I have been a network marketer for two years now. I am a home-based business owner with a line of health and wellness products and a business opportunity that has changed my life and the lives of thousands. I’ve built a team of men and women who have been able to leave full-time careers to stay at home with their children. My business opportunity has helped others pay off student loans, credit card debt and mortgages. I have connected people who have grown into the best of friends, have helped heal past emotional scars and have turned scared, ashamed girls into beautiful, confident women.

So why is there such a stigma on the industry? Why is it so hard for people to believe in themselves or others enough to see the truth in the success stories and believe they could be one of them? Also, why is it so much easier to look at someone involved in a home-based business and judge them negatively? Before I started my business, I was the friend everyone turned to for advice. Whether it was work related, relationships or just in life, I was the go-to. So why did my friends stop seeing me as that voice of reason and good judgment when I started a new adventure? More importantly, why was it so hard for them to be happy for me or supportive?

My guess is that it was easier and less scary to assume the worst about the products and business than to believe in what they already knew of me. I’ll be the first to admit, our flagship product is pretty unbelievable! It was more natural to be a skeptic, to see only the negative, to not let that inner "what if" voice be heard.

It has taken me two years to regain the reputation I once had and in that time, I realized the opinions of others just don't matter to me all that much. Over those two years, I have fallen madly in love with an incredible line of products, my health, and hundreds of other crazy people just like me who took a chance and tried something different. For me, network marketing is a way of life. It’s what almost all of my friends do and I am so thankful it has become my new normal. Do I still see people fail? Yes, but that is more a result of giving up, quitting and not taking the time to learn about the industry than a result of the business model.

After two years, I can confidently say, starting my network marketing business was the greatest career and personal decision of my life. There is nothing more rewarding to me than leading and mentoring others to success. There is no other career path with the earning potential I have found and no other products I would rather represent. I am happily married to my home-based business and am so thankful it has helped me find my confidence and believe in a business model that is changing lives all over the world.