Xango, Superfruits, Network Marketing?

I am just about as average as they come. I went to High School in the Seattle area, graduated from college, went on to get a Masters and am now a home owner, husband, and father of 3 (with one on the way) children. I work forty hours a week, try to live within my means, and have very little time to spend on much more than work, family, church, and community.

In May 2008, my wife was introduced to the enormous world of superfruits and the plethora of associated juices offered through network marketing companies. The one she chose was called Xango made from a fruit I never heard of - mangosteen. To be fair, I was not thrilled in any way with her choice. How was any fruit going to offer my family any benefit beyond just eating fresh fruits and vegetables available at the local grocery store? Also, I wasn't too happy about the price tag. $25 a bottle wholesale! My wife insisted that it would be worth it but all I could think of was our current situation and it was bleak.

I worked as an analyst for a city and one of my primary jobs was to figure out how to keep the city in the black facing a huge deficit in revenue due to the housing crash and consequent recession. I could tell that my job was on the chopping block and was preparing for unemployment. As expected, in June I was laid off and the thought of paying for expensive fruit juice was just another monthly obligation I wasn't going to be able to afford. Fortunately, we were able to move, live off unemployment, had enough savings, and through the help of friends, our church, and mostly our family we were able to maintain a good lifestyle. I found a job in September, so my unemployment did not last very long.

In the meantime, I still wanted to cut as many unnecessary expenses as I could. I thought our mangosteen juice was an obvious choice, but my wife insisted that we continue. I was skeptical and did not believe that the juice was worth the price; also, my wife had signed up to be an independent distributor so we could get the wholesale price. This was my first introduction to the network-marketing model and I was adamantly against it. The thoughts "pyramid scheme" and "we are going to lose a lot of money to make other people rich" was all I could hear. I told my wife I would have nothing to do with it and she had better not waste any quality family time conducting home parties, presentations, or damaging relationships by trying to sign family and friends up.

Through the summer, we had many terrible arguments about the business and I wanted her to quit immediately and not waste another penny, but my wife was very stubborn. I was very uncomfortable about the whole situation and the only way I supported my wife was allowing her to continue to get the juice and let the kids drink it (after all, if you want a happy life, you have to have a happy wife). It does taste good and I figured it was a good way to get a serving of fruit into all of our diets.

Naturally, my wife began talking to people about the mangosteen fruit and its properties, the juice, about the company, and the business opportunity as an independent distributor. She worked the business casually and only on occasion did she approach me about listening to a presentation or going to a meeting. My response every time - No way, I was not going to waste my time and neither should she.

Months went by, my job was going well, we bought a home, got to know our neighbors, and life was good. Two things happened that began to change the way I thought about Xango. The first thing was the health of my family, my extended family, and friends that asked to try it. My family did not get the flu and only suffered from very minor colds that lasted a day or two this last winter. My mother-in-law who suffers from terrible allergies was off Benadryl and all other types of medication and enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables, the outdoors, etc. and all she was doing different was drinking the mangosteen juice. Also, some friends who have allergies tried drinking it and they claimed to feel an immediate effect. I began listening to other people who drank the stuff and they all talked about amazing changes they had experienced.

Now, Xango is a supplement, not a drug, and the properties of the mangosteen including its pericarp (the husk) are just barely beginning to be explored (for more on the mangosteen and its properties, see: What is the Mangosteen) so no scientific claims can be made about how effectual the juice is on any health condition, but I can give my personal witness that it does do something even if we don't fully understand what. If you don't believe me, talk to my mother-in-law - I'll give you her contact information in an email (smith.partnership@gmail.com). She loves to talk and she will tell you all about it (plan to be on the phone for a while, she has the gift to gab). I too have felt the benefits and have not called in sick once since drinking the juice. Not having to go to the doctor, buy pharmaceuticals, or the down-time associated with being sick more than makes up what we pay for the juice. Taking preventive measures with a good tasting juice is much more enjoyable than the feeling of being sick, the side effects and ineffectiveness of drugs, and the horrible recovery process. If you are confused, like I was, about superfruits, juices, which one is best, etc. see the article "One Superfruit to Rule Them All?"

The second thing that helped soften my skepticism toward Xango and network marketing (MLM) in general was the first significant check that we received from them. My wife had not bought all the sales tools, gone to trainings, meetings, held meetings, etc. and yet she was now bringing in an income that now pays for the juice and continues to steadily increase every month. All she did was let people try the juice, they bought it for some crazy reason, and now she gets commissions for just talking about what it does for us. This caused me to take a serious look at this nontraditional business model and it actually made sense and was easy to understand. I won't bore you with the details of what I discovered here, you can read about them in my article "Network Marketing is not for Dummies: The MLM Model versus the Corporate Model"

These two things: better health and an increasing part-time income, have compelled me to be a believer instead of a skeptic in Xango and the network marketing model. I firmly believe in the product, I have personally reaped the benefits and have seen its effect on those who truly need something natural to help them with their ailments. The company is solid and their business plan is simple, powerful, and benefiting many ambitious and even the not so ambitious financially.

In brief, the truth about Xango is that it benefited the health of my family and everyone I know that uses it and the company is solid and will likely reap continued growth because of the quality of its product.

If you are still a skeptic, have more questions, considering the different juices, looking to start your own low-risk business - drop me an email (smith.partnership@gmail.com) and I'll be more than willing to help you out. I look forward to our next encounter.

To your well-being,

Jacob J Smith