountable. He said, “How many people did you talk to today?” I said, “Eight.” He said, “You’re a little short.” I’m like, “Eight is big. I got two kids to school. I fed two kids. I got to work.” He said, “Tomorrow, I need you to put those 2 pennies in your pocket with your other 10.” I panicked. I am sitting there going, “I don’t know if I can do this.” He was insistent that I grow in this industry. I got up the next morning, got the kids all out of the house, and left earlier than normal to go to work to fulfill what I had to do to be successful.

At that time, I wasn’t making much money. I had two jobs, but the industry has changed my life, not just in social media or not being able to approach people differently. When we become teachable and listen to people who have done better than we have or longer than we have, I woke up and made a decision, “I’m going to do whatever he tells me to do.” I did. At that time, I was making $1,500 a month, doing it very part-time. Within 90 days, I was making a six-figure income. That is why I always go to John for many reasons in our industry because he’s knowledgeable and disciplined.

He knows how to have success and how to help people to have success because we all live this life. We have one. We can determine what we want to do in order to be successful. I chose early on to follow people like John, who has made such an impact in my life. I will continue. Elaine, I’ve known you for a long time. I’ve watched you not working in the same companies, but I’ve watched you on social media. Thank goodness for the transition of going from room to room or house to house, but then getting to watch online, and watching and growing with you and Raylene as well. I love how the industry has turned around so that it leaves nothing to chance. We can all have the success that we’re looking for. When we find the right people to follow and do whatever it takes, then the results are there. I love it.

We can all have the success that we're looking for. When we find the right people to follow and do whatever it takes, then the results are there. Click To Tweet

You can read about the Ten-Penny Principle in Moving Up: 2020, one of the books I wrote. That came out in 2020 thinking it was going to be this amazing year for the world, and it certainly was, but not quite how I intended it to say. You can read about that, and you can also read about Karen Ford’s story as well as other people. Leave Nothing To Chance is another book that I wrote. It has a lot of principles in it.

It got Karen Ford’s and other people’s stories in it. There are a lot of these basic concepts that I did teach Karen years ago. Here she is all these years later, who is super successful and has a super successful number of companies. Let me say how valuable that Ten-Penny Principle is if you’ve never heard it. How valuable is it? It goes back to Bobby DePew and Jim Rohn in the 1960s. I didn’t create it. I was taught it by my mentors. I used it to build five organizations. I’ve always been at the top rank in those five organizations and had a lot of success. It’s not about me. It’s about you.

If you’re reading the Ten-Penny Principle, you can do it because these ladies know how to do it. I know how to do it. Some of the other people we’ve interviewed this past couple of years know how to do it. It’s stuff that you can go out and do for your business. That’s why you read this blog to gain more about things that you can apply to your business. Let’s go on to the next question. Elaine, let’s start with you. Why MLM now? Let me set this up for you. We’re living in interesting times. Everyone reading knows that certainly. Economically, we’re living in a crazy time now. We’re coming on the back end of COVID. Who knows what will or won’t happen with that in the long term? The world’s changed. Let’s go back before COVID. Let’s go back to 2019.

You have a mom living down the street. Mom’s about 60. She has a daughter, about 25. Mom has been a senior-level manager, let’s say, in a business, done well, saved her money, starting to look at getting to the end of the road business-wise, “Maybe it’s time to retire. Maybe it’s time to chase the grandkids,” or do whatever it is that she wants to do with her life without working it. The 25-year-old went to college, did everything right, worked hard, got good grades, graduated, started her life, started in business, went out, got a good job, and everything was going terrific. All of a sudden, we know what happened in about February 2020. That mom and daughter had a jaded view of what we do.

They knew we existed. They had a friend who knocked on their door about something at some point, and maybe they even bought the product, but they said, “Business is not for me. I’ve got an education. I’ve got a career. That’s something that people do part-time.” Now the world’s changed. Now that mom says to her daughter, “We’ve struggled a little bit. I went to the food store yesterday, and two bags of groceries now cost four more than a year ago. Gasoline costs this. Everything else is up in price.” Down the street, she’s still doing one of those network marketing things. She’s doing well. She gets to work from home. I saw her out walking her dog at 10:30 in the morning. I was coming to and from work, rushing and fighting the clock. Let’s walk down the street and knock on her door and say, “Here we are in 2023. Why should we join an MLM company now?”

