'It Works'.... Worked!
- By Jackie Commissar
- •
- 05 Jan, 2019
IT WORKS
IT WORKS….WORKED!
By 2011 I was still juggling with debt and trying desperately trying to keep the Curves business going. It was without doubt the most stressful time in my life apart from Tony’s illness.
I was feeling as if I had a constant weight on my shoulders.
Tony, although always supportive of my decisions, couldn’t really contribute any longer to our financial decisions. He had changed a lot from his former business self, the haemorrhage he had suffered, along with the invasive surgery, had left some cognitive damage.
The doctors had been right when they said he would not be able to take on new information and process it.
This was not a problem for him as it didn’t, and still doesn’t, make him frustrated in any way, but it was hard for me to make decisions without his input. So, I decided I would have to continue to go with my gut feelings and just make what I considered to be the right decisions.
One day I received a call from a Curves owner who had become a friend, asking if I would come over and see her, as her sister had just returned from Florida with a new product. I was reluctant to go as I didn’t want to disappoint her by rejecting it, I had no intentions of getting involved in yet another business, and I also had no money to invest.
I decided to go but told her I would just look and listen but not join!
So I guess you have all worked out what I did….I joined, of course!
The business that my friend was trying to promote in the UK was a Multi-Level Marketing business, sometimes called ‘Network Marketing’.
The company was called ‘It Works’ and was relatively new, they had a unique ‘state of the art’ cloth body wrap which could help the wearer lose inches, and tighten tone & firm areas of their body in 45 mins.
My friend’s sister Pat had been living in Florida and had to return back to the UK for family reasons, she had been approached just before she left with the body wrap by an American friend Beth who was a distributor.
So here I was in the kitchen of my friend’s house embarking on yet another business. The products had never been sold in the UK or Europe and we were the first to promote them. I immediately called another Curves owner friend and signed her up as a distributor in that kitchen.
At this point I would like to give you an insight into this business model. Many of you will have heard of Network Marketing but you may also have been told its ‘Pyramid’ selling. My first challenge was to explain to people that it was not ‘Pyramid ‘selling, this form of selling was illegal and did not involve selling products, only money.
Unfortunately, when people had got involved and lost money with Pyramid schemes it left a stigma which was wrongly connected to Network Marketing.
I was determined to learn as much as I could about the business model, and also research and carry out due diligence on the ‘It Works’ company. I spent hours on my computer studying. I read many books on Network Marketing and taught myself how to be a distributor which would eventually help me to build a residual income, thus allowing me to work from home without the exorbitant overheads I was paying for my Curves premises.
The story of 'It Works'.....
‘It Works’ was opened in Michigan in the USA in 2001 by Mark Pentecost and Pam Sowder.
Both lovely simple people with big families, they had invented this body wrap and they were determined to make it a success. They invested every penny they had in the idea as they totally believed in their product and were determined to make it successful.
After 5 years in Michigan, the business was doing so well they decided to relocate to Sarasota Florida near to where Rob & Dom were now living!
I have, to this day, the upmost respect for this couple, they would not give up and were determined to continue with their invention, even though at one point Pam explained to me that they were advised to give up on their efforts as the money was running out. Pam told me she was walking on a beach around this time and had an epiphany, she saw thousands of people walking toward her, and she knew she would have to continue even if it meant she lost everything.
Mark Pentecost was a football coach who had worked in the Network Marketing industry selling phones until the mobile phone was invented, he then had to find some other way of making a living, so when Pam Sowder approached him with the body wrap he threw himself into building an empire.
I wanted to tell you about this couple because today 17yrs later ‘It Works Global is a billion-dollar company, open in over 24 countries all over the world!
I am so proud to still be part of this company, I, along with my friend Pat opened the UK for ‘It Works’ in 2011. We worked consistently to promote their body wrap by exhibiting and holding wrap parties. ‘It Works’ had no website in those days, they were very unfamiliar with the way business was run in the UK, so we helped find them delivery companies and advised them on our sales tax system etc. we were a large part of their entry into the UK and Europe.
Before long they started to introduce new products into the company, and we were building teams by signing distributors to sell the products, this would eventually give us thousands of both distributors, and customers. I was earning commission on all of this and before long I had that residual income to help me get through the recession, and which I still have to this day.
