Success Stories

Collette Larsen plans to take each of her grandchildren on a personal adventure of their choosing-whether it's an African safari or Paris in the spring. "I'd much rather create memories than buy things," she says. "We are a family that does rather than has."

Ten years ago, Collette could not have imagined being able to do something so extravagant for her family. When she started her USANA business in 1994, the single mother of five faced a mountain of medical bills and needed to work at home to care for her children.

Anyone familiar with the history of USANA knows that Jeff Smith played an integral role in getting the company off the ground over a decade ago. Together with his business partner, Sterling Ottesen, they helped convince Dr. Wentz that network marketing was the right avenue for his products, and they even found the design elements that graced the first container labels. They have experienced USANA's full transition from its early beginnings to the international company it is today. "We began this business with the end in mind," Jeff says.

When Jeremy Stansfield joined USANA, he was 23 years old. His circumstances were dire - a shoulder injury forced him to leave his previous occupation of carpet installation behind, he had no savings, and no college degree.

He chose USANA carefully because he knew it could be a life-changing career move. It proved to be the right choice. Jeremy rose to Diamond Director level in a record-setting 20 months. He paid off thousands of dollars of credit card debt and was able to pay for a dream wedding to Diane. "We married on a beach in St. Thomas, followed by a Caribbean cruise with friends and family, and then a trip to Maui," Diane recalls.

After working hard at their USANA business for over nine years, Pete and Dora Zdanis have really adjusted to living their lives by their own rules.

When they are at home in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, they spend time enjoying their hobbies, having dinner with friends, and attending wine tastings every few months. "Socializing with friends is important to us because we're at home working our business together so much of the time, and it's a lot of fun to go out and spend time with other people," Dora says.

You've heard the saying, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office." That's the way Sterling Ottesen used to feel about working in the typical world of corporate America. But today, things have changed a bit. Sterling is having just as much fun working his USANA business as he does fishing.

Just over a decade ago, this avid fisherman would have to fight the weekend crowds at his favorite fishing spots just to cast a few lines because, like everyone else, the weekend was his only free time. Not anymore. With his successful USANA business intact, Sterling can go fishing any day of the week. Wednesdays are usually designated as fishing or getaway days for him, however. "It's a symbolic thing to me," he says. "It means that I have real time freedom, the ability to choose what and where, to be involved in what matters the most. That is a difficult thing to have in the traditional American workplace. That is a rare precious thing that we can have in USANA."

More than 20 years ago, Bud and Bunny Barth estab-lished their first business, Del Mar Media Arts, as a way to keep their family close. Bud had done voice-overs for years as Fred Flintstone, Harold the Ghost, and Chester Cheetah, to name a few. Bunny was a profes-sional dancer working in film, television, and equity theater. But family ties prompted them to switch the focus of their talents to producing, casting, and training actors for voice overs, commercials, and film projects at their studio, rather than pursuing a path to stardom for themselves.

Then in 1994, Bud and Bunny got involved with USANA, as they began thinking about retirement. Now, not only has their USANA business provided residual income, but the USANA Nutritionals have given the Barths even more energy to focus on Del Mar Media Arts. "We have been able to expand the Del Mar business just through the extra health and energy," Bud says. But the Barths insist that the financial freedom has really allowed them to run both their businesses more successfully.

Tren and Brandie Grant love that they can sit back and look out over Olympic ski jumping facilities and the snowcapped peaks of the Wasatch Mountains from their new Park City home. The couple spent much of the past year building their 5,900-square-foot dream house, which was designed with a busy, fun-loving family in mind. "We were able to build it exactly the way we wanted it," Tren says. "We've got a game room, hot tub, pool table, home theater - we didn't spare any expense."

The Grants have always focused on being together as a family, which is why they began a USANA business eight years ago. Tren - who was work-ing 70 hours a week and scraping by on a meager income - looked around and knew something had to change. "I wanted to see my kids grow up," he explains. "I wanted to coach their baseball teams, go to their dance recitals, and do all the fun things you do with kids."

It was Lyndon Redman's love of both the ocean and the mountains that ultimately lead him to make Lake Tahoe his home. "For me, living in Tahoe you've got the best of both worlds," he explains. "Some of the most famous people in America live here. It's just an amazing place."

Since moving there from British Columbia, Canada, Lyndon has found the location to be ideal for another reason: From his home, he can drive to the San Francisco Bay area in about three hours, go skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort within five minutes, or drive 20 minutes to enjoy fantastic year-round golf.

Sophia Marcoux and Jacques Fiset are doing things today that they never would have thought possible just a few years ago. Since joining USANA, their lives have taken such a dramatic turn, they still have to pinch themselves at times to make sure they aren't dreaming. Even the freedom to do what they want when they want is a dream come true for this couple.

