There are no rules on how to raise a family. You can read a book, listen to some expert but when family time starts for real, it is pretty much learn as you go. It is an adventure complete with smiles, tears, triumph, adversity. It is not something you can fake and get away with. Kids know, parents know.
The Redick children of Roanoke, Virginia, can stand on their own and pat themselves on the back … if they choose to. The oldest, twin girls Catie and Alyssa, both have college degrees and were basketball players at Division I Campbell University in North Carolina. The oldest son, JJ, is a graduate of Duke, was college basketball’s player of the year in 2006, and was the first round draft choice of the National Basketball Association’s Orlando Magic. David lettered in three sports in high school, is a freshman at Marshall University, and is attending school on a football scholarship. The youngest in the family, Abby, is a high school student, a star basketball player, and intends to play basketball in college.
Their parents are Ken and Jeanie Redick. Ask the kids about their individual lives, about what matters to them, what is important to them, and they come back with the same answer though the wording and emphasis may be a little different. Mom and Dad, the family.
Abby says, “My favorite moments are when my entire family is together because it is hard with all of our busy schedules. It is great to just spend time together and it is always entertaining.”
Adds Catie: “My favorite memories always include my sister and my mom, either hiking in the woods, my mom teaching us to cook and cross-stitch, playing dress up and dancing. Whatever the activity, the best thing is how much time my mom spent with my sister and me and how much we laughed.”
For Alyssa, the answer again goes back to family: “The day I married my husband was the very best day of my life. My family was there to celebrate and enjoy our union. It was very special.”
“Every summer my family goes to the beach in North Carolina,” says JJ. “Those are my favorite moments – spending time with my family.”
For David, he appreciates the role big brother JJ took in encouraging him to play football in his junior year of high school, when he had never played the sport before. He calls football “the best experience of my life” and says he wouldn’t be a football player at Marshall without the influence from JJ.
David also counts among his favorite memories an accomplishment of his brother. “My brother woke up the morning of the state championship game with a torn ligament in his foot and he could barely walk. I remember praying for him all day that God would take the pain away. JJ went out and scored 43 points and his team won the state championship. That was something really emotional to experience.”
What was it that Ken and Jeanie stood for that has stuck with their five kids? Five kids who could justifiably point to their own accomplishments as being important in their lives but, instead, they take note of their parents and their siblings. “We taught our children to never give up and never say never. What you dream and believe, you can achieve with God’s help. Nothing is impossible with God. We gave them opportunities, support, and encouragement. But the work was up to them,” Jeanie says.
The Redick name is a familiar one to AIM Members. Jeanie participated in a skit at the Tucson convention in 2005, she directed a workshop at the 2006 convention in San Antonio, and she is a regular facilitator for AIM teleclasses. She also has her own nutrition business, Eat for Life.
As is the case with a lot of AIM Members, adversity drew Ken and Jeanie to the AIM products; they were facing a health challenge. They heard about the AIM products and gave them a try. “After switching to AIM’s whole food supplements we noticed increased energy and reduced symptoms,” says Jeanie. “At first I just wanted to make enough money to pay for our family’s use. We signed up a few people, held a few meetings, and got a check every month to pay for our personal use. Then Ken had a career change and we needed extra income. We realized we were sitting on a gold mine if we just tapped into it. We got serious about our AIM business and saw it grow. Then I went back to school to become certified as a nutritionist and have even more opportunities to help others improve the quality of their lives. This work is very fulfilling.”
Jeanie and Ken are great believers in the AIM products. They use the AIM Garden Trio®, AIM Herbal Fiberblend®, AIM Proancynol® 2000, AIM Frame Essentials®, and, just recently, added AIMega™ to the list. “We have always been health conscious,” explains Jeanie, “raising our organic garden since 1976 and vegetarians since 1971. We used to take handfuls and handfuls of vitamins and minerals. We still suffered colds, flu, sinus infections, and fatigue. But when we switched over to AIM’s whole food supplements we noticed not only did our energy increase, but we didn’t get sick any more.”
Like parents, like children. The Redick kids are also believers in the AIM products. For Catie, it is AIM BarleyLife® and AIM Herbal Fiberblend®. “They keep my energy up and my digestive system clean and regular,” she says. For twin Alyssa, it is the same two as Catie, plus AIM Proancynol® 2000. “For regularity, overall health, a stronger immune system, and as an antioxidant.” JJ takes AIM BarleyLife®, AIM Herbal Fiberblend®, AIM Proancynol® 2000, AIM Frame Esssentials®, and AIM Just Carrots®.
