So, how are you guys?
Oh, we're doing great.
Rebecca and I were just chatting about kids and how every phase bring something new and
she's nine and I feel like she's 19 and, you know, I just, I'm looking forward to the teenage
years.
How about this age?
This guy?
Come on over here.
This is my Joshua.
He's shy.
Not really.
Now, is this your son who just got back from doing missions work?
No, that son is actually traveling with Pastor Rodney Howard Brown for a week to, well,
they did seven cities in seven days or not seven cities, seven states in seven days.
So, they started in San Antonio, Oklahoma.
It's been beautiful what's happening over the US.
So, my heart as a mama has always been that my kids would find the right role models that,
you know, they could be influenced by.
We all, no matter what age we are, we need mentors, right?
And so, unfortunately, my kids have always been the mentor.
And so, my son was in a van with 14 other amazing role models and it just warmed my
heart to see him take off Saturday to go around the nation to lead people to Christ.
I mean, I feel like that's nothing more fulfilling.
You know, when your kids are doing well, both for mom and dad, there's absolutely nothing
more fulfilling.
And if they're not doing well, it can affect every area.
So, that's awesome.
I'm so happy for you guys.
And then Josh, he slipped away.
But he works as an IT executive for the Mayo Clinic from his bedroom.
But he's trying to figure out life.
But he's doing well.
Yeah.
That sounds like an amazing opportunity.
And that's a great hospital for sure.
It's a great program.
Hi, Leslie.
Hi.
How are you?
Good.
Hi, Rebecca, too.
Hi, hi, hi, ladies.
And Paul.
Hi, Rebecca.
Paul was finishing up his lunch, so he was off camera for a moment.
Leslie, you're representing today.
Pardon?
I said you're representing today.
Canada.
I'm actually representing Costa Rica because that's where I am.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Where in Costa Rica?
San Jose.
I'm doing my second leg of my dental thing.
Neat.
Yeah.
I lived in Costa Rica for a moment.
Trained Peace Corps volunteers there.
Wow.
Yeah, it's beautiful here.
Yeah.
Do they have addresses?
Because my place was 200 metros al norte de Parque La Sabana.
So I live 200 meters north of La Sabana Park.
And if you wanted to write me a letter, you would actually put Angela Medeiros,
200 meters north of Parque La Sabana because they didn't have addresses on them.
Now, that was in 1990.
So I don't know if they've changed.
I honestly just go to Google Maps and click on a location.
So I can't tell you if there's addresses.
And, you know, I'm like a fish out of water here.
I like to speak three words and, you know, you know how it is.
Okay.
I'm actually in a hotel that backs onto the clinic.
So I don't have a car, nothing.
I just, everything is right here where I need it.
So it's pretty good.
Fun.
Yeah.
The Swiss Alps of Latin America, as they would call it.
Beautiful country.
We have good friends that go down there for dental work also.
Everything work.
I mean, they do.
Everything.
Yeah.
I mean, the hospital system is supposed to be,
the medical system is supposed to be really good.
Yeah.
It's all private, but it's supposed to be really, really good.
That's okay.
It's way cheaper than Canada.
Oh yeah.
For sure.
I was in Liberia, Costa Rica last August and learned,
we did a bunch of stuff with locals.
And they were saying that their.
systems are so good, they have a 9% tax. Everyone employed, it
doesn't matter what wage you earn. If you're employed at all,
you pay 9% that goes into their medical and their benefits. So
everybody has access. And I'm like, that's really nice. Love
that a lot. Yeah.
Um,
okay, so I will, we'll go ahead and get started. I'm sure a few
others will jump in here. And if not, that's okay. It'll be an
intimate group. And I love that too. So, you know, as, as you
guys know, like, our whole, our whole world has been in a huge
transition for the better and just really working on obedience
and and doing what God has called us to do, even when
people love it or don't like it. And, and I've experienced
that a lot, personally, recently, too, with more
personal things. You know, I've been praying that prayer that we
talked about those of you who were on last week. I've been
praying that prayer God open the doors that need to be open,
close the doors that need to be closed. I bind, you know, I bind
all that the enemy is doing, I bind what is bound in heaven, I
loose what is loosed in heaven and just open the doors. And
it's really amazing what doors have been opening and how God
has been shutting the other doors. And I, I see now that
that can be personally, business wise financially, because it's
all related. And as I'm praying through that prayer, I see
that God is working those doors open and close through people.
And I didn't expect that. And it's a hard, it's, it's always a
hard lesson for me. Because if you, if you know, you know, the
disc personalities and all the personalities, a lot of my disc
personality is people. And I always look for the good in
people. And, and, and I know you both do too. And I always look
for you three, I always look for the the highest good and the
highest quality and others. That's what we're called to do.
