Hey All,
Gary B. here…Hope ya’ll are doing well. I wanted to post this blog to explain to some, to apologize to some, and to encourage all…I would ask that you please read so I don't have to point you back to this blog when you ask me 'what are you doing with this online and network marketing stuff?' Thanks!
As many (if not all) of you know at the beginning of 2013 I began my involvement in the world of relational/network marketing. For whatever reason most of my adult life I have had a ‘network marketing’ target on my head and as a result I have been invited to 'join' multiple network marketing businesses, but until January, 2013 I have never felt to ‘join’ any of them. The truth is, prior to January, like many of you I had a rather negative opinion of the network marketing biz. I’m not sure why I had the 'target' on me. Could be I have a large forehead that can be used as a target (no hair to cover it, so it’s actually more like and ‘eight’ head) or maybe it’s my propensity to smile a lot, or maybe folks thought I would be good at it because it’s easy for me to talk to people from all walks of life, or maybe they saw in me the willingness to throw myself passionately into things I believe in, which I do. But, as I said I never 'joined' any opportunity and until Jan I had a negative opinion of network marketing, but obviously my opinion has changed and here is why…..
First, an opportunity was presented to me that finally ‘fit’ my life-long passion (more on this a bit later) to help people ‘move upward, onward and forward’ in life, to achieve new levels of success in life. Second, at 58 years old (but WAY younger than that in heart) I have finally come to the place that I ‘want out’ of the ‘linear income’ world where someone else determines how much my time is worth, where someone else determines when and where I need to ‘show up,’ where someone else determines when I can take time off and how much time I can take off….See where I’m coming from? So, I guess you could say I was ‘awakened’ in early 2013 to the possibility that there was ‘another way to make a living’ that actually would help me and others ‘make a better life’ and that I could ‘do well by doing good’ for folks….We’ll talk about this later on, for this is the ‘main point’ of this treatise.
Now, I need to say a word about my ‘work history’ in the ‘linear income’ world. I AM SO THANKFUL for the jobs I have held since Vonnie and were married in 1975 (yep, been married to my love for 38 years!). When our kids were little Hewlett-Packard provided a steady income for my young family, and they did so for almost 20 years. So thankful to HP. When we moved from Corvallis, Oregon to Salem, Oregon a company then known as Supra Products gave me the opportunity to work for them for 2 years until I went on staff full-time at Salem City Church in 1997 and where I ministered thru 2006. I am so thankful to Supra and to the generosity of the folks at Salem City Church. Beginning in early 2007 I went to work for what was then named Novellus Systems (now LAM Research) which has been a huge, huge blessing and LAM will continue to get my best every day and every hour I am ‘on the clock’ for them….In short, I have been tremendously blessed in my work career…..However, as I mentioned above, in early 2013 I embarked on a journey for ‘something more’ and that is what I want to tell you about....
To talk about this journey we first need to go back to a little town in the Coast Range Mountains in western Oregon, a little town called Valsetz. Valsetz was a ‘company owned’ town. Boise-Cascade (a timber company) ‘owned’ the town. You had to work for Boise, or work for the logging company(s) that supplied timber to the mill, or work for the post office (2 people I think) or work for the school district to live in town. My dad worked for the school district as a teacher from my first thru third grades but prior to me entering fourth grade he was named the school district superintendent. Now, as you can imagine, in a small town not a lot of kids wanted to ‘hang out’ a lot with the ‘principal’s kid’ so I spent a lot of my growing up years by myself, with my basketball, with Fritz my dog and with my fishing pole. And one thing I LOVED to do while by myself was sing and talk and preach to myself. Yep, I would write songs in my head, talk to myself and preach to and encourage myself for hours and hours….And one thing was firm in my mind, even as a young guy was that someday I would be speaking to and ministering to and helping thousands and thousands of people. Now, over the years this ‘ministering to and helping thousands and thousands of people’ has taken place to some extent, but not to the extent that I saw years ago as a young man….And this leads me to embarking on this next ‘big adventure.’
As I mentioned earlier, the reason I became involved in relational/network marketing was that I finally found an opportunity that ‘fit’ my life-long passion to help people ‘move upward, onward and forward’ in life, to achieve new levels of success in life. This opportunity is The Inspired Living Application (iLA). When I heard about iLA I was SO excited that the first thing I did was tell many of you about it, not realizing that many of you had no interest at all in this kind of business. And I want to say, that if at any time I came across as ‘bugging you’ I am SO sorry….My intent was not to ‘bug you’ I just was eager to share my excitement about iLA (which I still have) with you….My bad. Just know that my only intent was share something that I felt would do you and your family good…
After becoming involved with iLA I began to look around for other business opportunities that would allow my family and others we love and care about to ‘do well by doing good’ thru what is known as ‘social entrepreneurship.’ Social entrepreneurs are people that have identified tangible needs in society have a clear vision and mandate to change the world in tangible ways thru their businesses and the incomes generated from same.
My ‘why’ for getting involved in relational/network marketing in the first place was ‘If I can provide a person hope for change than I can help change ‘their world’ and thru iLA people are going to be encouraged, motivated, inspired and if they apply what they hear, changed.’ And, since January 2013 my ‘why’ has only intensified and grown in size, desire and greater clarity has come so that I can now share my ‘big why’ with you and it is this:
I am working to position Vonnie and I so we can be extravagantly generous at all times and in all situations with our time, talent, treasure ($) and energy with our family, our friends, our church and other ministries and to help bring hope, healing, kindness, provision and justice through social entrepreneurship. We accomplish this by serving, coaching, mentoring, inspiring, motivating, networking and partnering with innovative and integrity-filled business opportunities, ministries, individuals and teams.
So, you are now up to speed with what GB is up to with all this ‘online and network marketing stuff.' And now, going forward, you are likely see increased activity from me in the ‘social entrepreneurship’ realm. All I ask is that if you value our relationships as much as I do, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask and if you want more information please don’t hesitate to ask. And if you want to join Vonnie and I on this great adventure please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us…
For the journey begins afresh, now….And we are so excited. This is going to be awesome!
God bless,
Gary B.
Social Entrepreneur
Email: garyb1.inspire@gmail.com
Personal Cell: 971-239-9610
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