The Life of Herbalife: Up close with James Shaw, the man behind selling the products

Editor’s Note: A U.S. senator last year called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether or not Herbalife is pyramid scheme, and the FTC chairwoman has responded that — while she can’t confirm if the FTC is investigating — the concerns he expressed “are being carefully considered,” Reuters reported.

I’m interested in all sorts of health and fitness products, and one that I have been particularly curious is Herbalife. Naturally, the marketing shows weight loss and healthy success stories and I wanted to find out more about it. A local guy to Howard County, James Shaw, also was curious and took the Herbalife plunge a few years ago, both in a business and nutritional sense.

I’ve been tasting and experiencing Herbalife for a few weeks now and it is tasty and it is nutritious, but what does Shaw have to say about making his life all about Herbalife?

James in the Marine Corps.
James in the Marine Corps.

1. What made you start up with Herbalife?

After six years in the Marines and entering the private sector, I knew I was never interested in building someone else’s dreams, a normal nine-to-five job, I was looking for a career. I knew sales, marketing was my calling. I spent 20 years doing financial planning but after the financial meltdown in 2008, it became more like a job and I was no longer having fun. I thought once I sold the company, that I would stay in the white collar arena, medical, pharmaceutical sector but I was invited to an Herbalife meeting. I was intrigued with nutrition but being honest, it wasn’t on my radar as a new CAREER. I committed to do three things. Research obesity in America and the more I dove into it, the more disturbed I became.

The second thing was to find reasons, NOT to work with Herbalife. The more I researched them, the more attracted I became due to their 34 year history.  Licensed to sale their products in 92 countries, 7.5 billion in sales in 2013 of which only 18 percent was in the USA. I went through every one of their products and researched what was on the label. The last missing piece was to try the products as I couldn’t represent a company unless I believed in their products and got results. I lost 30 pounds over a few months. The reasons where not just taking these products daily but revising how I was treating my body with processed foods and sodas and really address what made me overweight in the first place. I had to commit to a LIFESTYLE CHANGE to not only get results but keep the fat off.

2. What about results with Herbalife – what can people expect?

We opened our nutrition club on Feb. 2, 2014 and have a number of people that come in for a healthy meal replacement shake, tea and aloe for breakfast, lunch or just a healthy snack.  We can’t use the word GUARANTEE with any of our products. Just because I lost 30 pounds of which was mostly fat, not muscle, doesn’t mean the next person will so we must have full disclosure on that but with that being said, I have a number of Howard County police officers that come in daily and have gotten results.

images (1)One officer has lost over 25 pounds in just two months by replacing his normal high carb, high calorie breakfast with our replacement shakes that are only 190 calories, very, very low in sugar and 20 grams of protein, which you MUST have to create weight loss and a sense of fullness.

Our aloe product has gotten incredible results with people that suffer from acid reflux, heart burn, bloating and inconsistent bowel movements just to name a few. 1 person has been suffering from acid reflux for years and taking over the counter medicine, our goal is to get people healthier thru education and introduction to these great products. She has gotten amazing results from the aloe where she now is not taking the medicine but again, we can’t use the word guarantee and results vary from person to person. Our Herbal tea we refer to as DRINK AND SHRINK. It is loaded with various herbs that help with antioxidant support, boost energy and helps with weight loss. This product is designed to replace some of the sugar drinks that have created weight gain for most people.

 3. How is Herbalife different from other products out there?

There are a lot of products on the market that people can get results from. There are certain things that attracted me to herbalife’s. First and foremost, they have a seed to feed program in place which means we grow it, we extract it, bottle it and get the products to the distributors, no one touch’s our products. Our tea is grown in China and aloe as an example, is grown in Mexico. People want to know that their products are safe. Herbalife will not sacrifice the quality of their products so if an ingredient is not available for one of their products, they simply won’t have it available to the distributors, they will take the hit financially first before they put something in a product that should not be in it.

Lastly, their products are TARGETED to provide specific support to your body. They have a buffet of products that are not just designed to help people lose weight but support other areas. I used to only religiously take a multivitamin and Omega 3. I didn’t understand that the vitamin that I was taking had a lot of fillers in it, not a pharmaceutical grade vitamin such as the one I take with Herbalife. After becoming a wellness coach, I know take over 10 products that do specific things to my body. People must remember, these products are FOOD. The goal is to get people off of medication and live a healthier life but if first starts with education on the things you’re doing wrong and incorporating these insane herbs to create a 1-2 punch. NO MORE YO-YO DIETING!!!!!

NFL football players have been taking Herbalife products with amazing results. They take the 24fit products to get totally ripped.

James is also running Advantage Health Fairs to local business which offer FREE health exp’s/fairs . Within the health fairs there are business opportunities for people to become wellness coaches and create a supplemental income. Contact James for more info here.