It is better to be gentle and patient then it is to be forceful and quick.
For more than 20 years as an accomplished leader in network marketing, Todd Smith paves a new path with exclusive organic heirloom products. The plants are hand cultivated in volcanic soil, watered only by natural rainfall, and are rare jewels of the Fiji Islands.
Todd’s career has been dedicated to advocating for healthcare products. He and his wife Darcia and their five (now eight) daughters spent two years living in Australia. They had expanded their former network marketing venture to Australia and New Zealand. They then returned home to Utah and continued to grow their business.
In October of 2016, Todd Smith became a co-founder and joined Founder David H. Gilmore for the official launch of Wakaya Perfection as network marketing company. Wakaya Perfection products were previously sold exclusively in high-end retail markets and boutiques. Mr. Gilmore wanted to share these products across all socioeconomic groups, so he embraced this new marketing plan to make products more assessable. All products are now available to the masses along with a home business opportunity.
Where did the idea for Wakaya Perfection come from?
Wakaya Perfection was an idea that came from the owner and founder David H. Gilmore. He has a long history of initiating start-up companies and making them a great success. He was a speaker at an American Express conference. During the conference, participants had concluded that having control of your own time was life’s greatest luxury. Gilmore argued that all the wealth and time in the world could not compare to having the luxury of good health. His comments were followed by a standing ovation with participants in complete agreement. Gilmore had an epiphany on his way home from this conference. He has been known for having start-up companies all of his life, but not one that addressed how to maintain great health. He determined that he would find the means to provide healthy lifestyle products. He managed to find ancient turmeric, and ginger growing in the jungles of the Fiji Islands. These plants remained unspoiled by the passage of time or the incursion of man, maintaining their original potency and integrity, with properties not found in ordinary plants. Gilmore began to farm these plants in the virgin volcanic soil on his private Fijian Island, Wakaya. He carefully cultivated and harvested these rare jewels by hand, avoiding all modern machinery and chemicals. Mr. Gilmore introduced his healthy lifestyle products to the market in exclusive retail markets. In 2016 his products were made available to the masses. That is how Wakaya Perfection began.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I still have four out of eight daughters living at home. We have adapted our lives to our business. After the girls are off to school, I head into the Utah office (we have another office on the East Coast, where our company President and some of the staff are located). I make calls most of the day. I usually speak with our executive team or our top distributors, customers, and or suppliers. I also help with product formulation as well as the fulfillment of products. Most of my business with distributors take place in the evenings when they are more available. That is when we conduct our conference calls. It is also when we have our live meetings and webinars.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I bounce new ideas off of trusted friends. I surround myself with people who are more skeptical of my ideas. They are not just YES people. They question me, dissect the idea and break it down then give me both positive and negative sides of the idea. To bring an idea to life involves a lot of trusted people.
What’s one trend that excites you?
It amazes me how many people are looking for a side gig. But I am appalled at people who join Uber or Lyft where they are driving their own vehicle around to get paid. There are more 1099’s issued to Uber drivers then are 1099’s issued to the entire network marketing industry. It intrigues me to know that there are so many people that want to make an extra income. Uber found a way to repackage the taxi service and people flocked to join them. Now they have an unlimited supply of people. The trend is knowing that Wakaya Perfection has the opportunity to repackage our way of doing business so that we would have an unlimited amount of people wanting to do what we do as well.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
One habit that I insist on is that I do not work on Sunday. Early on in my career, I decided to take the day off to rest. It is a time where I completely step out of everything that I am doing for work. I take time to spend in worship and bonding with my family. I free my mind and soul from some of the pressures and come back on a Monday refreshed and ready to conquer the next mountain. It has been a blessing for me to completely disconnect myself for one day a week.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell my younger self that it is better to be gentle and patient then it is to be forceful and quick. I have always thought that I get things done because I put myself to a task and I put blinders on until it is done – and in some areas, that has proven to be beneficial and profitable. However, my wife has taught me that life has a way of working itself out and problems have a way of finding a resolution. Often times you can get to that resolution just as fast and just as effectively while still remaining calm and patient.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I believe that I am a very emotional person. No one around me would believe that. Most people think I am a stone. But I am actually a very emotional person. I just do not show my emotions.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I take a little bit of time to write down and unload the lists in my mind. Leaving them in your head takes up too much bandwidth. It is so helpful to take the time to jot down a daily list of tasks to get done for the day so that I don’t have to keep a mental note. Once I have made a list, I prioritize the list and go through it. The things that I don’t get to one day will go on the list for the next day. It is also a good feeling to be able to check a task off the list.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
My best strategy is my Sundays off. Anyone who works with me knows that they can email me, but they will not hear back from me until Monday. There have been times where there have been emergencies but not often. Being able to carve that day out allows me to be much more effective on the other six days.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I spent a good deal of money on advertising and promoting a big lecture. I paid for everything, I rented the venue, paid for T.V. newspaper, advertising, the whole thing. Everything was budgeted for 300 people, but we had 30 people in total. It felt like a failure. I had a conversation with a colleague who helped me to change my perspective on the whole situation. As it turned out, there was one individual out of the 30 who attended, that turned into 10’s of thousands of dollars in sales within a single year.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Uber made being a taxi driver change from a comedian’s best joke and everyone speaking in derogatory terms about being a cab driver into a thriving business. People see Uber as a business opportunity and people are clamoring to sign-up. They made it easy for people. If you analyze the way Uber turned the market upside-down then you can understand that there are lots and lots of people looking for an opportunity or a side gig. Uber didn’t invent the wheel, they added technology and made it user friendly. Now people are clamoring to sign up.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I spent that money on Audible. It has changed all of my travel time to my university. I buy informative or inspiring books. It is the best hundred dollars I have spent.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Audible is the first one. Our office uses a collaboration software. it is a project-based software. It coordinates projects.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I would recommend everyone read the bible. The gospels in the new testament are the best.
What is your favorite quote?
You can get anything that you want to in life if you help other people get what they want out of life.
Key Learnings:
• It is better to be gentle and patient then it is to be forceful and quick.
• Life has a way of working itself out. Problems have a way of finding a resolution.
• Take the time to spend in worship and bonding with family.
Connect:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.