My parents always said, “Get an education and get a good job!” I went to college, got a degree in business administration and got a good job. Two years later, I was laid off and wound up in business for myself, first owning a pizza restaurant, then a restaurant equipment business and finally selling food for a major Italian food distributor. Every week, I was working 55 to 70 hours and driving 600 to 800 miles. I was earning good money, had a company car and received all the benefits and perks. In July 1997, I was hospitalized with quadruple-bypass heart surgery. I realized that we are not invincible, and I had better find a plan B.

Two of my friends, Randy Bias and Dave Whisman, introduced me to PPLSI in August 1997. By working the system and allowing the team to help me, I qualified for the Executive Director level.

We learned from Larry and Mary King and Carol Smith and the late Wilburn Smith. They said, “You need to inconvenience yourself by helping other people.” If you help enough other people, you will reach your own goals! PPLSI helps people who help people, and we have the opportunity to earn an income while doing it.

We have helped many pastors and churches in the eastern United States. I have worked with Pastor Lesly Marcelin and his son Joel Marcelin to build a team and spread the PPLSI word. We helped three people reach the Executive Director level. Pastor Lesly and his beautiful wife, Gabrielle, joined us for the Punta Cana incentive trip that we earned a few years ago. They are from Haiti and really appreciated the trip. Since the disaster in Haiti, Pastor Lesly has made numerous trips to Haiti and has built an orphanage, housing more than 100 children, a school and a medical center. We sponsor a child and contribute every month.

We continue to grow and work with all of our team. Through them, especially Lit Dryden, we meet business leaders and expand in many directions. By working and partnering with associations, organizations and brokers as well as expanding our team, our growth continues.

Through all of this our faith in God grows as well as our belief in our fellow men and women. We love helping people realize their dreams and attain their goals.

In February 2015, I had a second open-heart surgery and my wife, Betsy, was in a serious car accident. Recovery from the surgery was longer than the first one, but I continued to work from home, thanks to PPLSI, and we still grew.

PPLSI has given my wife Betsy and me our lives back, and allowed us to enjoy our five children — Izzy, Ilana, Debi, Kathy and A.J. — and our 17 grandchildren. We can travel and enjoy time with our true friends and family.