Alvino S.

As stated in my last post the residents of Cibola County are generally not eager to accept new ideas, even when they are healthy. Partly because of long standing diets the area has a large number of diabetics, especially amoung the Native American population. A few years ago Alvina S., who graduated from Grants High School in 2000, saw a need for offering healthier choices and decided to do something about it.

His quest for fitness began in high school where he played basketball and in his senior year lifted weights. He worked out with personal trainers and began asking them how they became fit. He was told that fitness is an individual jouirney. It was suggested that he educate himself by reading and trying new options.

Moving on to college in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Alvino checked out Herbalife and eventually became a customer. He liked the way the product worked and his interest led him to investigate becoming a distributor. On March 28, 2011 he opened Right Track Nutrition in Grants. The tiny building his business occupied was built in 2002 and briefly housed "Coffee and...", which offered coffee and bagels. It had sat empty for several years just waiting for the right entrepreneur. Its motif had been centered on train tracks, as they can be seen from the back windows of the building. Right Track Nutrition was a perfect name for a healthier choice.

Alvino has a Bachelor degree in hotel, Restaurant and Tourism as well as Associate degrees in Marketing and Business administration. He said, "I needed to make good use of ten years of my college education."

A business of his own was a positive step forward and his hometown was the best place to take that step. Alvina spent four months being mentored by Herbalife business owners before becoming an independent distributor himself. Along the way he noticed that females around his age were most likely to be interested in the concept of Herbalife. He commented, "guys are more interested in muscles than nutrition and I hope to change that attitude."

He also hoped to convince coaches and parents to encourage high school athletes to try the products. With the help of family and friends Alvina began to spread the word. He manned booths at community events to help educate and encourage the community to choose healthy lifestyles. He maintained a facebook page to keep followers up to date on walks, runs and other fitness activities he sponsored. He offered the message,"Get on the right track with a healthier today."

Working eleven hours in the store didn't leave Alvino much time for anything else, but he also peridically offered what he called "boot camp" for the community when time allowed. It consisted of about an hour to an hour and a half of rigorous exercise, using skills everyone learned as children, such as jumping jacks. Distributors are free to use their own imagination and knowledge to promote their business, which makes them their own boss.

Alvino represents the younger mindset that is slowly emerging in Cibola County. When asked what his parents thought about the risk he took to open his own business he replied, "At first they were hesitant, but now they are proud of me."

Unfortunately, Alvino's ideas and hard work did not last. On March 24, 2013 he offered the following statement to the community: "I would like to announce that Right Track Nutrition is closing its doors for good. I gave it my best shot, It just didn't work out around here. So I'm closed for good."