23/05/2009 Rocktown Weekly: Profile

[ne ws] [life ] [focus] [profile ] [com m e nta ry] [dive rsions] [out a nd about] [tim e wa sters] [ge t your own]

May 22, 2009

Se a rch Rocktown:
Go
Forget normal, imagine possible

Clarine Hays
By Andre w Je nner a ndre w@rocktownm a il.com

A ge: 5 7
If you think this sort of
busine ss solicita tion — Sta rt Birthplac e: N eptune, N .J .
O n The P a th To Succe ss …
Zodiac Sign: Saggitarius
Unlim ite d Pote ntia l! —
sounds overblown a nd Bes t movie watc hed rec ently: “P as s ion
suspicious, then you of the C hris t”
probably ha ve a t le a st two
problem s: I deal vac ation: Somewhere in the
C aribbean, or maybe Switzerland, or a
1. You a re wrong. vis it to relatives in Sweden.

2. You a re a cog in the M odays — love ‘em or hate ‘em: N either.

Am e rica n syste m (wa ke -
work -sle e p-re pe a t) trappe d
by what you im a gine to be
norm a l, blind to wha t’s
a ctua lly possible .
You’re wrong be ca use the re
a re pe ople a round you now
Clarine Hays (left), owner of C. Hays International,
a chie ving Unlim ite d
P ote ntia l! and you a re a cog
be ca use , we ll, m ost of us a re
tra ined to think Unlim ite d
P ote ntia l! just isn’t possible.
Just don’t confuse possible
with ea sy.
J ob and bus ines s s ort of blur
weekend/weekday dis tinc tion.
F riday evening ac tivity: H anging out with
friends who are a s tep or two ahead with
their bus ines s es .
C offee or tea: U s ed to drink a lot of
c offee, but c onverted to energy drinks .
meets with perspective client Megan Dew of Still drinks c offee with des s ert.
Harrisonburg at the Campus Corner on Port
Republic Road. F avorite s port: L ongtime s oftball player
and c oac h
Photo by Nikki Fox F avorite mus ic ian: Keith G reen and
M erc y M e

“Som e tim e s it just doe sn’t ha ppe n whe n you inte nd,” said Harrisonburg reside nt Cla rine
Ha ys, serve r at Cra ck e r Ba rre l a nd owne r of C. Ha ys Inte rna tiona l, the com pa ny tha t she’s
counting on to carry he r to gre a t, a nd e ve ntua lly ea sy, we a lth.
[P rofile Archive ]
She ope ra te s C . Hays Inte rna tiona l through Am wa y/Q uix tar, a la rge , global dire ct-
m a rk e ting outfit that se lls a nd ships just about e ve ry sort of product a va ila ble to
custom e rs’ doorsteps. Ha ys, a nd a ll the othe r “inde pende nt busine ss owne rs” (as the y ca ll
the m se lve s), se ll Am wa y products — a va rie ty is a vaila ble , som e of it e xclusive to Am wa y,
som e of it through partne rships with sca ds of othe r big-tim e re ta il outfits; a ltoge the r,
Am way ge ne ra te d $8.4 billion in re ve nue la st ye a r — through their W eb site s. He r incom e is
ba se d on C. Ha ys Inte rna tiona l sa le s volum e , a nd sale s volum e through every othe r
inde pende nt busine ss tha t Ha ys a dds to her own ne twork . To a chie ve he r goa ls, the n, Ha ys
only ha s to convince friends a nd a cqua intances to buy things online from he r W e b site (a nd
ge t the m to spre a d the word), or convince the m to be lie ve in the m selves a nd sta rt Am wa y
busine sse s of the ir own (a nd lik e wise spre a d the word).

The m ore the m e rrie r — a nd the riche r. It ta ke s good pe ople sk ills, but a nyone can do it,
she sa ys. Tha t voice tha t sa ys “I can’t” is your inne r cog spe a k ing. Ignore it. Ide ntify your
dre a m s, a nd a chie ve the m . It can ha ppe n. It will happen, Ha ys sa ys.

Ha ys wa s living in Ke ntuck y a de ca de a go when she first beca m e a n Am way busine ss owne r

— just divorced, work ing severa l jobs a nd look ing for som e thing, a nything, to m a x im ize he r
pre cious spa re tim e . At first, the Am wa y busine ss wa s pure pe rsona l conve nie nce ; orde ring
e ve rything to he r door saved trips to the store , and brought in a little ca sh tha nk s to he r
se lf-ge ne rate d sa les volum e .

She ca m e to Virginia shortly the re afte r, to join a m ore vibra nt ne twork (Am wa y owne rs hold
re gular m ee tings for support a nd encoura ge m e nt, be ca use the busine sse s’ structure s
m e a n e ntire ne twork s rise or fa ll toge ther) a nd be closer to he r pa re nts, who’d re tire d to
Broa dwa y. She took a job se rving a t Cra ck e r Ba rre l, got se rious a bout de ve loping C. Hays
Inte rna tiona l and figure d she’d ha ve it m ade within a fe w ye ars.

And the n life be ga n ha ppe ning.

“The re ’s a ll k inds of things tha t inte rrupt, tha t we ha ve no control over,” sa id Ha ys.