However, I want to touch on some scripture and just different
portions of this training today on, you know, being bold, being
more bold. And I know that Paul is on here too. And I do think
it's easier for men. But I think for women, it's important to
step into that in times where we're called to step into that
boldness. Even when we know our people pleasing, our people
pleasing tickers may go off, you know, because having difficult
conversations, no matter if you're used to them, if you've
done them a million times, when you step into the light, and you
step into the body of Christ, it almost it almost opens your
heart up more and can become more difficult. And the
difficult conversations may not just be with other people, it
might be with yourself, it might be the honesty that you
have to have with yourself, the boldness you have to have with
yourself. And this helps everywhere, right finances, your
relationships, your your marriage, your kids, literally
everything, when we're okay, opening up and having difficult
conversations, and working through the doors that need to
be open and closing the ones that need to be closed when we
know that they should be closed. And so before I get into this,
and going through some scriptures and things that I
have written, do you both? Is there is there a situation in
your life? Or a person could be a person could be a situation,
but you know, that the door needs to be closed, you know,
that it's not the right person for you to be around or working
with in some capacity, you know, the door needs to be closed.
And you've just been kind of putting that, putting that to
the sidelines and having confusion, maybe even
fogginess around it. Is there any situation going on with any
of you, even you, Rebecca?
I had a huge one. So you want me to explain?
Yes, please.
So I made a, so I still have my other network marketing
company, but I've joined another one because it has not
a competing product. And I, there's through the years, I've
just, I don't know, I just, I'm excited about this product and
then ready to move forward in it in so many ways. And in 40
days, I enrolled 40 people on it. I've never done that with
anything. And it's, they're having some challenges with the
background.
office. But the bottom line is, is that the lead marketer just a little bit off. And he came to
present with me because I actually after a month and a half, I had a team event of team training
and he came to, to train. And it was crazy. It was disorganized. I really ended up making
lemonade out of lemons because I've never experienced something like that with my past
company. It's just like, everybody's just sharp and at the top. And so I was really confused
because I learned that he actually was a brother in Christ. And, and then I also learned that
he used to go to the church and then our pastor actually said, be careful about him.
And that was like, I, you know, I, and I went to him and I said,
I need you to square whatever's gone on at the church away because this, we moved down to
Florida to go to this church and this is an unusual, you know, just stream of events. And
so he said he did. I don't really think, I don't know what went on, but more strange things started
to happen. And the back office they're really working on in this new company that they're
launching in October. And it, everybody's been a little bit frustrated, but he came to me about a
week and a half ago. And he said, I want to be transparent with you. The back office is still
not up. I know it's frustrating, but I want to offer you $5,000 upfront every month to go with
another nutraceutical company. And I almost, I felt physically sick. I mean, the only reason I
went with this new company is because I just saw the sincerity of the CEO and I got excited about
the product. And I knew that when you do the right thing, there's all the money always comes.
I'm not, wasn't looking for to be bought to go somewhere else. And I, I was in a huge conflict
because I, that was like, for me, that last straw, I cannot be led by this person. I will not be led
by this person. My team doesn't want to be led by this person. And so I had, I really needed
advice on how to move forward. So that's when I used one of my calls with Ray the other day.
And basically I had an hour conversation with the CEO of the company, very difficult conversation
because this is a brother in Christ. I mean, it, I mean, a brother in Christ doesn't mean
that we're without fault or whatever way. And so this, and it's you know, I, I'm still waiting to
see all what's going on about it, but yeah, I, it's still, I feel like it was to, I mean,
I have a piece about it, feel like it was the right thing to do, but my heart hurts for this
guy. You know, it's like he supposedly started a church in Cameroon and I don't know. It's just
Lord, help the body of Christ and help us to move out in integrity, right. To serve you. But
yeah, so that was extremely difficult. And you know, my, my direct upline, I haven't talked to
them yet because I think they're involved with him in some other things as well. And so that's
difficult too, because I found out about Sankey through them. And so just asking the Lord to guide
indirect and also protect this company because he did say, you know, if anything would happen to,
to me being removed, I could really take this company down and thinking, wow, this is the body
of Christ. Right. So that's one of the things that's going on in our world.
Well yeah. And thank you for sharing that and kudos to you for having that conversation with
the CEO. Now, is he a part? So as I understand, he's a part of corporate, he leads the marketing
for corporate or he's your upline or. The lead person that I talked to the, to the CEO about,
he announces himself as the lead marketer in the USA for Sankey. I don't know what that means. I
don't know. I think he's maybe been offered some shares to grow the business. I don't actually know.
