Anita Robutka
It was the mid-1990s when Anita Robutka and her family encountered a grand alignment of misfortune. Within a matter of weeks the family of seven went from an affluent lifestyle in suburban Calgary, Canada, to living below the poverty level.
The troubles began when Anita’s husband, Peter, tore his hamstring, losing his job of 14 years as a country club tennis pro. Bills quickly piled up. The family moved to Santa Monica, California, on the hope that Peter could find a job as a tennis pro there. No luck.
To make ends meet, they lived in a 900-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment. The luckiest member of the family was the baby; she had a room to herself-in the walk-in closet. Living in such cramped quarters exacted a large emotional toll on the family. That’s when the couple learned that Anita was pregnant with her sixth child.
With no health insurance, returning to Canada was inevitable. The decision to do so was only made easier when they learned that their van was to be repossessed. Unable to make a go of it on the West Coast, the family returned to Calgary, where friends opened their home and gave them an old station wagon as transportation. The family received most of their food from the local food bank. If not for the generosity of others, the family would have been living on the street.
For four years, the Robutkas lived below the poverty level. During this time, they developed a humility, compassion and burning commitment to always help those who found themselves in difficult circumstances.
“We had lost everything,” Anita says. “After a while it was difficult to believe that we would ever be able to pull out of the downward spiral. You lose hope and wonder if it is time to just accept things which you think you cannot change.”
It was then that a friend called to talk about Mannatech.
With nothing to lose, the couple agreed to give the business opportunity a chance. Mannatech was preparing to begin distributing its products in Canada. The first person the couple approached to introduce to the company’s products was a friend of theirs who was a nurse. From that one person grew what is now an organization that spans continents. As quickly as their financial stability had cratered, it started to come together again. Within a short period of time, the Robutkas had developed a successful business.
The Robutkas pursued their newfound financial freedom with vigor, moving to Australia for 14 months in 1998 when Mannatech began selling its nutritional supplements Down Under. The couple also helped to open the market in the United Kingdom.
“This has been a phenomenal journey,” Anita says in retrospect. “As the saying goes, ‘It is not the years you live, but the life that you live in the years.’ These 12 years seem like a lifetime.”*
*Actual earnings depend on your individual efforts and skill, the customer base available to you, and the time devoted to your business.These factors differ from distributor to distributor.
Posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008