Unfortunately, in the UK success is envied, but in the USA it is applauded, as an entrepreneur you will have seen from my blogs I always am attracted to ideas from the USA. To see a small family business grow into an empire is for me, the most amazing achievement and it teaches us all that we should NEVER give up!
In 2016 when ‘It Works’ had reached almost a billion dollars in turnover, Mark Pentecost bought himself an ‘Island’ in Florida, he always gave back to others and contributed towards a lot of needy charities.
Unfortunately, around this time he was diagnosed with bone cancer, we were all devastated to hear this and he underwent intensive treatment to try and control the condition.
Life is often cruel as we all know, Mark Pentecost had worked like mad to build his business, he freely gave away a lot of his money to needy charities and he motivated his team members constantly, yet he was dealt this terrible blow.
Notwithstanding all of this Mark Pentecost survived gruelling treatment to recover and go into remission. Never throughout this time did any of his distributors see him succumb to his illness, he is a true inspiration and I felt he deserved this chapter in my blog. It teaches us a lesson to never give up!
Once I had done all my studying,
which at 61yrs old was not an easy task, especially as most of it was learning
to work with a computer and training to understand how to sign up new
distributors, I threw myself into building my network marketing business.
I was able to still run my Curves club, and with the help of loyal staff I was also able to work hard at building my ‘It Works’ teams and within 9 months I had reached Diamond level, which meant I was earning more from this business than I was from Curves!
I loved the concept of the business, I was around people constantly, and selling the wraps was easy because they really did work! I was also lucky enough to be able to recruit a lot of my Curves friends into the business, I would visit their clubs and help them to run ‘wrap parties’ with their members. I travelled around the country and to Scotland Ireland and Wales, where I opened new accounts and made new fellow entrepreneur friends. I finally had found my vocation and I was loving it!
I wouldn't be an entrepreneur if I didn't suggest you check out my website...ha ha!
http://jackiecommissar.itworkseu.com
It was 2012 when I got the call from
my sister to say that my 93yr old mother had been reaching under her bed for
one of her slippers and had felt excruciating pain in her hip. She wasn’t able
to get up from the floor and had to wait for an ambulance to come and help her.
My sister who was living over 30 mins away from my mother and had just taken
her husband to a local hospital after he had suffered pains which needed to be
checked out, was torn between who she could help & I was over 3,000 miles
away! I remembered what I had felt with my dear dad, I knew I had to fly over
and be with my sister and my mother, so I arranged a flight as quickly as I
could to Florida.
My mother was in good spirits when I arrived at the hospital after a long and emotional flight. She had been diagnosed with a fractured hip and the doctors wanted to perform surgery to insert a metal rod in her spine. They assured us that this would fix the fracture in her hip, but they needed to stabilise her oxygen levels before they could perform the operation.
My sister & I spent 2 traumatic days watching the doctors administering high levels of oxygen into our poor mum to prepare her for surgery. This caused her considerable stress as she had been surviving on lower than average oxygen levels for some time after she had been diagnosed with emphysema. My sister & I were unaware of this but had wondered why at 85yrs old she had given up smoking her 5 cigarettes a day!
Finally, the stress caused heart failure and she eventually passed away.
Instead of grieving for her passing I was grateful that she had lived to 93yrs old without the love of her life by her side. My mother had survived for almost 20yrs without my dad, she was an incredibly strong woman and to this day I admire her strength.
I was bereft and had to leave my poor sister to continue without our mum whist I returned to the UK to my family and my commitments.
My sis &I were now grieving for both our dear parents.
Reluctantly I returned to my life back in the UK and because I had committed to a previously planned exhibition with my distributors and I could not let them down. I worked alongside all my lovely friends and distributors and we achieved amazing success with the ‘It Works’ wraps. I was exhausted and very emotional, but I fulfilled my commitment and I know this is what my mother would have wanted me to do.
It was the second time in my life that I had to deal with the grief of losing a parent alone. I of course, had the support of my children and my husband, but I was not living close to my only living family member to grieve, my sister. I felt alone even though I was surrounded by so many wonderful friends and close family, somehow this didn’t make up for the fact that I could not reminisce about my parents with a sibling.
I dealt with my grief by throwing myself into my work. Having such a wonderful team of like-minded business colleagues helped me tremendously. I buried my emotions, as I had done when I had lost my dad, and I plastered a smile on my face and just carried on!
