In case you didn’t know it being an entrepreneur is at the core of who I am. My Dad was an entrepreneur, so was both my father-in-law and my grandfather-in-law. I learned from my sister who would take her lunch money and purchase remnant fabric and notions at the dime store and make stuffed frogs then sell them at lunch in the school cafeteria more than doubling her money. She would later include me in her business ventures. In our first partnership we made dolls out of paper towels, adorned them with yarn for hair and tissue paper for dresses. We drew their faces with felt tip marker. We loaded them into my wagon and sold them door to door for a dollar. Our Granny even took them to her “beauty parlor” and sold them for us. We later would make sock puppets, miniature stick horses and crotchet lapel pins that looked like Christmas wreaths. Yep, we were on our way to the Big Time!
Eventually my husband and I started our own successful business, Career Staffing Services,where we work with some of the top companies in Central Arkansas helping them identify and hire qualified candidates for their open positions. As of this writing we are a couple of months away from celebrating 20 years in the staffing industry. I often get asked about starting a second business. Questions like “Why are your doing this?” and “How do you have time?” and “How do you make your money?”
For years I have always wished I could be involved in the health and wellness industry. As a runner it has always been my passion. While in high school I was influenced by Dr. Ken Cooper of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. Cooper’s patients came to him to learn how to prevent illness and disease and after evaluating them he would issue them exercise and lifestyle prescriptions. This was way back in the late 70s and early 80s and at the time it made so much since to me even then! Who wants to be sick if they can prevent it? Dr. Cooper encouraged me to go to medical school so I too could practice preventative medicine. After my first semester as a pre-med student at Harding University, I quickly realized I didn’t want to study the science, but wanted to show people how to improve the quality of their lives. The thought of 8 more years of studying science and working as a doctor made me want to cringe, so since my other dream was to own my own business I got a marketing degree and buried my dream of helping people improve their health.
You may recall that in 2008 the economy took quite a down turn and many businesses were hit hard. The fall out wasn’t pretty. We were among the fortunate ones in that my husband had seen it coming and we had taken steps to cut expenses and streamline our business. Thanks to his actions, savings and good credit, our business survived, but what I realized was that we really needed to diversify our income. I began to seek other opportunities but my biggest obstacle was time and money. I didn’t have a lot of either to invest. My main motivation was making sure that we would have income for retirement and to be able to give back to our community as both of us enjoy supporting charitable causes and ministries.
For so many reasons another traditional business was out of the question. The three things a second business needed to offer were an opportunity to eventually earn passive income, to be something I could work on a part time basis, and be something that was fun and exciting! I found myself wishing that I could have, should have, would have gone back to school when I was younger for a exercise science or a nutrition degree and just maybe more doors would be open for me.
Life had a funny way of bringing things full circle. While searching for answers to why I was always struggling with running injuries and illnesses, I found the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, enrolled and became certified as a Health Coach. I was also introduced to my business mentor, Elizabeth Rider of Enlightened Living International, who has built a wellness business online and now mentors other women (and men) to do the same using her duplicatable system.
The concept of building a wellness business online really resonated with me. I could work when it was convenient for me. Not only could I reach more people, but people from all over the globe. I could renew my creativeness by designing and maintaining a website, a blog and programs that would help people. I could use my knowledge and expertise to help people improve their quality of life. I could finally realize my dream of working in the Wellness Industry!
Working with Elizabeth has connected me with over a hundred like minded people who also want to help others improve the quality of their lives. She hosts an annual Enlightened Living Mastermind weekend in Denver, where we come together for training, to exchange ideas, make new connections and learn how to grow our businesses. Elizabeth is generous with her time and resources and has helped me learn the technical skills to make my online wellness business a success!
Have you ever considered an online business? Are you looking for either an additional stream of income or an opportunity to replace your current income? Elizabeth Rider will be hosting a special Health and Freedom Webinar this coming week where she will be sharing how you can get started. This may or may not be for you, but I highly recommend that you take a look just so you will know the details.
Additionally, as an added bonus Elizabeth will share the good, the bad and the ugly about how most supplements are made (hint: it’s scary!) and exactly how to choose the best, safest, and most effective supplements for you and your family. Also you will learn about the real facts about the state of our health and how small tweaks can add up to huge differences.
This webinar will not be recorded, however we will be offering you opportunities for you to attend:
Tuesday, January 27th from 1pm-2pm CST
Thursday, January 29th from 6pm-7pm CST.
Space is limited and these webinars will fill up, so get your spot ASAP!
