A Closer Look – My story starts in Beijing, China, where I grew up with two traditions of medicine. From the Eastern tradition, my grandmother was a midwife who practiced Chinese medicine and self-care. She strongly believed in nature’s ability to heal and lived a great life to the end. My mother, on the other hand, is one of China’s top female cardiologists and clinical professors. She is firmly rooted in the science and rescuing power of Western medicine. I have seen the beauty and power in both traditions, and I have made it my craft to integrate the wisdom of the East with the science of the West.

Being a healer in China was never associated with financial gain. My grandma, my mom and, later, I chose medicine and loved it despite minimal pay and long working hours. We were motivated by our love of helping people and relieving suffering. We always worked hard and lived simple, yet rewarding lives.

I do not know how many people in America can truly grasp the meaning of freedom for me. 25 years ago living in Communist China, my life was pretty much “guaranteed”: a job, a place to live, national health care and retirement. There were plenty of “security,” yet there was no freedom and there were very few possibilities for growth and change. In 1988, my deep desire for freedom led me to search for opportunity in America. I was accepted by two incredible graduate programs with full scholarships. Despite having no money in my pocket and having never lived outside Beijing or spoken another language, I packed my bag and began my adventure in America.

I completed my MD in Beijing, China, my PhD in human physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Genetics of Hypertension at UC San Francisco. During my 14 years of study and research, I absorbed information from some of the best health programs in the world. I was a published author and received numerous awards. I later studied the science of functional medicine, anti-aging and regenerative medicine. I am certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.

My first 8 years of running a sole Internal Medicine practice in a small community in Mt. Shasta, California was filled with frustration and exhaustion.

I have seen some of the most complicated patients in my professional years of practice. Many patients are asking “Why I am taking so many pills and still getting sicker?” “Why I am not feeling well?”. Few people seem to be enjoying good quality of life. Many people live in between doctors’ offices, medical emergencies and disasters. More and more young people are showing up with aging people’s diseases and symptoms.

Driven by seeking the root causes of diseases beyond a mere reduction of symptoms, I quickly fell out of the rat race and game of the insurance companies. I devoted myself every day to “non-payable” hours with each patient. To merely keep my practice going, I was working long hours and running between work at three facilities: my practice, the hospital and a nursing home. I found myself running out of time, energy, money, and the wisdom to actually help people. I finally realized that simply following my heart and insisting on doing the best for my patients was not enough to stay in business.

Orenda came to me through a patient I hadn’t been able to help. After more than 6 months of trying various nutritional strategies, I was getting nowhere helping her hypersensitive body. She was losing hair, gaining weight, and feeling awful. After seeing a naturopath for 2 months, she came back to me transformed, as if suddenly a light had come on inside her. “I feel great,” she said. Her eyes sparkled, her hair looked healthy, she dropped weight … She was turning into a new woman.

I picked up the phone on the spot and called the naturopath. Anne Herrick walked into my office 2 days later and exclaimed to me, “I have something you are looking for!” The gift of Orenda arrived at the perfect time; I was about to lose my practice, I had run out of money to pay for my overhead, and I had exhausted my knowledge of better and simpler healing tools. My crisis revealed the door to opportunity!

The simplicity of Orenda’s “Awaken, Cleanse and Feed” paradigm fit right into the missing core piece of my holistic healing. I soaked in the science and quickly recognized that Orenda’s products have the four qualities I believe to be the most important: natural, intuitive and synergistic to the body; safe; simple to use; and highly effective. They address what I believe are the two greatest challenges in our post industrialized society: stress and environmental pollution. The many powerful results of Orenda Products have been nothing short of a miracle for me and my patients. And so is the Orenda business opportunity.

Right now, it is an extremely challenging world for health care professionals of all disciplines. Many doctors are actually leaving their professions because they do not believe that there ever will be a light at the end of the tunnel. The net reimbursement per patient, after all expenses are paid, is simply too little to ever reach financial security, never mind financial freedom. Many physicians feel burnt out and are forced to work longer and longer hours on endless paper work. Almost all of us are struggling under overhead expenses, lack of time to provide quality care to our patients, and no time off for ourselves, our loved ones, or our own health and continuing education.