First, the interesting thing I will say in this question about the mother-daughter is that I’m building a business with my daughter. We share a position and are working together. I’m a little over that 60, and she’s a little over that 25. It’s interesting how you put that. My immediate response is, “Why not now?” We don’t know what’s around the next corner. People are seeing that struggle. People have to find 2 and 3 part-time jobs, which is taking them away from home more, making relationships tougher in the house. You’re not there because you’re out trying to make ends meet.

Here’s what I find in sharing with people now, especially with doing things online. Let’s talk about the daughter. She’s online. She’s on every platform on social media. She’s seeing her friends that are all doing something, whether they call it affiliate marketing or, “Here’s my link.” They don’t refer to the word network marketing or whatever. Everybody is attaching an affiliate program to everything.

We’ve even got some wellness companies where you can go for a massage, this, that and the other. If you give an affiliate link, you’re getting rewards for doing it. There are different things. Nowadays’ languaging has changed so much that I know back in the day, there was a stigma about this, that or the other. People are more aware, I believe, of what’s going on out there. They’re seeing so much of their friends doing things on social media and being able to pay for their hydro bill and groceries.

That’s what they’re commenting. They’re not putting the comments up anymore about, “Here’s my Lamborghini. Here’s me outside of a fake house.” This is a reality where people are looking for that extra $500 or $1,000 to make it through. Where I go is if I can help you make the $500, then can you believe for the next? It’s doing it in baby steps. As you were saying how John said to you, “If you do what I say. If you follow these simple steps,” when you get a moment to share with somebody that there’s a system and you follow the system, I’m going to talk social media because that’s where my business all is right now. It’s up on social media and stories on Instagram and Facebook.

We won’t talk TikTok because I’m a disaster over there. I’m like this grandma trying to figure it out. I talk to many people that, “Where did you buy that?” “I found it on TikTok. TikTok made me buy it.” I’m like, “This is where people are gravitating.” It’s almost becoming normal among the younger crowd, the 25-year-olds. They’re trying to figure out what it is that they want to attach themselves to. It’s not always a product. It’s about sharing what you do, the fun. Let’s face it. The world has changed. We’ve not been outside, but people miss a lot of things. They miss the relationships and doing some fun things together, even if it is on Zoom.

 

They miss a bunch of people getting together to do something, a hike or whatever. When you share with them the things you have to offer, the fun, this and that, and the growth they can have, they don’t feel alone. Nowadays, people feel alone in many things that if they know somebody’s got their hand and going to guide them, “Let’s do it together,” give them a hand up, not a handout, that they’re open to taking a look. They’re open to sitting down and listening.

Now it’s in our faces everywhere. No matter where we go, I can jump off of here and go to Facebook or Instagram, and there’s stuff being promoted everywhere. You’re trying to decide, “What do I buy?” It’s far different from that whiteboard. You’re clueless. All of a sudden, it’s like, “What is this?” “This is you and what you will do.” It’s different.

For me, deciding to partner with my daughter, I’m focused on retirement and working with people that are looking to create retirement income for them because that’s the stage of life I’m at and they’re at. She brings the fun to the party because she’s got the young moms and all that type of thing. When we melded it together, it kept me going every day because I’ve got the life of the party beside me all the time.

It’s listening to what people are looking for and what they need. It’s being transparent with them. I remember back in the day, I didn’t know that I did it, and if I did, I hoped I didn’t, but people would brag about all the great things, “You can have all the wealth in the world and everything.” Now it’s about being real. Life is different. People want real, and they can see through. They can listen to you and go, “No. They’re full of it,” and they’re gone. I speak from the heart. That’s me.

Life is different. People want real, and they can see through. Click To Tweet

I saw a statistic that there are $13.5 trillion out of pension plans that have been lost over the last few years. When you think about exactly what you said about retirement, there are many people who are almost to the end of the road. They were starting to think, “Play more golf. Chase the grandkids. Find a new fishing hole.” All of a sudden, it’s like, “I got to keep working. “You’re now looking for the proverbial plan B that we can provide. Karen, the same question, the 60-year-old mom and 25-year-old daughter. What do you tell them?

