*this post is dedicated to my mentor, Dr. Sheryl Duchess. Looking back I see now that she always believed in me and my abilities…sometimes moreso than I did in myself. She has a huge heart and I’m so blessed and grateful to call her mentor, friend and teammate.*

God has us all on a journey and I believe everything happens for a reason.

This is my story…

14 years ago I was introduced to an amazing company through a product called OPC), attended my first World Conference and it changed my life.

14 years ago I met one of the founders, the VP, now CEO, Loren Ridinger and that picture with her is one of my favorites.

14 years ago I met Sheryl Duchess, Beth Black, Lisa Tolbert, Lane Myhree and so many others. I watched JR Ridinger on stage.

14 years ago I was five years into Blu Dove Designs, a graphic design company that I had started in 2004… it was my baby.

14 years ago I met the division director of WebCenters, Jeremy Fenema who said “one day you’ll tire of managing everything and we’ll be here”

I shook it off thinking that would never happen. I wanted to manage everything.

14 years ago I understood what the company offered but I wasn’t ready to give up on Blu Dove (a traditional business) or change course (to leverage a system).

I had a small team at Blu Dove and couldn’t wrap my head around how to weave Market America’s web solution into my existing business. I thought letting another company take on certain aspects was not what I wanted. I thought doing anything other than what I had started would get in the way.

I quit the business. The business never quit me….the seed was planted…. it would take years for it to grow.

The time wasn’t right time for me…Or perhaps I was afraid of where God was leading me because it was good. Sounds silly but fear holds you back that way…

For 12 more years I worked in Blu Dove, a traditional small business. I have loved the relationships I’ve created and the businesses I’ve been able to help. I don’t regret any of that journey. I’m grateful for all of them.

But God ….

He knows the plans for us…He knew the plans for me back then… for goodness and prosperity. For something far greater than I could fathom. He took my crooked paths and made them straight. Although I went a different direction 14 years ago, the company stayed in my veins. And in 2020 He brought me back full circle…. again, with the vitamins that I knew worked.

Sometimes I do regret that I let fear get in my way 14 years ago. I question where would I be now if I had taken the leap fully? Then I let go of those questions and regrets because they don’t serve me except to teach me that fear can stop us dead in our tracks if we let it.

Then, again… Perhaps this was all part of His plan to grow me. Perhaps I really wasn’t ready 14 years ago. I wouldn’t have the 19 years of experience in the web industry with a multitude of software to know that the product I have access to now IS the best for my clients. I wouldn’t have the relationships that I have with the clients that I have had the opportunity to serve. I wouldn’t have the experience and belief with supplements that have changed my health.

In 2020, I got my bloodwork back from a physical and didn’t like what I saw. I hadn’t staying on the supplements because of our budget… and it showed. My D was low, my B was low and I just plain didn’t feel great. My body wasn’t in optimal health even though I had been working to lose the baby weight I had gained after having my son.

I remember standing in the kitchen telling my husband that we could no longer afford for us to NOT take the one supplements that actually work. He said we would do whatever it took. I re-opened my account so I could get my vitamins easier. I wasn’t ready to build the business at that moment. I wanted to get well first. I reached out to the only person I knew that would point me in the right direction, naturally… Sheryl. I started back just buying the supplements. I was honest with her at that time that I wasn’t ready for anything more. She respected that.

Fast forward to the fall of 2021, I had lost friends and family members to cancer, heart attack and age….7 to be exact. That was a lot. I was feeling burnt out, my partner had her baby and her focus was shifting. Business with Blu Dove hadn’t been the same since Covid. It was hard and I hit a wall. I was looking at how much I could physically do while also homeschooling, being a mom and a wife. I was frustrated at the technical requirements for keeping up a website these days. The software we had been using was requiring a major update. It was daunting sometimes. These events all together made me take stock of where I was and where I was going. How did I want to shape and live the next 3 years, 10 years, 50 years. I wanted freedom…

I wanted freedom from 9-5, from working all hours of the night, from being the ONLY person responsible for a business’ website… and especially from trading time for money. I still wanted to serve people but I’m only one person.

I knew as I looked at my options of either continuing to trade time for money or leverage an amazing team, this was the answer. Everything I learned from other mentors talked about setting up systems such that as the business owner certain things could run themselves. I had a system I knew about that worked. I had watched it work for others since 2009. It was time to go for it.

So I made a phone call that would set in motion real lasting change…I called Dr. Sheryl. This call was to tell her I was ready to build my business. We talked everything over, understanding all the requirements. She made sure I was serious and she made me promise that I wouldn’t quit this time…not just for her but for me. I told her I was serious and I was ready…. yet I’ve still had that fear hold me back in some ways, creeping in from time to time. Less now than before but I’m breaking that because I promised I wouldn’t quit. When others who I had known from before heard I was back, they were excited for me. It was like coming home to family!

I restarted and re-opened my business because I knew what I had in the palm of my hand was the ONLY way I could make a larger impact, fulfill my dreams and serve my clients well with the limited time I have in a day. 

I am so excited to move forward. I am so excited to be figuring out my purpose. It’s been a long journey.

I will move forward with no regrets because God’s plan is better than my own. And I didn’t FAIL — my First Attempt In Learning was exactly that… learning.

For those years I wasn’t operating my Market America franchise, I was building belief. Belief in a product that dramatically improved my health naturally and consistently. Belief in a product that is fundamentally changing how I work in Blu Dove Designs and serve my clients to give them the best solution out there. Belief in a solid company that is now 30 years old and has changed millions of lives …. simply because the leaders care about people…

…and offer the best product there is… BELIEF!

Belief in each other. Belief in ourselves. Belief that together we can change the world.

Today, I am breaking through my fears. I am still serving people and businesses. I have implemented the web product to make it simpler to manage my clients’ sites and put more power in their hands. I am teaching and coaching more than dealing with the technical nitty gritty. Haha! Jeremy told me I’d get here. It only took me 13 years to do it!! And now I’m building a team of leaders that is going to take this area by storm. My aim is to help families achieve a naturally healthy and joy-filled life, the way I have been helped.

I know in my heart, that the tools, systems, and power of building with others is the answer to my quest for more from life and doing all that God has called me to in this life.

In a little over 2 weeks, I’ll be traveling to Ft Lauderdale for the Leadership School. I’m so excited to gather with others in my Tampa Team as we build and change lives together.  I’d love to take a friend or 2 with me so they can see what I have seen; so they can learn from the best leaders in the world, so they can have a chance at a truly joy-filled life in harmony with your true purpose.

Thank you to all those who have believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself; for being there ready to embrace me when I came back!