Four generations of AIM BarleyLife® fans

There are four generations of Kling family members involved with The AIM Companies™. Their reasons are varied but there are two common threads—Jim and Carolyn Kling and a belief in what the company stands for and can provide. They all use and believe in the AIM products.

Grandmother Carolyn Kling: “Jim (her husband) one day brought home this green powder in a jar and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my, not in my body.’ But then I started to hear the merit of the product from people who were taking it so, even though I had no health problems at the time, I started taking it and noticed a big difference right away. I am business-minded and I also saw a business opportunity.”

Daughter Cathy McCrea: She was ending her teaching career. Her mother and father needed help at their nutrition center in Nampa because their business was flourishing. “I am organized and I thought I could lend my expertise to help the tremendous growth they were experiencing with their AIM business so I took the job. I had no idea how involved their business was. There is so much to do, but I love it!”

Granddaughter Krista Ellis: “My dad was sick in bed and unable to work. Then Grandpa (Jim Kling) gave him this green stuff to drink. It changed his life. He went back to work. He started giving it to us. I have been taking it since I was 4 or 5 years old.”
Granddaughter-in-law Karen Kling: When she married grandson Josh, she knew the family was involved with The AIM Companies™ but knew nothing about the product. She tried some AIM BarleyLife® with water—“yuck” was her reaction—but then she tried it with juice and she could handle the taste. “After a few weeks of taking it, I felt better. I am a vegetarian and I wasn’t getting enough nutrients. I was tired, lethargic, and low in energy. I also had terrible mood swings. Now, with the AIM products I take, I really feel a lot better than I used to and my mood is much better.”

Great granddaughters Haley and Jade Ellis, age 3: According to mother Krista, “I look at my grandparents (Jim and Carolyn) and know AIM BarleyLife® is good for you. So my kids take it. I mix it in juice. They even ask for it!”

Jim and Carolyn Kling were involved in real estate in the early 1980s when a client of theirs gave them a jar of green powder. “Jim was curious and found out about it. He went to meetings, but I wouldn’t go at first. But people were getting great benefits. Jim saw the merit of the product and no one had marketing rights,” said Carolyn. The Klings pursued those rights and now they are Chairman’s Club Members and Million Dollar Club Members recognized throughout the company for their accomplishments and dedication.

Carolyn says, “Due to our success, we could easily retire but we enjoy our success and we don’t know how to quit. Mostly we keep working because we see ‘people’ results. People get better taking the AIM products.” And, she adds, “We think we bring some stability to the company. From the beginning, we have stayed focused. We gave up real estate within three months of learning of the company’s products. Since then AIM and our passion for helping people has been our sole goal.”
Carolyn has a favorite AIM success story. “In the early days, Jim and I were holding meetings in California. We went to see a friend, Dan Erceg. It was late in the day and he was still dressed in his housecoat. He hadn’t really dressed for days. He was ill and depressed. Jim convinced him to buy a six-pack of the green powder and scheduled a meeting at his house for the next week.

“As we were driving away, I told Jim I thought the whole thing was a waste of time. But our friend started taking the powder and felt better immediately. When we showed up the next week, we couldn’t find a place to park near his house. The meeting was so big we could hardly get in the house to give our message. Dan had an amazing turnaround in his health and became a top seller. He sold his home, bought a motor home, and with his niece and her husband, Connie and Steve Knight, went on the road to talk about AIM products and the AIM business. Since then I’ve been very careful how quickly I judge people.”
The Klings’ success has been hard-earned and planned. “We’ve been smart about it,” says Carolyn. “We are big on setting goals and we kept setting them as the business grew. We have traveled many, many thousands of miles, and have been to many countries. We have held meetings in our home, in Members’ homes, in convention centers, and in hotels. We’ve told everyone what we could about the products and the business opportunity.”

Indeed they have, according to daughter and office manager Cathy. “Mom is very single focused. AIM is our passion and we love what we do! Mom is an expert in marketing and Dad is even more intense. You can tell when a customer comes in if they have been dealing with Mom or Dad. Mom’s contacts are interested in more information when they come in. Dad’s contacts are sold on the product and want some right now!”

One goal of the company is to reach more young people with health and wealth benefits offered by using and selling its products.

Notes Krista: “It is hard to get young people interested. Especially young, single people who are pretty much in a party mode. They feel great and think they are invincible. But I think they start thinking about nutrition and the future when they have kids. I tell my friends that AIM is an investment, like a 401K plan.”

Karen says, “I am not a salesperson, I am not a pushy person. But I am taking the AIM products and I feel better so I share it with friends. My sales pitch is my story. My family and friends have noticed that I feel better. I ask friends to try the products but most of them think they don’t need them because they are young and feel good. But I have some friends and family taking them and that circle will move into another circle and so forth. I think the key is to talk about the quality product first, then the business. You can build a downline of friends, go from there, and there is not a huge investment.”

Carolyn and Jim are boosters of the Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders, a basketball team in Nampa, Idaho. They, too, reach young people in their own unique way. “We donate AIM products to the team. Each year we host the team to a steak dinner at our home. Then we talk to them about nutrition and the AIM products. When the team members graduate, some of them become AIM Members and continue taking AIM BarleyLife® and they also want to share it,” says Carolyn.
Carolyn, Cathy, Krista, and Karen all talk about AIM’s commitment to quality as being important to success. “The farming emphasis is important,” believes Carolyn. “Having control of our own product, Members can know we offer the best product.” Adds Cathy, “It gives us a chance to say we have it all.” Carolyn adds that she appreciates the quality of products AIM’s farming partner, Sepallo, is providing.

Karen is impressed that “the company stands behind its products. It sincerely cares about the products, the company is always testing them to make sure they are the best.” She keeps up with product information through the AIM website (BarleyLife.com). “I look at AIM’s website to learn about the products, so I can answer questions and share it with people.”

For Krista, the quality of the product comes both from its contents (natural ingredients) as well as some ingredients not found there. “Media advertising drives some bad habits. Too many products have too much sugar. There is not enough emphasis on the value of water. Prescription drugs may help one problem but they may harm something else. Too many people wait until there is a health tragedy in their lives before they think of nutrition, and changing their behavior.”

Cathy has no regrets giving up her teaching career—“You sell your life to be a choir director”—for her AIM career. “As you work with these people, you find they are wonderful, generous, very supportive and caring for each other. I love coming to work, helping people, and seeing results.”

Carolyn, too, looks back over her more than 20 years with AIM with no second thoughts. “We knew we had a hold of something greater than us.”

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