| About Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee, Sr. |
Excerpts from The
Shaklee Story by
R. L. Shook |
“What You Think, You
Are”
This
time he didn’t reopen his practice. The reflective
time he’d spent surrounded by the natural beauty he loved
sent him in a new direction. Though he continued to work
as a chiropractor and nutritionist, it was the
philosophy that he called “Thoughtsmanship” that
held his interest. His philosophy was based on the responsibility
of the individual to make life as rich and rewarding
as it could be by living in harmony with nature.
Dr. Shaklee’s sons, Lee and Forrest, Jr., commented that they’d
been exposed to Thoughtsmanship all their lives without
realizing it.
It combined the Golden Rule ~ “Do
unto others as you would have them do unto
you” ~
with an insistence that thought could improve
man’s relationship
wit nature. And the wonder of it, they realized as
adults, was that it encouraged them to develop
to full stature, but in their own individual ways.
The purpose of his philosophy was to help others become more positive,
and therefore to accomplish more. “I can only attempt
to arouse a consciousness in you that will permit you
a better understanding of your own ability to solve
your problems. Your future life will be exactly what
you decide to make. What you think, you look. What
you think, you do. What you think, you are.”
The purpose of his philosophy was to help others become
more positive. |
Dr. Shaklee’s ideas gained wide popularity. He spoke frequently
on his views and in 1951 published four books: Thoughtsmanship
for Well Being, Thoughtsmanship in Love and Marriage, Thoughtsmanship
for the Bride, and Thoughtsmanship for the Salesman. His
lectures were broadcast on Oakland and San Francisco
radio stations. As he frequently mentioned nutrition as one
of the ways to be in harmony with nature, interest
in his food supplements grew, too.
In 1955, a big idea began to form. Now officially at the age
of retirement, he thought, “What about putting it all
together in one grand adventure?”
He called his
sons together for what they sensed was something
serious. Their
adult lives had begun by then. Each was married, with a family.
They became the first
family whose lives changed dramatically
with a Shaklee business.
|
Their careers were launched and promising ~ Forrest, Jr.
had his own accounting firm and Lee was moving
up in an insurance company. But when their dad outlined
his proposal and then asked, "Are you guys interested
in starting a business with me?“ they considered it
seriously.
They
became the first family whose lives changed
dramatically with a Shaklee business. The work
of structuring the business took six months. Every
aspect of the business would be grounded in the philosophy. A
person-to-person selling system made sense to them
for a number of reasons. It seemed the best way of providing
information and personal service to each customer.
Dr. Shaklee & sons began Shaklee Products
Company
|
And it also meant that, if the business became successful,
others could prosper from it with little financial
investment.
The Shaklee Products Company gave Dr.
Shaklee the opportunity to use everything
he had learned over his lifetime. But what
those three men accomplished is astonishing. They began
with few assets except their belief in each other and
their ability to influence others.
They started a nutritional products company with a single product
right at the peak moment of America’s enchantment with Betty
Crocker, Wonder bread and other “miracles” of
the postwar world of food science. Nearly every prospect
had to be educated before becoming a customer, let
alone a distributor. The odds didn’t look great, unless
you banked on that unusual man at the helm.
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