We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wil Dees a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Wil, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

My story of risk…not the board game. :-) It’s been said that we are allowed to go through certain things so we can be there for others who find themselves in similar circumstances. I have found this to be nothing but true for me. In 2013 my 11-year old daughter, Jillian, developed a chronic, debilitating pain condition. We tried almost everything traditional medicine wise to help her with no success. She only acquired more symptoms from medication side effects. At some point after a doctor told me that what my daughter had was just going to be her way of life, out of desperation I tipped my toe into researching more holistic approaches to getting her well. I would stay up late at night researching. I felt as if we were missing something. We surely were. We were missing A LOT! My eyes were wide open to the role of systemic inflammation and how what we put in, on and around our bodies matters. We were introduced to many holistic practices such as diet changes, acupuncture, chiropractic care, physical therapy and neurofeedback. And then one day on a hunch, some call it mother’s intuition, I decided to take my daughter for a consult to a local dentist to really just see what diagnostic tools he had. At this point I had learned that my daughter’s chronic condition was sometimes caused by an issue with the trigeminal nerve or the sphenopaletine gangion (SPG). I took her to him solely to see if his diagnostic tools could see either area. Once at the appointment, I quickly learned that his tools could not see the trigemenal nerve or the SPG. BUT what he did say would turn my world upside down! He said that I was pretty much doing everything he could offer with the exception of Alpha-Stim. I asked “what is that?”. To this his nurse held up a small silver device and said “It’s this. One day someone will pry this out of my cold, dead hand.” Within a week, we had our own Alpha-Stim. By that time, we had spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to get her better. What was another thousand bucks? It did not take long for me to see why that nurse said what she said about one day having Alpha-Stim pried out of her cold dead hand. It was nothing short of AMAZING! Alpha-Stim is a prescriptive device FDA cleared to treat pain, anxiety and insomnia. While the device was not the end all be all for my daughter’s condition, it did become a very useful tool in our tool belt and it did become THE solution for family and friends who had been struggling with various ailments. For instance, in a week, a close family member was able to sleep without the use of sleeping pills. Another family member was quickly rid of arthritic pain. A friend’s husband’s injured shoulder felt better in minutes. I was collecting stories like trading cards. It truly was remarkable. Fast forward a couple of years. My daughter was better. I was continuing to witness the greatness of Alpha-Stim. I started toying with the idea of becoming a representative for Alpha-Stim. Feeling that more people deserved to know about Alpha-Stim and I was going to do it, I thought everyone in the world would want want one! I first approached the EPI (the manufacturer of Alpha-Stim) about buying a distributorship. That didn’t work because there was already a distributor in my area. Plus, the EPI required distributors to be full-time. I had a full-time job in healthcare IT product management. I had been there for almost 19 years. It was a great company. I felt like a valued employee and worked from home. But then in February 2015 I received a general notice that was sent to employees of my company with enough seniority announcing the availability “separation packages”. Hmmm – could this be my time to do something else? To be honest, as my eyes became open to so many things through my daughter’s journey I felt that there was a higher calling on my life to share some of what I learned about health and wellness. I had started doing that with my family friends but perhaps I could now be considered as a full-time Alpha-Stim rep. I contacted EPI again to share my decision to take a package and am now available to be a full-time rep. EPI connected me with the then, distributor in my area and we formed a partnership that launched my new career as an Alpha-Stim rep. With the huge problem with opioid addiction and the mental health crisis – for sure my business was going to sky rocket, right?! While I would love to share a rosey end of the story, it’s not that rosey. The truth is mixed. I have had the privilege and enjoyment of helping MANY people with Alpha-Stim, some of whom literally said “Alpha-Stim saved my life.” I partner both with practitioners and individuals and enjoy every engagement and opportunity to share and educate. I am very rich in what I call “paychecks of the heart”. The flip side is that our society is so medication focused that Alpha-Stim is a hard sell. Financially, this opportunity has been very disappointing. I have worked harder than I ever have in my corporate roles and make a fraction of the income and have no benefits. As a rep, you are a 1099er. What keeps me motivated and passionate about continuing this heart/hard work goes back to my initial thoughts “people deserve to know about Alpha-Stim” and I am supposed to share it. Things have improved economically for me over the past year. I have taken on the role of the exclusive rep in western North Carolina and also have the privilege of supporting one of the VA Medical Centers. I am very grateful for this shift. I also feel a subtle shift in the traditional medical community where practitioners are seeking safe and proven, non medication therapies like Alpha-Stim. My goal is to make Alpha-Stim a household name. It remains to be seen if I make it, but for now, I will continue to try. Risk does not alway mean reward, but you won’t know unless you try. Here’s to trying!

Wil, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Anyone who meets me will immediately understand my passion for helping people with Alpha-Stim. It’s a part of who I am. I especially connect well with those with chronic conditions. I can relate as I lived through that with my daughter. One of the pediatricians who refers to me says she loves the compassion and attention I provide for her patients and their families. .I have been told that I am clearly not just a “sales person”, that it is evident that I truly want to help. I consistently receive positive feedback of appreciation for the time and patience I take to support my clients. It is not uncommon for me to reach out to a client from years ago to say hello just because his/her name crossed my mind. That’s not about selling. It’s about relationship. When I first received our Alpha-Stim in 2013, I received zero training. When I became a rep. I vowed to never let a client feel helpless like I did. While the Company has come a long way with its training resources, I still contact every new client to thank him/her for the purchase and offer a complimentary one on one training via Zoom. I don’t think other reps do this. I also check-in with clients to see if I can offer them any optimization tips. Not sure if other reps do that either. It really doesn’t matter. I am being me. People offer to pay me and tell me I should charge for my support because it is that top notch. I don’t accept payment for my support. I am just doing my job my way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My story as documented in question one illustrates my resilience, both in improving my daughter’s health and in my Alpha-Stim business. Despite the challenges, I refused to give up on either.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn that sales is a ‘bad word”. I used to shy away from saying that I was a sales rep. The term sales made me think “used car salesperson”. There were creative terms people would use to avoid saying sales.I always thought that was corny and shifty. LOL Once I caught the vision of what I offer in selling Alpha-Stim is life changing and that the device and MY service and support are worth every cent, I proudly say that I am in sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alpha-stim.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingstimllc/?igsh=NjIyZGhjd2tuYjhh&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/wil-dees-423380b4

Image Credits
Alpha-Stim product images are from Electromedical Products International Inc.