Nelson Cage III

Military to MLM—A Coast to Coast Journey

                                                                              
My Early Years—Leaving high school and not desiring to go college, but a strong desire to meet people, I joined the Navy believing the slogan “Join the Navy, See the World.” (My recruiter didn’t tell me that 2/3rds of the world is covered in water!) So at the age of 18, I left behind my mom, brother and two sisters in Oakland, CA to create my fortune in the Navy. I didn’t know at the time we were making less than minimum wage. But I found travel to be exciting---the Middle East, Spain, France, Greece , Singapore, and England. I made a lot of friends along the way.    I even had a tour of duty during Dessert Storm-came back to the states showered with the benefits of grateful citizens who considered us war heroes.  It took me a few years to realize that I wasn’t going to get rich in the Navy. What I did get was married young ( I was 19 at the time) to another military member and had two wonderful kids. Unfortunately it lasted less than 6 years and ended in divorce and separation from my children. That left me finding myself seeking for something more … different … better.
 
                                                                                                                                             
 

Transition—Enter the knowledge that I could be financially independent!  

 
Armed with newfound information, I began the search for entrepreneurship. Believe it or not I tried my hand as a life insurance agent, solar heating sales agent, going door-to-door. You name it-- I was knocking on doors trying to make my fortune. Enter my first MLM company selling water filtration systems. Before I even knew what I was doing, my team started to grow, but knowledge of network marketing was very limited for me. This was in the mid-1980s. I got out of the Navy in an effort to save my marriage, but that went up in a ball of flames. With a loss for what else I should do, I went back to the job of my youth, the Navy, and went to sea on the first thing smoking. In my absence, my team collapsed and the company went belly-up.   Enter my second network marketing company (one of the more popular ones at the time) with a little more knowledge and understanding and promises of wealth beyond my imagination. (If I were to name it, I’m sure you would know it right away!) Things started out great, but I still found myself up and down, and floundering around in the industry, lacking the skills and knowledge that I needed to build a network marketing busines                                                                                     
 

Return to Paradise

 
Then one day I became reunited with my children. Suddenly I was single parent raising two teenagers in a two bedroom apartment, with a two-door car with 3 good tires and no spare. I immediately turn my attention and commitment to being a full-time dad. I spent all my time and resources getting full custody of my kids, going to work and coming home, paying bills and fully devoting myself to trying to make up for lost time. In the back of mind, I still believe that I could be an entrepreneur, but at this time I had to leave my ambitions on the back burner.
 
 
 

New Beginnings . . .

What a difference a day makes.  One day I’m visiting my son’s school I meet the woman of my dreams. A little less than a year later, we got  married. Because of encouragement and support from my wife and best friend, visions and dreams begin to resurface. Enter the real estate zone. And what a journey that was. I started investing in real estate after hearing what great fortunes I could attain. I started acquiring properties and even got my real estate license. Things were looking up for me finally on my way to financial freedom. We had our first child together, a son, and then tragedy strikes again. After being hospitalized, I discovered I had progressive kidney failure. That landed me on dialysis for three years—what a crushing blow. Stuck at home and tied to a machine to keep me alive, my real estate business started to crumble. After owning seventeen properties, some single family homes, and some apartment complexes, I watched it all dissolve right before my eyes. Well for me this was the end, or seemed to be the end of my journey,  until one day looking into the eyes of my then two-month old son, I realized that there was someone depending on me and my success. I knew then I had to be more than what failure was handing me at that moment.                                                                

Then early one December morning  at 5:00 a.m., I receive a call from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with news of a kidney transplant for me. Oh happy day for me! With what even doctors considered, a miraculous recovery with two short-weeks stay in the hospital, I was back on my feet with dreams of entrepreneurial success knocking at the door.   I arose above the ashes of failed real estate enterprises and bankruptcy, and looked to the future with my current network marketing venture. This time more determined than ever I began to educate myself on the industry. I researched leaders in the industry like Mark Yarnell, Jim Rohn, Dale Calvert, Zig Ziglar, Todd Falcone and Mike Dillard. I also sought to improve my leadership skills by submitting to the wisdom of such great leaders like my pastor, Dr. B. Courtney McBath (author of Living at the Next Level), John Maxwell (author of 360° Leadership), and Dr. Samuel Chand. After what seems to be five short years in my current opportunity and one more child (my baby girl), we are really starting to experience the success that I always dream was possible. I now have a business that affords me the ability to work from home, attend every baseball game, soccer match, karate competition, dance recital , gymnastics event—I wouldn’t trade anything for this industry. Thank you to my lovely wife for believing in me.