Before finding Melaleuca, Francisco and Rhina Guardado realized they were living an illusion; they needed to start over.
Today, their thriving Melaleuca business is changing their game one bill at a time and getting them closer to achieving longed-for financial freedom.
Surrounded By Debt
Sometime before they found Melaleuca, Francisco and Rhina Guardado realized they were building their lives on pillars of sand. They had a beautiful 4,100-square-foot home, luxury vehicles and several properties as a result of their construction business in California. However, the foundation of their lifestyle was actually a big pile of debts.
“We were making a lot of money in construction, but honestly, we never made an effort to pay off our debts,” Rhina says. “And even though we had a good income, we were living beyond our means. We finally realized that we were surrounded by debt.”
“We made the decision to stop living that illusion,” Francisco adds. “We decided to leave all of that to start a real life—a life we could afford and enjoy. We wanted to start over in a business with a real foundation that would provide an opportunity to, sooner or later, pay off our home and get out of debt.”
Toward the end of 2009, the Guardados decided to close their construction business and devote themselves to a business they started to build just a few months before—Melaleuca.
It was time to start over.
A New Beginning
Francisco and Rhina enrolled with Melaleuca hoping to become free from debt.
First working part time and then full time, they laid the foundation of their growing business and little by little started to change their lives.
“Melaleuca took away a ton of stress and problems,” Francisco says. “We paid off many bills, and though we’re still carrying some of the debt from our previous life, we’re close to paying all of it off.”
It takes hard work, but our dream is to one day say we are debt-free. And we’ll make it … we’ll make it.
With monthly checks of $18,621 and $21,974, the Guardados know they’ve found the right vehicle to leave their debt behind. They recently moved to Florida, bought a new home and continued to build their business on the other side of the country.
“I feel like we’ve started over in a new life where we can pay for our expenses,” Rhina says. “It’s another life without the financial pressures we used to have. The only main debt we have besides our mortgage is the new car Melaleuca is paying for.”
Melaleuca is helping Francisco and Rhina to not only get out of debt, but also to achieve greater balance in life. Now they have more time for their seven children and they’ve developed lasting friendships that have aided them through thick and thin.
“Achieving balance is one of the hardest things,” Francisco says. “But with Melaleuca we’ve found greater balance in our finances and our family time.”
This company has not only changed our lives; it’s also changed the way we see life. It has allowed us to help others, and that’s the magic of this business: getting to know real friends who always stay with you and becoming that friend for others.
(This article is courtesy of the May 2012 issue of Leadership In Action magazine)
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