Healthy Hurricane ESI Hits Corpus Christi, Texas



Edward Picha & Linda Watson, ESI & T.I.  Leaders



Have you ever wondered how Corpus Christi, Texas has become such a hotbed of USANA activity?  Well, wonder no longer!  The answer is Edward Picha and Linda Watson and their team: Elite Synergy International (ESI).  Over the past two years, they have transformed their lives by merging together along this wonderful journey. What an amazing couple. Full of Life! Full of Hope! Full of ESI synergy!!!

Edward, an architect, was presented with the USANA opportunity when he was in college; he loved everything about it, but money was scarce.  Being a great friend, Justin Hearn stayed persistent with him and when Edward finished college, he started his business.  Initially, he didn’t really know what he was doing. He said it was hard to figure out how to do things because he was alone and lost down in Corpus.  He took the product religiously and loved it, but he wasn’t quite sure how to share it.  Fortunately, Justin called to invite him to International Convention.  At the time, he looked at it as merely an opportunity to get out of town and have fun for a week; he had no idea what he was getting into!  He admitted, “It didn’t really click for me; I didn’t know what I had until I went to International Convention.”  Attending convention is what “opened [his] eyes.  It really showed me what was possible: health wise—hearing the testimonials, and wealth wise—with successful people from all different backgrounds.  That was the kickstart!”  They saw NEX (A Gen Y team out of California) and some other prominent teams, and understood that they wanted to create their own team and be a part of something bigger than themselves.  After convention, Justin started making regular trips to Corpus, and they started presenting and growing.  Edward enrolled eight people within four weeks after convention.  He also started to gain his USANA independence…







Linda Watson &  Ryan Graves (son)



Right before convention, Edward met Linda through a friend from the gym.  Linda was curious about what Edward was doing, and she began asking questions. So, once he got back, he asked her out!  He said they were going to go out to eat, but he had to do a presentation first.  She sat in the background and listened.  Being in the financial world, the numbers struck a chord in her.  She knew that she needed to make a change.  She was 30 years old, a single mom, and still living paycheck to paycheck.  Being in investment services, she knew those retirement numbers were legitimate.  She had to do SOMETHING in order to start building wealth to be able to retire at a certain age.  She had tried another direct sales company but in a year, never made any money.  Being open-minded to the industry, she thought, “Why not give this a shot?!?”  She wanted to lose a little weight, so this was a perfect opportunity.  She acknowledges that, “Dropping this amount of money being a single mom was a scary proposition.”  However, she was determined that this “leap of faith” would pay her back!  She began using all of her products and “jumped in with both feet.”  She was used to making presentations, so that part didn’t scare her.  She feels that this immersion along with her “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”    attitude propelled her forward.  She felt like she could be just as successful as anyone else because she is duplicatible and teachable. 







ESI at USANA's 2012 International Convention



One important factor for both Edward and Linda is that they felt like they were in good hands, with good company.  They recognized that they weren’t in this alone.  They had a good support system/upline coming down and training them.  They went to Super Saturdays, making it a priority.  That was validation—meeting others who had gone before them and proven the path to success.  By listening to the stories and being able to relate to different people, they put those anecdotes in their own arsenal.  “Plugging into events was very important to us and a huge part of how we have been able to duplicate what SA was doing!”  Armed with that knowledge and confidence, their leaders were teaching others to be leaders in their own businesses.



Team Illuminate



Edward and Linda loved the Team Illuminate vibe and wondered what they could do to create that buzz.  Soon, they started doing hotel events every other month to get people around a larger group.  They were gaining even more exposure and having diverse guest speakers available, including a two-star diamond director!  Linda sums it up well: “It warms our hearts to know that we are bringing so many people solutions, whether it is health or financial.  This is what we want as our full time in the near future!  We know we aren’t going anywhere, so we will be able to be there to support them for the long haul!” 





ESI Competing!!!



One innovative aspect of their business is their Weight Loss Challenge that is based off of the 21-Day Trim Down.  To be eligible to participate, you must order enough products to carry you through four weeks—minimum one shake a day and the essentials.  They wanted to make it affordable because their goal is to raise awareness of the products.  They do the trim-down presentation and educate guests; this really gets the buzz going.  The winner is announced at an event four weeks later.  Participants are encouraged to bring friends and family to find out who won.  During the Health and Freedom presentation, the winners are celebrated and come up and give a testimonial. 



Keeping their Sexy Fresh with Sense



While business is obviously important, they both agree that, “It’s also about the fun factor; we all like to get together every chance we get.”  They BBQ, have dinners, and do different team building events (5Ks, etc.) where they put their ESI logo out there to brand themselves and take ownership.  This summer, they had an Olympics party with team building challenges in the backyard.  Gold, Silver, Bronze “medals” were awarded with USANA products as the prizes.  They stress that they are real people who like to have fun too!  It’s not ALL business.  They fellowship every chance they get!  They also like to support each other in outside endeavors. Next stop, a roller derby competition to support a new ESI teammate!  They join forces to raise exposure. 



To conclude, I’d like to share with you their closing chant.  Say it with me:

What are we?  ELITE!

What do we have?  SYNERGY!
Who are we?!?  ESI!

Who are we?!?  ESI!

 ESI!  ESI!!  ESI!!!



Making a Difference, Edward Picha & Linda Watson

ESI is team based in Corpus Christi, Texas and is proud part of our larger Team Illuminate.

Written by D'Layne Kelly

Edited by Gina Hunter