Hazel first became acquainted with GreenTeaHP (GTHP) as a retail sales person at a GTHP kiosk in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
According to Hazel, on a good day, she could sell 15 to 16 boxes of GTHP at the kiosk. Over time Hazel built up a base of clients who would return and reorder GTHP from her.
Hazel was good for GTHP and GTHP was good for Hazel. She needed the money and the product was easy to sell. Then the unexpected happened, she had a fire in her home and faced some health issues. Also, the owner of the GTHP kiosk, where she had worked, was no longer able to manage the kiosk, so it closed down. At this point there was a brief disconnect between Hazel and GTHP.
Hazel started selling GTHP again, at her new place of work. As Hazel solved her housing problem, and her health improved, she made contact with our corporate office. She took classes from the GTHP staff, over the phone, on how to sell GTHP on a person to person basis. Slowly she built a “down line.” She also was able to contact some of her former customers from the kiosk and place them in her down line. A steady income stream was slowly created.
In July, I met Hazel. My wife and I sat down with her to talk at a little cafe in Minneapolis’s Mall of America. After some pleasantries, Hazel informed us that she was working with our corporate people to fulfill her next goal in life: to open and own her own kiosk selling GTHP. She told us that she had already contacted people who had shown interest in investing in her dream.
Later, as Hazel showed my wife and me around America’s biggest mall, I was impressed with how many people knew Hazel and how warmly they greeted her. It became very evident that this was no ordinary person. She was outgoing and pleasant, and also very determined. She told me GTHP was right for her. “I like it that my income is not capped,” she explained. “You know,” she said, “I’m a self-improvement junkie.”
In the end Hazel had only one question for me, “Do you plan to continue expanding?” My answer was simple, “Yes, we do.” With that, she smiled and basically had nothing more to say. With well wishes, the visit ended.
As I reflect on my visit with Hazel, I am left with a single thought. If I have to travel the world and meet one thousand people in order to meet one person like Hazel, I will do it gladly. Hazel is the type of person my son and I had in mind when we were creating the GTHP business model. We both know how much focus and sacrifice it takes to start a business. So, if we can facilitate that process, we are ready and able to do so.
For example, the single greatest barrier to being able to start your own business is to have a product that consumers want. Hazel is very smart; she knows that GTHP is a good and important product. She does not treat that lightly. She liberally shares GTHP with others. Hazel has created a business because she respects the product she distributes. She knows that the power of her long term interests resides squarely on the quality of her product. Knowing this she goes about her work confidently. Hazel is nothing, if not confident.
However, Hazel is not a person with a “razzle-dazzle” kind of personality. She’s had her share of ups and downs to know that a steady straightforward manner, laced with a streak of self-deprecating humor, is the best long term approach for her. She carries a large purse with cups, water, and samples of GTHP (among other things) in it. She enjoys talking about the importance of good health and introduces people to GTHP that way. In fact, when she was taking the bus from her new condo to meet us at the mall, she introduced GTHP to a fellow rider. She happily reported that it was a successful experience. Hazel’s business is in her purse and wherever she goes her business goes with her. How efficient! With no overhead to speak of, it is virtually impossible to fail.
In the process I also believe Hazel has internalized a core principle in becoming authentically self-actualized. That is, we are probably never better as individuals, than when we are engaged in an act of creating something of value, that we own, and for which we feel responsible and receive compensation. Hazel is engaged in that awesome effort of creating her own business, in her own way, according to her very own inspiration, and starting to be compensated for it. A person who has the opportunity to create something of value that others consume, usually ends up loving the creation, and as a result develops a well-deserved regard and satisfaction for him or herself.
I believe Hazel is at a good point in her life. She has walked the full line of experiences with GTHP, and as a result has crafted a personal path that continues to reward her.