The first “business trip” I ever went on was to see the Vice-President of my then network marketing company, Alex Morton speak. I was 17, in the company illegally, living with my grandparents not even my mom, and a few weeks away from graduating high school.
I borrowed $80 from a team member, booked a bus ride from Jacksonville Florida, to NYC and was set. This bus by the way wasn’t Greyhound. It was a bus line I had never heard of, it picked me up in the parking lot of an oriental store and the bus driver didn’t speak English. I was one of the only Americans on the bus. Everybody else spoke Chinese. Seriously.
Armed with a gallon of water and a week’s supply of peanut butter sandwiches I made the night before, I endured a 16 hour ride to the city.Once I got in, I was dropped off on the corner of a street in Chinatown. After wandering around with my suitcase and duffel bag, and getting lost, I waited in a Panera bread for 4 hours to be picked up by my down line.
From there we drove to Minneapolis with a stop in a city close to Chicago to pick up the rest of the team.
Arriving just a few hours before the start of the event, we funneled inside and I met the people who recruited me face to face for the first time.I sat in the front row, closest to Alex, took notes, and made eye contact with him the entire night. I watched him like a hawk.
After the event, I went up to him and shook his hand. Everyone was worried about his Rolex, when I wanted his knowledge. He asked me where I was from, and how long the travel would take. I told him about 70 hours.
Amazed at that aspect that I felt was trivial, he invited the team and I out to the leadership dinner. Of course none of us technically qualified, but he didn’t care.We all met at this nice Sushi restaurant. Dressed in my $150 prom suit, I tried to sit as close to him as possible once again and was able to ask him some more questions throughout the night. I probably drove his bill up a few hundred dollars though. It was one of my first times going to a sushi restaurant and I ordered way too much.
After dinner, we all crashed at a team member’s studio apartment where I slept on the wooden floor with the clothes I had on, and an extra pair of shorts for a blanket.
The following morning we drove back, where I was dropped off in Chicago O’Hare airport. I waited 16 hours alone and took my first flight. I fell asleep before the plane was off the ground...
I’d go into more detail, but I have to same some stuff for my book!
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