Today we're shining the Spotlight on Executive Director Harold Hill of Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA, pictured above.
Harold comes from a place "way back in the hills" in Virginia, bordering on Kentucky and Tennessee, where the industry, when he was growing up, was coal mining and...more coal mining. Harold says, "I was among the first generation in our family to be born with indoor plumbing".
In that small-town environment, Harold was always aware that he wanted to move away to a more exciting life when he grew up and music was his ticket out. As a teen he sang in church, at school productions and even had a starring role in a local ongoing musical production every summer.
When Harold moved away as a young adult to pursuit his dreams, it was to go "on the road" as an entertainer, sometimes having to support himself with odd jobs. He even did a stint for a few years as a DJ at a country music station in Virginia. Having always been connected to the business of music and entertainment, Harold moved to Nashville in 1984. While continuing to work on the road for another few years, he met his wife Linda at a show where he was performing and married her a few years later. When they started talking about having a family, Harold knew it was time to leave traveling as an entertainer behind for a while. Although he could have set about seeking another career, instead he went seeking an opportunity.
Harold shares what happened next, "The buzz word back in 1998 was INTERNET and while my wife worked and I did a few menial jobs, I also sought to build a business online. I had a BIG failure first time out. Even though I became a top producer, the network marketing company I joined, went under. Unethical management, among other reasons lead to the company's downfall. But two important things happened in that "failing forward" process: I learned that the network marketing concept WAS viable online, if I could find the RIGHT company. And by way of the business that failed, I met my DHS Club sponsor (and now my good friend) Jim Henslin. As the other business was going under, he emailed me and told me about this great idea he had discovered called "The DHS Club". For me and my family, it turned out that Jim did us a BIG favor."
From the beginning, Harold felt that there was something special about the DHS Club, but he had no idea how much of a real "ground floor" opportunity it was when he started. His wife Linda was skeptical about his investment of hours when she saw his first check for $10, but she believed in him and in his vision and allowed him to work without an immediate return on his investment. Then as she met those with whom he had been working, including Dick & Pat Burke and their Sponsor Jim Henslin, she became supportive every step of the way.
As Harold tells it, "My sponsor Jim had suggested I call the company and get the scoop on what the company was about and if there were people I could trust in positions of responsibility. I made several calls and each time it just so happened that the company's president, Dick Burke, answered the phone. I thought I was calling a company office with employees. Dick said, "I was just passing by the phone and thought I would answer it." Which was true. What I came to know later in my discussions with him on the phone was that this well-oiled machine that I was risking my future on, had one moving part - Dick Burke!
Since then, I have had the good fortune of developing my relationship with this man with a great idea and obvious good character. He has since shown himself to be a man who, in a few words, is simply about honesty, integrity, leadership, commitment and faith. It was icing on the cake that we shared the view that any power we may have in our lives comes from "Up Above". And being Christian brothers has been a part of our relationship from the beginning and continues perhaps, even more powerfully and prayerfully - today.
Dick convinced me that I should come to the first conference in Orlando, even though I thought I couldn't afford to go. But he was persistent in helping me understand that if I wanted to create a long-term residual income with our business, I couldn't afford NOT to attend. So, after praying about it, some things happened that led me to get there. That first remarkable experience (including the shared faith in Christian beliefs among many of those attending) included meeting a new VIP in my organization - Robbie Bracco, who became the first VIP to qualify as an Executive Director in my organization."
When asked about his accomplishments, Harold shared the following, "I worked hard and kept progressing, moving upward with promotions and I arrived at the Executive Director position almost 18 months from the day I started promoting the DHS Club. Since then we have had so many great experiences and paid for President's Club trips. First was a trip to San Francisco to attend a Conference. After the conference, we had an Executive Director day for fun and it was then that I really got to know about Dick Burke's vision for the future as we walked through the streets to many of San Francisco's attractions, talking at length about his plans for DHS Club success. (By the way, everything he mentioned to me that day as his goals for our Club has come to be a reality in one shape or another). Then right after sunset I had a memorable dinner with Dick and Pat, overlooking a moonlit San Francisco Bay as we toasted to my new achievement and our future together.
Then came our HQ trip with all the food, fun and leadership training that goes with it. Watching the sun set from the white sands of the Gulf Coast beach, being accommodated in luxury condos on the beach and all of us getting to know Dick Burke as a leader of leaders. A little more time brought our first annual DHS Club Convention. Getting to know the great DHS Club staff in person. Getting to meet downline, upline, crossline VIPs and their families. And then there was our first leadership luxury cruise, Man, oh man! There's nothing like being "out to sea" for a few relaxing days at a time with other DHS Club leaders. There have also been 2 more cruises since - we've been to the Bahamas, to Mexico, and even once through the Pacific via Catalina Island.
Since then we have been able to travel Montana and fish the blue ribbon trout waters there, have cafe latte and beignets at the Cafe Dumonde in New Orleans, stand under the Archway in St. Louis, eat Cheasapeake Bay crabs in Baltimore, travel to Germany to see Linda's grandmother, wave to a cactus in Phoenix, shake hands with Mickey Mouse in Orlando and ride a roller coaster in Las Vegas.
