Pamela Barnum - A Lawyers Case for Network Marketing

Copyright 2017 by Pamela Barnum

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pamela Barnum

A Lawyers Case for Network Marketing / Pamela Barnum.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-54391-666-9

1. Network Marketing. 2. Quality of Work Life. 3. Entrepreneurship (Business). I. Barnum, Pamela. II. A Lawyers Case for Network Marketing.

First Edition

14 13 12 11 10 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN: 978-1-54391-666-9

ISBN: 978-1-54391-667-6 (ebook)

For Kevin and Kaleb: My reasons why. Thank you for loving and supporting me. Without you, none of this would be possible.

T his very thought might have passed through my mind that day in 2001had I not been busy jumping out of a speeding car driven by a drug dealer. What did pass through my mind was that I was making a horrible mistake, and it only took me seconds to realize this. My right shoulder, elbow, and thigh told me very clearly within an instant that jumping out of a fast-moving car onto a paved road was not one of my better ideas.

It was the middle of May and the undercover project I was working on was wrapping up. The next day was takedown day the day our undercover unit rounded up and arrested all the drug dealers wed been buying from. It was my job to coordinate one of the rips we had planned. A rip is pretty much what it sounds like: you rip off the drug dealer by ordering up a large quantity of drugs and then taking it without paying. On this particular day, I was going to rip a couple of drug dealers off for $250,000 worth of Ecstasy.

For the previous eight months, I had cultivated a relationship with a drug dealer named Joe. Hed sold cocaine to my partner, Kevin Barnum, and me on several occasions. (Yes. Barnum. As you can probably tell, I ended up marrying my partner when the project ended. Thats a story that deserves its own book!)

The plan was supposed to play out like this: Joe and his backend (the dealers dealer) were both supposed to get into my undercover Jeep Wrangler. Then, I was supposed to drive them and the drugs to meet my backend: another undercover police officer at a local hotel. There would be a half dozen cover officers in the area ready to arrest all of us when the deal went down. The police would get the drugs, the drug dealers would be arrested and I would be crowned a superhero. OK, not really a superhero, but I would get to continue ripping off drug dealers for another twenty-four hours until everyone was rounded up.

Notice that jumping out of a moving car was not in the plan. Trust me, when you fall, jump, roll, or whatever from a moving car, it looks nothing like it does on TV; at least, not from the perspective of the person jumping. My uncontrollable skidding along the pavement turned out to be a metaphor for so much more than the undercover project I was working on. My jumping was symbolic of what my professional life had become: micro-management, politics, assumptions, and power struggles. As Im sure you know, these are all things we deal with in every part of our lives, both personally and professionally. Perhaps youre skidding along lifes road and you dont like the direction youre headed in ... but youre also not too keen on the idea of jumping out.

Maybe the road youre on leads to a cubicle for fifty or sixty hours a week. You dont really remember which off-ramp you took that led to your current situation; but here you are, stuck in traffic listening to the Top 40 to pass the time. Its not so bad, you have air conditioning and a cup holder, what more could you ask for? Youre so used to the path youre on that the very idea of change terrifies you. Better to stay on cruise control for forty years rather than risk making another wrong turn.

Maybe you are just starting on your journey. Youve just finished college and youre excited about the opportunities ahead. The problem is youre looking around and you cant see any exit ramps, no fun stops, just a long straight road that never seems to end. On top of all of that, you have student loans to pay. You cant think of anything else right now.

Or maybe your road is exciting! It already has lots of turns and interesting scenery. I hope it is. Im doubtful though, because if you were on a joy ride with two tickets to paradise you likely wouldnt be reading this book looking for an alternate route to your goals.

Its more likely that your vehicle is pretty comfortable. It may not be the vehicle of your dreams but it gets you from A to B. Its the same one most of your friends are driving. Its probably the same one youre all complaining about. Youve settled for a safe vehicle that gets you to your destination safely every day. Your adrenaline rarely, if ever, pumps, and youre terrified to admit that this is not the vehicle you want to keep for forty years. Youre driving a minivan but you fantasize that, one day youll be sporting a Lamborghini.

Every once in awhile you head over to the Lamborghini showroom and you slide in behind the wheel, you take a selfie and fantasize about one day. And then you get out and you settle. You settle for less than you want, less than I deserved. You settle for average.

I know a bit about settling. Not only from living in a drug culture for so many years, but also from my own mistakes. The fact is that even though I was a successful undercover investigator, and later a respected prosecutor, I settled for less than I wanted, less than what I deserved. Until recently, I thought success was a good career that ended with a lifetime benefits package and a good pension. Instead of building an income around the lifestyle I wanted, I made a lifestyle around my income and the fragments of time not eaten up by my career.