Different Types of People…
Throughout my life I have met hundreds of people who have little if any material wealth to speak of, and yet their lives are filled with the greatest peace and joy imaginable. It is obvious that they have un-jaded perspectives of thankfulness and gratitude for what they do have – for their life and circumstances in spite of dire and stark conditions. They are pure, sincere, and have a warmth that literally draws you to them. Their love is so evident, and their inner personas are displayed via the most wonderful smiles I’ve ever seen. They are appreciative for what they have, and are unconditionally loving of others. They are God’s wonderful, wonderful creations.
Unfortunately, not all possess these kind and humble demeanors, especially in the world of business. If you’ve been in business long, you’ll find that ‘right of passage’ into the business world includes unfortunate encounters with people who don’t have that joy, but rather possess the exact opposite psychology. They are on the opposite end of the spectrum from those who bring joy and love into whatever environment they inhabit, like those described in the previous paragraph.
I wish it wasn’t so, but there are a handful of individuals who are distrustful and highly skeptical; who spend a significant portion of their time demeaning, and condemning others. They consistently choose to imagine the worst about others, their intentions, their business, their products, their faith, or any and every aspect of another person’s life. They are consumed with hatred and take it upon themselves to put a group of people, or one or two individuals in their demented cross-hairs of contempt. They choose to even take on the role of a sworn enemy, even if they’ve never conversed with the targets of their hatred by phone or had a conversation with them face to face.
The fact is: fear runs rampant in the marketplace – fears that are easily fed. Wild accusations and statements are consistently the order of the day throughout much of the marketplace, and for those who are not acclimated to this crass environment, being exposed to elements of this evil intent and verbiage scares many people to the point of making unsound judgments and counter-productive business decisions. Many simply choose not to enter the business world for this reason, an understandable choice.
The good news is, most of this negativity is perpetrated by only a very small minority of people. Not many people devolve to the point of making base, rude, and despicable commentary the focus of their life activities. Most people would certainly not want to be known for this garbage and destruction, but some truly do want it to be the essence of their identity and their daily schedule.
My company and personal situation are no exceptions in that I have encountered one such person who apparently has no mission in life other than to destroy me personally, the lives and livelihood of our Representatives, our business in general, and at least one other business that we know of that is similar to ours.
We’ve tolerated one such person’s slander and libel for over two and a half years. She has hidden behind and written under the moniker of ‘Soap Box Mom’. She remained anonymous for the bulk of this time, although she finally (accidentally) revealed her identity in November of 2006 - a Heather Dobrott from Garland, Texas. Ms. Dobrott has purposely and consistently defamed, libeled, and attempted to destroy every aspect of my personal character and business, and has extended her sarcastic and pompous demonization to several of our company’s Representative leaders’ character and lifestyle as well. She has proactively and consistently issued defamatory statements to as many people as she possibly can, including our Pastors, Speakers, Vendors, existing AC Representatives, AC Representative Candidates, church members, family, friends, and the public at large through constant Internet postings and sites she has constructed using our company name.
She has gone to great lengths to prove her ludicrous assertions by, for example, posting pictures of our top Rep’s homes and cars she “stealthfully” snapped at our events and at their home. This was, I guess, supposed to prove something, although we haven’t been able to figure out exactly what that something was. She paraded the pictures on the Internet in gleeful “victory?” Silly, yes, but also stalking.
I don’t know this woman. As far as I know, I’ve never met her. She has phoned many of my closest relationships to trash my character, but won’t talk to me person to person. Her postings are filled with bravado and are designed to create the impression that she is one tough woman. Hmmm…, anonymously lurking in the shadows for years; never calling me or talking to me face to face; spreading lies and statements with the obvious and purposeful intention of character assassination - all within the ‘safety’, distance, and anonymity of blog postings – obviously the modus operandi of true cowardice.
We don’t know her background, although it will be intriguing to find out why someone would carry this much anger and hatred around for years. There has been speculation from leaders in the direct sales industry about her background, but I don’t know what the truth is about her past. Frankly, it doesn’t really matter to me, although we will soon find out, and perhaps allow Ms. Dobrott to taste a little of her own medicine should we choose to share more about her through our own blogs. Her reaction to my single posting revealing her identity indicates that as much as she enjoys dishing it out, she apparently can’t handle the slightest comments about her. I find that to be typical of those who tear down others, but her’s is not just a letter to the editor, no, she makes attacking me and our company a vocation. She’ll very likely take on the victim role now after years of one-sided attacks – yes, very typical.
What does matter, way beyond any damage done to me, is that she has poisoned many a good person who has had the courage to start a venture with our company and another sister company in the home business industry she has also targeted to demonize. People have fears, and the least breath of a rumor creates panic and immobilizes many well-meaning people. Ms. Dobrott has stepped in to feed those fears as the self-proclaimed expert on Tim Darnell, my company, and the other company with her convoluted version of her purported ‘truth’ websites and blog postings. SBM feels it is her life’s duty to scare everyone out of and away from their home businesses, and then rally the handful who buy into this “suspicion as lifestyle” orientation together to build a case as to why they were warranted in quitting – misery loves company. By they way, it’s never their fault, always somebody or something else. There is never any hint of self-responsibility or culpability in their mentality.
