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Truth be told, the county of Manitowoc has forty thousand more cows than it does people. For the eighty thousand folks who call this slice of Wisconsin Americana home, however, it’s more than just farmland and fences.
In fact, Eric Welch’s chunk of paradise comes with impossibly green grass, tall trees filled with generous climbing branches, a gaggle of rope swings throughout his property and its share of daddy longleg spiders. It has five hilly acres that stretch into the middle of a wide river and no visible neighbors to speak of. For each of his five kids (plus wee baby Levi) who live here, this is some kinda snake and toad catching paradise.
So, while Eric wants to get the message across to “bring dads back home,” it helps that this kind of wonderland exists in his own backyard. Coming home is a good/great/beautiful thing.
“It’s a very unique message, but coming home, or being able to work from home, that has always been our motivation,” 200K Distributor Eric says from a pavilion behind his house. “We wanted to be in control of our lives. I don’t want to be a paycheck to my kids. I didn’t then and I don’t now.”
And, as a self-proclaimed family man, it’s dubious anyone will accuse him of being anything but. Unemployed for a good five months or so prior to his start in XanGo, he almost missed that boat, too. He says he only really understood it well enough initially to buy XanGo® Juice for his family now and again. It’s one of the few nutritional things they’d actually taken a liking to.
“I knew there was only so much broccoli my kids would eat,” he says.
In fact, when he attended a meeting in Green Bay where Kent Wood and Chris Peterson were speaking, it was only as a favor to a friend—it certainly wasn’t to find a job. Both he and wife Heidi had decided he needed something solid and secure in order to raise their growing family properly. There was no time to chase some adventure like XanGo. As far they were concerned, it wasn’t even an option.
Fortunately, when he did his surprise 180-degree turn by the time he returned home, Heidi came around, too—eventually. She saw how it was affecting the lives of their friends and she became intrigued.
“I remember what Eric said, too. He said, ‘I don’t totally understand this, but I need to look into it. All I know is I trust these guys,’” she says.
That initial sense of trust led to plenty of research. The research, in turn, led him to his basement. It was there Eric listened to hours upon hours of recorded calls from seasoned distributors; he was absolutely certain he’d find something wrong with the company. He was more of less hoping for that to happen.
Still, he didn’t entirely see XanGo as a business opportunity. A week later, though, he did.
“I was trying to read between the lines to see what wasn’t there,” he says. “Only I came to the conclusion it had to be what it sounded like. It sounded too good to be true … but I decided it had to be.”
Once he made that decision, his life began to change. (“March 23, 2005 will go down in the annals of the Welch family history,” Heidi says) With the gift of desperation on his side, Eric had no choice but to take his business seriously. There was no time to hypothesize. He simply dug down, pushed hard and climbed the ranks to Premier Select in just five months’ time. It created an expectation of success in himself as well as his downline; when Distributors joined his group, they entered into an environment literally built on high expectations.
But making money is just one of those lofty aspirations that came with the territory—family time is just as important, if not more so.
Allowing mothers to stay home with their families while simultaneously working has been a typical theme for the network marketing scheme of things. As for bringing dads back home? Not so much. In fact, this is a bit of a first. That doesn’t seem to faze Eric, however. Sharing the message and idea with other fathers, essentially showing them a different way, is something he will continue to do.
“You don’t want to think about that ‘trapped inside of your life’ feeling that you feel as a man,” he says. “You just keep telling yourself it’s okay because that’s what they do.”
Being able to spend so much time with his family these past number of years, along with sharing this message with young families, is a huge part of who Eric is. He urges lifestyle over income, moving from survival mode to creation mode, in particular with young families. XanGo’s allowed him to tap into that vision.
“To see our success duplicated there, that’s important,” he says, surrounded on all sides by his sons and daughter, all under the age of 9. “Time matters. Your kids are growing up.”
“I’ll be gone for six hours and you’d think I’d been gone a week,” Eric says, describing the typical reaction he receives upon arriving home.
Their group is a very localized one, but not for long. Eric and Heidi are eager to expand into other countries relatively soon. Russia, in particular, is one country they can’t help but be excited about.
And reaching 200K was a feat in itself, but Heidi, who homeschools her kids, says 500K is definitely the next step for their family. Eric can’t agree more.
“We start with a blank page in life. You write your own story. But sticky notes start to show up that are written by others, you know?” he explains.
“I did not want to live life by going through the motions. I never had a place where I felt my passions could best come out until I found XanGo. I don’t have to protect my heart from being hurt here … this is a safe place.”
As for the place he lives in, he’s able to get warm cheese curds from one popular gas station just 10 minutes away. Fresh every Tuesday and Saturday if he wants it.
Just remember, he’s got six kids. If he doesn’t answer his phone right away, he has a better reason than most. He’s either got a diaper to change or has finally gotten around to putting that promised tire swing up.
Whatever the case, he will get back to you. That’s one of those rock-solid promises you can take to the bank.
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