I had been working in the construction trades for close to ten years. I had launched my own company and was paying the bills, but I never truly loved my job. It was simply a job that I was good at and that put food on the table for my wife and four children. We were like most American families. I woke up around 6:00 am and showered, made my breakfast and packed my lunch. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes as I gathered the tools I would need to complete the project that day. I showed up to work and worked eight to ten hours. After work was over, I drove the thirty or so miles from the job site back to my house. My children excitedly awaited my return and I would take off my dirty clothes, shower and come downstairs. My body ached from physical labor and all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch some television. The kids hadn't seen me all day and just wanted to play. We ate dinner as a family and put the kids to bed. After watching television for a couple hours I would head back upstairs to bed. I fell asleep and soon heard the sound of my alarm screaming at me to start the cycle all over again.
How did I get in this rut? Does anyone else feel like we are trapped in a jail of our own making? Most of our lives are spent in this cycle of work. I read a stat once that said at an average of forty hours of work each week we will spend 10.3 years of our lives working! Ugh! That's a lot of time to spend doing something you don't thoroughly enjoy. How do we break this cycle? The only way I can see is by finding a way to make money, still pay the bills, but something that gives us freedom-- that will break this cycle. I only ever thought that this was a dream. How could I ever get there? Was I destined to work during my prime years, instead of enjoying my life?
In the middle of our rut, something happened to us that changed our lives. While I was running my own construction business my wife and I went through a financially rough period. She had been following the life of a friend of hers that worked for a business called It Works! It Works is a network marketing company that specializes in natural health and wellness products.
She would comment to me in passing that her friend made an insane amount of money. Her friend and her friend's husband were making more per month than I could make in an entire year. As a general contractor I only managed 4 figures per month. This couple was in the high 5 figures. PER MONTH. I busted my butt every day and came home exhausted while this couple was living pretty awesome lives at a much easier pace--together. At home. How was that possible? I was very skeptical.
During that time when we were struggling a bit financially my wife decided to begin working for It Works! She paid the 99.00 for the startup kit out of her own money. This kit came with product that she was able to sell and a website that she could now sell product from. After she received her kit she began sharing about her new venture on Facebook. In her first 2 hours she was able to sell her wraps that came with her kit and make her initial money back. Now I know this doesn't always happen but this is what happened for her!
She then began talking about the products on Facebook and Instagram and was quickly climbing through the ranks. She is a stay at home mom and takes care of our four children who are (at the time of this writing) six and under. Meanwhile I continued to work hard. I renovated bathrooms, sided houses, roofed homes, and did renovated entire homes that our customers were flipping.
I was happy that my wife was beginning to bring in an income. In her first month she made a few hundred dollars which I thought was awesome! This gave us a little more breathing room. Soon she had signed some distributors who in turn were signing people. This is where the business gets so beautiful. Her people were signing people, who in turn were signing people and the branches became larger and fuller.
She signed me up as a distributor under her and we were getting double the money from those people under us. From every order we gained a percentage. Soon she was making a few thousand dollars a month. I began to take notice! In just a few months, she was matching my full time salary with her It Works business.
We have now decided that I will leave my business as a general contractor and help her with It Works. Nowhere have I seen a business with this kind of potential. I spend my time working from home right next to my wife and four children. God has been so good. I would have never allowed my wife to get into this business if I was the one paying the original startup fee. I am somewhat skeptical by nature. However after watching my wife be so successful she has made a believer out of me.
Here is the post she made on her Facebook that described the moment we decided to work this together! The moment I decided to leave my work as a General Contractor and become an It Works distributor.