So much time, so many more to reach

Darryl Hicks was a young, ambitious, electrical engineering student immersed in the world of currents and power when he was first introduced to Barleygreen®. “I asked, ‘Oh, Mom, what have you gotten into now? What can this green powder really do?’” His mother, Sandra Hicks, also an AIM Chairman’s Club Member, had been giving Barleygreen® to his father, Don, who had blood cancer. When Darryl saw the effects it had on his father’s health, his doubt subsided. His education then took a different course. He became an AIM Member in 1990. “I became educated in the product and what it really had to offer the body. I learned that it was truly superior nutrition.
Although I wasn’t doing AIM as a business, I supported the product for what it did for my health, my energy.” But it wasn’t until 1998 that fate reunited Darryl and AIM.

Life changing

“In 1998, my job left me,” Darryl recalls. “I was laid off.” Although immediately offered two new jobs, both with higher salaries, Darryl and his wife, Betty, took time to reflect and analyze other career options. “We felt we needed to make a life change. We were in our 30s, tired of the rat race of fast money with no quality of life. Plus, we felt that God was a part of what was happening.” Darryl professes, “Not many people know this, but I had been praying to leave that job for a year and a half! I was really pursuing it with the Lord to get out of it.” Darryl decided to devote himself to a health ministry by teaching others about the AIM products and how they could help with their health challenges. He came to see how substantial the AIM business opportunity was for him in helping others.
Betty, a successful CPA at the time of her husband’s newfound passion, knew from the beginning that he had found his calling. “Darryl believed so much in the products! You could see that he had a true heart to help other people. And what better way to change your life than to help people? This made me passionate about his new venture.” Betty was so excited by Darryl’s zest and drive that she knew there was only one thing for her to do. In 1999, she quit her job and joined Darryl full-time. “There wasn’t a better fit,” Darryl beams. “We work as a great team. We have the right combination of hard work and support from each other! Every person needs somebody like that. How much better can it be than having that person be your own spouse, your lover, your partner in life.”
Then happily married for 14 years, the Hicks's knew they could get more out of life. AIM helped them take their marriage and life to the next level. “Before, I was traveling 270 nights a year,” recalls Darryl. “Our relationship was becoming a “hi” in the hallways and a “bye” in the airport. We didn’t get to see each other, but now with AIM, we get to wake up together, we get to exercise together, work our business together, and spend our money together,” Darryl laughs.

Focus

The Hicks’s working relationship is just as dynamic as their marriage. Together, they attend meetings, visit the local hospital, get involved in local community activities, and set up their own booth at health fairs. Besides having a great working relationship, the Hickses say they owe their success to a simple philosophy—building the business by helping one person at a time.
Darryl says, “I don’t have a doctorate, I’ve never written a book, and I don’t have a great testimony. What we’ve done, and I’ve learned it from watching my Mom build her business, is work with one person at a time, ensuring that that one person we’re working with gets the full resolve that AIM products have to offer.”
In addition to following their simple business philosophy, the Hickses share a fundamental value. Betty says, “We pray together, and that’s where we’re a team also. Not only providing others with information and follow-up, but also behind the scenes prayer. We want them to get results. The message of good health and living a good life is so much bigger than us.”

At work and play

So dedicated to the pursuit of helping others, Darryl and Betty recently spent two months on the islands of New Zealand meeting and helping their substantial downline Members with their own AIM businesses. “It was so exciting! We did 32 meetings in 45 days. We were able to reach a lot of people!”
Of course, the Hicks’s trip wasn’t without a hefty dose of relaxation and play. “We got to camp and play a lot in the ocean,” says Betty. “Darryl learned how to kite surf. We traveled around, saw some glaciers.” Darryl added, “We mix the business in to the pleasure. It seems like when we put the business aspect of it first—the helping of people—our playtime comes next, but we don’t even notice the work. It’s all put into perspective that way.”
Besides helping other Members and customers, the Hicks’s way of life, the freedom they are afforded, extends to their immediate family. “We have lots of nephews and nieces,” Darryl says. “It’s great because we have a lot of time to spend with them. Sometimes, their parents are out working. It’s like they’re our children. In the summer, we’re usually able to take a day off in the middle of the week and go water skiing, get them out away from their normal activities. It’s fun!”

Potential

Even with so much success at a young age, the Hicks's don’t foresee an early retirement from helping others. “Just because we’re in the Chairman’s Club, we don’t feel as if we have reached our potential with AIM,” Darryl says. “There is so much more growth for us. There are thousands more people we can touch, especially with the new AIM BarleyLife™. If you look at our age and where we are with AIM, we’re very young, but we have a lot more to accomplish.” Betty agrees and says, “Darryl’s mother didn’t start with AIM until she was 47, and look at all she’s accomplished in just a few years. I can’t imagine the thousands of people we’re going to touch. I think there’s so much more that we have to accomplish. I feel we’ve just started.”