RE: Story time/introduce yourself -contest (free SBD and get exposure) -Making steemit more inclusive and welcoming!
DO YOU HAVE A SONG THAT THE WORLD STILL NEEDS TO HEAR?
That was me in 2013. Even though I gave my all... I lost my job, my band and nearly my mom. I sat in the unemployment office at the age of 22 while the rest of my friends were half way done with college or already had great "careers". There had to be more.
Every weekend I traveled the country playing music with my best friends, LIVING MY DREAM. I dread going back to work for the next five days. Since I was trapped at my J.O.B, I never thought I would get ahead. It drove me absolutely crazy to work for someone else’s dream. I thought I would be stuck behind the dish tank for the rest of my life because...
For most of us, retirement is no longer going to be an option.
In 2014, my entire life changed. After what seemed like a never ending series of unfortunate events, everything turned around when I was fired from my job and transferred to Dayton, OH. I met people who showed me what was truly possible for my life. I started to realize the significant difference between being an Employee vs an Entrepreneur! My mindset began to change.
In September of 2014, Network Marketing found me. My girlfriend took me to a tattoo shop (of all places) to see a presentation from her mentor. This was the first time I was introduced to Network Marketing.
No banners or dude in a suit.
It was not your "typical" set up.
It was in a tattoo shop and the man had dreadlocks to the floor and a beard to his belly button! There was a display on the front desk and he never once told me it was Network Marketing (i'm not even sure if he knew LOL)! He just believed in the product so much that I saw the vision immediately. I became an "all chips in distributor" later that week. I had NOTHING to lose, and it was everything I had been praying for since my world had fallen apart just a few months prior.
I began to see new possibilities and solutions for my mother, musicians, the world, AND EVEN SOMEONE LIKE ME!
Concluding the two hour presentation, I was shown a flip chart. He talked about the average income and the different ranks that were possible to achieve. When this bearded angel told me he had hit one of the top ranks in the company... I thought, WOW!! I know I can explain this faster and more effectively than this guy did. I CAN DO THIS!!
I could not believe he was making more each month (doing what he loves), than I was in an entire year (doing what I hate)... You better believe I was ALL IN.
Like most people who catch the Network Marketing bug, I started in September of 2014 thinking I knew 100 people who would join right away and I’m going to be able to quit my job and retire my parents in the first year! I was out doing home business presentations, coffee shop meetings, and as many 3rd party calls with my upline as you could imagine. 6 nights a week while still working a full time schedule as a Service Manager at Chipotle AND trying to start a new band.
I had zero personal development skills, zero sales experience, ZERO Network Marketing experience and realized after getting rejected by my warm market for a year straight that Network Marketing had to be treated like a real business if I wanted it to pay me like one but the biggest difference between my business and my JOB was that it could be my 5 year plan verses my life sentence. I liked the 5 year plan better and in the beginning I knew I was going to build something bigger than anything I had ever done before so i had more TIME to play music that could stand out from the rest.
In September 2014 I started my Network Marketing journey and in February 2015 I decided to take the leap.
I remember coming home from another long day at work and told my wife that I just could not do it anymore, (now I do not recommend this for everybody) but I felt I was doing more damage being at a job 10 hours a day when I TRULY BELIEVED I could build my buisness and help more people in that same period of time . I now know I was NOT ready but let's be honest.. who is ever fully ready? I put in my two weeks and left my job on February 7th that i had worked the last 3 years for and decided to go "full time" in an industry I was still such a NEWBIE in!
Through all of this my mother began to recover, I made new friends, I had an awesome girlfriend, I got to travel more than ever but there was still a huge obstacle hindering my success that I had to overcome.
Believe it or not that obstacle was myself.
It honestly took me about the first year of being in Network Marketing to get out of my own way!! I thank God every single day for bringing the people, situations, and circumstances into my life that guided me on the path to learning to love and believing in myself.
Somehow with nothing more than pure FAITH, I still managed to build my Network Marketing Business little by little in the beginning after being rejected countless times. There was a day I didn't even want to get out of bed because I was so lost in my head when the first time an unexpected check showed up in my mailbox. I'll never forget it and it was at that exact moment I understood what PASSIVE/RESIDUAL Income really was!
Taking that leap of faith was a scary move but my mother being sick had taught me that life is too short to not play big!
GOING ONLINE SAVED MY LIFE
After about 6 months of trying to get the same 15 friends, family and work colleges to join my business and getting rejected over and over again, I started thinking.. There has to be another way to do this Network Marketing thing. With as much traveling as I wanted to do I needed a way that I could talk to more people in less time to create the results I desired. I started looking into how to build a Home Business online and I found some Entrepreneurs on Facebook that actually had found ways to attract buyers and reps through marketing their life…..Exactly what I wanted to do!
I wouldn't consider myself very "techie" so learning the Internet side of marketing my business professionally didn't come easy for me but it was TOTALLY worth it. I took me about 8 months to really get the hang of HOW to make it all work but once I found my groove and became committed to making it work, some really awesome miracles started to unfold.
I started Recruiting New Reps Each Month ( on a $5, 000 product that's almost 95% more than what I was doing before)
I built an online team training hub using Social Media (I didn’t have to sit down an train one-on-one anymore) What would you do with more time?
I built an International Business in multiple countries
I started to get more qualified prospects reaching out to me wanting to know about what I do instead of the other way around.
Having a good mix of Offline and Online Marketing has really made a difference in my results and as a leader in this Profession I believe it’s our duty to embrace the changes in technology with Social Media being one of our biggest assets for networking!
From 2014 to Now I’ve been exposed to many incredible teachers, tools and courses. If you're curious as to what I've found to work best and what I share with MY TEAM AND CLIENTS when it comes to taking your business ONLINE.. you can find out exactly what I use and recommend listed on my products/tools page and possibly even my blog (depending on what you're looking for). It’s much easier to learn from someone who’s already been down the road that you’re looking to go down.
TODAY I am so Blessed and Grateful for my Life. I’m 25 years Young and I've been FREE for YEARS now from my 9-5! It took me pushing myself through the trenches for what I felt like eternity but I have something that the majority don't have…..Complete Time Freedom. I still work hard (about 4 hours a day) but I'm working HARD SMARTER. I can finally say that I am living my passion, I love what I do and I wouldn’t trade the roller coaster of owning my own Business and being an Entrepreneur for anything. I’ve replaced my JOB income where I had to trade my time for money for a residual paycheck that is continuously growing and so fulfilling.
I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to speak on multiple global webinars to share my story and train my marketing strategies. I also have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to almost all 50 states in North America within my first few years of being an Entrepreneur to help people offline... even outside of my team!
Something else that is pretty cool is remember that top rank that the "bearded angel" (aka my mentor now) was at when we first met? I hit that rank as well in just under 2 years of being in Network Marketing with ZERO experience prior.
Remember that girlfriend that took me to that first presentation at the tattoo shop?
I GET to enjoy every. single. day. with her now!
She is my hands down my best friend, the love of my life, and wife Elizabeth Alvarez.
We travel almost every month because seeing new places is one of our passions, it also happens that I can build my business anywhere we go! Isn’t it cool to make your Passions your Business?
As you may know by now i'm also a Father to our little boy Ocean and being able to spend everyday with him, raising him to be a shining example for the next generation, is priceless!
It’s Great to meet you my New Friend. Let me know how I can add value to you or your Business!
-Curran Alvarez