um but um well it's interesting it's interesting that you um that you bring this up because you
you said that your initial um attraction to the company was the heart of the ceos right this heart
of the the founders and the ceo and so recently as well um which i've studied before but just
felt called to study again was the book of esther and how you know she was put into place for such
a time as this and i think we all are because of the world and what's going on because it's
just an incredible time to be alive right um but some are put into positions for very specific
reasons and to me what this sounds like is that you were put into that position to help the ceo
and the um coo or whoever you're you've worked with in the past see see what's going on and
protect them and be able to help the company move forward to bring more of the the integrity and the
integral body of christ versus a facade or a distraction from the enemy um
am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people
if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ obviously we know that
verse um that's galatians 1 10 and i'm sure you've heard it before but trying to please everyone is
incompatible with the um with the general character of god the general can i show you
something yes this is from my my notes this morning may 7th who um am i trying to please
who am i trying to please from galatians oh my gosh see yeah yeah so there's your sign right
if you ever need it um god does not show favoritism so yeah i'm in well i want to i
want to read another one to you that that came to me while you were talking about this situation
um second timothy 1 7 for the spirit god gave us does not make us timid but gives us power love
and self-discipline so boldness is a part of godly communication when grounded in love and wisdom
it means that
we are supposed to be bold when we see unrighteousness or we see um we see something
that needs to be called out it doesn't mean that we call it out in a spiteful or mean or rude way
not that you ever would but this should be validation to you that you were put into this
position not only for other reasons of course but one reason being you have the boldness of christ
christ was bold he was extremely bold um and he he flipped tables you know when when need be um
but he did it out of the the greater love the greater good and that's what you're doing you're
approaching it with love and kindness and the all of the characteristics of god which is what
he wants but he also doesn't want us to be timid and he doesn't want us to sit on the sidelines and
watch things happen when they happen in front of us um and i think this this type of characteristic
is really twisted um in so many ways that i hear it because so many people think that being
being the light of christ and being loved because god is love being loved means being passive and
just letting things happen to you because we're supposed to turn the other cheek
and that's not what he's saying in these verses you know what god is saying is
you pray for them you love them you pray for your enemies but you also
you stand up for what what's right and and that's what you're doing um
and i love this this last one fear of man is a trap proverbs 29 25 fear of man will prove to be
a snare but whoever trusts in the lord is kept safe and this is one that i have to read over and
over and over again fear of man will prove to be a snare but whoever trusts in the lord is kept safe
kept safe because every i i would venture to say and this is a bold statement but i would
venture to say that almost everything we do not everything but almost everything we do
has some form of fear of man attached to it. You know, fear of someone getting ahead of us,
fear of competition, fear of losing everything and people making, you know, remarks about us,
fear of how we look to people, fear of, you know, our kids not loving us or not liking us,
fear of our family not liking us, just fear of man has so much to do with our everyday decisions.
And it's a distraction from the enemy. So clearly, Angela, you're on to something very powerful,
and you're on to some really big changes and big shifts in your life. And what I've had to realize,
really, over the last three years, is that every time I realize that every time there's a person
that's put into my life that shouldn't be there, or that needs to be guided, directed,
corrected, maybe not by me, I'm not saying by me, but in some way, shape, or form shouldn't be in
my life, I almost get a fight or flight response. And, you know, my, my, it's that emotion that I
used to listen to and just not necessarily snap, but just really feed off of that emotion and go
off of that emotion, make decisions off of that emotion, versus taking a step back and saying,
no, God's got me, I've got, I've got protection around this. And this is something that I need
to stand up to. And this is just a door that he's closing. These are just people that he's working
out of my life in a way that I would rather not him do it, but it's growing me right, I'd rather
not have to have these difficult conversations, I'd rather not have to work these people out of
my life in that way. But it's growing me and every time I do it, and I have the conversation,
like you just did, and I, I rise above that emotion, that fight or flight response when
people pleasing or just, or really just taking on other people's emotions, not wanting them to,
to be upset or just taking on whatever they're feeling, which is not mine to take on.
So it's not yours to take on that he, you know, that he may lose money or prestige or friends or
reputation, or that's not, none of those feelings are yours to take on. And they're not mine to
take on when someone is, is battling that either. And when I do that, and I step into a place of,
of gratitude and grace, and I try as hard as I can to come from a place of love,
other doors open. And I'll give you the perfect example of this. Hey, Mike, how are you? Good to
see you on here. The perfect example of this. So I'm, I'm working on a, a listing and it's been,
the family is very nice, but it has been constant. I mean, it's a big listing,
but they have been, it's a family that owns it. It's in a family trust. So there's three
decision-makers. I have been just working my tail off in a market that is declining. You know,
our market is definitely declining, which I don't have fear around it. I think it's about due,
but it's definitely declining at around a percent a month, quarter to percent, two percent a month.
So I'm feeling pressure to get this listed. They, we worked out a deal where I'm investing money
to get this listing out, you know, to, to market it and to stage it and things. And then I get
reimbursed and closing. And the whole time I'm thinking, you know, I'm praying about this and
I'm like, God, did you put this in my lap? And I'm cloudy around it. I'm fuzzy. And the family
calls me every day. They want to talk for at least an hour. I mean, it's just taking a lot of time.
And so I'm praying this prayer, you know, God close, close the doors, open the right ones,
bind what's bound in heaven, loose what's loosed in heaven on earth, you know, just
close the door that needs to be closed. And, and this family, we got an appraisal,
the appraisal comes back. It's lower than what they thought, which I knew it would be because
every seller right now it's lower than what they think. And the family comes back to me and they
say, you know, we're just, we're really unhappy with the appraisal. And we don't know, we chose
you out of three other brokerages and we're just not sure. And in the past, that would have
completely like, just, it was a huge deal that would have completely devastated me. I let, I
had peace with it. I had complete peace with it. And I normally my fight or flight would kick in,
like, did I do something wrong and go back through everything that I could have done differently and
all the things. And I just had peace with that. And I knew that it was God closing the door because
it was, it was just taking a lot of effort and time and stress. That day.
