FRANCHISE STORY

Every entrepreneur has a story of how they began, this is mine! I had a dream, yes its like the Martin Luther King story, but my version!

At 18, I watched my mom die, (she was only 38 at the time,) from complications of diabetes. I’ll never forget standing in the doorway of her hospital room as she was dying. Her kidneys had failed and she had gained 70 pounds and was unrecognizable. It was at that point that saving people from diabetes became one of my life’s missions. I told myself I never wanted other families to suffer the way my family did. Years later, I would go on to lose my youngest sister to diabetes as well, at the same young age of 38.

So, at 23 I decided to go from nursing, (which I considered sick care,) into preventative medicine (well care) and weight loss. I went to work for a franchise weight loss company and helped them grow from 5 locations to over 2000 in 8 years. I was hooked. I loved working with people and seeing them transform. Assisting people get healthier by helping them lose weight and even watch many go off their diabetes medication (which for me, was my ultimate dream) was priceless!

Fast forward to 2006, now 25 years of working both as a corporate employee and an entrepreneur  in the weight loss industry. After having worked for franchises, I had added another dream to my to-do list, and that was to create my own franchise weight loss center. However, before I could even get started working on my business plan, something happened in my life that I couldn’t ignore. It was one of those destiny moments …you know…the kind that you never forget.

One day as my partner Jimmy and I were running our weight loss business, I realized something was really bothering me. I turned to him and said “do you see what I see?” I told him that all week long I’d noticed parents were bringing their kids with them to their appointments to wait in the lobby, while they got weighed and counseled. All that was fine of course, but the thing that had bothered me was the SIZE of their kids! What the heck was going on? Jimmy and I had both been overweight as teens and experienced the pain and desperation of childhood dieting so what we were seeing was unacceptable!

As I already mentioned, this was back in 2006, and it’s only gotten worse since then!

Well, as every red blooded entrepreneur does, I felt I needed to know why, and figure out a solution! So off to work I went to create a healthy weight loss program for teens. I knew kids were dieting on their own in unhealthy ways, so if I could provide them HEALTHY ways to lose weight, at least they would have an option.

We held class after class  and learned every time we did. To be able to teach these kids and their parents about diabetes was truly a moment for me. I felt like I was following through on the commitment I had made to my mom.

Notice I said kids AND parents, that’s because during this experiment, we allowed the parents to sit in the back of the class and quickly realized that they knew less than their children, and maybe THAT, was part of the problem!

As the years went by, there were times that I would have to stop the program and go back to a corporate job in order to fund my dream. If you’re an entrepreneur, your smiling right now because you know what I mean. An entrepreneur has to transition between their dream job and real job, until the dream job can stand on its own. Not only did finances interrupt my dream, but so did an accident. During that time, as I struggled with physical therapy and finally surgery, I thought the dream of LHT was forever lost, but inside I knew I couldn't let go. It's as if it were BIGGER then Me. As if it HAD to come to life. (Can you relate to something in your life you did or wanted to do that was BIGGER then you?) Well, I did learn that you never really know what you're made of, until you're  faced with a life changing injury or illness. It either changes you for the better, or changes you for the worst and STEELS your dream! Something inside me wouldn't let that happen!

The week after my surgery, my best friend of 35 years (kind of ages me, ha, ha) could tell I was feeling a little sorry for myself (not to mention the amount of pain I was in) and suggested (I think maybe as a distraction method quite honestly,) that I finally FINISH the teen book I’d been writing and maybe I could get it published. I remember giving her the evil eye and saying “are you serious, I’m flat on my back with Frankenstein staples across my abdomen and you're suggesting I write a book? Really, I can’t even sit up!"

She gave me that look, smiled that said, you can do it, I believe in you, stop complaining and get to work. You know you’re the happiest when you’re creating. Well, suffice to say that after she left, I began to think about it. I thought “well, I’m FLAT on my back and can’t do much of anything but lay here. Maybe I could find a way to place my laptop on top of my chest and type with my hands held up by pillows?” You guessed it, that’s exactly what I did! I returned to my dream and wrote "The Leaner Healthier Teen, Nutrition Education 6 Week Weight Loss Program!" 

(So now, when people tell me they can’t do something, I look at them and say “I wrote my first book being bedridden after a life threatening surgery, so what's your excuse?")

I have to say that having the LHT project is what really got me through that awful pain and the emotional loss of what I could no longer do physically. When you're a type A personality and end up flat on your back, unable to do anything....well...lets just say, I was not happy!

After regaining my strength, LHT went on to live again, which also inspired me to complete my other dream, which was to create my own franchise weight loss center.

 Fast forward now to 2016. 

The FIRST LHT Family Weight Loss Franchise Center proudly opened and has already helped dozens of adults and children lose weight!

All this experience has also helped me realize, that I can’t do it all!  Really….. Yes……me….I can’t do it all!  I need a team of people to help me.  I thought, well I could keep it all under one roof, or I could SHARE it with thousands of Coaches, Trainers, Dietitians, Therapists, Pediatricians and Wellness Enthusiasts 

that have the same dream as I did, and achieve the goal faster! 

So now, were allowing our teen and family program to be licensed out to others. 

To become part of your already existing business, or start up your own Revolution business!

You see, dreams are important. Dreams are commitments you make to yourself. They aren’t easy. 

They don’t always follow the time frame you gave them, but somehow they manage to survive. 

Sometimes, just hanging by a thread. They take years of stopping and starting and failing and succeeding all at the same time.  But a dream is one of the only things capable of surviving anything, 

IF the dreamer dreams it long enough and hard enough and never, ever gives up! 

THE END!

Now, it’s time I get to share MY Dream with YOU, and YOU get to share it with the children who have been waiting for YOU. The kids who are being bullied in school, harassed online, the kids who are suicidal, who feel there is nowhere to turn for help and that they aren’t good enough just the way they are. You also get to help the parents that feel helpless. You are their dream come true! They say it takes a village....well we're building one!

Are you ready to make YOUR dream come true and join the REVOLUTION?

Then take the first step and call or email us today and we'll help you get started!

With my Sincere Respect and Appreciation,

                                                                      -Cynthia Besson-

                                               Leaner, Healthier Today- "Live a Leaner, Longer Life!"©

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