A Brief History

From a 2016 Q & A…

  • Name: Robert Ewing
  • Home State: California
  • Years in Shaklee: 52 years
  • How did you first learn about Shaklee and why did you decide to join?562003_4664567938591_831357353_n

My late wife, Patricia (who passed away in 2012), went to a church meeting in 1964 and the hostess was talking about a Shaklee cleaning product called “Basic-H”. It sounded like a great product to her so she bought 1 bottle that night. She fell in love with it after using it at home with our 5 young kids, becoming a Distributor shortly after, wanting to share it with others because it worked so well. She approached all of our neighbors and offered to clean ½ of their houses using “Basic-H” so they could see the difference, urging them to buy their own bottle afterwards to be able to finish the other ½ of their cleaning. She started towards the end of the month and she received a check from Shaklee for that first month for $4.50. Because of that check, I took a look at Shaklee’s compensation plan. I wrote a letter to Dr. Shaklee’s son, Lee, complaining about the Shaklee product catalog and other literature and offered suggestions of how to make it more effective. He wrote me back and pointed out that I was not yet even a Shaklee Member and suggested in turn that I join my wife in her budding new Shaklee business and so I did. I supported her as that next month we made 3,000 PV. By the 3rd full month, we made 12,000 PV. We were sales leaders in Shaklee before we even understood all the benefits. I quit my job as an architect after a year and never looked back. We were the 4th team to promote as Master Coordinators in Shaklee in 1972.

  • What is your “Shaklee Effect?”

I am still here at 91 years old. The only family and friends I have left from my age group are Shaklee users, Members or Distributors. Of my 3 brothers and sister and their wives and husband, only 1 sister-in-law is still living and she is a 1st level fellow Presidential Master Coordinator leader in our organization. My daughters and granddaughters who share in our Shaklee business as 2nd and 3rd generation are benefiting from the residual income we created 50+ years ago. That’s a generational wealth “Shaklee Effect”.

  • Tell us about your favorite Shaklee Trip.

We went to Copenhagen, Denmark in the 1970s. It was a wonderful location, such a friendly city, and we had access to the Tivoli Gardens. We’ve made a lot of memories in the 5 decades of 40+ Shaklee trips.

  • What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned during your time in Shaklee?

I’ve learned so many. I have spent almost ½ of my life as part of the Shaklee family. You have to keep the dream alive and believe that you can accomplish something year after year.

  • What is the best piece of advice you would share with others who want to achieve the success you’ve achieved?

We treated everyone we met as a friend that we wanted to help. And because of that, we made many, many friends who became life-long customers or successful Shaklee business owners themselves. Seek people out to build relationships and genuinely care about their health and happiness.


Here I am featured in this video compilation, talking about being part of the roots of Shaklee.