But time will show vividly – it always does – that there is never a good outcome from quitting, especially if quitting is based on tainted and inflammatory information the likes of which Ms. Dobrott spews regularly. The stark reality for those who quit is that they lose every time. This is the travesty here – the wrecked live of those who have quit due to her fear-based postings.
Quitting is the exact worst single thing a person can do in business. When a person quits, they lose their contacts, their money, their time, and much of their credibility. Their very futures are sabotaged. Their chance for success is at the very best delayed, and in many cases, completely negated. Their self-image is often lowered to the extent that they never try to do anything constructive again. SBM loves to see that happen and has provoked many into that extremely ill-advised move. Fear will easily cause people to be paralyzed and/or quit; and SBM is the self-appointed merchant and publisher of fear, hatred, and rumors. I, personally, have never seen anything like her and the campaign she has waged, and I hope others never have to deal with the likes of her either. Business is difficult enough as it is.
I have lived my life with the expressed purpose of building people up, encouraging them, and helping them see past their perceived obstacles, past hurts, and imagined fears. This is naturally who I am and what I do. I believe in free enterprise and the concept of “building” businesses, and edifying people. Thousands of people know that this is a consistent and correct characterization of my life, and many have been vocally appreciative of that fact. I am so very thankful for the thousands of good, positive and Godly messages of gratitude and support that I receive each year. Ms. Dobrott takes the exact opposite stance – tear people down.
I am the first to say that I’ve made mistakes in my life, and will probably do so in the future. I am the first to point out that I am nowhere near perfect. Paul says it best in Romans:
We all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 Paul goes on to say,
“and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ.” Romans 3:24 I claim that rich gift of God’s grace, and the ‘justification’ that we sinners so desperately need!
Some are unsurprisingly dubious of my sincerity. Suspicion is rampant and an integral part of society’s complex tapestry. But if you get to the root of suspicious peoples’ thinking, you’ll many times see that they have trouble identifying with someone who does have noble intentions due to the fact they can’t identify nobility and true intentions in their own life. Never has Ms. Dobrott pointed to anything good that I and my company have done over the years – the day in and day out work and ministry that has been faithfully carried out in our professional and private lives. That glaring omission points to, and can only point to, the obvious – a seriously malicious, devious, and destructive purpose on the part of this person.
I detest the situation that this woman has created. I totally dislike having to write a word of this message. I sincerely wish I did not have to write a word of this message. And I pray for her regularly – prayers that she will come to grips with the root of her anger, and that she will identify the hurt in her own life that causes her to lash out at undeserving targets in smug accusations and a constant barrage of degrading language. She needs to come to grips with the “why” she has become the person that carries on this ridiculous and damaging path of destruction.
If she was really concerned about so-called “scams” in the marketplace, there are a multitude of silly and illegal money scams out there to choose from. Why she has chosen an obviously legitimate business that has done nothing but consistently build people up with the Word of God (the Bible) as our guideline - with business, marketing and sales mentoring and training our theme and product, is simply an indication of a convoluted and perverse perspective.
The apostle Paul understands this fact well. He says,
“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.” Titus 1:15 I’ve found through years of prison ministry that, although there have been many promising changes of heart among many of my student prisoners, I can rarely have an influence on one whose mind is truly corrupted. You can’t negotiate or even carry on a civil conversation with someone whose sole intention is to see evil in someone, and work diligently for their demise.
The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ can and does affect that change. Although that change has not happened yet for Ms. Dobrott, based on her latest barrage of garbage and filth, I pray that the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ will intervene on her behalf, because that is the only way she’ll experience the change she so clearly needs to make.
Until that happens, and I’m hoping and believing it will, Ms. Dobrott continues to purposely lash out and smugly tear people down, most noticeably, yours truly. It is indeed unfortunate that anyone would have to deal with someone like her. The simple fact is that my business is absolutely none of her business. But she has consistently and purposely inflicted so much hurt on so many Representatives who depend on our business to grow, that the time has come for her business to indeed become my business. The records of her attacks are unmistakable, clear, and fully documented – stacks of records, and we will of necessity expose her activities and foul words and mischaracterizations. These types of attacks, made by anybody and on anyone else, MUST be stooped. Freedom of speech is one thing, but when so many lives are at stake and in the name of human decency, decisive action must be imposed against those whose intent is anything but noble.
I am open to any civil discussion about any aspect of my life or business. I am open to and welcome that kind of dialogue. I am open to disagreement and consciously choose to genuinely respect those who disagree with me on a wide range of topics. But verbal assault, malicious defamation and the constant demonization from Ms. Dobrott places this woman in an entirely different and unacceptable category. She has crossed not only ethical lines, she has also crossed legal lines in several documented cases.
People like this, along with her cohorts, who see and use the Internet as a means to egregiously excoriate their fellow human beings, definitely will be halted; and our Representatives and Customers can rest assured that this has become a well attended and fortified aspect of our business direction.
Tim Darnell
President
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