L'Bri Business Builders Blog

How Nature Reflects Our Lives

2011-03-31T11:35:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know my family know we love BUTTERFLIES! Years ago, when I saw that L'Bri had butterflies as their logo for their consultants, I was very pleased. It was one of my many signs that I should join Linda and Brian in their company. The butterfly reminds my family and I of our Mom. She loved butterflies - along with her sister - my Aunt Judy! Because they loved them, we loved them. It's a symbol of love, strength and beauty. When I see a butterfly, I think of my parents, my Aunt, my siblings, my daughter, and of course, for many, many years now, my L'Bri family.

One day, I was at a friend’s house and she told my daughter Sylvia and I about all the milkweed in her yard that was full of monarch caterpillars. I was amazed and really excited. Her son brought us two plump caterpillars with a big piece of milkweed for us to take home. Sylvia and I stopped at a hobby shop and picked up a butterfly cage that was a white, sheer netting material. We went home and placed the cage by the window on a table in my living room.

We waited anxiously, looked inside often and couldn't wait to see what would happen.

After a few days, we noticed that the zipper on the top of the cage was open a tiny bit and one of the caterpillars was gone. We wondered and worried for the little fella. The other caterpillar was doing nothing but eating away at its milkweed. I decided to move the netted cage to the kitchen counter away from the window just in case it may have been too hot. In fact, I must have been right because hours later we looked and there was a perfect, green, beautiful chrysalis hanging from the top of the cage.

Every day we watched it as it hung silently alone in its home.

A few days later, on a Saturday afternoon, we were all running around the house cleaning with music blaring when I heard my husband Tom call us to the living room. We ran in a furry to see what he was doing. To our amazement, all alone hanging from my living room table by the window was a perfect, green, beautiful chrysalis hanging from the lip of our table. Sure enough there was our other caterpillar; we were so thrilled and relieved!

I thought about this later that day and realized this fella was so determined it found a way to escape the hotness of the window through a tiny hole to get into a cool area where it could start its wondrous change on the lip of our table.

My daughter brought home a book tonight for us to read together about butterflies. It reminded me that I wanted to write about this story.

This is what the book said happens to this incredible insect before it turns into the Chrysalis...

the caterpillar eats constantly, it grows and its skin gets too tight (sounds familiar). Three to four times it splits open where a new skin is always underneath...the caterpillar is plump, big and round and it stops eating. It then spins a silken anchor to hang from and rest -usually on a branch or a fence... (in our case our table)

Inside the Chrysalis, a new head grows - two big eyes, a long curled tongue, two feelers on its head, six long legs grow out of the chest, three pairs of legs, four tiny buds grow into four wings each covered with scales. It stays curled up while changing colors. The butterfly keeps stretching until it bursts the chrysalis wide open.

What a great memory and such a perfect example of how determination can happen when we just remember we have choices...one caterpillar waited and hoped to be moved...the other took it upon itself to do something about its situation and get to where it needed to be to survive! Seeing that butterfly hanging on the table as it started to open was such a great feeling.

Seeing my daughter set them free was like a great ending to a beautiful meaningful journey we were able to experience with these two unaware creators.

Nature is such a reflection of how we can live our lives.

I Found a Gold Mine at a Rummage Sale!

2011-02-03T12:02:00.000-06:00

Thanks so much for visiting my L’Bri blog site!

I want to tell you my story about how L’Bri came to be such a big part of my life! I feel I owe it to everyone to share this opportunity, just like Linda and Brian shared it with me!

One sunny day I was on my way home from work. I was in a job that had me on the road all week running from upper Wisconsin to Minnesota. I was newly married and really unhappy in the job I had. I made great money and had a company car, but had a really mean boss that needed to be fired!!

My husband and I were trying to conceive a child but it wasn’t working because I was never home! I felt as if my hopes and dreams I had for my life were never going to come true until that one sunny day, when I pulled over at a rummage sale.

I looked around the sale and started talking to Linda and Brian in their garage. They shared with me a little about their skin care business and gave me a skin care sample for me to try. Funny, because I never knew my skin was so bad until I tried something so healthy like L’Bri. After one application of L’Bri, my tired, flaky, dry and broken out skin became soft, clear and full of life just as I did when I saw the potential of their incredible aloe-based skin care product and business opportunity! I decided to have a show and see what it was like to be a consultant. Well I had a great time at the show - my family and friends were amazed! We learned about ingredients, natural products and I received a make-over and lots of FREE products.

