Exclusive Interview With Sisel International Distributor Andy Smith

Interview by Cordell Webb – Media Director for 21stCenturyNetworker.

Today we bring you an interview with another successful Network Marketer Andy Smith, Distributor for Sisel International.

Andy, we are very pleased to have you with us today at 21^st Century Networker.

Thank you very much, it’s a pleasure to be here!

Before we get started Andy, could you please tell our readers a little about yourself and your background?

Ok well, I started off doing a lot of things that all of us have done. We were all taught to go to school, go to college, and then get into whatever career we had prepared for whether it’s corporate, or government, or whatever it might be.

Back in 1991 I was a graduate. I had done all the things I was supposed to do but in that time in England we were in recession much like we are now and I found out, to my own horror basically, that the jobs I had prepared to do didn’t exist anymore, and there were a lot of other graduates out there, like myself,  with degrees who ended up having to take menial jobs.

I had always been a good employee and worked for many companies back in the UK and always felt and acted as though I was self employed even when I was working for other people so what I had in me, was the beginning of a fire, or a desire to be entrepreneurial.

In other words, I wanted to look after my own destiny. I didn’t want to see my future in the hands of somebody else and the thought of a 40-year career with set increases year after year, if you’re lucky, only to wind up with a clock and a handshake at the end of it, just wasn’t how I wanted to live.

So you had the spark, that entrepreneurial spirit right out college it sounds like…

Yes, I did but sadly the school system doesn’t really teach much about that so, I barely even recognized that I had it let alone knew what to do with it. I was really just trying to “get on” in life and more or less do what other people did, you know – go to college, get my degree, but in the end it really didn’t teach me much of anything.

Eventually I came to the United States – shortly after 1991, and started my own business – a traditional business in the tent industry.

We rented and sold large tents for corporate events and functions – that sort of thing. That was the business I had worked in back in the UK. I was a manager then so I started my business here in the U.S. and doing so, did quite well.

I was one of the top 2% who made it through the first 5 years without failing and I built it further for 12 years. One day however, I realized that my top, key employees were making more than I was.

I became aware that I hadn’t achieved any kind of real freedom at all, in fact, I had just bought my own employment. That was a bit of a slap in the face because now I had to ask myself, “Where do I go from here?”

So then I started looking around at other avenues. I invested in a product, which was a fantastic product, but ended up not going anywhere so, another lesson learned. (laughing) I’ve had a lot of lessons in my life guys!

Eventually someone introduced me to another product, a nutritional supplement for dogs, which I started giving to my own two dogs and the change in them was absolutely spectacular – it literally took years off them! And so I thought “Wow, if this product is legal, I can probably start a new business with this”.

So my friend who introduced this product said to me, “Why don’t you come to a business meeting and learn more about it” and I said “Meeting? What sort of meeting?” and I discovered then that this product was sold through network marketing and so, I just said to him, “Alright, c’mon – give me the Amway presentation and let’s get it over with” but he didn’t do that and I did go to the meeting – but understand that I had all kinds of preconceived notions regarding network marketing just like most people do you know, I was very skeptical about it.

Right, well you mentioned that you said, “ok give me the Amway presentation” so you must have had some notion about what network marketing was before you went to learn more about this new product.

I did indeed.

Actually in my young 20’s I read an advertisement in a magazine that said something like “make a fortune working from home” and I ended up spending about 800 dollars on a kit of ‘knock off’ perfume – I think they were copies of Chanel No. 5 or what have you, and so the kit arrived and that was it. I was told to go and share these products with friends and family and I’d be able to retire (laughs) which was really all the training I received so obviously in the end it turned out to be a negative experience.

But really the problem wasn’t with network marketing, it was that I had gotten involved with a less that reputable company and, being inexperienced with the industry, I failed to do my due diligence. So it was my fault really but like so many other people who do basically the same thing, you blame it on network marketing but that’s like getting food poisoning at a particular restaurant and then turning around and blaming the entire restaurant industry.

True. Unfortunately that does happen quite often though…

Yes it does… Unfortunately many people have a negative view of network marketing because they too  had a bad experience like that.

Well lucky for us you persevered Andy,  and in the time that I’ve known you I’ve come to realize that you are a fine leader and mentor. I’ve also heard you speak many times and quite often about personal development. Could you share with our readers some of your thoughts and philosophies on that subject?

