Martha Van Inwegen
Owner
Life Elements and Action Wipes

www.LifeElements.com
7343 El Camino Real, Suite 204
Atascadero
(800) 634-1158 or (805) 462-2215

Life Elements is a company I created after spending over 25 years in technology and realizing life was passing me by - fast!

In my last job I was the national sales rep for a public safety technology company.  This meant I was spending 75% of my time on the road –taking planes, trains and automobiles to destinations throughout the country visiting jails, prisons and detention centers.  Several times I had to wear a raincoat while walking through these places in order to avoid spit and other bodily fluids that were being thrown as I walked through the buildings.  (One would think it would be during one of those moments that I would wake up and realize there was more to life…but no, it took a while.)   

My awakening came one night on my way to Plumas County, California.  Earlier that day, I had driven to six different appointments through four different counties. That evening, as I was driving, exhausted, on a two lane “highway” in the middle of nowhere, lined with six foot snow embankments and no cell coverage, I nearly drove off the road.  As I skid across the other lane, it hit me--if I crashed, no one would know.  When the car finally stopped, and I started breathing again, I realized that had I died, my company would just simply hire someone else—I was dispensable to them. The worst was that I had given more of myself to them than to my own family.  And for what?

Two hours later, arriving in Plumas really exhausted, hungry, emotionally drained and with no place to stay (there aren’t many “hotels” in Plumas), I called my husband, Curt; and crying I said "I'm going to quit tomorrow".  He was silent for a minute, just listening. I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking.  After all, we had just gotten married, he had just changed jobs and we had just moved from San Diego to Atascadero.  And here I was--wanting to make another life changing move. All he said was “ok, what are you going to do?”  I didn’t know; I didn’t have an answer.

In the morning, when I found myself in a "bed & breakfast", which was actually a double wide trailer sitting over a dried creek bed with a quarter machine on the bed (which was suppose to create a babbling brook feeling under the trailer),  I called my boss and told him I didn’t want to do it anymore, I quit.  In shock, all he could say was “ok, what are you going to do?”  Again, I didn’t have an answer.

But it didn’t take long for the answer to come to me.  As I mulled over all my options, I realized that I had always been fascinated with herbal remedies, aromatherapy and beauty products.  I was also frustrated there weren’t many products on the market that Curt and I could enjoy together.  So I set forth to learn how to create the products I wanted, get them manufactured and get them to market.  But there was much more to it than that.  There was establishing the business, finding the capital, learning how to import/export, marketing, public speaking, PR…and more! That’s when I contacted the EVC. 

After meeting with Mike Manchak and Dave Mooklar, I realized they offered endless learning possibilities and support—without any hidden agendas.  Dave immediately began helping me find additional capital through an SBA Loan and I immediately signed up for every educational course the EVC offered.  I took everything from the “International Importing/Exporting” 10 week course to “How to Speak in Public”!  But it doesn’t end there…as I said, their support is endless.  Mike Manchak is every entrepreneur’s personal cheerleader, mentor and advocate.  His commitment and passion motivate you to continue your pursuit, even when you think you just can’t do it anymore.  He never gives up on you, so that you don’t give up on yourself. 

It took me a year to learn what I needed to in order to launch our first product line, C&M Couples (www.cmcouples.com), a natural, aromatherapy based bath and body collection that allows you and your partner to spend quality time together, bond and leave the rest of the world behind.  It was a long year—a year of learning and a year of pain.  You see, as I was doing all this, my mom was diagnosed with cancer for which her treatments lasted close to a year too—only to have her pass away three days before my national launch at the New York Gift Show.  Aside from my husband, she was my biggest supporter and believed in what I was doing.  The pain from her passing only fueled my desire to continue developing products that can help bring the entire family together!

Today, almost two years since its launch, C&M Couples is being offered at over 50 luxurious resorts and spas across the U.S. and we are now getting inquiries from resorts and spas abroad.  We’ve been written about in numerous magazines and have been included in numerous “swag bags” including one at the Playboy mansion. In April, 2008, we began a grass roots effort of launching our second line, Action Wipes.  But this too is a unique story which you can read about on our website, www.actionwipes.com.

So to those that have a dream, a desire or even a spark of interest in starting a business—I say go for it.  Get in the game because you’re never going to realize that dream by sitting on your couch or working for someone else.  I’m not going to lie to you…it’s often frustrating, you’re constantly questioning yourself and you struggle. But if you stick to it, get a mentor and utilize all the benefits that the EVC and other groups such as SCORE have to offer, you’ll make it!

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