We work hard, but we can play hard too. And sometimes we just have to get away for some real R&R and the DHS Club has provided a perfect location for hard working President's Club Executive Directors to go an relax and get away from it all, at their Duck's Nest Retreat in the scenic mountains of east Tennessee. Duck's Nest - way up on the mountain - a unique place for reflecting on success, planning one's future and/or just getting away from it all. Peace. No sounds of civilization at all up there, tucked away in the Blue Ridge. From the top of the mountain behind the main lodge, you can see for miles into several states. Almost twenty acres of beauty, accentuated with two small lakes, teeming with hungry bass. My kind of place."
Besides being able to travel and spend time with his family, Harold has also been able to pursue a lifelong dream. He explains, "I have been allowed some artistic goal-related victories and accomplishments as well, from my roots as a musician/singer/songwriter. As a result of my DHS Club success, I set about recording my first CD after all these years in 2002, financing it with my own capital on my own label". Harold's CD included a song that he wrote that went on to win "Western Swing Song Of The Year" last year from the Academy Of Western Artists. It also includes a song that quickly became a favorite of DHS Club VIPs after Harold sang it at a DHS Club Convention - "Dig Another Well" (a spiritual tribute to faith and persistence).
As much as Harold has enjoyed the many "perks" of being an Executive Director, he also enjoys his role as a Team Coach and helping others achieve their victories along the way. He shares his feelings on this "teamwork" aspect of the business, "We all share a common journey and I remember how excited I was when we realized certain benchmarks along the way. Things like sponsoring your first member, then your first VIP, getting promoted to Team Leader, then Team Captain, on to Bronze, Silver, Gold, Ruby, Emerald, Diamond and then all that goes with the Executive Director position and the President's Club."
But it hasn't always been easy for Harold, "Yes, we have had some bumps in the road along the way. We have even had setbacks. Every business does. Mixed in with the elation of seeing a plan come together there have been occasional disappointments. We have overcome the challenges of being a startup network business, the flux and changes in methods on the internet and the treachery of those who would do us harm. But look at us...after 7 years. We're still standing strong and now we're cranking it up to a whole new level with the ClubAdvantage Business Building System!".
When asked about his goals, Harold responded, "On the personal side, I always see my role as father and husband to be at the top of the list in ongoing achievement, as I always want to be the best I can be for these two people that ground my world and make my life worth living each minute of the day. My DHS Club success has afforded me the TIME most parents only dream of to be at home, setting my own working hours, making family time as it is wanted or needed by any of us in our house. The money I earn allows me to schedule my life around my family, rather than be conditioned to be part of the norm, the "rat race", as it were. Our success has allowed my wife the freedom to leave her full time job a couple of years ago. I once read that the desired result of all we do, no matter what it is, for most of us, is to be happy at home. We are, and I consider that a big part of my accomplishment. I am always aware that TIME + MONEY = FREEDOM, and here, hundreds of thousands of dollars into my DHS Club career, I know that God has blessed me well in leading me to where I am with this fine organization. And, again, I am just getting started!
My ongoing goal is to lead by example. I have it in writing where I can see it every day, that I will do my best to help others - those with vision and willingness - to move on into the lifestyle that we all know is at the place in the road we want to go if we apply ourselves. On a specific level, I have a written goal to personally carry our DHS Club message and opportunity not only to more of the USA, but into other countries as well, with a mental picture held of the luxury travel that entails. That goal even expands to the future of eventually incorporating our success and prosperity message into a traveling "show", so to speak - with music, entertainment AND our opportunity message combined. And I have a goal to have my family enjoy the benefits of devoting myself and my time to that which we as a family love, even as we continue the journey to financial freedom. My daughter will know the education and horizon expansion of traveling the world and developing her own dreams".
Asked what it takes to succeed as a DHS Club VIP, Harold shared, "YOU NEED TO BE PERSISTENT AND CONSISTENT. Follow the training with faith, working closely with those upline from you who have proven themselves accountable by their role achievement under the new ClubAdvantage Business Building System. This is a REAL business, and you can make REAL money. Money may not be your only objective, but I assure you it is a good "measuring stick", and it will help you to get to whatever goals you may set for yourself that are not financial - in a truly healthy state of mind.
For those without written goals, I submit to you that is not likely to happen unless you write it down, look at it regularly and visualize the results and benefits of such freedom often. We have the proven vehicle in our hands that anyone can use to obtain that goal. Our job as VIPs, really, is to show others it can be done.
As in the book The Prayer Of Jabez, I pray to God daily that He will enlarge my territory so that I may be more in His service. That does not necessarily mean through organized religion, but through my own life in words and deeds. Another ongoing goal I have is to continue to grow as a person to honor God's blessings and His grace and from where they come. I seek always to give back and to pay forward.
My thanks to all the team members who continue to make this success journey we are on together such a joy. A special thanks also to Robbie and Phil Bracco for leading the way, for inspiring us and for being our friends. And to every VIP I have met, and those I have yet to meet, I hope to see you at a DHS Club convention or conference soon.
A toast to new beginnings and to our success!"