My name is Athina Fascianella, Area Manager and Independent Consultant with Arbonne International. I'm a stay at home mom to two wonderful boys, Joseph (5) and Vincent (3). I have the most amazing and supportive husband, Thomas.

I was introduced to Arbonne in July 2012 by my friend Ann Marie who was hosting an event. My youngest son was about 5 months old at the time and I needed a mommy time out. Foot soak, facial, wine sounded perfect. I fell in love with every product she showed us and wanted it all.

But when Ann Marie asked me if I wanted to join her in doing Arbonne I thought she was out of her mind and I told her why I couldn't do it. First off, I had no time to do something like this. My youngest son has developmental delays and my oldest has been diagnosed with autism. Second, we had no money to invest into a business. We were a one-income household at the time. I put my career on home so I could be home raising our sons. Finally, I don't have a driver's license. One of the advantages of living in New York City is you don't necessarily need a car. That was me!

But something did intrigue me that day. Ann Marie told me she had been just as skeptical as I was and she decided to do Arbonne because she needed the money and Lord knows we could use the money. We were living week to week on our income and I just wanted more for my boys. She told me about the success stories that she knew of and the earning potential. The fact that I could fit this business into the nooks and crannies of my life was appealing. I loved the idea of putting my family and faith first. I didn't say yes at the time, but I kept it in the back of my mind.

Over the coming months, Ann Marie asked me a few thousand times to do this business. Can I be honest, I never imagined myself doing something like this. I am a fairly shy person who doesn't like to talk in front of others. I tried working in sales for like a nanosecond on high school and I was horrible at it. I couldn't sell water in a desert. However, Thomas and I decided that it was worth a try. Worth case scenerio, I'd have a great discount for a ton of products I was going to buy anyway! We agreed that if we continued as we were, that was as good as it was going to get and that wasn't okay with us.

I finally joined Ann Marie after I hosted an event at my house in September 2012. She walked me through the entire process and helped me gain momentum from day one. That is one thing that I love about this business we are all about paying it forward and helping that next person be successful. I have linked arms with Ann Marie and I am on my way to the top level of the company and taking people with me!