I look at how the world is now and had we not had our industry. I look at so many of my friends who had to close their stores or restaurant or lost their job because the job wasn’t there anymore. I look at our industry now and know without any doubt. It doesn’t matter what you say. I know what I know and can’t unsee what I saw in this industry. Because of where we were and where we are now, this industry has created millions of dollars for my family. It’s paid off millions of dollars of debt. I have been able, being in this industry, to live debt free, save and invest. I couldn’t do that. If I can teach my granddaughter, she sees what I do. She literally answers the phone sometimes and says, “My nana is on Zoom. Can you call her back?”

She’s learning the skills of creating the lifestyle that she wants. She sees her nana out there working and knows that it can happen because she benefits very greatly from what I do. I’m a lifetime networker and was hoping to retire in the next few years. I want to retire, not to quit the industry, but to work with relaxed intensity because our job as an influence in the industry is to be able to change people’s lives and show them a better way to live debt-free and have things because life, as we used to know it isn’t here, but the industry, you can still work as hard as you want, as many days as you want, as many hours as you want, and it’s entirely up to us. Now our children are seeing that. I pray every day to let her learn all the skills because now she can see what happens when you’re dedicated to what you believe. It’s life-changing for our family and everyone.

Getting new people started now with all the technology, what’s the best way to get them started so that they see what you saw many years ago, some money on the table fairly quickly so that they stick around and learn the next step in terms of skill development? What are those strategies?

I learned from them a lot of times now. Having a proven system like you did, that part has never changed. When there is a system in place, you teach them the daily method of operation that happens for their success. That was at the beginning, and it still is. It’s having a system to follow so that you don’t get off track. I don’t know a lot about social media, but I know people who do. Like you guys, I’m great at a lot, but there are some things that I’m not great at, but I know how to reach out. I know how to find the right people to help do the things that I can’t do. Nobody knows everything, but we all know somebody we can learn from and teach.

Doing that daily method of operation and following a proven system will take you to the same place where you, John and Elaine, have had tremendous success. It’s all because we’ve followed a proven system. We help people to feel empowered. Many times in real jobs, even in the industry, people don’t help people to feel important. Everybody needs to know that they are important to our business because, as industry leaders, we can’t have a change in our life if we don’t love people, help people, or edify people. We could never have the success that all three of us have had we not been pouring into people and teaching them the right way. We all learn it from each other. I’m grateful to both of you. I’ve learned a lot from both of you down through the years, and I know I’ll continue to do that as well.

Elaine, let’s talk about getting new folks started. We have a lot of followers that are fairly new to the industry. I got an old and young audience that are in their twenties and so that are reading. They’re often wondering. What do we know that they need to know in terms of those strategies to get them started and for them to get people started, more importantly, in their businesses?

Karen, you touched on a lot of stuff when it comes to the systems, and I truly believe that is one of the most important things. Words have changed. It used to be you’re getting started training, and now it’s called onboarding. You’re learning a new language of what it’s called. Getting people started correctly and quickly are a couple of key things. My big thing is when I’ve got somebody that’s coming on board, I want to know why they’re doing this. What is their reason behind this? Is it to make some extra money? Do they want time at home? When do I know what that looks like? When do I know what their life on looks like daily? They work three jobs already. Maybe they’re a single parent or got a child with special needs, whatever it might be.

If I know those things, I can help them set goals that would be more realistic for them. If I’ve got somebody who’s got 30 minutes a day and that’s to breathe because she’s got everything else going on, it’s hard to say, “In that 30 minutes, you need to hammer this out.” I know it can go both ways, but I believe that you are able to build this business in the nooks and crannies. If you are on the bus going to work, you can because you’re using your phone. You can be doing your reach outs and whatnot on your phone. I don’t want to say while your kids are playing on the swings and you’re not paying attention.

There are times that you can fit it into your date, 5 minutes here and 10 minutes to respond to people, fire out some messages, and as Karen said, daily method of operation. We do a lot of that. Even where we’ll do things like a power hour where it’s like, “Come work with me online. For an hour, we’re going to work on social media. We’re going to contact people. We’re going to reach out. We’re going to make new friends.” Remember, we used to get business cards. We would come home and have a new person to talk to. We teach a lot of that. Something else that I find important is when we have that new person, I want to jump on a Zoom or a FaceTime with them because I want to see them. I want them to see that I’m real.

I might have dogs barking in the background. It’s not very professional what might be happening in my home or the backyard, but I want them to see the real life that I live and that I’m not somebody who puts great quotes on social media. To me, that’s important to get to know their family because, in my world and how I’ve always done it, it’s like I’m the glue pot. I go when I build a relationship with everybody. I will go to the newest person that joins the team and reach out and say, “I want to welcome you.” I want them to know that they’re seen and valued and can reach out to other people. To me, one of the biggest things is finding out why they’re building. Their why will change over time.