That was it. After experiencing how fun and professional the show was, I decided to get myself a consultant show case and give the business a try. It was the best decision I could have ever made for myself and my family. Here I am today 12 years later and I have a business that has helped me be financially sound, become a confident business women and be a part of something that I can be very proud of. This business has given me a chance to pay it forward and help others with their business too! Not to mention my husband and I have a beautiful little girl that is the apple of our eyes!!

So, after reading this I really want you to think about what you would do with an extra $1000, $3000, $5000 or even $10,000 to $20,000 and more a month? If you are a Stay at Home Mom, you have a full or part time job or you are retired, this opportunity is endless and sure may be for you. If you or maybe someone you know and love would like to explore how this L’Bri opportunity can help make your dreams come true, just let me know and we can talk about your endless possibilities!!

What type of bird are you in your Direct Sales Business or any business for that matter??

2009-06-25T09:08:00.009-05:00

Have you ever heard of the cow bird?? They are so funny because they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and then the other bird unknowingly takes care of it. The cow birds are about as big as a robin. When a cow bird lays its egg in a sparrow’s nest, it's pretty funny to see this little sparrow feeding this giant sized baby. You have seen this haven’t you? The parents fly to get a worm or some kind of bug while the baby sits on the ground and waits. As soon as the parent comes, the bird starts screeching and fluttering its wings. It’s really a site to see when this little sparrow is trying to feed the towering cow bird. It’s a ton of work I am sure, because the cow bird eats way more than a tiny sparrow baby does.

Are you a cow bird or a sparrow?

Do you want others to do your work, be responsible for you and your success?? Your training does not depend on someone else to feed it to you…you need to get it and gobble it up yourself!!

Well the sparrow is the type who runs around and hand feeds everyone…not letting others do it themselves. Of course the sparrow should not let their team or flock go hungry but she sure shouldn’t be doing it all for them.

Take time to know your product, sponsoring skills, bookings, organization. There is so much training out there. For my team the back room is full of great audio trainings as well as our team site.

Are you building your nest this summer? Are you busy getting twigs, cotton, mud and then creating lots of spit that when applied will bind it all together?

Or are you flying around stopping by every bird bath to swim, chirping with all the other birds in the trees without a care in the world?

Usually, I have wrens in my yard every year…they sing beautifully…they are small, sleek and very fast. They usually build 2 to 3 nests a year…they are non stop in their mission to get everything done before the eggs are laid…so the babies will be secure and warm. This pays off because they usually add 2 to 6 new wrens to the trees every year!

This spring a chickadee took the wren’s usual bird house and has been a trip to watch. We saw them building the nest from sunrise to sunset. Now that the chicks have hatched the parents are continuously coming back and forth to the house. When the parents are gone, you can hear the babies chirping and pleading for more food. It is such a wonder that they never tire out.

Are you a wren or a chickadee? Are you working your business this summer so your business will be warm and secure this fall and into the Holiday Season? Are taking time to meet people, book shows, get together for coffee with others to chat about the business?

I hope so because like the wrens and the chickadees it will really pay off!

Take time too and celebrate your success every day!

Learn your direct sales business (or any business) like you learned how to ride your bike without your training wheels!

2009-06-03T15:21:00.019-05:00

I have had the pleasure of working with a new coach. Her name is Reggie Adams. Her trainings, metaphors and spirit have been life changing for me and I sure feel the same for many on my team. I have decided that for me to learn what she has taught me I needed to write about it. So I thought I would blog it!!

I have heard and conducted many different trainings on recruiting, sales and customer service calls. However, a great student will always be open to more ideas and different verbiage when it comes to building a business.

Well, let me tell you this student has been blown away with what she has learned.

This all started about 6 weeks ago when I met and then hired Reggie Adams to help me with some team-training teleconferences for my L’Bri Skin Care group. One of her first metaphors that I embraced was comparing our businesses to riding a bike. The ironic thing was that my daughter Sylvia was just being taught by her Dad, my incredible husband Tom, to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels.

The night of the conference call I was standing at the edge of my driveway watching my almost 6 year old on her bike. With laser focus she concentrated on her right foot and the pedal, then her left foot and the pedal and then her little hands gripping the handle bars. She would lift the left foot onto the pedal and quickly lift the right foot to the pedal then pick up her head and her eyes would stare at the handle bars as if they would propel her to start moving. It was so fun to watch. I cheered her and her Dad on; clapped, kissed and made sure she was comforted because she was pooped and unsuccessful without her training wheels.