Within 18 months of joining ‘It Works’ I reached ‘Triple Diamond’ which meant I was earning a fantastic salary. I had a very successful team in Denmark and a very strong team in the UK. I had met new friends from all over the world and I had forged a strong partnership with Beth my US upline, and the lovely Pat who was the sister of my Curves friend. We called ourselves the ‘3 Musketeers’ and we supported and helped each other constantly.
By 2013 ‘It Works’ were starting to expand all over Europe. They had created a user-friendly website and social media was taking over. The distributors were a lot younger than I and they were all building their businesses through Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms.
I was established by now and realised that everything we had been promised was actually coming true. I was making a great residual income without having to work hard at promoting the business, my teams were doing it for me! WOW! I liked this, it was the first time in my business life that I was making a living without having to do much! Everything I had read up on was true, you really could make a living working from home and not full time!
Because of my success with ‘It Works’ I found myself in a position where I could help my children financially. Rob was separated and awaiting his divorce, and Katie’s marriage had broken down as well. It was a sad time for us all, both our children had broken marriages and we had to deal with the fact that they both had to support themselves financially.
It was 2013 and finally the 10yr lease and franchise was expiring, we knew we had to vacate the premises as quickly as possible or we would be saddled with repair costs etc. We finally signed the end of our lease in May 2014 and released ourselves from the franchise agreement with Curves….we were FREE!!
May 26th is a very special date in our family, it is Tony’s birthday and he shares it with his little granddaughter Sky. So in 2013 when Rob & Dom had just left for their new life in Florida, we had arranged for them to return to celebrate Tony’s 70th birthday. I had planned a fabulous party for him and little did we realise this would be the last time that we would all be together with our son-in-law and daughter-in-law for a family celebration.
Looking back on this difficult time I remember wishing I could wipe away the tears of my children and make everything right for them. They had both become single parents and were learning to live with the bitterness that surrounds divorce. We helped as much as we could financially and emotionally, as parents we were prepared to do anything necessary to help our children deal with their distress.
I cannot emphasise how much I admire the strength of my children whilst they dealt with all the stress of a marriage breakdown. Rob dealt with his situation without telling us for the best part of a year, he didn’t want to upset us so he suppressed his emotions and managed to keep us from knowing what was happening until we needed to know. He was living in a strange country and had very few friends he could rely on. Thank goodness for the support of my nephew who advised him and ultimately found him the right help to get through his divorce.
Katie was also learning how to deal with supporting 2 children whilst working as much as possible to ensure they were financially secure. Working as a nail technician was the ideal job for her as she was, and still is, able to work from home when necessary, ensuring she is available for her children when necessary.
Tony & I were at a crossroads. We no longer wanted to live in the UK, we were disillusioned with the way of life, we had worked hard for so many years and realised that the negativity and the miserable weather was no longer something we could tolerate. We had been spending more and more time at our beautiful beachfront apartment in Spain, and we loved waking up to glorious sunshine every day.
I was earning a very good living with ‘It Works’ and was able to run the business working from home so it meant I could carry out my career anywhere in the world. It was time to pack up and move to the sun in Spain…but this meant leaving our daughter and grandchildren behind in the UK, could we do this??
See you next blog!
The operation...
We were to spend another 3 weeks visiting Tony in the clinic before he could finally be operated on. It had taken some time for the Doctor to discover that the fever was from Pneumonia and he had to ensure Tony’s lungs were clear before he was given an anaesthetic.
I realised that had he been operated on in Malaga with pneumonia he would have been at even more risk of dying during the surgery.
We had booked into a hotel near to the hospital and every day we would visit Tony in the immaculate intensive care unit, which was at the far end of the corridor, where we were asked to gown up and put on shoe covers before we entered. This became a daily ritual and every time we started the long walk along the corridor my heart raced and I wondered how I would find him. The sweet little nurses tried hard to communicate with us and I would nod at them before we went in or shake my head to see how he was doing.
It's strange that I have never forgotten that walk along the corridor, the fear inside of me never abated, would he be alive, would he recognise me, had his condition worsened or improved. The uncertainty was draining us all, we couldn’t even talk to each other on visits the emotions were running high and it was always Rob that was the positive one, he used to say to Katie and I ‘dad will be fine today, you wait and see’ bless him he was constantly trying to keep up our spirits.
