Gabe Gab

“You must become a product of the product.” I was sitting next to my future upline leader just handing him my Saturday. And from the front came that statement. “You must become a product of the product.” This was during the nuts and bolts session where the leaders of NuSkin explained how to become successful. Now on the drive over I had already decided I wasn’t going to do this. My goals and even dreams of someday being a special agent, learning another language and getting training from the national guard to open up new doors hung in the balance while I toyed with selling lotions and creams in hopes of making millions. Chasing money has been great, but for me it’s time to move on. The stakes are much higher now; I seek something else.

While I was sitting in that damn chair the echoes of the past filled the air. The presentations…the approach..the persuasive arguments..the sayings, the pitch. Were NuSkin and my old college multilevel marketing company WFG in bed together!? I think so….someone has been naughty!

I thought damn, someone has really done the research to compile material and presentations that will persuade others to drop large amounts of cash in hopes of getting rich. NuSkins buy-in is $1,500. All MLMs have start-up costs. After all, it’s your own business so why shouldn’t there be? Well no, it’s not your own business. It’s your upline leaders! He or she is planning on you making them rich!

Now watch this. NuSkin nerds make residuals up to six generations below them. My associate was trying to help me see the business opportunity in all of this. This was in part because the speaker up front said that most people get one or two incredible opportunities in life, and most let them both pass. (where have I heard that before?)

“So how do I make money” I privately asked my friend, drowning out the babble coming from the front. And he ran down the perks of the compensation percentages based on sales of people under me. I cut through the crap. “So how do I make money?”
“No money is made unless product is sold.”
“Well hell that makes sense. But here’s the problem. You visit NuSkin’s website and you will see some very high priced products. Who’s gonna buy this?” According to my friend a lot of people. He was two classes away from a bachelors degree in finance and stopped school to do NuSkin full time.

I will tell you this, and I’m no business guru. No one will keep buying a product if they realize they can get an alternative that is equal or even slightly less effective for a fraction of the cost. And making millions in NuSkin depends on repeat customers! To that my friend spouted off great research and unique NuSkin patents. A little convincing, but would you continue to buy vitamin products that cost $180 for a two months supply? Costco has three months for twenty bucks!

Alas there came the answer to who is going to buy the products. Those who are becoming a product of the product! It’s all so logically consistent. The first thing I would ask someone who is trying to sell me that stuff is, “Do you use it?” Why yes they do. They have replaced all of their household products and toiletries with NuSkin products. That’s when product is sold! Holy crap the first circular company. No, not the first and certainly not the last. Ever heard of Amway?

As I was itching to leave, my friend introduced me to a few people. He was trying to get me impressed with some of these rich but yet oh-so-plain-and-humble folk in the room. I.e. – you can do this business and be successful too. Wasn’t impressed. I laid eyes into one dude who reaked of shark. Oh yeah what a smooth talker, dressed in a slick tie, clean shaven d-bag who would talk his grandmother into mortgaging her paid-off house to join NuSkin. It was clear. Those who do well in NuSkin are smooth talkers and d-bags. He was doing well. He boasted of getting fifty people to sign up that month alone.

Once again I repulsed the MLM scene…or in this case, network marketing. Is it really worth all your family and friends hating you because they know everytime you see them you think about showing them a once in a lifetime opportunity? These things only come across ones path once or twice you know.

In that Wells Fargo building, on the second floor with all the money making NuSkin cronies eagerly listening to speaker after speaker, I finally had enough, turned to my “friend” and said, “I’m not going to do this,” and walked out.

I never did tell you how I knew this “friend.” Five months ago on my way to Oregon I met him on the plane. When he showed me page after page of his notebook of NuSkin potential contacts, there I was on his list.

Are you at the point in your life where whenever you hear of “a great business opportunity” you run? I have been there for awhile now. Within a two week period I was hit up with three opportunities I should really check out. I actually gave one of them a shot because “it wasn’t an MLM…it’s network marketing and I was going to be a partner in the business, working together with this guy.”

Normally would have said take a hike but this guy didn’t strike me as an idiot at all, and when he told me what he and his partner were making each month I decided I would give him an ear.