When Sophia attended her first USANA convention five years ago, she was so impressed that she immediately started working USANA as a business. A few months later, she quit her real estate job of 12 years to run the USANA business full-time. Jacques had a more difficult decision to make. He was just finishing seven years of schooling to be an engineer when USANA entered their lives. "I knew I had to make a choice, and I was very confused," he says. "I worked eight months as an aircraft engineer and then left that job to do USANA. I'm still an engineer at heart, but I love what I'm doing right now with this company."

On the border of an 18-hole golf course in eastern Utah sits a 5,500 square-foot home that Rick and Terri Young built themselves. Eight months pregnant at the time, Terri helped lay the shingles on the roof and washed dishes in the bathtub while their kitchen was being finished. But the Youngs were determined to build the home of their dreams and to have a life they had always dreamed of for themselves and their four children.

Today, whether Rick and Terri are coaching soccer or driving their children to dance, football, wrestling, gymnastics, piano lessons, basketball, or school and church activities, they are living that dream and loving it. "I value my family more than anything," Rick says. "My goal is to see them be the best they can be."

Rita Hui had a certain lifestyle she wanted to achieve when she made the decision to join USANA four years ago. She knew that network marketing worked, and once she laid her eyes on the USANA products and the company's compensation plan, she knew she could be successful at it. That attitude, coupled with some very hard work, made it possible for her to live the type of lifestyle she has now. "I had so much confidence in myself. I knew that I would be successful one day in this business," she explains.

Before Vincent and Mable Chan started their USANA business, they rarely had time to spend together as a family. As the owner and pharmacist of a busy Vancouver drugstore, Vincent would often work 14-hour days, seven days a week. It was unusual for him to even make it home for dinner. "Between work and the family, it was really hard on us," Mable says. "We always talked about work, work, work."

When the Chans were introduced to USANA, they were pleased by the high qual-ity of USANA's products and the results they saw in their own health. But Vincent was just as excited about the prospect of building a business that could create more time and financial freedom. "I decided that I should squeeze in five hours a week to try to build my USANA business," Vincent explains. "It turned out to be workable. So, I started to put a little bit more time into USANA by hiring more pharmacists to work for me. Now I'm working one or two days a week at the phar-macy, and I have dinner every night with my family, which I treasure a lot."

Tom Painter's biggest motivation behind his many business ventures is being able to provide the best care for his 14-year-old son who has autism. Highly trained specialists and tutors can be expensive, and Tom appreciates not having to give the cost a second thought. "I've got the sports car and the house and everything else," he says. "But what it's really about is being able to provide for someone you love without having to worry about the money."

Tom speaks from his cell phone while waiting with his son to board Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. The Utah businessman and father of five grows animated as he describes the freedom created by diverse investments and long-term streams of income. "It really allows you to do things differently than other people," he says. "You can go to Disneyland during the middle of the week, at a moment's notice."

When Robert Allen talks about USANA and the additional stream of income it provides to people, you can hear in his voice just how important this concept is to him. For years, Robert has been preaching the importance of generating more than one income, so when USANA fell into his lap - by way of his wife Daryl - he knew this was something he had to begin telling people about.

Although Robert admits that plenty of people think he's nuts to be involved in network marketing, he and Daryl have experienced too much to ever deny the fact that this business really does work.

Susan Waitley was a little frightened to perform her first night scuba dive in Cozumel last year. Peering into dark, forbidding-looking water from the boat, she almost lost her nerve. "But if I commit to something, it's hard to get me to back out," Susan says. "And the dive was absolutely incredible. Now I'm ready to do another one."

Susan has used that same determination and courage to build her successful USANA distributorship. she relied on her passion for USANA's products to get through those first demanding years of building her business. "I was ignorance on fire," Susan recalls. "But, I have always believed that there is only one direction I can go, and that's forward. So, I just dove right in with an absolute belief in the products and the company."

In 1998, Dan and Rebecca Brink had full-time careers, and finding extra time to spend with their three small children was proving difficult. Dan was often on the road five out of seven days with his telecommunications company, which was in the process of downsizing its workforce. With the threat of losing his job, and the limited time he had with his wife and children, Dan realized some changes needed to be made.

He was introduced to USANA a short time later. "What really helped my decision in joining the company was the fact that my oldest son was getting ready to go to kindergarten," he explains. "My wife worked 20 miles away, and with me working as well, our son would need a way to get to school." His decision made, Dan went to work building his new business from home. "I am so grateful that I can now spend that precious time with my children each morning," he says.

It was February 17, 1994 as Dan and Nanc Christy drove away from their custom-built dream home. "It's a date I will never forget. I distinctly remem-ber what it felt like to be driving away from the place we had put our hearts and souls into. It now belonged to the bank and we felt like such failures," Dan recalls.