During those weeks Tony’s family flew to Zaragoza, and his sister stayed with us for a while. It was a harrowing time because we were only allowed to visit at certain times and we never knew how he would be or whether he had suffered a setback or another bleed. He was kept very still and the nurses were angels. Unfortunately, apart from Dr. Calatyud nobody in the hospital spoke English, on fact nobody in Zaragoza spoke English. On the Costa Del Sol, most people spoke English as there were so many British Ex-Pats living there, so we were spoilt.
Tony would scribble little pictures to the nurses if he was thirsty or for other reasons and bless them they tried hard to learn the language even buying translation books. Katie was learning fast how to understand Spanish and she was our translator.
I kept in constant contact with Ana my beautiful new friend who had stood by me with Patrice her husband from day one, often asking her in the early hours of the morning questions that were worrying me and making sleep impossible.
Ana, I learned much later, was also suffering from emotions throughout this whole thing, she was totally traumatised and worried for me and the children, she was speaking to Dr. Calatyud in their mother tongue for hours and translating whenever he wasn’t able to explain clearly about Tony’s condition. Later Ana & I were to realise that we were meant to meet as we shared so many feelings and emotions. I will never forget how these dear friends helped me in my time of need.
Zaragoza is a beautiful city but only if you are a tourist and are there to enjoy the sites. Apart from the language barrier, we struggled to find restaurants where they served food that we were used to. We finally found an Italian style restaurant offering pasta dishes and we finished up going there most nights. Katie & I tend to eat when we are stressed and when we weren’t eating meals we were buying unhealthy sweets and chocolates to eat in between meals, Katie filled a carrier bag with them and carried that bag everywhere with biscuits for Tony and other favourite food she thought he may like.
During the long hours when we couldn’t visit Tony in the hospital we tried to keep occupied, I would take long walks and then write a diary when I was in my room alone.
Katie’s boyfriend Paul had come for a short time at her request to support her, but it was a new relationship and it put a strain on them both because of the constant worry. Rob would always try and cheer us all up, with his wonderful sense of humour he would often make us laugh, and he would occasionally have to placate Katie & I when the stress caused us to fight with each other. We were sometimes unable to control our emotions, and it would then turn into anger. We both knew that we didn’t mean to hurt each other and it would always end in tears with us hugging and saying sorry. The strain was getting us both down and we knew it, it was a waiting game and we had to be patient.
I was still recovering from my surgery, after having major surgery I was supposed to be resting and recovering, I was in pain a lot of the time and the healing process was taking longer due to the stress, but my mind was on Tony and his condition so it kept me from thinking of myself.
I also spent hours trying to deal with the insurance company, unfortunately, they added to the stress by fighting with me over paying the bills. I was frightened that we wouldn’t be able to afford the treatment, they had said I should not have moved Tony and should have left him in Malaga with the planned surgery, I tried to make them understand the situation and finally, they agreed to pay for the surgery, but at that point, we were still arguing over the accommodation costs.
My friends and family back in the UK and in Spain were a tremendous support to us all. We kept in constant contact and they would help me through difficult days when I was losing hope, by being positive and encouraging me to be positive too. I had days when I was convinced he would get through all of this but there were dark days when in my heart I knew I would never have the Tony back that I knew & loved.
When you are facing someone with a brain trauma it is very different from a physical illness that you can often help with by offering sympathy and medication. A brain injury is often so complex that you are not able to help the patient because most of us do not understand what injury the brain has suffered.
As an eternal optimist, I was trying hard to pretend to myself that whatever had happened to Tony’s brain, it would heal and he would back to normal once the surgeon had performed the operation, after all that is what was happening to me, even though I had major surgery to my womb I was beginning to heal and I would eventually be back to normal, this unfortunately is not the case with brain trauma, and I have had to learn this over the years.
After approx. 2 weeks in the intensive care unit of the Clinica Maz hospital in Zaragoza it was finally time for Tony to have his surgery. His pneumonia had healed and his lungs were stable enough for an anaesthetic. We were all cautiously relieved that Dr. Catalyud would finally be able to operate on his brain.
The operation was scheduled and family and friends flew in to support us during the procedure.
