Thursday, August 25, 2005

Larry Vanbuskirk Leading the Consumer Rebellion

The LCR staff chased down diamond Larry Vanbuskirk for some comments on his meteoric rise in the Team business. Larry is a former Financial Planner who had three “by referral only” offices in the mid-Michigan area. Larry went from Platinum, to Sapphire, to Emerald, and then to the Diamond level in consecutive years. Larry enjoys a job-optional lifestyle with his lovely wife Marsie.

LCR: You were in the old catalogue model for over a decade at the Platinum level. How did you hold onto your dream through so many years?

Larry Vanbuskirk: Well, first I knew that the business itself would only get better. I believed that the MLM field would go from being catalogue-based to Interactive TV. Then the Internet just became an easier avenue to electronic ordering. Part of having a dream is seeing the future even when it is not yet reality. Marsie and I held onto our hope that we and our business would continue to improve.

LCR: Weren’t you laughed at for being part of the catalogue model?

Larry Vanbuskirk: A leader doesn’t mind the laughter because he knows that it is a sign that he is doing something different. I knew that all real businesses improve and that some day this business would enter the electronic age where I would be a pioneer who rode that wave to financial success. Does Ford motor company have to apologize for the Model T? When you drive a newer Ford today, do you have to explain that it's different than the older Model T Ford? All businesses (that plan on staying in business) grow and change, and the visionary is the one who recognizes a trend and stays in for the long-term. We did that, and it has made all the difference in our finances.

LCR: What changed in your business to enable you to grow so fast after such a long period of, well, not growing fast?

Larry Vanbuskirk: We became some of the best students of our mentors Orrin and Laurie Woodward. The book, “Leading the Consumer Rebellion,” will teach you the trends going on in business and all you have to do is add hard work. We had tried other systems and they did not work, but after tapping into the Team system, our business exploded.

LCR: Did you have doubts that you could be a Diamond after struggling for so long?

Larry Vanbuskirk: Everyone has doubts. The key is to silence your doubts through faith. I listened to so many CD’s that I began to see and believe that I could get up again and build this business. Leadership begins when you take your focus off yourself and begin to serve others. The Team leadership training is second-to-none, and I am an excellent example of how anyone can change with the right information. As I like to tell people: the Team system is the number one leadership development system in the world! I'm serious! I was a Financial Planner who spent his life analyzing businesses and I am here to tell you that there is no better business plan available to an aspiring entrepreneur. If you are looking for a handout, then this is not for you, but if you are looking for a hand up, then you have found it!

LCR: How is life for you today different than it was as a Financial Planner?

Larry Vanbuskirk: I worked an average of 80 to 100 hours per week for 50 weeks a year. The stress was becoming unbearable and I was not in control of my future. Today, I make more income than ever before and I have leaders that I spend my time mentoring. We thank God every day that we met Orrin and Laurie and the rest of the Team leaders. Freedom is a hard thing to describe, and, most people miss this: remember that freedom is not free. It must be earned. We earned our freedom through serving others. The Team leaders have figured out that true happiness comes through making others happy.

LCR: Larry, thanks for sharing your wisdom with us today.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Don Freeze Leading the Consumer Rebellion

The LCR interviewer met for lunch with Don Freeze, one of the most respected and successful business owners on the Team. Don and his lovely bride Chris live a jet-set lifestyle and have built teams across the United States. Don is a former international business consultant who has worked with many of the top automotive companies teaching value engineering. Chris was a comptroller for a Fortune 500 firm. They are now both job optional.

LCR: Don, you were a $3,000/day consultant. What made you give up big money like that to build this business?

Don Freeze: First, I have a new definition of what big money is and $3,000/day is not it. Second, even though I was making decent money, I had to be there in order to be paid. I had the classic “S” business that Robert Kiyosaki discusses in his book. As I studied the marketing plan and looked at Orrin’s commitment, I realized this was my way out of the time-for-money trap.

LCR: Orrin wasn’t the financial success he is today when you first met him. What made you believe that this would work when there were no results?

Don Freeze: I am a business owner. If I had to wait for someone else to succeed before I started, that would put me a couple of years behind them. If I were a farmer, I wouldn’t wait for some other farmer to plant his field and get a harvest before I started planting. Business owners must have faith in their business partners and business plan. I knew Orrin was a hard worker and knew he had previously garnered four patents and a national benchmarking award. You don’t have that type of success without being committed to excellence.

LCR: When did you realize the Team business was something special?

Don Freeze: It was about six months into the business and I was recognized on stage as a new pin winner. I spoke for a couple of minutes and when I was done my son gave me a big hug and said, “Papa, I am proud of you.” No amount of money in the world can replace that special moment. I decided to build this business and give others a chance to win in life.

LCR: What would you tell an “S” business owner that is looking into this opportunity?