I had a referral from Wisconsin call me to buy a property here, they're ready to buy,
they're ready to go.
They're coming down Saturday.
It was literally the same exact amount, same exact amount.
It was like, I have chills thinking about it, same exact amount of a deal that I had
let go that exact same day.
So God is working through people in your life, and it could be your financial advisor, it
could be your, I just had it out with a designer.
I mean, there's definitely, I feel there's definitely spiritual attacks happening in
the air in this moment in time.
It's getting more and more, people are getting more and more for lack of a better term, crazy.
And I know that it's spiritual.
It has to be.
I mean, it's just, things are coming out.
I hear all the time about lawsuits happening with friends and family members, and I mean,
it's everywhere.
So you just protect yourself, be guarded, but step into that place that fear of man
is a trap from the enemy.
And it's a distraction.
When you are on a good path, the enemy, every time will try and distract you.
So earlier this week, I have a designer, we're redoing our kitchen.
And she just went off the reservation because I asked about getting a quote from a different
cabinet company.
Now, I realize this, this is just an example, right?
But, and it has very little to do with business, but does it?
Because it's distracting me.
I'm now working with people who want to buy in this market, it's a great, way better than
sellers right now, it just is, want, you know, are great to work with, focusing on, I got
a brand already, website already, I have a big launch plan coming up.
And on top of that, you know, Ray launched a new company, like all kinds of amazing things
that are happening.
Is it unrelated?
Or is it completely related?
So this designer decides to want to charge me double for the plans I already paid for.
I mean, it's a whole thing, I won't get into it, but it, my initial response, fight or
flight, right?
Like, oh my gosh, did I, I would never not want to pay someone for their time.
I would never want to do that to somebody.
That's that was always my initial response, but when you put on the armor of God and step
into Christ's character, which is easy to forget, you step into a place of peace.
And that can be very difficult sometimes.
And remembering that it is a total distraction that can take, that could have taken me off
my game to go after what I was going after for Christ, for the body of Christ, that could
have completely taken me off my game, but just having peace with it.
Literally that day, I kid you not, practicing this, and I know you all have experienced
this, practicing this just accelerates the kingdom, right?
It just accelerates your financial prosperity.
It just accelerates everything in your life that God wants you to have as a much loved
child.
So literally that day, and it's almost like, okay, he's growing me faster because literally
that same day I made peace with the designer.
I came from a place of love.
I fired her and I said, you know what?
This isn't working out, but I wish you the best and came from a place of love, which
previously I would have marinated on for weeks and would have been like, oh, I got to make
this right.
I got to pay her more.
I've got to do something to make her feel good.
I don't have to take on her feelings.
That is not my responsibility.
My responsibility is to show up boldly how Christ would want me to show up out of love.
And so that day I get a call from a friend, okay, I want to talk to you about buying in
this market.
I'm ready to buy.
Do you realize very few people have ready to buy buyers right now?
A lot of them are waiting on the sidelines in our market, just waiting to see what happens.
Probably the same day, my friend Heather.
So I know those two are related.
I know the enemy is trying to distract you, Angela, from all of the amazing things.
You said you had 40 people come into your company within, what, a month?
A month and a half.
In a week and a half.
No, a month and a half, yeah.
A month and a half, 40 new recruits, not including who they recruited.
I know this is all a distraction, so we'll see it for what it is and take it in stride
because we're not going to be perfect at this at first.
I've definitely only been practicing this for a few years where some of you have been
practicing this much longer than I have, but I think hearing it from a different perspective.
and being reminded of it is really important.
I think the enemy sees that the time is short
and he's throwing stupid punches here and there
just to distract us from our purpose, so.
Well said.
Leslie, did you have anything going on like that?
I'm just absorbing all of this and, you know,
in a very menial way, I'm going through all the same stuff.
Like, it's just tiny little things,
but I'm here in Costa Rica by myself.
And so my brother dropped me off and then he went to,
he's rented a place for a year.
He's not going back to Canada, so he says.
So he left me here to deal with, you know,
the everything by myself.
And he's telling me, get out there and explore
and don't be afraid and you're in a safe place
and all this stuff.
And then he texts me, he says,
well, when are you going to be done with the dentist?
Because my friend's friend canceled
or took the day off of work to do your nails.
So if you're going to be delayed,
I have to tell her today that you're not going to make,
and I'm like, okay, and okay, fight or flight.
I would have been, okay,
I got to accommodate this person because they,
well, wait a minute.
I didn't ask anybody to take a day off work
and it's not my problem.
And in the past, I would have been like,
I got to figure this out or tell them
I'll come back for my teeth or whatever.
And I'm just like, no, you did this with me last year.
You know, you're at their beck and call
because they do appointments as things unfold.
And I mean, the clinic is crazy.
So I just said, listen,
you know I'm here until at least the ninth.
And if something goes wrong, I have to stay longer.
That's why I have a cushion in between here and Cabo,
which is where I'm going next.
So-
Hey, not a bad life, huh?
I'm telling you, when you say things open up, they do.
They do.
And so anyways, I said,
you need to figure this out with her.
Here's what I know right now.
And that's all I can tell you.
