My name is Ligia Fleckenstein. I’m originally from a beautiful coast town called Joao Pessoa, in  the northeast of Brazil.

My father abandoned my mom, my siblings and I when I was about seven, my brother eight, my middle little sister one and the youngest two months old.

My mother had to go back to my grandparents’ home because her elementary school teaching salary wasn’t enough to support us.

Two years later, my grandparents, uncles and aunts decided to move to a bigger city, in the southern part of Brazil, in search of better financial opportunities. So, we had to move with them to Rio de Janeiro. Have you ever heard of it?

Well, the education system and the teachers in Rio were much better than at my hometown. So, it was a better change for all of us.

One of my uncles got a job with Pan Am Airlines, as a ticketing clerk, but soon he became a sales manager and started traveling around the world. He would bring slide pictures of his trips to show us and I was just delighted to see such marvelous places.

I remember telling myself at the age of 12 that that’s what I wanted to do – travel the world. I started thinking of ways to accomplish my dream and concluded that the best way would be to become a flight attendant for an airline and be able to travel for free.

When I had just turned eighteen, that uncle who worked for Pan Am came to me and asked if I wanted to visit the United States. Of course, I immediately told him that I would love to. Then, he explained to me that an English teacher who coordinated exchange student programs to the United States every year owed him many favors and now, he wished to pay him back.

So, the teacher offered my uncle a free ticket for a three month exchange student program for anyone in his family. Well, uncle’s children as well as my sisters were still too young for the program and my brother, too old, I was the only one who qualified.  

It was perfect timing because I was graduating at the end of that year and had no idea what I was going to do with my life. That gave me focus and purpose: I had to become as fluent as possible in English in the next eight months.

Coming to America as an exchange student was the beginning of the realization of my dreams. In spite of the cold weather, I spent three incredible months in Pennsylvania: I had no problems adapting to the culture, to the food or to my hosting family; I made lots of friends and I was very sad as time to go back home approached.

Fortunately, Ms Stump, my Spanish teacher, who was very caring and was concerned about me not being able to go to college back in Brazil, talked to my host family about the possibility of my staying with them and going to college right there in Kutztown. They loved the idea and invited to do so.

Ms Stump enrolled me to take the Toeffl exam which checks the English level of foreign students entering college. At Kutztown State College, they were offering Tuition Remission Scholarships for 10 foreigners who passed that exam and I qualified to get one of them.

For the next four years, I studied very hard not only to keep my scholarship, but also to show that Brazilians are smart. Going to college was an experience that I will never forget. I made the best of it and graduated with honors. I majored both in French and Spanish.

After graduating, I wanted to stay in The United States, but I didn’t know exactly what to do in terms of immigration and ended up returning to Brazil. Knowing English and French opened many doors of opportunity for me there. I worked as a bilingual secretary, a teacher and an interpreter.

Thirteen and half years ago, my husband went to Brazil on a business trip and I became his designated interpreter. When he returned home, we corresponded for about a year. Then, I came to visit him in California and the rest is history. We have been married for 12 years now.

In 2005, I was hired by a company to be a Portuguese tele-interpreter working from home. At the beginning of 2008, I realized the instability of the company and began thinking of the possibility of starting my own business. I was, then, introduced to the MLM model which I found very interesting, but difficult for me to do.

At the end of 2008, I discovered that it’s possible to find leads for MLM online. At that time, I could barely send emails back to my family in Brazil and do very little surfing. I started learning everything I could about Internet Marketing and I believe, now, I’m starting to really get the hang of it.

My husband’s job sends him on international business trips at least once a year. I’ve been able to travel with him to six different countries in Europe. But, of course, we stayed in the hotels his company chose and just as long as his assignment lasted.

My dream is to return to those countries we have been to and visit new ones well, but choosing where and how long to stay.

Therefore, I intend to have my business well established in next two years when my husband retires.  Besides traveling around the world, I wish we will do so in style.

My hope is to also be able to help you find your niche, develop your business and realize your dreams.

Wishing you great success!