David & Dariusz Respondek
But having navigated the Direct Sales and Network Marketing trade for years and looking at his results, I knew that relationships alone weren’t enough to get that high. So I dug deeper. Bingo! “Jokes aside,” Dariusz says before getting down to business. He speaks slowly but surely, choosing his words carefully, because years of experience have done their bit. “Everyone can do this business, but they must understand it and make an informed decision that says ‘Let’s do it!’. Otherwise it won’t work,” he explains.
Maciej Maciejewski: You have been involved with the MLM sector since 2004. In the first company you worked with, you achieved the highest possible position in less than three years…
Dariusz Respondek: Now I can see that it could have been done faster. I made a lot of beginner’s mistakes back then; I had no support from my sponsor who signed me up and said, “Get to it!” After a few months, I had several hundred people in my structure, all of them hooked up to me, in a classic “sun” pattern. There was money in it, but definitely not the kind of money I expected. I’ve seen others get paid, so I knew it’s possible. I just had to figure out how to do it right. I sat down with the marketing plan and analyzed it. I made my own action plan and started working again, according to specific points. And it worked. I did not make these mistakes again in Prouvé. I reached a similar level of turnover eight months after the start.
Maciej Maciejewski: So the second marketing came easier for you?
Dariusz Respondek: Absolutely not! This is perhaps the biggest myth in this trade. I had a lot of experience, but first of all – I was building the market from scratch, with new people, and secondly, I chose a company that was just beginning to grow. Many things were not working as they should; it wasn’t fully prepared for foreign markets, and I was strongly focused on international business.
Maciej Maciejewski: What made you abandon your high level in a well-established company for a project that could burn out after a few months?
Dariusz Respondek: Business intuition. When I heard that Katarzyna Trawińska was opening her own project, I called her and asked if it was true. After a few minutes of conversation I already knew that I had found my new place. I went “blind” because I know her, respect her and trust her. But I was also aware that I would have to do everything myself from the start.
Maciej Maciejewski: And yet you decided to do it anyway?
Dariusz Respondek: I have a lot of business experience. I have proven myself in the traditional business; I was active in the insurance market, among others, in construction; I ran a chain of gyms, solariums and hairdressing salons. MLM was my conscious choice. But thanks to the fact that I have this experience, I can see more than others; I am able to predict the consequences of various actions in the long term. That is why I had already started looking for a new company I could get involved with.
I am very grateful to my previous team, I thank my group with which I was successful there, but in business you always have to be a few steps ahead of everyone. I think that with time more and more people will start to notice what I have seen and it will also be time for them to change. And then I can say to them – “come join us at Prouvé,” knowing that I am inviting them to a very good, long-term business which I and leaders like me have already achieved success in. And I will be glad that they would have greater comfort of work than I had.
Maciej Maciejewski: Didn’t it appeal to you that you would be among the first, coming with a ready group and skim off the top?
Dariusz Respondek: I invite anyone who thinks so to work with a company that is just starting out. Parallel to Prouvé, several other projects were launched that are not on the market today. A new company is always a big risk for the leader and a responsibility towards people who are offered cooperation. When I started, I wasn’t looking for a way to transfer my group, but instead went to leaders like me – who understand this business, who are aware of the risks and are able to take them and work anyway… To those who know that you need to build a sales market for a product that is unknown to anyone, show this product to people and make them want to buy it and recommend it to others. This is just the beginning, though.
Maciej Maciejewski: What finally prompted you to choose Prouvé?
Dariusz Respondek: First of all, my trust in Katarzyna Trawińska, with whom we have known each other for many years and we have always worked well together. Second – I got a product sample during the interview. I started distributing it and saw it, to put it mildly, “doing the job”. Which means a good product. Third – I got to know the assumptions of the career plan. Together, these three elements made me join Prouvé.
Maciej Maciejewski: Did you not even mind the prospect of hard work?
Dariusz Respondek: In the previous company, I had stable groups and income, which was declining, but was still high. So the decision wasn’t an easy one. Especially since my family situation has changed. I got involved in a new relationship, wonderful children appeared, and with them, a new kind of responsibility. But also a completely new energy to act and motivation. I used to do everything with a different mindset – a luxurious home, five Mercedes and Porsche cars in the garage. Today, the most important thing is the happiness of my family and the time I spend with them. And in this regard, we are more comfortable with the values behind Prouvé, because it is a company focused on creation, cooperation and support. On the other hand, I was never afraid of hard work. As a young lad, I moved to Germany and took my first steps in business there. I believe this German mentality shaped me – diligence, honesty, simplicity, seeing everything to the end.
Maciej Maciejewski: How long have you lived in Germany?
Dariusz Respondek: 25 years. Those were very colorful times. Can I tell you something? I was the German Champion in Thai Boxing. They used to call me the “Polish Bull”. I also have a kung-fu champion belt. As I look back, these experiences from the ring and from the training room shaped me to be successful not only in sports, but also in business and in my personal life. I am very aware that you have to earn everything in life and I know what it is to fight against yourself. And just as you do one thing in life, you do everything. Either go all in or let go. If you did not apply yourself to training in the last few months before a fight, did not stick to your diet, had no motivation, then a moment of trial will finally come to expose it all. It’s the same in business.
You can’t fake commitment, you can’t pull punches. If I’m into something, I’m giving it my 100%. Because you have to be responsible.
Maciej Maciejewski: Then tell me, what does a man who has already achieved so much plan for the future?
Dariusz Respondek: I may surprise you here, but my plans are like those of most of the people I work with – I want a calm, good life. I want to do what I like doing, I want to grow and have time for my family. I want to give them the best. That’s all it takes.
Maciej Maciejewski: Thank you for the interview.
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