And this is my priority.
So,
figure it out.
So he already messaged me back and he said,
okay, we have another option.
I'm like, really?
So, I mean, it's just a tiny little thing.
You know, it's a tiny little thing.
You never know there was another option, right?
Yeah, but for me,
there's a lot of fear stepping into that and saying,
hang on, this is not my no
because I've been a people pleaser
and had fear of men my whole life, my whole life.
So, being here is probably,
God put me here for a reason.
I'm walking to the mall by myself.
I sat in the mall and did live
about how scared I was to be there alone,
but I'm doing it, I'm doing it scared.
So, you know, in a really small way,
I'm growing in lots of big ways.
So I'm just absorbing everything you're saying
and going, yep, yep, yep.
That's me, yep, I get it, yep.
So, yeah.
I am, I wrote this down.
People pleasing puts your identity in people's hands.
Faith puts it in God's.
Yeah, for sure.
And that's what the enemy goes after is your identity.
And so it's a distraction because you are,
when you have difficult conversations
and this even happens in prospecting, right?
So even when we're talking to people about our business,
we're putting our emotions
or we're taking their emotions on ourselves.
And it's not that you're not there to serve them.
Of course you are,
but you don't need to take their emotions on
or their preconceived response onto yourself.
So what happens when we do that is we question our identity.
We question like, okay, are we meant to do this?
Are we bold enough?
Are we strong enough to do this business?
Are we, did we screw up?
Are we a bad person?
Am I the liar here?
Am I the one?
And in some of those circumstances,
here's another thing about using people
is God puts people in your life to reveal to you
where you need growth.
And so I see the best in everyone as we're called to see.
However, that can also cause other people to take advantage
and it can be small or it can be big
because I would never lie to somebody.
It doesn't mean that they would never lie to me.
It doesn't mean,
because I would never intentionally manipulate somebody.
It doesn't mean
that they wouldn't intentionally manipulate me.
And it's not out of fear or anger, of course,
it's out of love,
but correcting that is also what we're called to do.
and standing bold in that purpose. And so I don't believe your brother was intentionally
manipulating you by any means or trying to get you to do something you didn't want to do. It's just
he thought it was a nice thing and did it, but you don't have to take that on. But there are
people who do that. I'm not saying to your particular circumstance, but when you have,
as you know, when you have the Holy Spirit and you can now discern how God is working those people
out of your life and closing those doors, it's really powerful. So I was in the car dealing with
a person who I knew God was working out of my life. I won't get into the whole story. And I
just heard it clear as day. They're lying. They're lying to you. You need to understand that they are
lying to you. And I knew that did not come from me because I have a habit. And I think this is
the problem with politics, too, is people put their own, oh, I would never do that. So they
never would. They trust in people that they shouldn't trust in. But having that discernment
with the Holy Spirit is also key in this fear of man versus trusting in God and putting your faith
in God. And so that changed my entire perspective around what was happening. They were manipulating
and lying to me. And it just helped me to stand my ground and step forward in what I knew was
right. And that's when other doors were opening, financial doors and so on and so forth. But that
also goes for ourselves, right? We have to step into the place of, wait a minute, I'm lying here.
I'm trying to manipulate here. I'm not being Christ-like here. I'm trying to be right here
and get these people to do what I want them to do. That's not the character that I need to embody
right now, which in some circumstances can be even harder. But does that resonate at all?
Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. I think the way I've grown up with just the bullying and the
abuse that I've had, I'm way too timid to be on the other side of that. I've always questioned
myself. And also with my big brother treating me the way he did, consciously or unconsciously,
I will never manipulate. I will never lie, cheat or steal. My dad pounded that into us when we were
kids. So I still ask myself the question, but I know the answer already. So I fall victim to people
who will lie, who will manipulate. And that's where I have to step into my power and ask God,
for protection, so that I can, because I get frozen. I get frozen where I can't move forward
out of fear. And I'm really learning how to not do that anymore. Little, you know, baby steps,
and it's making a huge difference. Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. And it's physical.
We can't trust those emotions. It is literally flight or flight. That's literally.
Yeah. Yeah. So powerful. Mike, did you want to share anything around this? I know you jumped
on a little late. I don't know if you can hear me or if you're still there, but we were just
talking about points in our lives and pointing to how this can change everything. Points in our
lives where maybe we're putting off a difficult conversation or a difficult circumstance that we
know that we need to confront. I didn't know if you had anything like that going on.
Can't think of anything right now, but appreciate it. That's awesome. That's amazing.
What's going on in your world? Anything that I can help with?
Hold on. Let me get my camera on. Yeah, so I'm just kind of working on
building art, like kind of dealing with like some fraud people. So like there's people putting in
like thousands of orders that are getting declined. And so I guess that's a little
stressful. They're trying to stop that. But yeah. Yeah, that can be super stressful.
So we're being attacked. We're definitely being attacked because it's like we would stop it or
we do something and then it just keeps coming back. And there's like super sophisticated,
like changing IPs and changing credit cards and like it's crazy.
And how many resources are you wasting working on this? Is it taking up?
