My name is Michele Klawitter, and this is my story of hope for the hopeless. Of finding success in Network Marketing even without any skills, feeling unworthy, and lacking any sort of dreams or goals for a better future. This is my journey of resilience, strength, and triumph over many traumas. Of building through the feelings of ‘less than’ while leaning on faith and hope.
This is a story of how someone who came in with nothing — no people, no teams, no money, no knowledge, no skills; only faith, hope, and borrowed confidence of others — built a large, successful six-figure earning team! I am living proof that your past does not dictate your future!
Before I can share my success, you must understand where I came from. I will be very transparent even though this is painful to rehash. But I am doing this for you. For that person in the same situation as me, hoping for what I hoped for without knowing how.
Background
To begin, we need to go backward so you can see what I was up against. I grew up amidst financial struggles and constant moves from one rental home to another. But the worst was having to endure sexual abuse from three different family members. The abuse did not stop until I was 16, and even then, I was still around those family members.
My mom’s love was my anchor, and I am forever grateful to her. She did the best she could with what she had! Love you, Mom!
Schooltime provided no solace, with many instances of bullying and only one true friend. I was always the wallflower. I was the one that people ignored or laughed at. Escaping to college also brought no reprieve, the same feeling of being alone, no friends, culminating in a distressing episode of date rape. I left and returned home without a college degree, never attending college again.
Even through all this, I felt that something wasn’t right. I felt like my life shouldn’t be filled with only struggle and pain, though it was always there. 39 years of trauma, financial stress, and abuse with no escape is a lot!
When network marketing came into my life, I had zero local friends. Like seriously, nobody. My life was Jacob and work. I thought I had friends at work. But then I caught my co-workers laughing at how I looked and what I was dealing with. “She’d make a great model for a flea market!” Yeah, that’s one of the statements. It was a daily thing for them to bully me and make me feel even more worthless. Yet again, here I was, alone while everyone else laughed and enjoyed life together. I didn’t feel safe anywhere.
Enter Network Marketing
Fast forward to network marketing entering my life. I had never heard of network marketing, MLM, direct sales, or anything! I didn’t know there was another income option out there. I was a 39-year-old single mother navigating divorce, working 8-5 Monday-Friday in a career where my paycheck didn’t stretch to the next. I was budgeting $60/week for gas and groceries. I was on the verge of losing my home and car. My 17-year marriage had been marred by my husband’s drug abuse, alcoholism, and cheating, not to mention years of verbal and mental abuse, of hiding, of walking on eggshells, that left me feeling utterly worthless.
So when I say I came into this NWM life with NOTHING, I want you to truly feel what I meant by “nothing.” All I wanted at the time was to lose weight. I hated how I looked. I was very obese and did nothing but gain weight for 15 years (throughout that marriage) and gave up. I was doomed to feel ugly, fat, unwanted, and unloved. I felt like I was nothing in this world. The only saving grace and happiness I had was my wonderful son! He kept me going, the little light I had in my life.
So when my Facebook friend Lori Ford started posting about this “Thrive” stuff, I didn’t consider it. Lori had stated you could get it free with two referrals. Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to get it free, much less have a business, because I was not a salesperson and had no friends. (Even though I had over 3000 Facebook friends, I didn’t think of those!)
Not only had I completely given up on ever losing weight, but I knew I couldn’t afford it even without knowing the cost. I only wanted to prove Lori wrong when she said everyone spends their money on everything but their health. I thought, ‘Well, Lori, I really can’t afford it, and I’m going to prove you wrong!’
Boy, am I glad I was wrong! I am also thankful she and Jennifer sent me some Thrive to get me started!
I wanted Thrive to help me with the simple goal of losing weight and feeling better. I knew I had to earn it free if I wanted to continue. I had zero interest in the business side. Remember, I didn’t know two people to get it free, so how could I build a business? Yet, Lori still set me up as a promoter, saying, “What if you get like $20 a week in commissions?” My thought at the time was, ‘That would be amazing.’
In The Beginning
I started my product on December 12, 2015. The night before, I messaged Lori to see how to start and said to her, “I have very low self-esteem, so hopefully this works. I’ve tried so much, I really need this to work.” followed by this gem, “Starting a new life tomorrow.” I HAD NO IDEA HOW TRUE THIS WAS!
The next day, I did what she told me to (Your first hint: do what the leaders above you say if they are where you want to be!). “Share a selfie with you wearing your DFT sticker.” So I did. My Facebook post said, “Today is a new day. Today I retake my life and get healthier. Today I Thrive!”. YET AGAIN, I HAD NO IDEA HOW TRUE THIS WAS!
Within three days, I knew, for the first time in 15 years, that I had hope of losing weight! I could feel it working, and the scale had moved by 3 pounds! I also knew I couldn’t afford it, so I had to get it free!
Instead of thinking, ‘Oh well, I can’t afford it, so I can’t continue,’ I thought, ‘I have to earn this free so I can continue; I’m going to share!’ and share I did. The difference between those two thoughts is enormous! Another sign of strength I didn’t know I had.
Building A Business
That was the beginning of my new life filled with Thrive and friends. I was surrounded by a community of people who cared for and supported me, friends I didn’t know I could have, and people who trusted me and took a step themselves. Sharing my Thrive journey became my thing. I knew zilch about the business, but I was honest about it. Lori and other friends guided me. Not only did I start earning some commissions, but I earned two bonuses in the first few weeks.