I later kissed and hugged her good night; told her how proud I was of her and that she should keep steady on her goal to master her bike with 2 wheels. I then went to my office for Reggie’s conference call. This is when I heard the metaphor she used about the bike. I had a smile on my face, goose bumps on my arms and tears in my eyes when listening to her vivid analogy.

Reggie with sometimes a whisper in her voice shared with us that the bike represented our business. In direct sales or again, any business, we need to work all the parts to stay moving ahead.

The left pedal is our sales, shows and one-on-ones
The right pedal is our interviews and recruiting
The handle bars are our customer courtesy calls

“If we want to grow a business we need to know that these are the 3 main parts of riding our bike…right??”Reggie proclaimed.

I heard her say “We have 2 areas in our business that we teach and educate about.”

We teach others about our affordable and natural skin care, ingredients and how it will benefit them.

We teach and educate others about the facts on our business opportunity.

When we do those 2 things along with our steering (customer courtesy calls), everything will happen, grow and change daily in our businesses.

Customer Courtesy calls…yes - NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE CALLS>>>I like how that sounds…its sounds so helpful and polite…more on that in another blog!!

As for my little girl…yes, she learned how to ride her bike. My little helmet, bubble-head girl is now a proud rider who can even skid when she stops. A few bumps and bruises, a few scary falls, a few times she did not want to get back on and try again. Sound familiar?

She actually inspired her neighbor friend who saw her practicing night after night across the street. He now is riding like a champ without his training wheels.

She told me the other day, “Mom, I love riding without my training wheels. I think its time for a shiny kick stand.”

So, to all of you out there building a business, a dream, an empire - keep riding your bike and soon you will be asking for your new shiny kick stand!! It’s worth the bumps and bruises, the no’s, the let downs!! It truly is!!

Thank you Reggie for all your knowledge, inspiration and warmth!!

L'Bri Affordable Natural Skin Care Changed My Life

2009-04-30T15:37:00.000-05:00

How did I create a 3 1/2 million dollar a year business featuring a business opportunity and an aloe based skin care and cosmetics line with out going to college? College wasn’t for me. I was too busy working, traveling and trying my luck in many industries and jobs. I even had a back-breaking cleaning business in Boulder, Colorado.

I met the owners of L’Bri Pure n’ Natural by pure luck at their rummage sale in 1999. I was working for a Gift Company with a really jerky boss and a future that was going nowhere. I decided to try my luck with their skin care business and, after 10 years, I am currently making as much as most doctors. The really good news is that the income is growing steadily every month, I don’t have long hours and I can take off whenever I want!

The other kicker about this story is that I did not have to pay $180,000 to $250,000 in student loans and go to school for 10 years as doctors do. I also didn’t have to dissect dead people or give anyone a shot for the first time and sweat or faint on them.

Direct Sales can give you an income comparable to doctors, lawyers and other professionals but without the long hours and being tied to a desk or an office.

I have been with L’Bri Pure n’ Natural for 10 years. It’s just been a mind-altering journey for me. I have the largest group and I am the top leader in L’Bri. I am truly humbled and really proud of what I have accomplished. My team is full of dynamic women - from stay at home Moms to retired women. There are even many business women making a new career path for themselves.

I look back and see that I have been in L’Bri/business College for the past 10 years. In addition, I also have been in Gina LaGalbo self improvement, leadership and Direct Sales college along the way. I have been paid pretty handsomely while learning and growing.

Direct Sales is booming right now. With the downturn in the economy, my Direct Sales businesses have really been turned up!! New consultants are joining more than ever because so many people are looking for a home based business to earn extra money and have flexible hours, better pay, management and career opportunities.

Our skin care and foundations contain aloe, natural botanicals, vitamins and herbs …you cannot beat the healthiness this product provides your skin. Who isn’t looking for healthy, affordable and naturally based skin care? Not to mention we are AMERICAN MADE, safe for children, affordable and great for all skin types.

Are you looking for an easy to learn business to sink your teeth into or looking for great naturally formulated skincare? L’Bri skin care will nurture acne prone skin, aging skin, wrinkled skin, dry skin, oily skin - you name it. L’Bri will bring your face and body back to nature.

My team site is http://www.ginalbri.com/. I will be back soon so stay tuned for more from me, Gina LaGalbo, Elite Executive Manager, L’Bri Pure n’ Natural.
The Business Builder Team!!