Yeah, it's taking a lot of my time, I guess, because I'm trying to.
manually fight it, but I'm also like working with other software to stop it.
But I think we got it under control now, but it's just kind of definitely taking
up a lot of time and energy. Well it's good that you have it under control.
Clearly just a distraction, right? Just you're on a good path and this is
something that's just trying to distract, whatever that looks like. And after
now that you know that you've had it, got it under control, I assume you've
looked into putting safety measures in place so you can try and stop it again,
right? Yeah, we have a lot more fraud protection and like hidden background
like things going on. So yeah, it's we definitely, because it was like a really
expensive mistake too, because apparently if you get charged and it
declines, you still get charged like 16 cents or something. And so like when
someone's putting thousands and thousands of fake orders through, you
get charged 16 cents each time. So something to be aware of for anyone who
wants to know. That is good to know. I'm sure we've dealt, our team has dealt with
that for sure. So just a funny story that I think might help or relate. We
were obviously for years like you do too, running Facebook ads. And we have a ton
of different accounts and different admins that work those accounts. And
throughout the years we've just, it just gets messy. You have to go in and
clean it up. Well as we're going in and cleaning it up, Facebook shuts us
completely down from running ads, which at that time was a good portion of our
revenue. Like there was a very significant difference between when we
ran ads versus when we didn't on our daily role of what we made. So our daily
sales. So it was quite devastating because you know, without those sales, you
think about in the future, okay, you can't make payroll, you can't do any
launches, you just basically cease to function until you circumvent and find a
different way to create that same revenue. So our account gets shut down,
Facebook is not responding, not responding, won't do anything. Finally,
we get a letter that says that we were actively advertising like pornography or
something like this. And we're like, what? What in the world is happening? So
someone had gone into one of our many admin accounts, one of our many ads
accounts. And Mike, you probably know the techie side behind how this works
better than I do. So I'm not going to explain it right. But this is what
happened. Someone went in and used our ads account and was charging to our ads
account for their ads. And it took us months to prove this to Facebook. It's
not like you can just go to Facebook and be like, look, this isn't us. They'd be
like, okay, sure, here's all your money back. So it was very stressful, very,
very stressful. We lost a lot of revenue. And it affected a lot of other things
throughout the business. But it, it definitely forced us to create that
revenue elsewhere and find holes where we wouldn't have ever seen them.
Eventually, Facebook realized that it wasn't us, that we were charged money
that we shouldn't have been charged. And I don't know the exact amount, but it
was somewhere close to like $100,000 of back credit card payments that went to
this other account that we ended up getting back through American Express.
So I could not see that at the time. And I know that we know this in theory, but
sometimes hearing it again, from someone else who's been in business and been in
those situations, we couldn't see it at the time, it felt absolutely
devastating. But that, that money showed up in a time where we really needed it
for the business. And we could have never fathomed that that would be the way that
God would provide a solution or a circumstance for us in that moment. And
so I know, A, what you're going through is definitely just a distraction, right?
But B, God will use it to help you circumnavigate something that could have
been ultimately devastating or taking the company out as a whole, maybe there
was a future attack coming that you didn't even know, that could have
completely knocked the company over on its heels. So
just felt like I should share that with you
because this happened not that long ago.
And it's been interesting how those little things have really
caused us to, I feel like in business,
I've interviewed so many business men and women,
both in the network marketing space,
outside of the network marketing space.
I did a whole series called Women and Wealth
and interviewed Elena Cardone and all kinds
of super wealthy women.
And the number one characteristic
that I hear from these business owners is grit, just grit.
They went up here.
They went way down here.
Many of them filed bankruptcy, if not almost
went bankrupt many times.
The simple fact that they made it,
it was some skill, some opportunity obviously,
but it was grit because to whom much is given,
much is required.
And there are things that I tell people,
friends that I have here, just personal friends that have
nothing to do with business, and they hear some of the things
that we navigate and go through.
And they literally, one of my friends
literally said to me, Jess, I would
be in the corner in a fetal position
for a week if I were doing what you're doing,
just rocking back and forth.
And for you too, Mike, I mean, you're growing a big company.
That is to whom much is given, much is required,
but the reward is beyond what we can even
comprehend if we have the grit to stick it through.
So I think it's awesome that you figured it out.
Obviously, you seem like you're on the other side of it now,
but just keep asking like, OK, what are the lessons here?
Is there something I'm not seeing about this
that I need to put into place, like extra firewall
or what have you?
What am I not seeing?
What do I need to see here?
Yeah, we definitely increased security,
so that was a positive.
Another one is we secured more merchant accounts
because they were trying to shut our merchant account down,
basically.
So we've been doing a lot of different things.
So I guess it definitely is a positive for sure.
Oh, yeah, we had merchant accounts shut down.
We ran an event where, and stop me if Ray has told you this,
right, but we ran an event where, obviously, events
are super costly.
And it was this one event cost close to 3 quarters of a million
dollars or something crazy.
And they just shut our merchant account down
right before the event.
So we can't collect payment.
And we're on the phone with them,
and we're going through another time.
They just decided to start taking 50% of our revenue
and putting it in a holding account and not tell us.
Yeah, that's happened to me.
