Like many women, Michele Recupero used to find the minutes of her day swallowed up with the demands of a full-time job, motherhood, and, well, life. She thought she barely had time for a five minute phone call with AJ Monte. That is, until she decided to quickly Google him. “My neighbor asked me to give AJ just five minutes. After reading his credentials, I couldn’t wait to speak to him!” she says. “Our first conversation was brief, but he mentioned Derek Hall. After we hung up, I Googled Derek and quickly discovered that the business opportunity was Qivana. I thought to myself, if these two men are involved, then I’m in!” Michele signed up that night.
A few weeks later, Michele attended her first Qivana convention in Florida. “When I saw other IBOs get up on stage and talk about their successes, I thought to myself, ‘Why can’t that be me?’ I was driven and I knew I could do what it takes to be up on that stage,” she says. She returned home and enrolled her first person the very next day.
Michele’s positive energy and passion for her new-found business was contagious. She hit Gold by her third month and her team was growing rapidly. “Looking back, it’s easy to see that I had no experience in how to manage my team, so I made a lot of mistakes. My exciting growth spurt was followed by a rollback that lasted a solid year.” Michele remained optimistic and kept hosting meetings during her time of slow growth. “I just stuck with it because I knew it would turn around,” she says. “I never considered quitting, but at one point, the thought did cross my mind,” she admits. “Can you imagine how devastated I would be now if I would have let this go?”
Michele’s upline team helped her to realize that this business is a numbers game. “In a deck of cards, there is just one ace for every 10 cards. Sometimes those aces are in the front and sometimes they are in the back,” she says. Michele is discovering her aces are at the back, and now she is turning her story of a rollback and slow growth into a phenomenal comeback of record-setting growth.
This past summer, she enrolled her friend of 17 years, Anne Marie Pujnicki, who enrolled Therese Zuhoski, who then enrolled Colleen Clarke. Michele drove the momentum and as a result, the group volume doubled from July to August, then doubled again from August to September, and then doubled again from September to October!
Therese recruited 13 people in 3 1/2 weeks and just hit Gold in October, and Colleen, who enrolled at the end of October, just hit Silver Pro in less than 72 hours! Michele is also joined by her friend of 30 years, Denise Edwards. “Just in the past few weeks, we have had nearly 40 people join us!” she exclaims.
So what exactly is this group of dynamic women doing to create such incredible growth? Michele is hosting at least one in-home meeting every night of the week. “As soon as someone joins, we immediately engage them in the business by hosting an in-home meeting for them. At the end of each meeting, people are enrolling on the spot, and we set up an in-home meeting for each new enrollee and the process continues,” she explains. Besides the in-home meetings, Michele and her team are expanding their businesses to include gym owners and physicians.
Michele’s team does consist of both men and women, yet it’s clear that the women are the driving force behind the growth and volume numbers. “One of the really great things about Qivana is that it gives friends the opportunity to work together,” she says. “I get to work with people that I truly enjoy being with. I think that’s a significant reason why we’re experiencing so much success. We’re having so much fun!”
Giving back to the community is a core value for Michele and she has been involved with Habitat for Humanity as part of the Women Build program, where teams of women workers build 12 homes each year. “Now we’re putting together our Qivana team and volunteering on these build sites,” she says. “We’re hanging siding, cutting sheetrock, and wearing tool belts! It’s such a great experience for us as a team.” In addition to Habitat for Humanity, Michele’s team plans on pinpointing other charities to contribute their time, talents, and resources to.
Michele’s story is one of perseverance, determination, and now of victory and camaraderie. “Qivana has changed my life tremendously,” she says. “I don’t want to wish my life away, but I’m so excited for my future. I have never felt like that before, and it’s a wonderful feeling!”
SECRETS TO SUCCESS
1. Stay engaged with your team.
2. Commit to build your business for 24 months.
3. Challenge yourself to do something out of your comfort zone.