Don Freeze: First, I would tell them to go to an Open Meeting. Second, they should meet the Team they will be working with and find someone they relate with. Third, listen to the first 10 CD’s and get familiar with the Team leadership. Don’t use lack of time as an excuse not to do this, because you know it won’t change unless you do something different. Fourth, begin with the end in mind. What goal or dream have you been putting on the backburner due to lack of opportunity? Step out of the stands, get on the field, and take your swing. Wayne Gretzky said, “I miss 100% of the shots I don’t take.” I missed too many shots in my life and I wasn’t letting this one go.

LCR: It seems to have worked out pretty well for you.

Don Freeze: Chris and I are just beginning. We have learned so much by plugging into the right information. Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady are two of the top leaders in the country right now, and I ought to know, since I worked with top managers of almost every Tier 1 automotive company. Their book, “Launching the Leadership Revolution,” is creating a revolution in how leadership is studied and applied. I am personally implementing these principles and moving on in life and business. The internet is a great technology, one that needs a community of loyal buyers to make it go, and that is what the Team leadership supplies.

LCR: Don thanks for your time today.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Leading the Consumer Rebellion & Joe McGuire

The LCR staff caught up with top businessman Joe McGuire for a one-on-one interview. Joe and his lovely bride Jane have three active boys and live on a beautiful property outside of Gaylord, Michigan. Joe is a former doctor who specialized in podiatry. Joe ran three offices when he first saw the Team plan, but is now full-time building the business and enjoying his new-found time.

LCR: Joe, as a doctor, you must have had reservations about entering a business that anyone can join?

Joe McGuire: I may have had some status, but I would never have so much status as to pass up a good business plan. When I studied this business, I realized that it would have been a much simpler way to become financially independent than the path I took.

LCR: How did you become a doctor?

Joe McGuire: I actually worked in construction as a manual laborer in Florida before deciding to become a doctor. One day, while working on the roof of a large mansion, the roof fell down and almost decapitated me. I was holding on for dear life thinking, "I need to find something else to do!" Over the next few weeks, I concluded that being a doctor would be my ticket out of construction.

LCR: Your fellow employees must have thought you were crazy for going from being a construction worker to a doctor?

Joe McGuire: I was definitely the big joke around the work-site. Nobody believed I would stick with it and finish. I was determined to prove them wrong. I didn’t know it at the time, but I also was suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which, as you can imagine, made studying next-to impossible. I had to shut myself in the bathroom to eliminate distractions, and then I would study all night.

LCR: Your persistence is incredible. What did you do after graduation?

Joe McGuire: After completing my internship, I started my own business. I always wanted to run my own show and with a few hundred thousand dollars of debt I became my own businessman!

LCR: Excuse me, a few hundred thousand dollars of debt?

Joe McGuire: Between school loans and business loans I had run up a significant debt for the right just to "open the doors." When I saw the Team plan and realized for a pittance I would receive training and instruction on how to run my own business, I was sold. I know what a traditional business costs to run and operate, and I am here to tell you that there is no better business investment than the Team business model. In four years I matched what it took me over a decade to do as a doctor and did it with no debt load.

LCR: What advice would you give professionals entering the Team business?

Joe McGuire: Look below the surface of this business and study the leadership team that is in place. The leaders of the Team are engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. These guys were all making six-figures before they joined the Team business. If it was worth their time to build it, it is probably worth yours. If you're looking for a way out of the stress and debt, I can recommend no better business vehicle than the Team. Do not let status keep you from residual income and relationships that will last a lifetime.

LCR: Joe, thanks for sharing your time and wisdom.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Leading the Consumer Rebellion & Matt Abraham

The LCR staff tracked down pace setting business owner Matt Abraham for lunch today. Matt Abraham owned a very successful private law practice before joining the Team. Matt invested many hours as an attorney studying the Team model before deciding to build his business. Matt and his wife Cheryl are now job optional and enjoy raising there three energetic children and serving their team.

LCR: Matt what do you account for your phenomenal growth in business over the last couple of years?

Matt Abraham: Good mentorship, proper values, a willingness to work and the right opportunity sum it up. Orrin Woodward provided the mentorship, my parents taught me values and work ethic and the book Leading the Consumer Rebellion provided the framework of the opportunity.

LCR: Matt as a practicing lawyer you must of checked out the legal issues with running your own Team business?

Matt Abraham: As a lawyer I was paid money to help people in their business negotiations and contracts. When I studied the Team business and called multiple lawyers with backgrounds in the MLM field I was impressed. With thousand of companies involved and multiple lawyers per company checking out our model it was not too hard to determine it was a legitimate business. Just look at Walt Disney as an example. Do you honestly think Walt Disney would move their products through our MLM model if it wasn’t legitimate? After sitting down with Orrin Woodward, Leading the Consumer Rebellion and reviewing the documentation on MLM I knew this was a closed case.

LCR: Most of the readers are not lawyers or business people before joining the Team. Is there any advice you could give them as they start their own Team business?