Ken and Jeanie are graduates of Ohio Wesleyan University. Ken has a degree in English literature, Jeanie in pottery. They met in the school’s pottery studio, were married after college, and bought land in Tennessee where they constructed a large pottery studio and worked at it for 14 years. They built a studio/home themselves, cleared the land, planted fruit trees, and home-schooled their children for 10 years. “Our children learned teamwork and sacrifice for the good of the whole,” says Jeanie. “With home schooling and a home business, everyone had to pull their weight.”
In the 1990s both went back to school; Ken became a certified addictions counselor and Jeanie a certified nutritionist. By the early 1990s the Redicks had five children who began heading off in at least that many directions.
How do they keep track of it all? “I have a color-coded calendar for sports,” Jeanie says. “Each child has his/her own color and the games are entered and highlighted by color. Last winter I had three children playing basketball – two in high school and one in college. In December we had 28 games and in January we had 25 games to attend. But we love every minute of it and would not trade it for anything. We have logged an average of 35,000 miles each year on our travel car since 1997 when the twins went off to college.”
The children have worked at becoming the athletes they are but having good genes in the family does not hurt. Ken played basketball in high school and in college. Jeanie participated in high school basketball, was on the track team, the golf team, and the ski team.
JJ feels coming from a family of five kids helped each of them to succeed. “We all pushed each other to succeed. And our parents were very encouraging.” Catie agrees. “We are all goal-oriented and very competitive. We learned this from our parents. We saw how hard they worked for all of us and the sacrifices they made for our family. We all want our parents to be proud of us and we have always pushed hard to be on top or be the best.” Alyssa adds: “We were raised to work hard for what we want in life, to strive for the best, and follow our dreams. Our parents have always supported all five of us.”
It is no different with the youngest, Abby. “Having parents who support you, no matter what, make our goals more reachable. I motivate myself but it is also great to have the support of your family behind you as well.” As the youngest, Abby “got the chance to see what hard work can do and how it can pay off. My siblings all have fantastic work ethics and I got to learn from their experiences.”
To their credit, David says, “our parents never pressured us into doing anything or playing any sport.” He says his older sisters set the tone when they worked hard and earned college scholarships in basketball, then came JJ and Duke, and David and Marshall. David feels Abby will follow in their footsteps. “We are an extremely competitive bunch of kids,” he adds.
Ken and Jeanie point to their parents as the foundation for the family work ethic. “We were raised by our parents who taught us the value of hard work,” says Jeanie. “They had been World War II veterans and children of the Depression. We were not afraid of hard work,” a trait obviously passed on to their children. Hard work … and motivation. Talk to a Redick and those terms keep coming up.
“Your motivation is your leverage,” Jeanie believes. “It is what keeps you going when the going gets rough.” Abby’s motivation, her leverage, “is that great feeling when you succeed.” For JJ, “My motivation is to be the best at whatever I do. I love winning.” Catie notes, “My motivation in accomplishing something is knowing that I gave 110 percent and did the very best that I could do.” For Alyssa, “I know this sounds corny, but I try to do the very best I can in all that I do. I don’t feel satisfied until the best efforts are put forth.” David says he wants to “represent my family name as well as I can” because family members “before me have worked so hard to make a name for the Redick family.”
This is a family who works when work is called for but also has a variety of hobbies and interests. Jeanie is a tennis player and enjoys hiking, riding bikes, and working out in the gym with her husband. They also spend time with a couple of family pets, an English Springer Spaniel and a Hungarian Vizsla. JJ plays video games, watches movies, and likes to read U.S. military history. David, like JJ, enjoys video games and watching movies. Catie relaxes by lifting weights, running, playing some basketball and football. Alyssa, too, likes to work out and finds time to design jewelry. Abby, like Alyssa, has an interest in jewelry. She designs and makes it and, she notes, “I actually have a small business.”
For Jeanie, the mother of this achievement-oriented, hardworking family, how something is achieved is simple enough to explain. “You have to keep your eyes on the prize. The prize is your goal, it is the WHAT. The motivation is the WHY. You have to always remember the WHY. Otherwise, you will lose your focus, get distracted, get discouraged, and give up.”
Special occasion calls for special speaker
When JJ Redick’s basketball career at Duke ended in 2006, he had enough records and accomplishments to fill several pages in the Duke basketball guide. How he got there – the hard work, the motivation, the setbacks, his dreams, his use of AIM products – will kick off The AIM Companies™ 25th anniversary celebration June 20-24, 2007, in Orlando. Redick will be the featured speaker on the opening morning of the convention.
