In this Fearless Networker Spotlight, we're featuring Vincent Ferrazzano, a former railroad employee with a relentless drive to overcome obstacles and make sacrifices in order to achieve more for himself and those around him. Learn how he went from being an employee working 80 to 100 hours a week to leading a thriving Network Marketing organization as an seven-figure income earner.
The Fearless Networker: Welcome! Let’s jump in and get to know one another a bit better. Do you have any unusual or impressive talents you’d like to share with us? Or is there something about yourself that would surprise everyone?
Vincent Ferrazzano: Let’s see…I can prepare a basic meal and make it look super good! I have perfected flipping eggs in a frying pan. I’m pretty amazing at hitting targets like a cup or an unsuspecting friend with a rubber band. I can hum and whistle simultaneously and I can quote, line for line, the entire movie “Tombstone”.
The Fearless Networker: What would you say is the most courageous thing you have done in your life?
Vincent Ferrazzano: I have always made sacrifices for the ones I love. I would say the most courageous thing I’ve done was when I was 26 years old and moved my entire life to an unknown place to take care of my father with lymphoma cancer and my grandpa who had dementia, both at the same time, all while working full time at the railroad. It was the most difficult thing I ever had to do on my own. Family is everything!
The Fearless Networker: What's the last thing you geeked out about? Or are you technologically challenged?
Vincent Ferrazzano: Let’s just say that I have a trusted friend who is a tech genius. This person always comes to my rescue when I am in some technological emergency.
The Fearless Networker: What were you doing BEFORE you got involved in Network Marketing?
Vincent Ferrazzano: I was working for BNSF Railway as an electrician and relief supervisor. I was working 80 to 100 hours a week.
The Fearless Networker: How did you FIRST get introduced to the Network Marketing profession and, honestly, what was that experience like for you?
Vincent Ferrazzano: I got introduced to Network Marketing when I was 16 years old. Some guy came over to the house to talk to my mom and dad about a telecommunications company. He explained it to them and my mom and dad we’re hesitant because of the $245 start up fee. I ran to my room and grabbed $245 out of the $300 I had saved up and told my mom and dad to do it! Long story short …. they never did start.
The Fearless Networker: Okay, now for the stats…how long have you been involved in the Network Marketing profession, how long have you been with your current company, how many people have you personally enrolled into your company and what is the current size of your organization?
Vincent Ferrazzano: I have been involved in the Network Marketing profession now for four years. I have been with my current company for one year and have personally enrolled 170 people. My organization is right about 1,500 people strong.
The Fearless Networker: What does a typical day in your life look like?
Vincent Ferrazzano: Wake up at 5:30 a.m. From 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. I pray and read the Bible, do personal development (always growing and working on my mindset), journal and catch up on messages with teammates and new connections. From 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. I have breakfast and listen to one motivational video on YouTube. Gym time is 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.! On the way to the gym, I work on new marketing techniques and listen to audios. From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. I create one piece of content to post on FaceBook, wish everyone a happy birthday on Facebook, go to 10 friends' profiles (like and comment under something that I resonate with) send a private message and send a genuine compliment in regards to their post.
At 10 a.m. or whenever I decide to stop for the day, I start calling and connecting with people. I am always creating relationships offline as well as online. You’ll be amazed how many people will want to hang out with you and, eventually, do business with you just by taking the time to get to know new contacts, spending quality time with them and genuinely getting to know them.
I am in the trenches 100% with my team! We do five overviews a week for our teammates so we can show prospects what is behind our products and business. We do one-on-one welcome Zooms for our new customers where we go over various products and benefits. And, we do a strategy session with the business builders where we go over their reason why, set goals, show them the simplicity of getting to their first three ranks, review important call information, weekly team zooms, etc. We teach how to approach, invite, follow up and seal the deal. From there we have an accountability chat where we work to help those who are all-in and hold them accountable with daily tasks, etc.
I work in my customer's page where we go live and host giveaways every two weeks to keep our teammates and customers happy and shopping, but also share testimonies and answer any product-related questions our customers may have.
Like I said, we work in the trenches with our group. We are very active! And, of course, that’s not including the active page for our business builders where I go live during the day and dump in tremendous amounts of value and celebrate, motivate, inspire, post important upcoming events, etc.
The Fearless Networker: What is your favorite book(s)? How about your favorite genre of music? (If you want to throw in the first concert you attended, go for it! (My first concert was Rush, June 6, 1979 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.)
Vincent Ferrazzano: My favorite book is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. My favorite genres of music is pop, hip hop and singing.
The Fearless Networker: Tell us about a time, no matter what age, that you wanted something so badly, regardless if it was big or small, that you were unstoppable in pursuing it. What obstacles did you overcome to reach that goal?
Vincent Ferrazzano: It was during a time I was working 80 to 100 hours a week at the railroad. I worked double shifts every holiday and missed out on so much with my family. I wanted out badly. I wanted to be free from the shackles and never be “married” to a time clock again! I had all odds against me from the start: I was a single guy in a predominately female-based industry. I lived in a town of 1,700 people and had 300 friends on FaceBook, but zero followers. However, I had a HUGE dream to help others and knew that I had to do something or I’d live at my J.O.B. the rest of my life!