Yeah, I mean, so it's like, hey, I need that.
It's my money, by the way.
So it's grit.
It's just pure, pure grit moving forward in business.
That was a hard one, because that was last year.
And we were paying 80% commission,
and they were holding 50%.
So we're literally taking out loans
to pay for our affiliates.
And then we finally got it undone.
It took six months.
So we were paying it from a line of credit,
like affiliate commissions.
Yeah, we didn't.
I mean, six months in the business world
is like 20 years.
It's just that's so tough.
And Angela knows this, too, running large cleaning
companies.
And it's just grit and focusing on closing
the doors that need to be closed and opening
the ones that need to be open.
Yeah, thanks.
But it's always, as I look at the sign on my wall,
be still and know that I am.
God does say His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
So many times I want to do things in my own strength
or too much in my own grit.
And if I'm just still and listen to what
the Lord would have me do, that's when the yoke is easy
and the burden is light.
So we do need to do our part.
Faith without works instead.
But I think we don't a lot of times
do enough of being still.
I'm a big Martha.
And we sit at the foot of Jesus,
he leads and guides us in the way that we should go.
So, amen.
Amen.
Thank you.
By the way, Mike, I don't know if you've reached out
to Ray regarding that,
but he may have some good resources for that.
In fact, I'm positive he does.
If you haven't figured it out, then great.
But if you need a resource around merchant accounts
or cyber protection or anything like that,
he probably has a good resource.
Okay, sounds good.
So lastly, with our last few minutes here,
I just wanna open it up for anybody
who has been on a few of these trainings
and just hear what has opened up for you
from the last time that we saw each other.
I always like to know that.
I wanna hear some wins
or something that was revealed to you.
I tend to give to-dos or homework,
but even if that wasn't accomplished, not a big deal.
I just wanna hear what's opening up for you in your life.
Well, can I just say I do have homework to do
based on what I learned today.
So I gave myself homework
because there was so much value today.
Just, so thank you.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
What's one win going on in your life right now?
One major win.
I'm losing fear.
That's a big win.
And it's giving me the boldness to move forward
and do more in my business.
And more with helping other women find themselves.
Which is gonna in turn, give me in the business
because I'm building trust with other people, so.
Absolutely.
For me, that's a big win.
It's all about fear.
I mean, that's everything, right?
It's either you have it, well, we all have it
and you move forward regardless, or you don't.
I mean, that's basically what life comes down to.
It's pretty much what, you know,
you move forward in, you know, evangelizing people,
you move forward in business life,
you move forward regardless of people's emotions.
And certainly like, it's all about,
you choose, fear or learning to work through it.
Faith, yeah.
Fear or faith, yeah.
Duh, yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Angela, how about you?
What's a major win?
So, I've led two people to Christ these last two days.
A sweet woman in the grocery store
and then the mitigation person with,
when my salon was flooded, came to pick up the check
and people are hungry for Jesus.
So, I just encourage people to be bold for him
because time is short and the enemy is rambling
and people are more open
than I think they've ever been before.
So, and the only thing we can take with us
on the other side is not our homes or our cars, it's souls.
And so, amen.
Absolutely, amen.
Can you share real quickly
how you opened up that conversation?
Sure.
So, in Publix, I'm walking around
with these really cute shoes on
and an 80-year-old woman stops and says,
hey, I love your shoes.
And we enter into a conversation
and I just said, can I ask you a question?
And she said, sure.
I said, do you know that God loves you
and has a major plan for your life?
And she goes, oh, I hope that's true.
And I said, well, can I ask you one more question?
It's much more difficult.
She goes, sure, anything.
I said, if tonight was your last night on earth,
do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt
where you'd spend eternity?
And she said, well, I used to be Catholic
and I got really soured by the Catholic church
and I have no idea.
And I said, would you like to know?
And she said, yes, I would.
And so I just led her through the Romans road to salvation
and asked her if she would be open
to inviting Christ into her heart.
And she said she would.
So I said, repeat after me.
So there in public, so I led her to Christ
and I had this really neat.
bead bracelet with a cross on it, and afterwards I just slid it onto her wrist, and she was so tickled by that, and so
I just told her to ask her if she had a Bible, because if they don't, I would send them a Bible,
but she says she has one that she's never read, and
I just told her that Bible stands for basic instructions before leaving Earth.
I said, not really, but it's, you know, the instruction manual that most people don't read, and so
I encouraged her to find a church, and it was beautiful, so the other one that
the CERP pro guy came to the door to look for the check, and I
don't know, I ended up telling about my
marketing company with postbiotics, and
at the end, I just said, hey, I said, do you know that God loves you and has a major plan for your life?
And people love hearing that, like that's like a one-liner you can throw out
almost immediately if you do it the right way, if you look them in the eye, and just really sincerely with the love of Christ.
I mean, my prayer is always that when I look at someone, that instead of seeing me, that they would see Jesus, and
so I just said, hey, do you know God loves you and has a major plan for your life?