What basketball fans know of Redick is his success in high school and at Duke. In high school, he played on the varsity all four years, he was a McDonald’s All-American, player of the year in his senior year, and three times Gatorade player of the year. At Duke, he was Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) player of the week eight times. ACC player of the year, twice. ACC tournament most valuable player twice. A member of several All-American teams in his junior and senior years, was named by several sports organizations and groups as the college player of the year in his senior year, and was selected in the first round of the National Basketball Association draft by the Orlando Magic.
What fans never saw was what it took for him to become the best.
At age 7 JJ decided he wanted to play basketball at Duke. He began practicing three hours a day in the family driveway – rain, snow, ice, it didn’t matter. By the time he reached high school, he was practicing five hours per day. He led his team at Cave Spring High School in Virginia to the state championship and he earned his scholarship to Duke.
There were times when he might have given up, but he didn’t. He broke his wrist three times in six months in the eighth grade. Each break came on the basketball court and each time he was on a fast break and he was undercut (his legs taken out from under him as he went up for a shot). Not very sporting but if he couldn’t use one hand, well … he learned to shoot with the other hand.
His mother, Jeanie Redick, knew when she watched her son outside in all kinds of weather that he was practicing to realize his dream and that he was putting in all that time knowing the moment would come when it would all pay off. She recalls one of those moments.
“When JJ was a freshman at Duke, they won the ACC tournament. They were behind with 12 minutes left and it looked like they were going to lose. JJ got that look in his eye that he knew he had to step up and help his team. He went on fire and started draining shots. When they won, I started to cry. I realized he had played this game before over and over in his head as a child in our driveway. It was always the championship game and there were only seconds left on the clock, his team was down by a point or two, and JJ had the ball. Swoosh, he would drain it at the buzzer. He had practiced that over and over in his mind and over and over in the backyard, then it happened.”
JJ now has a professional basketball career to concentrate on, to be the best he can be at the very highest level of the game he has played since he was 7. When his time in pro basketball is finished, he says, “I want to be successful at whatever I do – coaching, business, or TV-related.” It is hard to imagine him being anything else.
As for the AIM meeting, JJ says he is “excited and honored to be part of the AIM convention.” His mother only smiles: “He will do a good job,” she says. She should know.
Recently one of our employees at AIM’s US corporate office brought in a women’s magazine with an article about how parasites can make you fat. She had looked up the cost to order the suggested program and shared the cost with us. I told her that in AIM’ s product line, there are products that are very effective at removing parasites for a fraction of the cost of the program that was offered in the article, and left it at that.
A few weeks later we received an e-mail from AIM Chairman’s Club Director Sandy Combs, who had read the same article and put the program into practice using the AIM products. She e-mailed her findings to her downline. The response she received was so great that we thought it would benefit our readers to share how you too can be inspired to think “outside the box” and find creative ways to make the media headlines on health issues, nutrition, and supplement or diet programs,.work for you or your downline using the AIM products. Because this topic may have sparked your interest, we thought that you may like us to share further on this subject. Some of the information listed is from past AIM publications on this subject Although we don’t think of ourselves as parasite hosts, millions of North Americans are infected with some kind of parasite. There are more than 130 different species of parasites, that can be lurking in our food, water, air, and soil.
Although many of us don’t see how we could have parasites they can reach us from the foods we eat, through water systems, daycare centers, pets, farm animals, and each other.
Many of us do not recognize the signs and symptoms of a parasite infestation because they can occur weeks or even years after the initial infestation, and because a parasitic infestation often mimics other similar conditions. You may be part of the parasite epidemic if:
• Constipation, diarrhea, gas, and bloating come and go for no apparent reason.
• You have developed allergic-like reactions and don’t know why.
• You cannot gain or lose weight no matter what you do.
• You feel tired, anxious, and depressed and don’t know why.
• You have joint or muscle pain and don’t know why.
• You have immune dysfunction, including reoccurring yeast infections and colds.
• You have trouble sleeping and grind your teeth.
To have the best results, avoid simple carbohydrates such as white flour and sugar during this 30-90 day cleansing period. Plan your meals around fresh fruits, raw and steamed vegetables, high-fiber grain products, cultured dairy products, and good sources of protein.
