Married since 1973, they’ve also been in business together for much of that time.
And over the years, they have learned a lot about themselves.
One thing they learned early on, even before meeting Jim Rohn, one of their virtual mentors and a constant reminder of this idea, was that the job is great for paying bills, and not much else.
So they were involved in building businesses very early in their marriage.
However, there were things they did not know. There was still a lot to learn…
Tested By The Universe
…like understanding that to be great meant overcoming persistent testing from the universe.
One thing was very clear though and that was, it is better to earn 1% of 100 people than 100% of one’s own efforts.
That, they internalized thoroughly.
As a result, they fell in love with network marketing.
They started out in the first and biggest of them at the time.
Products had to be shipped to their island home of Trinidad and Tobago and it was tough. Can’t say for sure when the bug bit them to migrate to the US but the experience of having to wait on products definitely played a part in that decision.
Travel
While visiting Canada in 1988, they were exposed to the idea of voice training for John so that he could explore the possibility of being an announcer for Canadian television or radio.
He loved the idea and so, when they returned home, he applied for no pay leave from his job as a Junior Secondary School teacher so that he could return to Canada, once given the ok to do so.
After working for the first month during the year 1989, he was not paid.
It turned out that having applied for no pay leave, it was assumed by the authorities that he was not in the country — something they could have easily checked since his principal could have vouched that he was present.
So he lost his cool and decided to leave for the US.
Migration
That he did in May of 1989, a trip that meant they would be living in the US probably for the rest of their lives.
Hyacinth had followed John to the US in September of the same year, 1989 so after a short while being apart, they were again John and Hyacinth. They have not given up returning to T&T but that is another story.
In the US they got back into network marketing and had some good times.
They met people who helped them solidify their desire to become wealthy.
And the result was that they became entrenched behind the idea of becoming business owners.
Self Education
They could not go back to formal education since learning that self education could be the way to a fortune.
Books like Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill became the literature of the day for them
And as a result, their business was growing. They were on their way to building the foundation for a wealthy future.
Remember the point about being tested and passing the test to greatness?
Well, the biggest test came in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001…
But before that…
John started in September 1989 in The Chad School.
Building A Network Marketing Business
They moved to a condo in 1990 which was close to the school.
There, they both started working on building a business.
Hyacinth was also teaching in the same school so as teachers, it was possible to share their beliefs about freedom and residual income with some of the parents.
They were consistent with their messaging and sure enough, some of them joined in their business-building venture.
Lo and behold, changes happened in the company.
As much as they love the network marketing industry, there were flaws that kept presenting challenges.
One that raised its head was hearing that the owners of the company where they were building did not like the idea that black people were at the top positions within the company.
Truth or not, they never knew for sure.
However, whatever the reason, the president of the company who they had grown to love and respect a great deal, left. It was easy to follow him, and they did.
They started in a new company with him, along with some of their previous team members, excited and ready to work, really doing their best to create the freedom they so desired, from 1996 to 2001.
September 11, 2001
Of course everyone knows what happened on September 11, 2001.
That was a big blow to the North East, US.
The company struggled after business reopened but it was an uphill task. Soon it was replaced by another company.
John and Hyacinth started working as stand-in parents in a shelter for kids, a position called Teaching Parents and could no longer give their business the time it needed.
In addition, most of their team was gone and it was just them pushing through with a couple of team members.
From Teaching To Real Estate
Despite these challenges, they never lost sight of their goal of freedom.
In 2003 John stepped away and got into real estate.
He became part owner of a franchise which started out well but soon fizzled.
One of his business partners could not function in a way that would keep the team going.
He left that business and formed another real estate company with a couple of other business partners.
John is still active with that company, though he gave up ownership to his partners and just work as an agent now.
Real estate too has its ups and downs, plus due to challenging health issues, he has to be careful being out there, and is not as enthused as he formerly was, given the rigorous demands of these entrepreneurial ventures.
Affiliate Marketing
But all is not lost. They are confident that they have since found a way to work from home and focus on building residual income, working together again.
They found internet marketing and realized that it can give them the kind of freedom they want while helping other like-minded people do the same.
So here they are, working as internet marketers with a goal of freedom by 2024.
To join us click here!