And you know, most people are like, oh, I hope so, or I don't feel it, and
then I get asked permission to ask another question, and they're like, anything, and they're not ready for, if you died tonight,
do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt where you'd spend eternity? And
he kind of had the same
thing that he was raised
Catholic, and never really had much faith in God, but has an eight-month-old, and is
looking to be that dad now, and had somebody else mention Jesus to him recently, and so, you know, people
have been pouring into him already, and so his heart was tendered, and
just did the same thing, and said, you know, this is the Roman road to salvation, and read Romans 10, and
would you like to receive Jesus into your heart now? And he said, yes, I would.
So then his wife might be coming to our presentation on Thursday night, because she's a health enthusiast and
entrusted, so,
and I, there's this book
called The Pocket Testimony. I get 20 a month for $25, and so The Pocket Testimony is
Testimony League, I think it is. Anyway, it's the Book of John,
so the first part of the little booklet, like this big, has how
you come to salvation, and how we're separated from Jesus, and then it's
simply the Book of John, so I always hand that out, and it's my goal at least to
share that at least 20 times a month, and those books keep coming, so it's kind of my
meter that I need to step it up, or, or
what, but that's something I would highly recommend to anyone.
It's just, it's a great place for anyone who's received Jesus, just to start with the Book of John,
and they have all different types of covers on them that you can choose from, that's pretty cool. The Pocket Testimony League,
I think it's called.
Awesome.
So.
Thank you for sharing that. That's really cool.
Because I, you know, if I'm being honest, I, I struggle with that sometimes, you know, how to open up that conversation
with people, so that they're,
so that they're open, and they receive it, versus just telling me what I want to hear, so that's a beautiful way
to do it.
So that, so the mail gal that I led to Jesus the other day, about a month ago, I was in Nebraska celebrating my mom's 84th birthday,
and I had, I don't, you know, give everyone my number, but at times I do, so this gal, Asia, I gave her my number. I'm in Nebraska, I see Asia is calling me,
and I answered the phone, like, hey, Asia, what's going on? She goes,
I'm in such challenge, I need to use the restroom. Can I use your restroom? She goes, are you home? I said, no, but my, my husband and family are. She goes, can I go to use your, your home to go to the restroom?
I said, most definitely. Let me call my husband, but I thought that was so cool, right? Because, you know, she had enough confidence in me, and just in the small time we met, the love of Christ connects people immediately, and to have,
you know, the, the comfort to call someone and say, I need to use the bathroom, can I go to your home?
It's an invulnerable situation. They've all been there, right? Yeah, right, right. So, I thought that was pretty cool. So, yeah, that's very cool.
But I now know that if I'm ever in your neck of the woods, I have somewhere to go.
Yes, come on over.
That's awesome. Mike, how about you?
At you, what's a, what's a win major win.
So I guess apparently there is a compete competing software that got rid of
their affiliate program or something.
Oh, so like some leaders that I made connections with in the past, they came
to me first and said, Hey, we want to bring our people over to you.
And so that was kind of, so we're getting like an influx of sales just
kind of out of nowhere because who would have expected, you know, that
just to randomly happen, you know?
So that's definitely a win.
Was that before or after the software issue after?
Yeah, that was like yesterday.
So I find that very interesting.
You know, yeah, for sure.
Super cool.
Definitely a win.
Yeah.
That's a big win.
I love it.
Well, uh, this has been an amazing day, amazing training.
Um, and it, you know, whenever I, whenever I train, I'm sure it's the same for you.
I just, I'm preaching to myself too, about all the things that I'm working on
and working through with God and for God and, um, in this world that we live in.
So thank you guys for being here and sharing and being vulnerable.
Um, does anybody want to pray us out?
I'll pray us out.
Okay.
Father God, I just thank you for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I thank you, father God, as we just come here and we just
acknowledge you in all of our ways.
Lord, your powerful word says that you direct and guide our path, father God.
And in John one, one, you said in the beginning was the word in the
word word was God and the word is God.
And the word came down in flesh.
So you are the word.
And when we send the word out, it will not come back void.
So thank you, father God, as we just, um, thank you for the increase that you're
bringing into all of our lives, father God, Lord, you desire to bless us by the
God, so we in turn may turn around and be a blessing.
So Lord, I thank you, Lord, that we all hear your still small voice and
a voice of another we will not follow.
And I thank you father God, that your hand is upon each and every one of us strong.
We love you.
We praise you.
We glorify you to you be all the honor, all the glory for whatever it comes into
our life, what the enemy has made for evil.
You are turning around and making it for good.
And I thank you, Lord, for just even, even further testimonies coming out this week
and the weeks to come father God, for you are the big breasted one that
nourishes and supplies all that we need.
And I just, um, I putting up a special prayer for my husband, Lord, and I just
asked that you would strengthen his heart.
Um, he was having heart palpitations.
And so father God, I thank you that by Jesus stripes, Paul is healed,
Lord, in Jesus name, amen.
And amen.
Amen.
Beautiful.
Yes.
And we'll pray for Paul.
Absolutely.
Appreciate it.
So just another attack from the enemy that will not succeed in Jesus name.
Absolutely.
With that power.
Love it.
My heart is full.
Man.
Amen.
All right, guys.
Well, we'll see you next time.
Thanks everyone.
Bye.