Sure well the fundamentals of it really began when I started researching network marketing years after my initial experience with it.

Because I was so disaffected, I wanted to be sure I was doing my proper due diligence and research this time around and really what I wanted, was to able to shoot down network marketing as an option and just move on but what happened was just the opposite.

When I researched what this industry is all about, I discovered that it’s the only means for many people to start and build a business and create independence for themselves.

That instilled a belief in me and that’s a huge part of success in network marketing. If you don’t have a rock solid belief in the network marketing industry first, I don’t know that you could be a network marketer. That may sound a little crazy or trite or whatever, but it’s the truth.

There are many people who sign up to become network marketers thinking that the world is just going to come to them but if they don’t have a true belief in the industry and in what they are doing, the very first negative thing that somebody says to them is just going to knock them off the rails. It comes back to building you’re “why” you know, the classic network marketing training of having a solid “why” when you are building this business.

It’s vital because I know from experience  that there’s nothing that can touch network marketing. When someone tells me that it’s a scam or a pyramid, I know that it works so I don’t take it personally and without that rock solid belief, that wouldn’t be the case.

Next comes a belief in what you’re doing in the industry, doing your due diligence on the company and the products, the compensation plan etc. If you don’t do your due diligence, and know you are getting involved with a winning company, then quite frankly you deserve what you get!

You have to take it just as seriously as if you were dropping $500,000 on a franchise.

You have to know what and whom you are getting involved with. When you have that, when you take it that seriously, now you’re an unstoppable force because you have knowledge and belief in what you are doing. Nothing will deflect you – you won’t take anyone’s negativity personally.

Now I’d like to talk a bit about your “why.”

For myself, I’m not a big ‘goal setter’ and I’ll explain that in a minute but I have a vision of where I’m going and what my life looks like.

Everything for me revolves around the word “freedom” and living life on my own terms. So I have certain very clear picture of what that looks like but I don’t set goals because in my experience if I fail, it’s always a bit depressing, and if I reach my goal then it’s like, OK now what?

The difference between the two is that when you set goals, you’re working on the short term in order to achieve something step by step.

On the other hand, if you have a big clear vision, it helps you to be happy in a process and that’s a crucial part for me. The analogy I like to use has to do with weight training because I like to work out with weights but in the past, I needed to work with a trainer to  keep me on track.

Whenever I stopped using a personal trainer, I stopped training altogether and what that taught me was that I was no longer in the process.

I see, that’s a really good analogy Andy!

Right, but for the last three and a half or four years I haven’t had a personal trainer yet I haven’t missed a beat, and if I don’t train on any given day I feel awful so I’m now in the process.

It’s who I am and it’s who I want to be on a daily basis.

If I just had a weight loss goal of say fifteen pounds or whatever and I missed it, I know I’d fall off the rails because I wouldn’t be in the process.

So how that relates to network marketing is that we get paid when we share the business and the products with other people and if we’re not in the process of doing that on a daily basis, I don’t see how anyone could succeed in this industry.

So rather than setting a goal of making X amount of dollars this month or whatever, your “why’ becomes your big, clear vision of living life with your family, or having that big ranch in Montana, or whatever you want your life to be, and you engage in the process!

You have to embrace the process and really enjoy the process rather than to try to achieve short-term goals… if that makes any sense.

Absolutely Andy, I think that’s a sound philosophy. So you touched briefly on doing your due diligence with regard to choosing a company. Now I know there are a lot of people who join a network marketing company simply because they see Dollar signs in their eyes but really don’t have a strong passion for the company or the products themselves. Can you tell us why it’s important to believe in the company and products you represent?

Sure well there’s two sides to doing due diligence. The first part of that is to do your research on the industry and company you are interested in, and the second is to do due diligence on yourself.

Unfortunately many people fail to do either of those two things simply because getting into the business is so inexpensive.

They don’t perceive much in the way of risk so they don’t give it the effort they should but a new person really needs to check out the company very thoroughly.

• What is the background of the company
• Who are the owners
• Who is running things
• How long have they been in business
• Do they really have a high quality product or service that people want or need, etc.

The internet helps tremendously with all this.