Most importantly, you must drink 8-10 glasses of water daily. Squeezing the juice from a fresh lemon in a few of your waters is refreshing and has added benefits. AIM BarleyLife® helps maintain a healthy immune system. It contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, protein, enzymes, phytochemicals, and chlorophyll to help maintain whole body health. AIM Herbal Fiberblend® contains herbs that are known to have anti-parasitical properties. Fiber can greatly improve the effectiveness of a parasite treatment plan since it helps remove the pest’s eggs from the body before they can colonize. Sandy Combs has had great success taking a one-teaspoon serving three times per day. AIM Para 90® combines several time-tested herbs with cleansing properties plus bromelain, a digestive enzyme to provide a very effective anti-parasitic formula. (No Canadian rights.) AIM FloraFood® contains friendly bacteria that helps balance intestinal pH and restore and promote healthy and beneficial flora, contribute to the destruction of mold, viruses, and parasites, and alleviate gas. AIM Composure® (optional) helps to calm the body, including the digestive system. Sandy highly recommends taking it. (Canada has a different formula.)
• Cranberries – AIM CranVerry® – Cranberries, papaya, and fresh pineapple contain enzymes that are anti-parasitic. One capsule of AIM Cranverry® is equal to one ounce of unsweetened cranberry juice. For best results, take AIM CranVerry® capsules and AIM BarleyLife® at least one hour apart.
• Pumpkin seeds – Found in AIM Herbal Fiberblend®.
• Garlic – Found in AIM Bear Paw Garlic® and AIM PrepZymes®. Garlic contains Allicin, a natural sulfur compound that kills GI tract invaders.
• Citrus – Found in AIM BarleyLife® Xtra.
• Carrots – AIM Just Carrots® contains immune-boosting carotenoids that can boost the activity of parasite-fighting white blood cells. One half-pound of carrots is equal to one tablespoon of AIM Just Carrots®. NOTE: Consult a health practitioner if you have ulcers, colitis, have had a colostomy, or have severe health problems before using AIM’s Para 90®. Not all AIM products recommended are available in all countries. However, a Member from Australia published an ad with a testimony using only AIM Herbal Fiberblend® with a similar topic and has had great success. For more detailed information on these or any AIM products, please see individual product data sheets and AIM’s detoxification data sheet.
In marketing, in sales, in product development, you are always looking for the “wow” factor. Something that catches the eye, that stays with the consumer to the point where he or she just has to have one of those.
Remember the first Mustangs? The electronic hand calculator? Mr. Coffee? All of us have a list, a memory, of something that stirred the “wow” in us. AIM Peak Endurance® with PEAK ATP® is that kind of product. It is the perfect complement to AIM BarleyLife®. These two pack a real punch when it comes to what can do the body good.
The Healthy Cell Concept® is one of the building blocks for AIM. Essentially, it says that a healthy cell is key to the overall health of the body. Therein is the value of AIM BarleyLife®. It is the ideal whole food supplement. AIM BarleyLife® seeks out and fills nutrient needs within the body. AIM Peak Endurance® has a different, yet vital, impact on the cells. It is a target supplement that replenishes what the body loses through age, stress, and exercise.
AIM Peak Endurance® is composed of three ingredients – ATP, B vitamins, and electrolytes. The major value of the product is ATP; the B vitamins and electrolytes are great bonuses.
ATP, adenosine triphosphate, is called the energy currency of the body. That is, it is the primary source of energy for the cells. Without ATP, there is no life. For cells to function properly, they need an adequate supply of ATP. ATP production peaks at age 20 then begins to diminish to the point where, at age 70, it is one-half of what it used to be. Because it is essentially an energy booster, AIM Peak Endurance® is great for those working out. The carbohydrates and electrolytes can provide a hypotonic beverage for rehydration and an isotonic beverage for rapid absorption, depending on the mix ratio. ATP increases energy levels without elevating the heart rate, which is what can happen with products that contain caffeine, ginseng, and ephedra. The ATP in AIM Peak Endurance® is protected by eight patents. Studies have shown that results from taking ATP are realized almost immediately but, of course, performance will vary from person to person.
In addition to the ATP, AIM Peak Endurance® contains electrolytes and B vitamins. Electrolytes are necessary for conducting nerve impulses in our bodies. They are reduced when we exercise and sweat. A typical sports drink contains three electrolytes and as much as 10-35 grams of sugar; AIM Peak Endurance® has five electrolytes – sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, and calcium – and only one gram of sugar. B vitamins are necessary for extracting energy from carbohydrates, building muscle, and synthesizing DNA. AIM Peak Endurance® contains six B vitamins important in metabolism – B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B12. Vegetarian diets are usually deficient in these vitamins, so this product is a needed addition to your AIM lineup.
AIM Peak Endurance® comes in a grape-flavored powder, now available in a 400-gram canister and soon in handy single serving packs. A canister of the product makes 7.5 gallons of the drink, a real cost savings compared to purchasing a 16-ounce sports drink. The powder can be mixed a gallon at a time and stored in the refrigerator. The single serving packs, 30 to a bag, will make a total of 4.5 gallons of grape drink and will be especially handy. Just add the contents to a bottle of water and you are good to go.