Lik e when he r da ughte r in Arka nsa s wa s driving a lone one night in 2002, cra shed a nd die d.
And whe n, a few ye a rs late r, fa m ily circum sta nces re sulted in Ha ys ta king in tha t da ughte r’s
three childre n, in k inde rga rte n through fourth gra de, for the ne x t two a nd a ha lf yea rs
be fore the y re turne d to the ir da d in Ark a nsa s. And how tha t additional burde n on he r
fina nce s m e a nt she ha d to ta k e a n office job a t a m a nufa cturing com pa ny in Da yton. O r
how, this past Janua ry, she got la id off from tha t job, forcing her ba ck full-tim e to C ra cke r
Ba rre l — a ll of this de ple ting he r tim e, e nergy a nd e m otiona l re source s, a ll of this m ak ing

rocktownweekly.com/…/profile.php?A… 1/3
23/05/2009 Rocktown Weekly: Profile
it ha rd for C. Ha ys Inte rna tiona l to grow.

She ne ve r ga ve up on her com pany, though. She ’s still a re gular a t the loca l ne twork ’s
Thursda y e ve ning m e e tings in a sm a ll building on the e dge of Da yton.

The re, a ctua l a nd prospe ctive busine ss owne rs ne twork , support one a nothe r, sha re advice
a nd re m ind the m se lve s why and how Am wa y will ca rry the m to Unlim ite d P ote ntia l! a nd
a llow the m to control their de stinie s a nd, if the y work ha rd e nough, am a ss fortunes la rge
e nough to provide for the ir gra ndk ids som eda y.

“W ha t we look for is pe ople who ha ve a dre a m ,” sa id She ldon Laym a n at one of the re ce nt
m e e tings. La ym a n le ft a ca ree r in ba nk m a nage m ent 24 ye a rs ago to grow his own
inde pende nt busine ss; he now ha s a n “e m e ra ld”-le ve l ne twork (tra nsla tion: big a nd
succe ssful) that include s Ha ys a nd C . Ha ys Inte rna tional.

For people ra ise d on those childhood le ssons a bout how “m one y ca n’t buy e ve rything” a nd
so forth, the re’s som e thing a bit uncom forta ble a bout all this una ba she d e nthusiasm for
m a k ing it rich. La ym a n, Hays a nd Co. a re fa m ilia r with this critique , a nd offe r a sim ple
re butta l: m one y isn’t e vil (but the love of it ca n be).

“The guy who’s got the we a lth can do a whole lot m ore good tha n the guy who doe sn’t,”
sa id Ha ys. “The poor ca n’t he lp the poor.”

The re is a n a ltruistic unde rpinning to Ha ys’ a m bition for gre a t we a lth. She a tte nds The
P otte r’s House W orship Ce nter, through which she ’s ta k e n a num be r of m ission trips to El
Sa lva dor to e va nge lize and distribute food a nd clothing to the ne e dy.

She ’d like to do m ore of this sort of thing, a nd she would if she had the m one y.

She ’d like to do m ore for he r young gra ndk ids, a nd she would, if she ha d the m one y.

She ’d like to ha ve som e thing com forta ble to re tire on, and she will, once she ha s the
m oney.

And so she k ee ps chipping a wa y, be twe en shifts a t the re sta ura nt — ca lls, e -m ails,
a ppointm e nts, thre e to five pre se nta tions pe r wee k on the m e rits of la unching a n
inde pende nt busine ss, or sim ply buying your stuff through C . Ha ys Inte rna tional — growing
he r ne twork , upping he r volum e , building a future .

“She ’s a person tha t will not quit, and tha t goe s a long wa y towa rd succe ss,” sa id La ym a n.
“She ’s ge tting the re be cause she ’s stuck to it.”

Ha ys ha s the de finite fe eling now, m ore tha n e ve r, tha t things a re se ttling, tha t her goals
a re within re a ch, tha t her com pany will soon provide for a ll he r ne e ds a nd wa nts a nd then
som e .

She ha s a ne w da te in m ind, now — Se pte m ber 2010, a little le ss tha n a ye a r and a ha lf

from now to quit Cra ck e r Ba rrel a nd just work on her Am wa y busine ss. She’s shooting for a
“platinum ” ra ting by tha t point, which, on a ve ra ge , e a rns an Am wa y business owne r a little
m ore than $50,000 a ye a r, if the owne r holds a platinum ra ting a ll ye a r. Tha t goa l’s no
gua rante e , e ither, but you’ve got to se t a da te be ca use “Som e da y” ne ve r com e s.
Se ptem be r will. W ith he r own future in he r own ha nds, Ha ys ha s set off to tra nsce nd
norm a lcy, to esca pe the we a r a nd te a r of the hourly wa ge syste m , a nd now, afte r a de ca de
of bum ps and rea djustm e nts, she ’s ge tting close .

Comment on this Article

first na m e (re quire d)

la st na m e (re quired)

city a nd sta te

Paragraph Font family Font size

Path: p
What is 8 plus 5? *
Spa m pre vention question.

Submit Comments

rocktownweekly.com/…/profile.php?A… 2/3
23/05/2009 Rocktown Weekly: Profile

© 2007 Skyline Publications Site C reated by TNC 3

and Website Reactions, LLC
Home | News | Life | Focus | Profile | Diversions | Out and About | Our Advertisers | About Us | C ontact Us
Advertise With Us | Daily News-Record | The Winchester Star | The Valley Banner | Page News-C ourier
Shenandoah Valley Herald | The Warren Sentinel

Problems with the Site? C ontact the Webmaster

rocktownweekly.com/…/profile.php?A… 3/3