Think of it this way: if you were going to spend 500 grand on a Franchise, wouldn’t you want to know everything you could about the company and people you were going into business with before putting your money on the table? Well fortunately you’re not spending that kind of money in network marketing but what you are spending now and in the future, is something much more precious which is your time and effort.

The beauty of network marketing is that if you invest your time and effort with the right company you only have to build your business once and you’re done! So speaking for myself, I went to the Sisel headquarters, I met with the owner, I looked at the products and the science behind them, you know, I really got in there and did my research. I didn’t just read the brochure and say, “Wow, great!” I gathered testimonials from different people, I met some of the leaders with Sisel, Looked at the company’s financials, all of that.

I had to be confident in the longevity in the company, how it’s structured and so on. We all know of people or have heard of people who have built a big network marketing business and thought they had everything going for them only to have the rug pulled out from underneath because the company wasn’t solid so, VERY important to do your research on the company.

The second part of the equation and just as important, is to do due diligence on yourself. You are going to need to build a bullet proof armor of belief in network marketing and your company and how can you do that if you don’t really believe in yourself? Can you really look at yourself in the mirror and say, “Yes, I’m going to talk to 10 or 15 people everyday” Can you do that – are you WILLING to do that?

Are you willing to learn the necessary skills in order to achieve success in this industry? Are you willing to get better, are you coachable? If you can’t say yes to all of these things, if the answer is no, then you shouldn’t be doing it. If coming home at night and turning on American Idol is more important to you than building a big business and a tremendous lifestyle, then you shouldn’t be looking at this business. If you’re not willing to devote yourself to your business, treat it like a big business, then you won’t succeed – bottom line.

Wise words Andy ,wise words… So you mentioned the company Sisel before. Can you tell us more about what excited you about Sisel so much that you wanted to join with them over some of the other big names in the industry?

Sure well what got my attention about Sisel International is that its owner Tom Mower had previously built the fifth largest network marketing company in history. After he sold it, he then began building Sisel by starting with a 400,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Utah which actually manufactures products for about 150 other companies  - some of the most well known company’s both in network marketing and retail.

So what I saw was a very cash rich, debt free company with zero manufacturing costs because of all the money coming in from the other companies. So Sisel has about 120 products that they manufacture for themselves and the costs are paid for by competitors who also have their products manufactured at Sisel’s plant. So from a business standpoint that told me that they had the cash or capital to design and manufacture superior products for themselves and that there was more money for the distributors who are out there selling the products.

So initially I was excited about the company purely from a business standpoint but later I fell in love with the products after using them myself and learning more about the science behind them. So I feel very fortunate to be working with Sisel International.

Excellent! Well Sisel is a company that we’re very impressed with also… OK, let’s switch gears here a little bit… Can you tell us a little about what you like to do when you’re not busy being a professional network marketer?

Ha! It sounds like I work all day doesn’t it but that’s absolutely not the case. (laughing) I totally love the freedom that network marketing gives me so that I can goof off and spend time doing other things that I enjoy but to start with, I have a 3 -year old son and I’m very much devoted to him. We go hiking and things like that and I try to spend as much time with him as I can. Some of my more selfish pleasures include my car Ariel Atom, which is a ridiculous street legal racecar that I love to drive through the canyons and all that.

I also love ocean sport fishing and I do that as often as I can, and I’m a fanatical fan of a soccer team in England called Leeds United so when I feel the need to self flagellate and torture myself I’ll watch Leeds United lose a game (laughs)

Well that sounds like good therapy Andy!

It is, it is… let’s me get all my negative emotions out!

Very cool, so could you tell us something that most people don’t know about you?

Hmmm… Let’s see…Well I once stood at 18,500 feet looking down on the base camp of Mount Everest, which is still to this day one of my greatest achievements. That’s on a mountain called Kala Pattar in the Himalayas.

I had attended eleven different schools by the age of eleven, my father was into some very exotic things which allowed me to travel all over the world, and I sing in a band, if you want to call it that, which is a secret that will be well hidden until my funeral when they’ll finally be allowed to play our CD at will!

Alright Andy that sounds great. Well thank you so very much for spending time with us here today. We wish you all the best in the future and we look forward to talking with you again real soon.

Thank you very much, It’s been a pleasure!

You can visit Andy Smith on Facebook by clicking this link

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Tags: Andy Smith, Ariel Atom, interview, network marketing, Sisel International

Category: Interviews