The suggested use is to take the product twice a day, with each serving composed of 125 mg of ATP. AIM Peak Endurance® can be taken with other AIM products and, because it enhances blood flow, it may help distribute other AIM products throughout the body.
Find something you like … and just do it
Dr. Eliezer Rapaport lives by what the best piece of advice he says he ever received: “Do only the things you are interested in. Life is too short.”
For him, that is a life dedicated to studying, researching, and understanding adenosine nucleotides. Nucleotides are the structural units of RNA and of DNA. They play a role in energy production and metabolism. For AIM Members, what they really need to know is that he has spent 30 years establishing himself as a leader in working with ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the major ingredient in AIM Peak Endurance®. In fact, he holds eight patents, many of them related to his cutting-edge research on ATP. You know he is serious about his calling when he says, “My biggest hobby is reading current medical, physiological, and biological research articles.” His dedication to his work has resulted in him spending time on the faculties of the Harvard Medical School and the Boston University School of Medicine.
Today, however, he does “very little teaching. Mostly I am involved with ATP. I am working on resurrecting ATP Therapeutics, a company I founded in 1999 for utilizing ATP in the treatment of several life-threatening indications.” He serves as a consultant to biopharmaceutical companies. His research work has found its way into 58 published, original, peer-reviewed articles. His march to the top of his field began in earnest with graduate studies from 1967 to 1971 at Johns Hopkins University.
From Hopkins he relocated to Harvard “where I started looking at the mechanisms of intracellular ATP functions …” In time, he says, he came to “the realization that ATP, an ancient molecule, is involved in the regulation of every aspect of life.” As with his passion for his work, he lives what he believes – he takes ATP.
Dr. Rapaport has spent the better part of his life pushing the envelope on ATP, constantly striving to know more about it. It is part of his character, a big part of who he is. “Try to be innovative,” he advises. “Never do work that is completely confirmatory. Always expand to uncharted waters.”
Interestingly, for this man of science, the motivators, the inspirators in his life are not scientists. They are Mahatma Gandhi and Ralph Bunche. He refers to them as “two giants of the 20th century. Dr. Ralph Bunche was an African-American who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for mediating the 1948 Palestine ceasefire.” Gandhi, an Indian, was the champion of peaceful resistance to political policies he considered corrupt and discriminatory. Dr. Rapaport calls Gandhi “the pure idealist.” Bunche, he says, was both an “idealist and a realist.”
AIM Members will have an opportunity to hear Dr. Rapaport talk about ATP at the AIM Convention, June 20-24, 2007, in Orlando where he is a featured speaker.
Dr. Rapaport is married with two children. Jesse, his son, is 14. Sarah, a daughter, is 11. The family lives in Belmont, Massachusetts.
kit at the Tucson convention in 2005, she directed a workshop at the 2006 convention in San Antonio, and she is a regular facilitator for AIM teleclasses. She also has her own nutrition business, Eat for Life.
yLife® and AIM Herbal Fiberblend®. “They keep my energy up and my digestive system clean and regular,” she says. For twin Alyssa, it is the same two as Catie, plus AIM Proancynol® 2000. “For regularity, overall health, a stronger immune system, and as an antioxidant.” JJ takes AIM BarleyLife®, AIM Herbal Fiberblend®, AIM Proancynol® 2000, AIM Frame Esssentials®, and AIM Just Carrots®.
ttend. But we love every minute of it and would not trade it for anything. We have logged an average of 35,000 miles each year on our travel car since 1997 when the twins went off to college.”
work for you or your downline using the AIM products. Because this topic may have sparked your interest, we thought that you may like us to share further on this subject. Some of the information listed is from past AIM publications on this subject Although we don’t think of ourselves as parasite hosts, millions of North Americans are infected with some kind of parasite. There are more than 130 different species of parasites, that can be lurking in our food, water, air, and soil. 
itamins and electrolytes are great bonuses.
g, researching, and understanding adenosine nucleotides. Nucleotides are the structural units of RNA and of DNA. They play a role in energy production and metabolism. For AIM Members, what they really need to know is that he has spent 30 years establishing himself as a leader in working with ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the major ingredient in AIM Peak Endurance®. In fact, he holds eight patents, many of them related to his cutting-edge research on ATP. You know he is serious about his calling when he says, “My biggest hobby is reading current medical, physiological, and biological research articles.” His dedication to his work has resulted in him spending time on the faculties of the Harvard Medical School and the Boston University School of Medicine.