He came over to my house and explained the business. It’s NuSkin. They sell facial treatments as well as vitamin products. He started to sell me on it because of all the facts and research he quoted. From the fact that this company has the most millionaires out of any network marketing or even MLM company. That it’s publicly traded stock has increased regularly, even in our economic drought. That he had personal one-on-one training with a guy who was pulling in 180K a month. It was all sounding so good. He and his partner had pulled in an average of 8K a month up until now. And he had the pay stubs to prove it.

He invited me to a meeting that was being held in an adjacent city. I made the drive on a Saturday morning and arrived. It was in a Wells Fargo building on the second floor. Tickets were ten bucks, but he comped mine. I walked in late and sat in an open seat in the back that he saved for me. Meetings were going til 2 pm but there was no way I was going to piss away half a Saturday. In thirty short minutes I whispered to my friend that I wasn’t going to do it and walked out.

The draw to these things is the proposed income potential. Obviously. I have never considered myself an entrepreneur, but there has always been enough of it in me to keep an awareness of money making opportunities. So these MLM and network marketing ploys grab my attention. Back in college I gave one a serious shot. It was WFG, formerly known before that as WMA, or world marketing alliance. They sell insurance and investment products. You become a licensed, legitimate sales person. You recruit people under you and then make residuals off their sales. I gave this a shot. Bought the books for the license tests and started studying them. Paid the 100 dollar sign up fee. Even drove to Houston for a huge WFG (World Financial Group) convention where all the millionaires attend and get time on the podium and tell how great the company is doing, then tell you to follow such and such steps to be successful, then tell you how not everyone will do it, then tell you that everyone CAN do it, then tell you that great opportunities come once or twice in a lifetime. Woohoo! Let’s go recruit, sell, and get rich!

To be continued…

In Utah there is a breakfast and lunch joint named Hagermans. It is now my all time favorite joint for breakfast. Or any snack. Haven’t had the lunch yet but I’m sure it’s as krunk as the breakfast. Everything is made fresh and from scratch of course. All of their breads are worth giving blood for. They have a pumkin chocolate chip that I just snacked on this morning. (Because they usually have samples sitting out during the day.) And they have other berry breads, sweeter brownie like ones if you are craving something sweet. Don’t you think it would be cool to own joint like that that’s in a good location, has incredible food and where people just love to come in and eat? I’ve considered the business owner thing a few times in my life. But something stops me right when I think about taking that next step. I have come to the conclusion that maybe it’s simply not my calling in life. Idea sounds great though. And I don’t see the gumption in myself to start one from scratch. Taking one over sounds more appealing.

Okay so I wrote about five times what you see in that last post and for whatever reason my iPhone deleted most of what I wrote except for that first paragraph. Crap! Stupid phone is not that smart and not that user friendly! What I was going to say, or already said is that I manage my blog, comments and new posts right from the phone.

I will finish this entry in the next few days. What a bummer doggonit. Urgghhh!!

So last weekend my wife and I switched over to AT&T and both got iPhones. Ever since they released the first version in 2007 I’ve been wanting one. The price has come down enough and the entry space of 16GBs of storage has made it totally worth it. Now that I have played with it for a week, honestly the entry level one would have been worth it. The smartest, funnest phone hands down. Even better? I published the last post as well as this one straight from the phone!

So last weekend we got a treadmill. Stuck it right in front of the tv woohoo! Last year when we were looking into gym memberships Golds gym had what they called a theater room. Big projection screen w surround sound too I believe. In that room were treadmills, elipticals, stairmasters, bikes… The great thing was that you could exercise while watching one of their movies playing 24/7. Time passes quickly. So we put our treadmill right in front of our tv. Surround sound. Blu-Ray. Time passes quickly.

Just did a 30 min run on our treadmill, training for the guard. Boot camp is already going to kick my ass, figure I can save a few hairs by getting my cardio up. I am excited for this opportunity as of now I will ship a year from now, January 2011. Seems so far away and yet I know it is around the corner.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Yes if the economy continues to tank, or equally as bad remain where it is, I may not have any work anyway in construction. Or minimal hours. That’s what happens. More guys than work and everyone splits hours so no one stays at home. With the project I’m on I figure I have another year of work full time. Then I’ll start to worry. That’s where the guard steps in.

