I am a firm believer of living each “adult” day by the kindergarten rules of conduct, and to always keep my inner three-year-old asking the incessant “Why?” when considering my actions and lifestyle choices. The following might help to illustrate what I mean:

I was revitalizing a flowerbed in front of our house. I began the effort really excited, as most people do before a service project of any sort. But it was only exciting until the spade hit the dirt and the sun hit the skin.

Our flowerbed was overgrown from previous tenants and we had been “too busy” to put any energy to it, which I had convinced myself was completely justifiable. This then raised a question: How many seemingly insignificant things do I neglect daily without thought, and then justify my apathy with excuses?

After the novelty of picking out my assorted colors and species of flowers at the garden center had faded, I was left with just my sweaty, tired self covered in dirt, and a whole lot of unplanted flowers that were seemingly staring at me in judgment. This led to another question: How many of us get excited by the coming beautiful end result of the neatly planted flowers, only to lose that excitement and torture ourselves with perceived judgment when it’s time to do the digging and clearing? How many of us have felt the slow dissipation of anticipation leave our goals, once we realize there is much to plant and weed before the smallest bloom peaks out in victory? How many times in my life have I let that outside negativity in and cripple me in my journey?

The simple challenge of these questions brings forth parallels to various aspects of my daily actions. My flowerbed (unbeknownst to the neighbors) is my Viridian business—with frightening accuracy.

My “flowers” (business) will bloom. My “weeds” (negativity and naysayers) will stay at bay. And my appreciation, gratitude and love of the journey itself will outshine any doubt, fear or hesitation that the world throws at me.

My digging, sweating and swearing all faded to laughing at myself, and cleaning out under my nails with pride. This flowerbed has allowed me to lose attachment to the end result.

Similarly, this process and journey with Viridian is simple, but not easy. We unearth talents we wouldn’t have known we had if we didnt push that first scoop of dirt out, or pull that first weed. Just like our own gardens, flowerbeds, service projects and businesses, the adventure to changing your life and the world begins in your very own little corner of the universe. The simple fact is, we are the gardeners of our own lives and cultivate our own journey.

As always I send my team and supporters my gratitude and sincerest thanks for always helping me to keep digging.

I am Stephanie Martin, and I am Generation V!

VP of Field Development Bob Ulrich with SVP of Viridian Network Meredith Berkich at DSA 2012.

Tuesday night, June 5, 2012, at the Direct Selling Association awards banquet in Dallas, I had the incredible opportunity to accept an award that is the most coveted recognition a young company in the network marketing channel can ever hope to receive: the Rising Star award.

In the surprise and excitement of the moment of hearing Viridian’s name called, going on stage and being asked to say a few words, I don’t think anyone articulates exactly what they would have said, had they had time to prepare for such an honor.

I wish I could say I was as precise as the copy below (what I actually said in those brief moments is definitely in the body of the text below somewhere) but regardless—more than 800 industry peers now clearly have a better understanding of what the Viridian brand represents. I wanted to share the words I would have said had I been given three minutes and a teleprompter, as this award belongs to all of the people of Generation V—our corporate staff, field Associates and customers—and we should not let this moment in our history pass without giving it due reflection:

It is with humility and gratitude that I accept the Direct Selling Association’s Rising Star Award for 2012 on behalf of the Viridian community and our Founder and CEO, Michael Fallquist. I thank the DSA for their continuing efforts to protect this great industry that empowers ordinary people to experience extraordinary results.

I joined Viridian a year and a half ago, over a year after Michael birthed his vision to create a new category in the energy space merging affordable green energy with renewable energy development. Our 7 Continents in 7 Years initiative clearly demonstrates our commitment to global sustainability initiatives, as we annually take our top field leaders on ‘Voluntourism’ trips combining service projects with celebration of their successes. We have planted trees in the Amazon of South America and installed solar panels on schools and clinics in villages in Africa. Next year we’ll take them to Asia.

We believe our Associates have the power to change the world; this is not just a sensational statement but a core belief. To give you an idea, last year the customers that our Associates enrolled made individual choices to switch to Viridian, which resulted in a collective impact of preventing over 208 million pounds of carbon emissions from being released into our atmosphere. This equates to 2.4 million trees being planted, or 18,525 cars being taken off the roads, or 1.1 billion 2-liter plastic bottles being recycled.

Our Associates like to say “We did not inherit this planet from our ancestors; we are borrowing it from our children.” Their belief in us and our mission makes it our sacred trust as direct selling executives to empower these courageous entrepreneurs with steadfast vision, a unique selling proposition, high quality support tools, comprehensive education and a lucrative time/value proposition.

I have been in the direct selling industry for over 20 years now; I know the power of the network—not only for taking products to market or for profitability, but also for the greater good of humankind. Together we can—together we will—make a difference. We are, Generation V.