“Grateful is our mindset.”
Almost 20 years ago, a young man in Chesterfield, Michigan, decided he would try to change the world with a product named NutraBurst® and a grateful heart.
Shortly after that brave, courageous, and crazy decision was made, I was lucky enough to get pulled into that young man’s dream. I thank God daily that even though I kept saying “no” (actually, it was more like “Heck no!”), that young man kept asking until one day I finally agreed. I will forever be grateful for his persistence for sure.
In the early days of TLC, things were not easy, and it was tough to get people to believe in two guys that were so young, inexperienced, and different than the rest of the business world. Things did not go well in the beginning. The young man that led the TLC charge was relentless. He worked hard every day and occasionally would talk one person into becoming a customer or a business partner. The other guy (me) would make sure that customer order or Distributor Starter Kit got out right away before they changed their mind!
What I remember most about those first few years is how grateful that young man and I were for every single sale we made, every person that agreed to join us, and every time the phone rang or an email came into our inboxes. None of those things ever annoyed us or stressed us out; instead, they just made us more grateful.
In the beginning, TLC was not making money, nobody knew who we were, and we didn’t even know from month to month or year to year if we would even be around. That’s why every conversation we had with someone, whether it turned into a customer order or distributor agreement or neither of those, did not matter for us. We were just grateful.
We were grateful for a few different reasons. Of course, we were thankful for the business and the trust that people had for us. We were also grateful that every sale or distributor agreement would help our families and friends stop telling us TLC would never work.
Of course, it makes sense that we were grateful for every little victory in the beginning, but that’s not what this week’s message is about; it’s STAYING grateful all the time. That is my focus this week.
Today, that young man who had this crazy TLC idea pulls up to the 6094 corporate drive in Fair Haven, Michigan. He is welcomed by a beautiful building that has almost 500 employees and another 200 around the world. He sees up to 20,000 orders going out the door on certain days. His staff occasionally reminds him that TLC has 100,000 distributors and 400,000 customers. He has witnessed his dream that started in a basement become a top 50 company in the direct sales industry.
It all started by being grateful for every person who even considered TLC, and it continues for the same reason. I am sure you all know that the young man I am talking about is Jack Fallon.
Jack reminded me to be grateful in TLC’s early days but what he shows me every day 20 years later is that he is still thankful for every single person that considers TLC. When you send 20,000 orders in a day, you would not think 1 or 2 orders would make a difference, but to Jack, it does. That person believes in TLC, and we must be grateful. Every new customer, Lifechanger, employee, and visitor to our office is treated with that same gratitude as I remember in 2003, if not more.
I believe this is why TLC continues to thrive and grow and continues to surprise other companies in the industry. Some think it’s the product, the business plan, or even Jacks’ charismatic personality, but what it is more than anything is gratitude.
TLC started with gratitude and a grateful heart, and that gratefulness is continuing to drive us forward to this day. We are grateful for people, and they feel it, and in turn, they are grateful for us.
Many people start by being grateful at the beginning of a business, a new relationship, or a new project. Still, sometimes when things start to go well, they forget to be grateful for continued blessings but not here at TLC! Almost 20 years later, we are thankful for every single call, email, sale, and every consideration we receive, and hopefully, you are too.
Starting anything by being grateful will get you off to a good start, but if you want to do amazing things that nobody ever believed you could do, then you have to figure out how to stay grateful even after success. Jack Fallon has remained grateful, and I have no doubt he will stay that way and always be hungry for more. What about you?
I am grateful for you and grateful that you took the time to read my message today.
Have a great week, and make sure you remain grateful for everything you do!
