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Hi, my name is Andrea and I live in Munich, Germany with my husband, Matthew, our son Micheal and our dog, Penelope.
Although Michael earns a good living as an Architectural Engineer it still just never seems to be enough to keep our heads
above water. It probably doesn't help that he's self employed – no steady pay check for us! We have months of feast and then
unfortunately, months of famine; and when the stock market took a nose dive so did our retirement money. Now with the economy
being so unstable we really need something we can rely on not just to afford life's luxuries but to afford life. That's why I
started looking in the internet for a work at home that I could do to bring in extra money.
I moved to Germany from Chicago about seven years ago... for love of course! I met my husband on a blind date when I was passing
through Germany (believe it or not) and knew as soon as I saw him that "he was the one." Basically, I'm a stay at home mom,
recently and a work at home mom and that's just the way I like it. It makes me happy knowing that I'm always available for Michael.
Occasionally, I do voice over work as my background is in drama, which is a lot of fun and even pays pretty well but it's really
catch as catch can. Sometimes I work 3 or 4 times a week sometimes only once a month, so it's nothing to count on.
Munich is an absolutely gorgeous city and actually, I feel very lucky to live here. It has the biggest city park in the world
(twice the size of New York's Central Park) and we make good use of it; riding our bikes, going for long walks and picnicking.
We also live less than an hour's drive from the Alps where in the warmer months you'll find us hiking, and in winter; skiing.
Other than those activities we're basically home bodies. Our idea of a great night "out" is inviting friends over for dinner
and since I love to cook, I get to show off a bit as well. Besides, Matthias always helps with the clean up which is the part I hate.
We need an extra income so I was searching for a job. The first thing I did was take inventory of my life's experiences. Anything I
thought would be of use to me in my search for a GOOD job. Let's see... I studied acting, and then worked as an actress/playwright (in between
stints as a bartender/waitress) from about eight-teen to twenty-eight. Somewhere in the middle there, I moved to Rome, and learned how to
speak Italian. About a year or so after my return to the good old US of A, I became a flight attendant (mostly for the benefits). Shortly
after becoming a "sky hostess," I met my husband and you know what happened from there. Hmmm. It doesn't take an M.A. in Finance to figure
out I was not going to have my pick of choice jobs.
That doesn't mean I didn't try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I figured the worst anybody could say to me was "no, thanks." Of course,
I had some pretty particular requirements for my new career as well. First and foremost, it had to be something I enjoyed. Running a close
second was it had to pay well. I figured that although on paper, it didn't look like I had a whole lot to give, in reality I was a "diamond
in the rough," and wanted appropriate compensation. (Okay, so I'm not short on self-esteem.) And lastly, I wanted to be able to determine
when and where I would work.
I did get some interesting offers... but in the end nothing was "just right". Not easily discouraged, it seemed my next best option was to
think about self employment. I did as I always do when I want to learn about a new subject. I ordered and read books; lots and lots of
books. Amazone.de loves me. Now, as you can imagine, there are plenty of books on the subject of Entrepreneurialism and I have probably
read half of them. Books about how to write a business plan, choose a location, entice clients, how to network with your business card,
how to open a franchise, books that teach you what they don't teach you at Harvard Business School, positioning books (no, they have
nothing to do with Karma Sutra) and guerrilla marketing books. And that was just the first week.
What I discovered was this: almost every venture has a large element of risk. The minimum cost for a franchise that interested me,
(remember my number one criteria for a job was I had to enjoy it) was ten thousand dollars. That was before I even rented a storefront
and paid the necessary legal fees. It just didn't seem right. And, then I was lucky enough while surfing the internet to stumble across
an Team National website one day while in a chat room for work at home moms.
As soon as I saw all that Team National was willing to invest in me without me having to make a substantial financial commitment myself,
I was hooked.
The very best thing about Team National for me is that once I joined, I realized I was in business for myself but not by myself. It was
like purchasing a franchise without the huge cost. All the support, merchandising, training, packaging, and payroll were included.
The work is very simple but not easy. In this business if you do nothing you earn nothing. People who seem to do extremely well are
those that are willing to learn, then become leaders to their organization and pass on that information. Some people may not like the
fact that their future rests entirely in their hands but that is something that inspires me.
Another bonus to the business is that you can "take it with you" where ever you go. Have internet will travel. So, it really doesn't
matter where you are in the world. That's good news to a citizen of the world like me because who knows where we'll end up? To be honest,
I dream of a comfortable early retirement somewhere warm where the sand is soft and the breezes are cool. I can honestly say that I have
been making a profit with Team National since my third month and am starting to feel comfortable in the thought that if things continue
like this, we will soon be able to work a little less and enjoy life a lot more.
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Getting out of your comfort zone
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