We were told to expect approx. 3-4 hours of surgery, so we gathered in the hotel, Tony’s brother Ricky, his sister Lys, Katie Rob and my neighbours began the long wait for the surgery to take place. We had seen Tony before he went down, his head had been shaved and when I saw him I had a terrible fright, but I assured him it was just a small operation to correct the problem that had occurred and he eventually accepted it.
I cannot ever explain the fear and the worry that was inside of me during the long hours, which turned into 9 hours of surgery. I was convinced something terrible had happened, especially after we had been told to expect 3-4 hours, I was inconsolable and nobody could convince me otherwise.
Finally, we heard that we could go to the theatre and wait outside to see Dr. Calatyud. We ran and with the help of our neighbours and we were able to stand at the theatre doors to wait for him to emerge.
I will never forget the site of this little man walking towards us dressed in his green ‘scrubs’ and saying to me ‘2’....
OMG! I thought had he found 2 aneurysms? But no…he was asking for 2 kisses on his cheeks to celebrate that Tony had come through the surgery well.
We then saw him being wheeled through the door heavily bandaged but peacefully asleep. I remember thinking this would never have been allowed in the UK, to stand outside of the theatre waiting to see the doctor, the gratitude I felt at that time to the Spanish friends and Dr. Calatyud was indescribable.
The long road to recovery.....
Tony was taken to a recovery unit while we all celebrated with the champagne that was waiting for us bought by Lys & Ricky. I was elated phoning family and friends all over the world telling them that it was finally over and Tony had come through the long surgery. Unfortunately, Katie was not as ecstatic as I was, and I was later to find out that she had read too much about the after effects that could occur after brain surgery. She worried that Tony wouldn't know us, or be able to talk or walk, but she kept this from me and I was unaware that she wasn’t celebrating with us at that point.
We were told that Tony must rest as much as possible during the following day that ensued, but Dr. Calatyud explained he must eventually waken and be conscious so that he could check all his vital statistics. This was due to happen on one morning several days later when we were visiting him, and we tried to wake him up. Several attempts were made to get him to react and to wake but he resisted. It was almost like he was in a coma, I was terrified.
Finally, during that visit Dr. Calatyud was called because the nursing staff and his nephew, who was assisting him were were suitably concerned that they could not get a reaction from Tony. It was yet another setback which I was getting used to. The little surgeon arrived to see Tony in a deep slumber and then proceeded to pinch him in the groin and the neck in the 2 spots which he knew would bother him enough to wake up. Tony shot up in bed swearing at the surgeon for hurting him…it had worked, Tony was awake!!
It was now time for the healing process to start before we could arrange for his transport back home to the UK. Rob had taken a lot of time off from his job in PR and he was being asked to return. We knew he would have to leave and tearfully we took him to the airport and we all hugged and cried while he boarded the plane back to the UK.
Katie & I helped each through the following days, Katie was unbelievable with her dad, she would spend hours massaging his legs and feet making sure that his muscles didn't get too weak. We were only able to visit him at certain times and during the long empty hours in between we did what we always do when we are stressed, we ate!
Finally, it was time for Tony to fly home. I had contacted the insurance company to see if they would cover the cost of the journey, we needed to fly him in another private plane equipped with some of the same medical devices that had been in the plane from Malaga. They refused to pay for this, insisting that he was well enough to be driven by ambulance to the nearest airport that would fly direct to London, this would have taken hours. They were then only prepared to pay for a commercial flight which would have been full of tourists. This was not an option!
Fortunately, I had close friends who could help me arrange a private plane, I knew we would have to cover the cost of this but didn't care at this point, I was not going to compromise Tony's recover after all we had been through.
I asked Dr. Calatyud if he would accompany us on the journey and then we would turn the plane around for him to return to his hospital. He agreed which was a huge relief for me. I don't think I could have handled any kind of relapse from Tony on my own, and on a flight.
Katie flew home on a commercial flight, and we arranged to meet at the London hospital that Tony would be transferred to on his arrival back to Luton Airport.
Thank goodness Tony made the flight and I bade a fond farewell with many tears to Dr. Calatyud and waved him off on the plane back to Zaragoza.
We had a waiting ambulance at the airport and Tony was made comfortable for the journey back to the Wellington Hospital in North West London to be under the care of another neuro-surgeon who Dr. Calatyud had been in touch with.
When Tony & I recall this traumatic time in his life he has no memory of anything except that ride from Luton Airport to the Wellington Hospital.
See you next blog......