Women's Life Link Be Well, Be Happy, Be YOU!
Only difference here is that this ‘good thing’ is actually nothing short of fantastic and that ‘small package’ is actually teensy-weensy. Enter the amazing JO NASEBY, Executive One Star Diamond Director for USANA Health Sciences. Wow – what a title! This ‘little package’ is so proud, so passionate, so enthusiastic, so inspirational, so contagious – the list is endless!
Born in Japan to an Australian father who was in the Australian Air Force and a Japanese mother who was a dancing teacher, Jo and her family made the move to Australia when she was the ripe old age of eight. Her parents were both very young when they met and wed, so they stayed in Japan for some years, prior to making that move to Australia. Jo remembers being a victim of merciless bullying, as in physically having sticks and stones thrown at her in Japan, just because they looked different. Not sure how that worked. Jo looks pretty normal to me! But her father felt that things would be a lot better when they moved to Australia. Sadly, he was wrong and they continued having those sticks and stones and verbal abuse thrown at them. This was largely due to the fact that, while Australia boasts a huge multi-cultural population now, it has not always been so and her family stood out. All that bullying, though, made Jo a stronger person.
Their young baby was diagnosed as an asthmatic at nine months old and her whole young life was dealing with constant allergies, cold and flus. What didn’t help was the fact that they were living in Lancelin, at the time, and it was a one and a half hour journey back to the Princess Margaret Hospital – also extremely draining – so they made the decision to move back to the city. Both Jo and husband Warren were semi-retired but with all this happening and with the financial burden involved, Jo realised she would need to return to working for herself. She also realised she was not getting any younger – and being all-but chained to the computer for over seventy hours per week, working for several bosses and having to meet deadlines – well, as to be expected, her health suffered. At times she found herself working to 3 am to meet those deadlines. And to top it all off, this was in the days before scanners so she was having to physically draw a lot – bolts, screws, arrows – all parts of instrument panels – you name it, all being part of the manuals she was having to type up. No mean feat. And as if all this wasn’t enough, she also suffered from Carpal Tunnel (Repetitive Strain Injury). Her neck, back and other areas were starting to suffer badly. In short, her health was really deteriorating. BUT it had to be done – so she did it. Then Warren was made redundant so Jo found herself working harder than ever (wasn’t she already??) to make ends meet. She had to.
When Daisy was eight an asthma attack deteriorated into Bronchitis and Pneumonia and the chest Xrays she then had to undergo simply resulted in the fact that she would need to take more drugs – she was already taking about five different medications, inhalers and nebulizers. A bit much for anyone, let alone an eight year old. Chest Xrays simply showed she needed to take yet another prescription medication, this time a steroid – so Jo gave this to her as needed but after about three months found there was no improvement – instead Daisy developed unwanted side effects like circles under her eyes, face swelling, was not sleeping well, was always tired and began having severe mood swings and irritability. Upon searching the internet about this new prescription drug, Jo was stunned to find that some of the other potential side effects were brittle bone disease, liver and kidney failure among others. Back to the doctor and Jo decided that she wanted to find someone who could help with some sort of holistic alternative.
Through a friend who was using USANA Health Science products for their own health challenges, Jo also turned to these products in an effort to help Daisy as well as herself. While she initially was not interested in the business side, feeling as though she had enough on her plate as it was, she only wanted to try some of their products to see if they could offer a better way to maintain their health. The result was quite amazing. Within a month, Jo and Daisy were experiencing many personal and life changing health benefits – and Jo realised she’d want to take USANA for – well – life! But obviously she did not want to pay full price for them so she started to think about becoming a member. However, in 1999, sixteen years ago, her decision was well and truly made for her – Jo joined and then got her mother to join also, followed by other friends and neighbours. Within a few months, she was no longer feeling tired and run down and with all these positives, started thinking about the benefits of running a USANA business – and so she did. She closed down her typing business and went into USANA full time.
Now, with Warren, she works out of a home office – home being a beautiful apartment on the ninth floor of a city building with a spectacular view of parklands and waterways. Jo loves the lifestyle which her business now affords her – the compensations are amazing – world trips being just one of many. They have built a global empire with around 25,000 team members and hundreds of Preferred Customers scattered across the globe – Jo doesn’t pay any of the Associates – USANA does. How good can life be? Her working day? Up in time to take their dog for a walk, Jo goes to the gym for a forty-five to sixty-minute workout while Warren takes the dog back home. Jo follows after her workout, has a shower and healthy breakfast, deals with her emails then generally goes out around 1 pm for lunch or afternoon coffee meetings. Home again for the evening at about 5.30 pm, although sometimes she does meet with clients or skype team members for training in the evenings – those who cannot meet during the day. And, being her own boss, she can work when she wants to.
Her inspirations? Dr Myron Wentz, the founder of USANA and recipient of the Albert Einstein Award, her mother and her husband. Very clear. And strengths and weaknesses when it comes to running your own business?
“When you run your own business, you have to be mindful of your own time. So you’re not going to waste your time doing nothing, or the opposite – doing too much.” She adds that, if managed properly, you can take a day off, take time out and not worry about it. Consider your business to be a game – something to be enjoyed. And her passions? The water and anything to do with it. And animals. Values? Honesty in everything you say and do. Whatever you say you are going to do – do it – don’t go back on it.
And a final word to other aspiring business-women? “They always need to have that vision in mind – what they are wanting to create – the life they want to have. They need to have that vision so they can work toward that.”
