Hi, my name is SaRita Custis, and I'm the creator and author of InspiredMindsChangingLives.com.

I started my business because I want to help other people get out of the corporate or government rat race and start earning a full-time income doing something that they enjoy. I didn't enjoy working for someone else because I knew I could never live the lifestyle I wanted on a salary where someone else decides how much I'm worth.

As to why I started this site — well, I want to meet, connect with, and give back to other entrepreneurs who are in the same situation I was in…and hopefully my story will inspire you to discover a better alternative just like I did when I started working from home, being my own boss, and earning money based on the value that I give to people rather than some subjective amount set by a number cruncher sitting in a tiny closet office somewhere. But before I get into all of that, let me just tell you a little bit more about myself.

I live in Montgomery, Alabama, but I was born and raised in the lovely state of Maryland. Why did I move? It's COLD in Maryland :).

I have 2 children, both of whom are college graduates now — I can't believe it, I'm an empty-nester! The time sure flies!

I've spent most of my adult life working in the Information Technology field in a variety of capacities, working for both corporate and government organizations. I started off in the Air Force and then moved to the civilian world. It's funny how we can spend years and years doing a job that leaves us feeling empty just because we learned the old, “If you work hard and pay your dues, you'll be able to retire when you're 65 and your pension and social security will take care of you.” Ugh…I'm not even going to go there.

Anyway, I love to read and do crafts. I'm a HUGE football fan (Go Tigers! Go Steelers! And yes, I'm still bitter about the Colts leaving Baltimore in the middle of the night!), but I'm not too into other sports. I also collect gemstones and make jewelry – in fact, making and selling jewelry and crafts was my first business outside of MLM. One of my goals is to become a Certified Gemologist, but that's a few years down the road.

Some of my favorite things are…smiles, traveling to new places, the sound of the waves crashing at the beach, the sunrise on a warm spring morning, kicking back in a hammock listening to a recording of one of my mentors, connecting with people who are like me!

So anyway, for as long as I can remember, I have been PAINFULLY shy. Not so much in professional situations, but any time I had to try to connect with people for REAL, I'd kind of hide out. Yep, that's me, the person leaning against the wall at the party — I have to make sure the wall doesn't fall down, don't I?

Even though I have a great family, I couldn't help but feel like I was all alone…all the time.

Now imagine this…I told you that I wanted to work for myself, right? And that making and selling jewelry and crafts was my first “real” business, right? And that generally means connecting with people, right? So there I was, this insanely shy person, deciding to make and sell crafts at a craft show. Ha! That went over like a lead balloon.

People would walk up to my booth and I'd look down and mumble something like, “Hi-how-are-you-today-please-let-me-know-if-I-can-answer-any-questions-for-you.” Yes, it did come out all as one word :).

Needless to say, I didn't do very well on the craft show circuit. So I got the brilliant idea of marketing my wares on the internet. Doesn't require face-to-face contact, just place some ads and there ya go, right?

Wrong!

Let me paint you a picture. I would get up at 4 in the morning to exercise and do my Bible study. Then I'd drag myself to the shower because I knew as soon as I got showered and dressed, I was on my way to another day of drudgery. Hop in the car, thinking, “Man, there's got to be a better way. Maybe I'm feeling a little sick or something.” But no, I had responsibilities and I needed to go in and do my job. I'd get to the office before most people were in and settle in for a seemingly endless day of meetings, paperwork, and solving problems.

Don't get me wrong. I take my job very seriously. I work with important systems that help people, and I take pride in a job well done. It's just…this is not what I know life is about, ya know?

So anyway, after a LONG LONG day at the office, I'd head home, fix dinner and spend hours trying to figure out the whole internet marketing thing.

Day after day, week after week, month after month, YEAR after YEAR.

It took me a LONG time and a LOT of money to figure out how to market effectively on the internet. And my jewelry business started taking off – not “explosive results” but it was doing ok.

And then I discovered something really cool. I learned about information marketing. The whole concept of creating something once and then selling it over and over and over again made sense to me. I was hooked!

I found some mentors to help me, and one of my mentors invited me to do some coaching and training of his students, and guess what? I found out that I like teaching! I love helping other people! One day I was helping someone with their marketing, and I could *feel* the excitement when they got fast results. And I thought, “This is what I'm supposed to be doing!”

I really do have a purpose! I'm supposed to help people!

Great, I have a purpose…so now what? I still didn't know how to connect with people. I still didn't know how to reach the people I could help. And I still didn't know how to step out and be the leader I was meant to be.

And I still felt like I was all alone.

All of that changed for me in November of 2007. I got an email from a business acquaintance inviting me to attend a webinar he was putting on. It was about an unusual way to grow your business.

During the webinar, I learned about a company whose entire focus is on touching people's lives. I was given the tools I needed to start building those connections, both professionally and personally.

Since then, I've learned to look at each day as an opportunity to change someone's life…for the better. I now own and operate 3 companies. I'm able to reach out to people I never thought I'd have the courage to approach. It's become easy to strengthen my relationships. Finding the people I can help has become almost automatic. I've even found ways to help people get into business for themselves when they don't have any ideas for what they'd like to do! I'm so excited that I have found an alternative to working at an unfulfilling job for the rest of my life.

And it keeps getting better. Just recently I was introduced to a new mentor who has challenged me to take it to the next level. Someone who demanded that I give my all to helping other people dream HUGE and do what it takes to turn those dreams into reality.

So that's why I created this site. I'm changing lives, and I would love to meet like-minded people who really want to make a difference in the world. I encourage you to check out my Facebook Page at https://facebook.com/imchanginglives or better yet, feel free to send me a message and let me know how we can connect (phone, instant messaging, chat, whatever works!). I would love to chat and hear your story.