Okay so I have this thing with my brother in law. Often times throughout our 10-plus years of adventure we get turned onto the same things. For example, when we lived in San Antonio, we got into rockets. A launching pad, a remote and a few high-shooting rockets that ignited using a spark and a gun powder chamber. Some would fly over 500 feet in the air and at peak a parachute would set off and down glided the rocket to safe landing. Re-pack the parachute, insert another chamber and you’re set for flight again.

Throughout the years we often get into the same things because we have the same interests. From electronics to sports and now this latest one, gaming.

My wife allowed me to get an Xbox 360 for Christmas. I had to have one because my brother-in-law got one for Christmas. The other reason was because at a UFC fight at a friend’s house, we played Call of Duty prior to the fights and I went nuts over the game. Not to mention we engaged warfare, shooting and killing brigades of refugees in a shanty town on a 104″ projected screen. After that I had to have one.

Ever since then I’ve been answering the Call of Duty. What a fun game, and what a hog of time! That’s okay though, it’s lots of fun. That and the NBA Live 2010 is incredible. Games have improved so much since I was more into them 3 years ago. Just can’t let it distract it from my publishing goal, albeit years off.

Finished reading James Patterson’s first book in the Women’s Murder Club series, called 1st to Die. Was a good book, he is a good writer. He leads you exactly where he wants to lead you, includes some twists and turns, and of course ends on one. That’s the kind of writer I want to be, but of course  with my own niche and take. The more I read, however, the closer I come to my own publishing goals. The study of other writers improves ones own craft. Next on the list is the Sherlock Homes series and the classic Count of Monte Cristo. Got the unabridged version. Anyone care to join me when I begin?

Back to work, back to Mondays. The double stuffed weekends have been great: a four-day and a three-day. Have stayed up much later than I usually do almost every night, so my body is a little tired. But I am not dreading work tomorrow. Good thing. That happened when I taught high school in San Antonio. Sucked hard. Ask anyone who has gone through that, dreading work every day.

My hopes for finding a better career fit still burn on low in the back burner. When the prospect of something new or an idea of a new attainable open door comes to light the flame turns up. Right now I’m waiting, reading, and enjoying life with my wife and pets in our beautiful home. There are so many things to be grateful for, so many good things that have shown our way. God is good. And good to us.

(By the way I apologize for the delay but the holidays were great!) Previously I said they, they being the IRS criminal investigative division, didn’t have a clear answer as to their ideal candidate, which I was hoping was me. Come to find out they do…their ideal candidate would be a junior or senior in college and be an accounting major or even minor. The requirements are a combination of 24 credit hours of accounting and business/finance related classes. I had none of those. In all my 6 years of undergraduate and graduate studies, I took not one accounting class, nor even a finance class.

“We couldn’t take you because you have no accounting classes. Sorry Gabe, but don’t give up.”

I didn’t give up. Applied again about 6 months ago when the IRS announced a mass hiring. Took a month or so for the denial to come back. After waiting weeks and my application being tossed around in the government databases, I was notified by letter that I was placed in category B for hiring, and category B wouldn’t be considered until category A had been exhausted and they still need to hire additional agents. Never gonna happen through that route. I figure if I really want to be a special agent, I need to make them want me. Make them seek me out. How the hell can I do that?

Had a wonderful time throughout the holidays. Wife and I flew to Denver and spent 4 days there screwing around, laughing, spending time with my parents and two nieces. The best way I know how to spend a holiday. Family is wonderful, or rather my family is wonderful and I love hanging with them. There seems to never be a dull moment. I’m sure they would tell you the same thing with me.

I need to end this submission on two notes. One, I have video of me jumping out my patio door in my underwear into the 2 feet of snow in my backyard. I am about to post it on facebook for a few laughs. Two, I cannot overstate how thankful I am to have a supportive and loving wife, as I started to say in Part I of these postings. She is willing to sacrifice with me, willing to let me go into the NG for training to pursue and keep figuring out my dreams. What would I do without her? What a doll. She motivates me to provide a better life for us. Our future kids motivate me to provide a better life now, years before they come. I just can’t sit around knowing work could die down and not plan a few more moves up front, a plan B.