Then, a short 2 months and 16 days later, I hit the second level of rank in our company, $12,000 in sales in one month! This rank is important because it also comes with an auto bonus! No matter what vehicle I drove, or if I even had one, I had a bonus! (Note: I’ve earned that bonus every month since then!)
Despite my self-doubts and lack of self-esteem, I was building a business. Take a moment and imagine how this felt — going from being negative in my checking account to hitting the second rank in the company and earning an auto bonus in only two months. $12,000 in sales when I didn’t even think I could get two people to get it free?
Overcoming Challenges
Now, it’s not all sunshine and unicorns and rainbows. Not all my Facebook friends were supportive. I dealt with a lot of negativity and skepticism, enough that I was in tears often. I could have caved, quit, gone back to what life was before. But I felt even more that there was more to me than a body for others! I wanted this so badly!
I am forever grateful to my wonderful friends Lori and Cheyenne. They helped me through that time! They taught me how to deal with negativity and skepticism and that it had nothing to do with me! I learned not to take it personally. It wasn’t about me or anything I did. It was a lack of knowledge about the industry or the product.
I knew, I really knew, how much this was helping! I had already lost a little over 20lbs at this point and was feeling great! As were the other Thrivers my team and I were bringing in. Even more, I was now driving a BMW, which my auto bonus covered, only 3 months after starting this product!
I quickly rose through the ranks of the company. I was losing weight, feeling great, and earning bonuses, including a rank repeat and rank advance bonus. Talk about life-changing money! Remember I was going to be happy with $20 a week?
I didn’t do it alone, of course! If it weren’t for the people who said yes and joined me, sharing and growing themselves, I wouldn’t be here! That’s one of the best parts about NWM: the community and friends you build and the new family you receive! I love my team and am so grateful to them! I was not alone!
Going Full Time
As I grew and those bonuses hit my account, my life took another incredible change. Remember when I started Thrive on December 12, 2015, I wasn’t making ends meet? Fast forward to May 2017. I quit my salaried position and decided to work this business full-time from home!
My son Jacob was so happy, too! He was middle school age by this time and was so excited about us spending more time together. He was ecstatic that he didn’t have to attend before and after-school care! From 8 weeks old, he had always been in daycare of one sort or another.
My eyes swelled with tears the first time I met the school bus at the end of the driveway. Jacob had friends that he rode the bus with, so he wanted to do that, something he’d never been able to do before. My heart swelled even more when we could go on vacations and create memories that NEVER would have happened before!
Hitting That Top Rank!
Now, let’s skip forward to June 2018. What a MONTH!! By this point, I had lost 70 pounds and looked and felt better than in my 30s. Our team SOARED, and we did it! Our team hit the top rank of the company! 200k, which means $200,000 in sales in one month! This little nobody, the person who didn’t know two people to get free product, who hated everything about myself, thought I was only on this earth for the physical benefit of others, me! I AM 200K!
Old Doubts
But it doesn’t stop there. When I hit that top rank, old doubts crept into my mind, and it told me a lie. My mind said I didn’t belong, just like in middle and high school and at work. I was NOT meant to be here. Looking around at the other top leaders, I thought, ‘I am a nobody. Who do I think I am being a “top leader”?’ So, I stopped pushing and started self-sabotaging. Our team went backward, forward, backward, and forward, like a roller coaster for years. We still do.
That’s part of NWM. There are ebbs and flows, ups and downs, and you have to roll with the punches and keep going.
Throughout all this, we moved, bought a home, sold a home, bought a motorhome, and toured the US for over a year. It still seems like a dream! Right now, I’m not where I want to be, but I have faith that we are on the uphill again and that I will get back to that position.
Refusing To Quit
The difference between myself and others who have dealt with this and quit is this… I don’t quit, and I refuse to! I still have faith! I will not give up! I don’t allow myself to go down that deep, dark hole and back to feeling like nothing. When I start feeling that way, I reach out to my friends! Y’all, I have real, true friends now! Amazingly, I am blessed with TWO best friends!
The How
So what do I do? How did I grow and build such a large team? How did I earn more commissions in the last 8 years than I could’ve earned in my career? Note: It would have taken me almost 17 years to earn what I have with NWM. And I had a good salary for my position!
I reached out to many other leaders — above me, sidelines, in different niches, and in other companies. I surrounded myself with other leaders of the same mindset and were where I wanted to be. I never gave up; I kept pushing, read many books, attended retreats, watched videos, and completed so much personal development!
Why did I not quit? Not only because I genuinely love my company and our products worked! Not only because I was in love with our new life of living full-time in a motorhome and traveling the US. Not only because I enjoy my time freedom.
Building A Legacy
I am also doing this for my son. I need to show him the different possibilities. I want to build a legacy for him as well. My company even put an article in our magazine about how I am building a legacy within our family.
But also for those of YOU out there, that are where I was. For the man or woman sitting there reading this now, knowing how I felt as a child, spouse, or person feeling like you are nothing. Yes, you CAN do this too. Your past does NOT dictate what your future holds!
You CAN do this! Yes, you! But don’t try to do this alone. Make sure to reach up and out! Fight against that self-sabotage and go with what you deserve.
4 Responses
Ahhhhhh Michele!! Your story is so incredible and I am so proud of you 🫶🏻 This right here is what network marketing is all about!!
Thank you so much for posting my story Rob and Frazer!!!!
It’s amazing how fast our goals grow.