Little did the Christys know that this bitter defeat would be the catalyst to move them out of the rat race. Being downsized from corporate America within three months of each other had forced them to reevaluate the direction of their lives together. "It was a very painful time for us," Nanc remembers. "But it gave us a whole new perspective on what we really wanted our life together to look like. It was a chance for a new start."

Five years ago, Bryan & Monica Penrod struggled under mounting credit card debt and faced another year of working dead-end jobs. Bryan had recently left the restaurant business for corporate sales and was rarely at home. Monica struggled to help pay the bills as a waitress. "We were so broke we couldn't even afford to take a honeymoon," Bryan recalls.

Looking for a way out of the rat race, Bryan concluded that network marketing would be the solution to his financial worries - he just needed to find the right company. In 1998 he was introduced to USANA and immediately seized the opportunity. "I liked the fact that this company offered products that people were going to use every day for the rest of their life, whether there was a business program associated with it or not," he says.

"My passion is training and riding horses - I've done it my entire life. Prior to USANA I couldn't even go into the barn to pet my horses," Elizabeth Strand recalls. "I was shocked at the power of the USANA products." Her husband Ray was also amazed - he had been a practicing physician for many years and had never learned the power of nutritional supplements. "My husband and I believe we are educators," she says. "We're giving information about health that changes people's lives." The journey that Elizabeth and Dr. Ray Strand have taken to educate others began with their own learning process eight years ago.

Dean Koontz remembers a time a few years ago when he and his youngest daughter spent a beautiful spring morning jumping on the family's trampoline together. The two happily waved at neighbors who were pulling out of their driveways and heading off on long commutes to work. Because of many moments like this one, Dean says, "the neighbors were always asking, 'Don't you have a job? Don't you do something?'"

Dean and his wife, Evelyn, are always happy to explain to their neighbors, and anyone else who asks, that their USANA business is what affords them such a comfortable lifestyle. The couple leads a peaceful country life outside Spokane, with a home that is bordered by the forest and boasts breathtaking views of Mount Spokane. "We are so fortunate," Evelyn says. "Where in the world could we have the opportunity to live in such a beautiful place and have such an incredible life? You just want to go out there and tell every single person 'You've got to do this!'"

Larry and Nancy Bunn have done many daring things throughout their adult lives. They've raised five children, built several businesses from scratch, and skydived, just to name a few. "I can't imagine Larry and I ever retiring fully from life," Nancy explains. "We're working together, we're having fun, and we're helping people."

The couple met in dental school (Larry was studying to become a dentist, while Nancy was pursuing a career as a dental hygienist) and have pursued their dreams together ever since. They raised their five children and have nine grandchildren - all under the age of four. "We see them almost every day," Nancy says. "It's an absolute riot and I love it."

The lives of Connie Yao and her husband, Jim Barabe, have changed in so many ways since joining USANA, it's hard to name them all. But there are a few that stand out. After all, it was USANA that got Connie and Jim together in the first place. They met at a dance where Connie was prospecting for her new USANA business. As Jim explains, "Connie sponsored me, but I was more interested in the messenger than the message." However, he finally did pay attention to the message and has supported Connie 100 percent in the business ever since.

As their relationship grew, so did their USANA business. Jim was able to retire from his teaching career early last summer, which allowed him the time to take Connie's eleven-year-old daughter, Peony, and her dance partner to Europe for a month to attend a special ballroom dancing school for some of the best dancers on the continent. "It was a terrific experience for the children," Jim says. "And I really enjoyed it too."

As a corporate trainer, the owner of an exotic car country club, and a businessman in Asia, Robert Benson was an extremely busy man. That's part of the reason he decided to "get away from it all for a couple of years," he recalls. "I was so busy all the time, I needed to take some time to play." And that's exactly what he did. Robert sold his company and relaxed.

Then, in 1997, he was introduced to USANA. "I wasn't really looking at USANA as a business venture," he admits. "I mainly got involved for the products." But when the time came for him to start looking for a new business, as much as he didn't like network marketing, he couldn't deny what USANA offered. "I would never have done network marketing if it weren't for Dr. Wentz," he says. "Looking at the background of the company and Dr. Wentz is what sold me. I didn't want to have employees again. I didn't want a big investment. I wanted to work where, when, and with whom I wanted to work. I wanted residual income, and USANA just fit the bill." So by the end of 2000, Robert started working USANA as a business.

The most important benefit that Susanne and John Cunningham have gained from their USANA business isn't their beautiful home or the friendships they have made, though they appreciate both. For them, the bottom line is the strong relationship they have built with their three sons - Nicholas, Zachary, and Evan.

"I would still be working a corporate life if it weren't for USANA," John explains. "Fathers in corporate life put in part-time hours with their families - it's the way the corporate structure works. I'm a full-time parent now. That is what is most exciting to me about this business."