Weeks passed since I went to the IRS building located right in the heart of the ghetto in Las Vegas. I was on the edge of my seat, waiting and waiting for that phone call.

The IRS Criminal Investigative Division put on a presentation at the University of Las Vegas about a month before I paid them a visit. They hit up the college looking for two interns. “What qualities does year ideal candidate possess?” I asked them when Q & A time rolled around. There were probably 25 other eager students in the room when I asked. They congratulated me on a good question…actually they said no one had asked them that before, which I found hard to believe. Too bad they didn’t really have an answer, other than someone who is self-motivated, wants to work for the government, and doesn’t mind digging through other peoples trash to get info. Me, me, and me again. I would love to dig through someones trash looking for incriminating evidence. They put a video on showing the life as a criminal investigator. They showed people digging through trash. I turned to the back of the room, gazing at the five agents assigned to this college recruiting task. They were standing in a group talking in the back, laughing, having a gay old time. I wanted to have that gay time too. Wanted to be standing there with them.

The IRS held two or three of those college sessions. Had near 100 applicants I’m sure. But only 10 would be selected for interviewing.

I had a friend on the inside so I thought my chances increased by far. This friend had been a criminal investigator for close to 8 years, which is how I came to learn about this direction in the first place. Can’t give his name since he does undercover work now so I’ll call him Steve Garcia. So I meet Garcia at church, we become friends and one day he tells me what he does. At first he tells me he works for the treasury department. As we became friends it was revealed as the IRS. Told me a little about his day to day operations, and the fact that his day to day is case work. Then he flashes his badge at me. The moment I saw his badge, his picture, I wanted it. I wanted that badge. I wanted to do what he did, investigate criminal activity. He also had a glock and packed heat whenever he felt like it. Wanted that too. He encouraged me to attend this seminar and apply. So I did. That was over three years ago and I have not been able let the dream go since.

Weeks pass. The phone rings and its the special agent in charge of the Vegas office on the other end.

“Gabe how are you doing?” (Yeah I’ve been very calm and relaxed, forgot you were going to call…….)
“Gabe you scored perfect on your panel interview. We see you as an incredible candidate and I think you’d make a great agent. In fact I’d put you up against anyone in the nation. There’s only one problem.”

To be concluded…

Happy Holidays to everyone! Thanks again for tuning in, even if its just my own ears. I’m sitting on a bucket watching concrete get poured onto a metal deck 8 stories high and thinking of one person. I have been thinking of her all weekend. She is incredible.

A man has dreams, goals, aspirations in life to be great at something, something he thinks he will be good at. Of course women do too, but I speak to my own gender for the moment. For men I believe in general, it is slightly different. Not meant to be a blanket statement but a generalization. Men identify meaning in life with what they do. You hear it when you ask men what they do in life. If they are proud, you can detect that in their voice as they explain. If they are not, usually you can detect that too. Men have this desire and women have the choice how to deal with it.

When I was talking with my sister the other day, I told her her husband should join the national guard with me for the medical benefits. Both of their girls are diabetic. Her response: “He is happy where he is. Can’t mess with that.” My sister is superb. She gets it.

I can’t stop thinking of how wonderful my wife is, because she gets it too. She is willing to sacrifice over a year and a half of being away from me (we will see each other, just not every day), she will let me pursue an avenue that I want to explore to land something I love. She will do that for me. I told her I would sell my TV to take her to Disney World if I had to. She loves me and puts me ahead of herself, and I want to do the same for her. Remember what I said in an earlier post about what I thought my dream job could be? It was a tease. I mentioned it but didn’t explain. Let me begin.

On September of 2007, I was escorted into the Internal Revenue Service building in Las Vegas. After getting out of their elevator I was ushered into a room where the special agent in charge sat, along with the division manager and two other agents. They closed the door and the questioning began. Such and such problem arose, how would you handle it? You have the following assignments given to you, how will you prioritize? This article came up missing, what steps would you take to recover it? It went on and on. After the inquiries finished I was taken to another room where they tested my writing abilities. After that I was ushered out. “We’ll call you.”

To be continued…