We all know the why will make you cry, but there are different layers to that onion. It will get bigger as time goes by. Right now, it could be able to get food in the house, and that’s okay. I’ve heard of that Ten-Penny System, but even with how you worded it and what Karen said, I’ll go back and read this too. It’s like, “If you do what I say, then this is going to happen,” and helping them stay on task because we all get sidetracked.

We all know the why will make you cry, but there are different layers to that onion, and it will get bigger as time goes by. Click To Tweet

Giving them the task of being on social media for ten minutes and doing this, we all end up in a scroll hole, and off we go. The next thing you know, dinner has burned. It’s truly all about finding what that person’s reason is, finding their heart, and hearing what they’re not saying, which you can pick up on that too, and help build it step by step with them. That’s what I’ve done over the years.

One of the things that I get asked all the time after these shows is about lists. Do we still work lists? Some of the new people hear that we work lists, and they’re like, “What’s a list?” We all know what a list is, but some new people are wondering, “Do you still work lists?” How many people roughly are on that list?

I probably could never get through my list. Here’s why I say that. There are probably about 500 that I have written down here. They’re family. They could be friends. I never seem to get to them because as I have a list, I’m always adding more to the list. On social media, you get followers, all of these things and people comment. Somebody who comments on my post that I don’t know who they are. Somehow, magically I have almost 5,000 friends on Facebook, and I don’t know who they are. When somebody comments that I’ve either not heard from for a long time or forgotten about, they get out into my list. Now you incorporate stories in Instagram and Facebook, and you can see all the people that stopped by and watched your story.

People want to see people eat. I don’t understand why. I put up a video yesterday with my granddaughter. We went out to this crazy hotdog thing. There are 232 viewers. I’m looking at all these people. There must have been 140 people that I have not talked to in years. I now have 140 new leads. Remember back in the day we bought leads? The world is right there. I don’t rely on this. I know that I can forget a name. I have posted notes, but I put them down here because I can go back to it, “Where did I find them? What did they comment on?” That way, I can follow through. That’s what I do.

Many moons ago, I read a book by a guy named Joe Girard, who was not too far from you there in Detroit. He was a top car salesman in the world. He’s still in the Guinness Book of World Records. He wrote a book called How To Sell Anything To Anybody. He had in there The Law 250, which I started to teach in network marketing way back in 1983 because it was real simple. What he figured out was everybody knew 250 people. That information is that he went out to people in the wedding and funeral business, and it didn’t matter the person’s faith, got married, or passed away.

They are all these people in that business. It’s about 250 people that attend either event. When I look at your list of 500, it proves the point. It touched the nerve in my head. You treat one person well that joins your business. You help them. You coach them. You do your three-way calls, your Zoom calls or whatever it is that you do to support them. They can lead you to 250 people.

Whoever your sponsor is in your current business, you have 500 people. One person has 500 people. That’s not even counting what your daughter has because that’s your list. Folks, these leaders know how to build businesses and create monetization of network marketing businesses as you learned an incredibly valuable lesson. If you learned nothing else said, take note of what Elaine shared there. Karen, same question. Do you still work on the list?

I still work on lists. I still have chicken lists, and I’ve been in this industry for a long time. You communicate and refer back to the power hour. Those are incredible, Elaine, because you help people from your list who don’t know how it helps them to be accountable like John did for me. John, I don’t know if you do power hours, but that is something that is impactful to help people know what to do. It’s mind-boggling how many people you see said there hustling, getting their list, and creating a new list by going and posting on people’s social media.

I am in love with the list that we have. I still have chicken lists, and it’s people’s like, “Are you serious you still have a chicken list?” “Yes, I have a chicken list.” The more that we know, we’re able to work those lists even more. Elaine, as you said, once we know what people want from the business, we can add to our list, but we can help more people succeed by simply knowing why they’re here and why they said yes to us.

 

Not everybody is meant for this industry like not everybody is meant to do another kind of job. Elaine, I know your husband is a builder. I couldn’t build something because it doesn’t interest me, but to build a team of people and continue to add more people all the time, our list is endless because every day, when you’re on social media, even when working through the power hours that we do, there are new people every day that you can add. I work the list, and I still have a chicken list. I continue to add people to my list every day. Our job is guaranteed.