To overcome all the obstacles, I had to make sacrifices. I knew that I had very little time to work my Network Marketing business around my crazy railroad schedule so I stopped going out with friends, got rid of my cable and tv and I laser-focused power hours with the little time I had at home. I never took it personally when people told me “no” about my business or product. I shook it off then would talk to 10 more people because I knew that the “yes” was coming! I must have heard over 1,000 “no’s” before I started making over $30,000 a month with my Network Marketing business!
Anytime we had a break at work, while others were playing games like Bejeweled, I was building my contact list on FaceBook. Now there were other obstacles I faced such as coworkers making fun of me, day-in and day-out, about the business. I used everything and anything negative as fuel to motivate me versus stopping me. My coworkers made it so miserable for me at work that I didn’t want to spend one more day there. I pushed myself harder and harder day every day. I told them all I would be retired in two years after I started my Network Marketing business: I did it in 19 months!
The Fearless Networker: How has being involved in Network Marketing CHANGED YOUR LIFE, professionally, personally or both?
Vincent Ferrazzano: Professionally, I have experienced monumental growth with personal development and leadership. I can, with absolute confidence, say that I have become the leader I've always wanted. Within my team of business builders we often do something radical in our downtime as an alternative to television….we read books and listen to audios. Those books and audios taught me about personalities, sales, leadership, and communication. I learned how important being authentic is; being you. Telling YOUR story. Not giving people what you think they want to hear, but being transparent, real and raw. People will connect with you when you can show them you're a real person just like them. Be YOU and be AWESOME!
Overtime I started focusing on the bigger picture. When I first started in my Network Marketing journey I wanted financial freedom, my dream home and dream car, but with time I realized that Network Marketing was something bigger than me. I really started shifting my focus on freedom for others. My goal was to help as many people get to six- and seven-figures as possible. I took the crystal clear vision I had and started to create a compelling vision for everyone around me! My vision for my team was SUPER BIG! And, I shared it with my team regularly. I learned to lead by example; show up to everything. Be there for my team 100%. I can't expect people to trust and follow me if I’m not willing to do the same things I ask them to do. So I took MASSIVE ACTION and showed my team the way.
The Fearless Networker: What gives you joy and/or feeds your passion?
Vincent Ferrazzano: Seeing my teammates succeed and acquire every single one of their dreams and goals. Nothing gives me joy or feeds my passion more than to be able to help families retire and be full-time, stay-at-home families. I live for it!
The Fearless Networker: What is your biggest fear?
Vincent Ferrazzano: When I first started in this business, my biggest FEAR was talking to people on the phone. I was so scared to pick up the phone and call one of my prospects! Things have changed over time. How I broke free of that fear was that I made call after call until the fear went away. I faced the fear and kicked its you know what! My biggest fear now is not being there for someone that needs me the most; to never let one of my teammates down because I didn’t show up or give them enough. I work very hard for my team’s success.
The Fearless Networker: If you are full-time, how long did it take you to go from being a part-time Network Marketer to going full-time? Were there any hesitations, struggles or roadblocks?
Vincent Ferrazzano: It took me 19 months of sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears in order to retire from corporate America and make this my full-time gig! But think about this….was it worth it? HECK YEAH IT WAS! I would trade three to five years of HARD WORK and building my own dreams than to work for someone else for 35 years and build their dreams! There were many of struggles and roadblocks along the way. And, I will be the first to tell you that I FAILED countless times on my way to success! What set me apart is that I took those failures and used them as stepping stones to do greater things. I would fail and grow; fail and grow; learn from my mistakes and continue moving forward. Did I keep failing? YES! But, with all those failures comes SUCCESS! I failed my way to seven-figures and I continue to fail my way forward…to eight-figures and beyond!
The Fearless Networker: What makes you happiest and most effective when working with others?
Vincent Ferrazzano: When other leaders appreciate the things we give to our team. Or to hear other big leaders share that they have never had leadership like this in any other company. There is something about that which drives me into OBLIVION! It fuels me to do more and more!
The Fearless Networker: What are the failures that you most cherish?
Vincent Ferrazzano: The failures I most cherish are the times I reached out to A TON of people even though they weren’t signing up as fast as I wanted. Something another leader told me always stuck in my mind…“A farmer plants seeds year round. He waters them daily and then they blossom. Just keep planting seeds and make sure they get enough water to grow.” And with this, I knew that as long as I didn’t give up on the seeds and kept planting and watering, they would eventually BLOSSOM! I just had to keep talking to more and more people and make sure I followed up and they would eventually sign up! Did I feel as though I was failing sometimes because of the people that blew me off? YES! But I kept on going because I knew success was inevitable as long as I didn’t give up!
The Fearless Networker: Let’s end on this note: What’s one solid piece of advice that you’d give someone entering this profession for the very FIRST time? And/or the best advice you’ve ever received?
Vincent Ferrazzano: Having a horrible day? Show more people your business. Not feeling good about where you are in your journey? Show more people your business. Your car broke down? Show more people your business. Friends, family and coworkers don’t believe in you? Show more people your business. Use anything negative or bad in your life as FUEL to show your business versus dragging you down and stopping you dead in your tracks! By doing this, you will pull out of ANY bad situation, it will help you with ANY circumstance and it is the ONLY way to actually change your results…in a positive way! Keep in mind that it is your habits which create results, so change your habits and…SHOW MORE PEOPLE YOUR BUSINESS!
The Fearless Networker: Show more people your business! Vincent, your passion and relentless drive is contagious. Thanks for sharing your story man.
