Terressa Nordstrom

When I first joined Better Networker, yesterday :), I copied my bio and pasted it here. Today I realized it isn't really anything about me. A few facts that cover 29 years of my business life, but nothing of any substance at all. So here goes, the brutal truth of my experience.

I am a network marketer, I have only just realized this fact. I did not set out in my youth to be a network marketer. Fact is I am not sure I knew what a network marketer was until recently and probably still have a very small piece of the puzzle.

Way back in the day I started my career in sales by borrowing an egg from a neighbor and selling it to the next neighbor for a quarter, rinse and repeat through the neighborhood. I achieved my goal of acquiring enough cash to buy my parent's a gift. I was later grounded by my Dad for the way I chose to raise funds. As I look back at it now it was pretty genius!

In school I worked where we all worked, at the local pizza joint. I loved it. I became lead server at 15 and continued on in the industry for many years. I eventually became a competitive Chef and managed a world class Fine Dining restaurant as well as owned my own. My first break was to be contracted by The Dallas Cowboys through my catering business.

I couldn't imagine ever being in another industry. I was passionate and loved even the worst parts of my daily routine. In 2006 my entire world came crashing down. The dining room was at capacity for a beautiful wedding. Serving 200 plates of cake at the same time is like a well choreographed ballet. All hands on deck and the dance begins, plating, passing, running, and dropping should take less than 5 minutes. It was during this ballet that I slipped.

Four breaks, 9 surgeries, 4 pins, and 3 screws later I am able to walk again. This is how my career came to an abrupt halt! Funny, the bills did not. At 41 I searched for a new way to make it...after losing my home by not having good disability insurance I opted to get into insurance. With in a few months I was rolling high. Millionaire Roundtable member in just 4 months, successful agency, trips all over and it only took me a year and half to realize I was a part of one of the biggest ponzi schemes in America.

Have you ever heard recruit, recruit, recruit, and don't get them out of order. At some point someone has to do something for all those upliners to get paid. As I followed my mentors advice I busied myself recruiting...well if you have ever been graced with commission-able overrides paid in advance you know it doesn't take long for charge backs to swallow up your revenue if you quit producing.

That brings me to today, several failures and hard lessons to get to a point I am a Network Marketer by default. While in insurance I found a product people really wanted and it paid well minus charge backs :). I now focus on this for large companies and their employees. Passion is found again and I am loving life. I have recently thought about serving as an advisor to those in the restaurant industry as well. So there you go, me in a nutshell, happy, positive, success driven, and ready to learn from the real networkers!