I’d been made redundant in January 2000 from an 18 year career in the print industry, which on the one hand meant the loss of a good salary, but on the other provided me with an escape from a job that I’d been feeling increasingly disenchanted with as the years rolled by. So I viewed the redundancy very much in a positive light as it created an opportunity for a change of direction career-wise.
I wasn’t expecting the right opportunity to come along overnight, but after 8 months of countless failed job applications and interviews, I was grateful to be offered a job in a call centre. The only downside was that it was a part-time position, the wage amounting to less than a third of my previous income as a printer.
Lorraine was working at the Land Registry and fortunately was able to work overtime most weeks which helped us to make ends meet but it was a far from ideal situation. Needless to say, when a friend showed us the Kleeneze Opportunity back in February 2001 we didn’t waste much time signing into the business!
We managed to hit the 10% level in 3 weeks earning just over £200 which was very pleasing. It also occurred to me very early on that I was earning more per hour from the retail than I was in the call centre. So with Lorraine’s backing and support, I left the call centre in April 2001 to build the business full-time.
By the end of 2003 we were holding Gold distributor status consistently and our business was really starting to grow. The income from our business meant we were now in a much healthier state financially, and this paved the way for Lorraine to leave her stressful job at the Land Registry to take up a new career working for a local charity where she is much happier. This did mean a considerable drop in her earnings, but we could afford for her to make this choice thanks to our Kleeneze income.
We are currently at the Senior level and the highlight so far has been qualifying for the European Conference in Prague with the help of our terrific team in November 2004 which was a fantastic experience. We are so grateful this opportunity came our way – it has certainly changed our lives for the better!