Matt Abraham: I am always amazed by how many people without business or law backgrounds will assume to give advice on these subjects. I always say that if you are sick go to a doctor and if you are looking for law advice go to someone with law experience in that field. I have spent over three years doing research and communicating with the best legal minds in the MLM field and the Team business is a model of the free enterprise system. Cheryl and I have made more money through this business than we did as a master degreed teacher and lawyer. Anyone who would state that the MLM field or the Team business model is an illegal pyramid is embarrassing themselves by their ignorance of the facts.

LCR: How do you respond when someone ask if it is an illegal pyramid?

Matt Abraham: An illegal pyramid is characterized by three major points:

  1. No outside customers
  2. Inventory loading
  3. Head hunting fees to sign people up

First, we were taught the value of setting up members and clients early in our business. Beauty clinics with Artistry makeup and XS energy drinks for health & fitness have made it easy to develop satisfied customers. Second, in all my time in the business no one has ever encouraged me or pushed me into buying product I didn’t need. We have a 70% rule to ensure that 70% of products are moved through your team every month and not stocked as inventory. Lastly, there is no headhunter fee associated with signing people up. I tell people all the time I would rather get a sincere no than a false yes. Signing up is not as big as learning to be a business owner. If someone is not interested in doing the business then don’t, but come up with a better excuse than it is an illegal pyramid. The MLM industry has been around since the 1940’s and is a multi-billion dollar industry today with thousands of success stories. I have worked with the Team Policy Council and with numerous other lawyers to help develop a business plan the Team can be proud of. I have also worked with Attorney Generals around the country explaining our Team system with excellent results.

LCR: One last lawyer related question. How do you compare your Team business model to all the businesses you worked with before the Team?

Matt Abraham: I worked with hundreds of business opportunities for entrepreneurs and almost all of them required massive upfront capital and major financial risk. Most business plans I worked with had goals to make money by their fifth year in business. One false move by these entrepreneurs and they were filing for bankruptcy. Cheryl and I replaced our incomes by year three in the Team business without loans or major capital risk. We invested our discretionary time for rewards in faith, family, finance, and friends. I am a blessed man because I ran into Orrin Woodward and decided to follow the plan laid out in Leading the Consumer Rebellion.

LCR: Matt thanks for your time today.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Leading the Consumer Rebellion Enters Fourth Edition

The highly successful Leading the Consumer Rebellion has recently been released in its fourth edition. The book continues to thrill business audiences throughout the western hemisphere, and continues to get better with the release of each new edition.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Leading the Consumer Rebellion & Orrin Woodward

The Leading the Consumer Rebellion staff caught up with whirlwind business owner, author, and speaker Orrin Woodward for some questions over dinner.

LCR: Orrin when did you know you were going to be successful in your own business?

Orrin Woodward: It took me longer than most people would think. I believe it was about 18 months into my own business before I had listened to enough tapes, cd’s and read enough books to begin to feel I could do this.

LCR: Why did it take so long? You had already succeeded on your job by having 4 patents by the age of 25, why did you need to listen to cd’s and read books?

Orrin Woodward: Just because you are successful in one area, does not mean you can just pick up and be successful in another. Michael Jordan was the best basketball player, but below average at baseball. I had to develop confidence in my interpersonal skills and that is what the Team system taught me. I am a product of the ideas learned from the combination of the tapes, cd’s, books and seminars I have attended.

LCR: Do you think anyone can have the success you have had?

Orrin Woodward: I believe it is there for anyone to achieve. Yes it is going to be work, but I realized I was going to work hard anyway. I might as well enjoy the results of that work. For the lifestyle that Laurie and I enjoy today, I would have worked twice as hard for twice as long.

LCR: Some people criticize you Orrin for being so successful, arguing that you are successful at other people’s expense. What would you say to that?

Orrin Woodward: I would first of all point out that this line of reasoning is exactly what Karl Marx stated about capitalism in general. Karl said that, “Capitalism is theft.” The whole argument is based upon the premise that someone’s gain is another’s loss. When I buy a book for example I pay money for information. It would be foolish to argue with me that I have wasted thousands of dollars on paper in my library. I did not waste any money, I invested money and my return was in ideas. My gain is the information and the book publisher’s is the money I paid. I traded money for information and then utilize the information to improve myself to benefit more people. This is the abundance mentality way of thinking and this thinking has made the US the greatest nation on earth. Go ask Soviet Union, North Korea, or Cuba how Karl’s ideas are treating them. I gladly bought books, tapes, cd's and went to numerous seminars to learn the ideas of success from the most successful business people.

LCR: That makes sense, this explains why in Leading the Consumer Rebellion you describe the business within the business model.

Orrin Woodward: Absolutely, we have created the Team system to reward anyone who serves others which models the free enterprise system in general. Anyone getting into our business system can be the highest paid based on their performance. In fact when I reviewed our training system to over 10 separate MLM based lawyers, they stated the Team system was more than fair and legal. Our Team leaders wanted to create a system that we would be proud to educate ourselves and our friends with on business principles and profit based on performance.

LCR: Judging by your results and so many on your Team, we would say you have achieved that. Thank you for sharing your time today Orrin.