Looking back to 7 years ago, when I was struggling for “air” to breathe, I am filled with tremendous love and gratitude. I am so grateful Orenda found me when I was looking. I am so grateful to myself, for it is up to me. It is up to us.

Within one year, Orenda gave me the financial strength to make the transition away from insurance companies and bureaucracy, and freed me from the financial burden I had been carrying for so long. Within 2 years, I paid off my huge credit card debt and opened my long dreamed-of Mt. Shasta Integrative Medicine Center. Within 6 years, I built an incredible team where many people have achieved their dreams and goals, and many people’s lives and health are greatly transformed. I now live my dreams.

My Orenda business allows me to become a part of a family of people lifting people, physicians helping physicians. It’s so refreshing to realize that I am involved with a company with uniquely high values and an abundant mindset.

The biggest obstacle to happiness and success in life is the self. Growing up takes courage. My Orenda business inspires me to grow with courage, listen and make the changes that support living my authentic life.

If we don’t have health, we cannot teach people how to be healthy; if we are broke, we cannot donate money to causes in which we believe; if we have no time, we cannot volunteer or spend quality time with people we love. Before Orenda, my health was threatened by the stress of my workload and I had no financial reserve for any emergency or change. I had no time or energy to spare for my community. I was feeling alone in my struggle for my professional and personal happiness. Now I can share health and wellness both in my medical practice and with the incredible people I meet through my Orenda team. I am excited every day to meet new people and connect with incredibly inspiring individuals. Many become my best friends and teachers. And finally, I am able to donate money and time to charitable activities and give back to the community. I am finding a true sustainable circle for all beings as one.

In Orenda, our co-founders, Bob and George Hall, encourage us to live a daily practice of gratitude and unconditional love, forgiveness and non-judgment. For the first time in my life, I learned that thoughts create things. I learned to make choices in a state of abundance, not in a state of scarcity. Also, for the first time in my life, I learned that it is indeed possible to have financial abundance and business integrity by serving people and by being the best I can be.

I must thank Co-Founders Bob and George Hall for providing only the best to their people so we can provide only the best to ours. Thank you for your generosity of rewarding hard work and leadership; for your big hearts in treating everyone as equal; and for bringing in Michael and Kindra for the future of Orenda, generation after generation.

I want to thank Anne Herrick Dienel and Dr. Dienel, as you opened my eyes to possibilities and helped me, step-by-step, to be a better person and to empower my team. Thank you, also, Nina and Dr. John Golden for your insight in the science, clinical experience and expertise with the Orenda products.

Thank you to all of my customers, friends, family and patients, for trusting me and loving me the way I am. I want to congratulate all of you on the changes you’ve made in your lives. To my Partners, Managers and my whole team, I am deeply grateful for your incredible courage and compassion towards people you love. And you’ve become my closest friends. Let’s do it together!

Thank you to my mom for setting the best example of an independent woman and a good doctor, keeping the best interest of the patient first. Thanks you to my father for taking Orenda and being so compliant and looking younger every year. Thank you to my brother for being one of my first partners.

Thank you to my boyfriend, Sean, for being an incredible man with so much to give to so many people; for your unconditional love of the whole person I am, and for sharing your wisdom and your life with me.

I received a card that moved me it said:

“Leadership”

You are a leader for the Higher Power, assertive and yet humble. True leadership is built upon a foundation of not having the need to be right. It follows the principles of righteousness and comes from a wisdom deep within. It is a belief that dreams can indeed become a reality. Remember, there is nothing more splendid than an idea whose time has come and the leadership to follow through with it.

I believe we have made choices in the past and present, co-creating the current perfect storm of challenging economy, aging population with poor health, and health care crisis.

I also believe we all have the power to set our sails for great abundance in health, prosperity and freedom, and for awakening to a new way of being, creating a better and more peaceful place on earth.

I believe in the solid science behind the Orenda products which can have real life-enhancing impact on those who are ready to be inspired and healed.

I believe Orenda is a small company with great compassion and a huge heart. I trust the leadership and I love the guiding mission of valuing and loving all people without condition.

I believe the Orenda way of people lifting people and people helping people via network marketing is coming of age to be the fairest, most highly effective, sustainable business model.

Life is sweet and short. Don’t postpone Joy.

This story is a reflection of the experience of this individual and may not be applicable to everyone.