Here’s what I’ve found through the years, and I’m sure you’ve both found the same thing. You don’t know who somebody knows you. I built an organization in Toronto starting in 1978 with a company. One of the top guys that I recruited, I met through a kid who was driving a coffee truck that we were in a building in Concord, Ontario. A kid comes in one day and says, “I’m going to bring a coffee truck here every day because they were still doing a building in the area.”

I start telling this guy what we do, and he says, “My mom might be interested and happy to have a weight loss product.” Lo and behold, his mom’s best friend led me to my best distributor in Ontario, who’s still a friend. He is retired now in the industry. He built a massive organization all over the world. Ralph wasn’t on my list. Ralph was somebody that I met, but he got on my list immediately. There were no social media then. We had to talk to people. Remember, we had to meet people and talk. Let me go back to both of you for closing thoughts. Elaine, let’s start with you.

I was talking to somebody. They said, “How do you keep going? How do you keep doing?” I never look at it like it’s work. It is not a thing that happens. It is work, but doing it consistently every day, a little bit, sometimes a little bit more, is what this industry has afforded myself and my family. We were never people who had lots of money and couldn’t go on trips. If there was a trip to be won, then we won it because that’s how we got to go places. It’s when I take a look at what this industry can do for people. One of the biggest things that warm my heart is when I see somebody achieve something.

They send me a message saying, “I can’t believe it. I was able to pay my bills, and we went out for dinner.” That makes the work that I did for however long with that person worth everything. I know I get compensated. Maybe it’s my big heart. I don’t know. I’ve never been one of those networkers that crack a whip, “If you tell me that you’ve got a big goal and you got to knuckle down and do it, now you’re out doing whatever.” That’s different. I’m going to call you about what you said you wanted. This is something that I work hard at. I know Karen has watched me over the years, and I will stay up until the wee hours of the morning to help somebody cross that goal that they’re trying to get done. I will stay up with you, but then I also want to go and hang out with you, enjoy, have fun and get to know your families as well.

I would tell somebody, “If you’re looking for something, you’re frustrated and challenged, you know that you’re supposed to do something more with your life, but you don’t know how, and you don’t have the resources. Take a look at this industry. Find something that tugs at your heartstrings that makes sense. Finding your tribe is what we talk about. Find where you fit.” They’re somewhere for everybody. It might not be the first place you land. If you’re getting your feet wet, you may have to get them wet a little until you learn how to swim and things change. I would encourage people, “Don’t slough it off. There are a whole lot of things in your world that can change.” Ask yourself, “What if? What would change?’”

Many times it’s about their belief, not ours, because you can’t shake us away from what we do because we all know what can happen. When people see, feel the love, the passion and hear people’s stories, even like my own, a single mom with two kids, where are you going to go and earn millions of dollars or how are you going to have that quality time with your kids in working 9:00 to 5:00 and then doing a part-time job to make ends meet? It’s impossible. Being single, I had to juggle. I know there are a lot of single moms out there that are still looking for an opportunity to live a life of freedom. Here’s my passion and my belief. People say it all the time, and I heard this as well. They said, “How long are you going to do that?” I said, “Until.”

 

I can’t help but always be out there looking for someone to that I can show an opportunity that can change their life. I know it will change their life. It has changed mine. It has changed you. What I would say to someone is never lose faith in your future because this is a better way of life. I will work on it until. We’re here to help you to work it until as well.

Those are great thoughts. This has been a privilege and a pleasure to speak with both of you, remarkable leaders. That’s what our industry is about. 2023 is going to be a great year if we make it a great year. There are going to be roadblocks, obstacles and things economically and politically. Who knows what’s going to happen? When we think back to 2022 about some of the crazy things that happened, who knows what’s going to happen?

Here’s what I do know. If you look at your business as macro, not micro, you’ll succeed. Your business and the financial fortress you’re attempting to build around your family is important. That’s what it is about. All these other things are going to be distractions that we have no control over. What we have control over is what we do. What we think about, read, listen to and put in our mouths on a daily basis are the things that we have control over. Karen and Elaine, I wish you both nothing but the best in 2023 and beyond. It’s been a great conversation. Good luck.

Thank you.

 

Important Links

• Karen Ford
• Elaine Lynas
• Moving Up: 2020
• Leave Nothing To Chance
• How To Sell Anything To Anybody