For most of my career, I've been comfortable talking to computers. Code made sense to me. Systems made sense to me.

People were different. 😄

Then I entered network marketing. Suddenly I had to talk to strangers, build relationships, explain ideas, follow up, handle rejection, and help people believe they could build something of their own.

For a software engineer, that was a very different world. These days I sometimes joke that I went from talking mostly to computers to talking to AI. 🤖 But that period of my life forced me to develop something technology couldn't give me: experience dealing with people.

It Wasn't Easy Money

I learned quickly that network marketing wasn't a magic money machine. I had to work. I had to meet people, communicate, follow up, and hear no many times while still being willing to talk to the next person.

Coming from software development, rejection wasn't something I had practiced professionally. A compiler doesn't reject you personally. A failed build doesn't say, “I'm not interested.” 😄

It was a roller coaster. But I also experienced what could happen when the work started producing results.

I Built a Network

I eventually built a fairly large organization with USANA and reached Silver Director. I experienced income from the business as the organization grew. That showed me that, for me, the business model could produce results when there was real activity behind it.

But that's not the most important part of this story.

Then I Lost It

I wasn't able to sustain the network I had built. Over time, much of it disappeared.

I could look for something else to blame, but years later I can see one of my biggest mistakes much more clearly.

I focused on my growth, but not enough on the growth of my people.

I learned how to present. I learned how to recruit. I developed confidence. I worked on becoming better myself.

Those things helped me grow personally, but an organization cannot remain dependent on one person forever.

I had learned how to build a network. I hadn't learned well enough how to build leaders.

The Leadership Lesson Took Years to Become Clear

Being good at something yourself doesn't automatically make you a good leader. A great salesperson isn't automatically capable of developing a great sales organization. A strong software engineer isn't automatically a strong technical lead.

Leadership changes the question. Instead of asking:

How much can I accomplish?

I now think more about:

How many people can I help become capable of accomplishing things without me?

That's a very different measure of growth.

The Lesson Followed Me Back Into Software Engineering

Years later, I can see the same principle in engineering teams.

If I'm the senior engineer who can solve every difficult problem, that's useful. But if everyone has to wait for me whenever a difficult problem appears, I've created a dependency—not necessarily a strong team.

A better outcome is helping another engineer understand why, develop judgment, challenge decisions, and eventually solve problems without needing me.

Your growth matters. But leadership begins when your growth starts producing growth in other people.

USANA Has Also Been Part of My Lifestyle

My relationship with USANA wasn't only about building a business. I've personally used USANA products for decades, and they have remained part of the health and nutrition choices I make for myself and my family.

I'm still active, I enjoy sports, and I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle while continuing to work, learn, and compete with people younger than me. I sometimes joke that USANA has kept me young. 😄

The more accurate way to say it is that taking care of my health has been a long-term priority, and USANA has been one part of that lifestyle.

Nutrition, exercise, sleep, genetics, medical care, and many other factors all matter. My family's experience is personal to us and isn't a promise of what another person will experience.

So my message isn't that a product will make someone healthy.

Learn about it. Decide whether it makes sense for you. If you're interested, explore it for yourself and decide whether it deserves a place in your own lifestyle.

Would I Build It Differently Today?

Yes.

I would spend less time measuring myself by how large a network I could personally build and more time asking whether the people around me were becoming capable leaders themselves.

That doesn't guarantee business success. Nothing does. But it changes what I'm trying to build.

Looking back, losing the network wasn't the end of the lesson. It may have been the part that finally made the lesson visible.

I thought I was learning network marketing. I was also learning leadership.

I just didn't understand all of it yet. I still don't.

Learning the Next Thing.

Interested in Exploring USANA?

I'm a USANA Independent Associate. If you're curious about the products or want to learn more about the business opportunity, you can explore USANA through my personal sponsorship link.

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Disclosure: This is my personal USANA sponsorship/referral link. If you register or purchase through it, qualifying activity may be associated with my USANA organization and I may benefit under USANA's compensation program. I'm sharing my personal experience, not promising particular health, business, or financial results. Individual experiences and business results vary.