Success Story
Networking Brought My Family Together - An Upline Interview with Lucille McAfee of Golden Neo-Life Diamite
It's been almost 35 years since Lucille McAfee slipped and broke her arm. Who would have thought back then that a freak accident would have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people?
With her kids preparing to go to college, and a husband struggling to support the family, Lucille decided, at age 40, that it was time for her to go back to work. She got involved with a direct sales company, fitting and modeling a line of clothes at home parties in the early 1960s.
"We really needed the extra money," Lucille recalls, "and I just wanted to do what I could to help out. Most people told me I should just stay at home, but I knew we needed more money coming in." It was at one of those home meetings that Lucille's life was changed forever-- even before she stepped through the front door. . . .
I was on my way to a meeting at someone's home, to show the line of clothing. I parked the car outside this gal's house, got some things out, then noticed I'd left one of the doors open. So I ran around to close the car door. I guess the road was slick or something, because I slipped and fell.
It didn't hurt all that much, and I didn't really think much about it at the time. I thought I'd just torn my stocking and skinned my knee. It wasn't until much later that I learned I'd broken my arm. I spent the whole day at that woman's house--
I couldn't leave because this meeting had been scheduled and I had no one to take my place-- and by six that evening I was really hurting. The hostess talked to me all day about nutrition and health and the Network Marketing company
she was with. I never even saw her present the business, she just talked about the products.
I finally went to the hospital that night and the doctors told me I'd broken my arm-- just like a little old lady. I'd watched my grandmother drop in front of me and break her hip, and die of complications three weeks later, so when the doctors told me my arm had broken, it really shocked me. So I went back to this gal who had been telling me about nutrition and health, and I told her, "I'll try some of your pills and potions."
I signed up so I could get my products wholesale. I had no idea what Network Marketing even was. I took the pills, and they had a dramatic effect on me. Next thing you know, my friends are asking me for samples, and I have them buying their own products wholesale. I signed up 27 people in the first month, and I still didn't even know what Networking was-- hadn't even seen the business plan.
I finally decided to go to a meeting to get some more information about what I had gotten into, and at that first meeting, they called me up on stage and gave me a check for $1000. It was about six months before I even understood how the whole thing worked. By the end of the year, I got my first company-furnished gold Cadillac.
The big challenge when I got started was dealing with the fact that nobody really knew anything about nutritional products. In those days, people thought you were a little kooky if you took vitamins. These days, the challenge is just the opposite-- it's competition.
Our goal is to educate people about why our products are so good-- make people understand what makes them that way and how they have improved our lives. We are there as proof that what we are offering really works, that we have something wonderful.
I have been in Network Marketing for 30 years, and the biggest challenge of all is helping other people to believe in themselves. In our business, our success is built on the successes of others. Most people aren't brought up to want to be successful, to believe in themselves, to have a vision. It's up to us to help them overcome that.
So many people out there are afraid to do anything new because they're afraid of failing. I go in expecting to fail at first because it's something new I've never done before. But that doesn't scare me, it's the only way you can learn. We need to let people know that it's okay to fail, it's okay to be afraid, and that it's okay to be successful, too.
Success in Network Marketing really depends on how well you can develop a success mentality. Strive for excellence, be professional, make appointments and keep appointments, be trustworthy and follow through, let people know that you can be counted on-- these are all so important.
You must make yourself into someone that people can trust; you must be reliable at all times. I have learned that people believe in you first and the products second. You have to learn to sincerely care about other people and have patience with them. Focus on these qualities, develop yourself around these principles, and you can be successful in Network Marketing.
But know this too: You don't have to run out there and buy every sales book you can find and read up on how to make the perfect sales pitch or close a deal. That's not how our business works. Look at me: I had no idea what I was doing-- I was just excited, that's all. Just get enthusiastic about the possibilities in your life, and share your excitement. That will work wonders, believe me.
I believe Network Marketing is changing the world. In a time when people have become numbers-- they're discouraged, frustrated, and empty-- Network Marketing offers people a chance to realize their true destiny and purpose, and to help make the world a better place.
True leadership can and does change the world. We need people of faith and vision. Our world is starving for role models of integrity, principle, and courage to follow. We want to be better than we are; we want to have meaning and purpose. I have seen that Network Marketing gives people around the world a chance to develop these qualities.
We need to love people and use things, not use people and love things. When all is said and done, we can't take things with us-- we leave everything. And the only thing that matters when we are gone is what we've given of value into the lives we have touched.
The best thing about my many years in Networking has been the effect it has had on my family. It has brought my family together.
I have tremendous relationships with my children. They aren't just my children, they are my business partners. We work alongside each other, and enjoy the successes together as a family.
We are all so closely knit together, and Network Marketing has made that possible for us. A mother's greatest joy is to see her family happily together, with excitement and faith and enthusiasm, towards some common vision. I have been blessed with that joy.
LUCILLE McAFEE has been actively involved in the industry for 30 years. At age 73, she is currently a full-time Five Ruby with Golden Neo-Life Diamite, Network Marketers of nutritional products. Lucille lives in Auburn, CA. She is joined in the
business by her sons Larry and James, and daughter Kharlyn Brocker.
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Reprinted with permission from Upline, McAfee-Success Story-January 1999, 888-UPLINE-1, http://www.upline.com
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