Elevate Highlight: How Rachel Stays Motivated!

Hey Elevate! My name is Rachel Varella. This summer is my husband’s third year selling for Vivint and our second summer being apart from each other.  The first summer he sold I went out and lived with him for 3 out of the 4 months and came back early to find a job. I thought being apart for one month was hard! Little did I know, there was about to be many more months being 2000 miles apart…  The second summer I stayed home because I had a great full time job I just couldn’t walk away from while Thiago sold in Florida - clear on the other side of the country. After that first summer of being apart, I told him we would never do that again and I would definitely be coming out with him next summer. Well, here we are again. 2000 miles apart.

We have been married for 3 years now, and when we got married we set a five-year-plan for ourselves.  Basically, we set a bunch of goals like where we wanted to be financially 5 years from when we got married.  Although it is definitely hard to be apart, he is out there working hard for us and our future family while I am here working hard every day for us as well. I have never met someone who sets such high goals and does everything he can to accomplish them. I’ve never worked so much and so hard in my life! Although it is exhausting and a struggle being away from the love of my life, I know that we are getting our goals done and in just 2 more years from now we will be beyond where we hoped to be and this will all be worth it! I am only 23 and Thiago is 26 and we already own a house and have traveled to 4 different countries! It feels so great to see hard work paying off! Hopefully, in 2 years from now we can start a family, go on more trips, and not have to worry if we’ll have enough money for things. That is just a worry we do not want to ever have.  From a larger perspective, this is such a small sacrifice we have to make to have a greater future.  

I am so grateful for a strong, supportive, positive, and loving husband and for my friends and family who have made it a little easier for me to be apart from my love. As hard as it is being apart, we have grown so much together, worked so hard, and have come so far.  I think every couple should set goals for themselves and go above and beyond to reach them.  When we laid out our goals for our five-year-plan 3 years ago, I never thought that being apart for so long would ever be a part of the deal. It’s tough, but in the long run it will definitely be worth it and we've been able to enjoy ourselves along the way.

Elevate Highlight!

Greetings from Detroit! My name is Stacie Johnson and my husband Dusty and I have been married for 4 years. We met at school and it was kind of a whirlwind relationship right from the get go. We both love the outdoors, animals, movies, and pretty much anything fun. I am a complete child at heart; I love coloring, crafts, candy, and Disney everything. We have 2 dogs that are more spoiled than most children and we love how our life has turned out so far. Dust and I have been selling vagabonds for 4 years now and we just love this lifestyle. We enjoy traveling so why not move somewhere different each summer?! We have worked our way up to management which has been a great learning experience and something we are very grateful for. We plan on staying in this vocation for as long as possible. You gotta stick with what comes natural.

As you all know, the life of a summer wife can be difficult at times. After go, go, going all the time we become very stagnant and I have started to learn what works for me to keep me motivated and not deathly bored. I have picked up some new hobbies such as crocheting, sewing, and cooking new dishes. I also try to find new things to do around town because let’s face it; we will never be back in most of these cities after the summer so we better make it worth it. This is where Elevate steps in! They treat us wives very well and are conscious of our situations. The other Detroit Wives and I have had so much fun with their different activities/competitions they have set up. It is great to have a goal for a couple days and it is fun to work together to come up with something funny and crazy to show off our personalities. These are times that I will never forget. 

Like I said, summers can be hard. But if you let them, summers can be SO fun! I get to meet new girls that become close friends and we make memories that truly will last a lifetime. Dusty and I are forced to depend on each other while we are across the country from family and because of this we have learned a great deal about each other and the kind of marriage we want to continue to have. I always tell myself and others…Who can say that they have lived the life that we have? Not many. Live up this time because it truly is a blessing. You won’t get this opportunity again. 

Elevate Highlight!

Liam, David, Norabel, Dara Chessmore

"Home is now behind you, the world is ahead"--Gandalf. 
Much like Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, I have never been on any great adventures. I'm a suburban Nebraska girl and never had plans to leave it all behind. 
The opportunity to join Vivint presented in December, we made our decision mid-February and we moved from Nebraska to a permanent home in Minnesota by March 1st. With a 2-year-old, 1-year-old and one on the way, I agreed to begin our adventure.
I had the impression this "adventure" would be humbling.

This isn't just about my first summer as a Vivint wife - it is my first summer in 25 years away from family and my home town. This is my first summer living in a third floor apartment, my first summer without familiar faces to spend my afternoons and my first summer in three years unable to spend Saturdays with my husband. 
With all nerdy Hobbit quotes aside, I believe a lot of the women I've met on this journey have a long list of sacrifices all their own. I've questioned my decision to begin our adventure more than once and I'll admit I've found myself homesick on occasion, but its a decision I knew was right for our young family. I knew in my heart we would be taken care of.


I've made it through my first summer of my husband's three emergency room visits, potty training, a crawler becoming a walker and even my toddler escaping our apartment naked. I made it through my first summer because of nine incredible women, who have become great friends. And, because of a company that more than motivates, it ELEVATES - not just its employees - it ELEVATES families.

Elevate Wife Highlight!

Megan, tony, and Rocky Lee

This is my 4th year doing summer sales!! I've been an office assistant twice, had a summer with no wives and no car, and last summer I only got to see my husband for 3 weeks because I had a baby and he was traveling, living in hotels. Each of those summers we were with 3 other companies. I can honestly say that it is a relief and blessing to be with Vivint. No other company has given our family this amount of support, let alone any support to the wives.  I love all of the competitions and activities that we do with ELEVATE! It makes the summer go by faster and makes for fun memories! :)
 What I have learned and what helps me be the best wife during the summer is just going with the flow.  As women, it is very hard to accept change. -Especially without notice... And that is what summers are all about :) It's hard not to freak out when you find out you have to move, or that your beds aren't there yet, or your husband has to go stay in a hotel away from you. DEAL WITH IT! I say that in the nicest way possible. I've come to realize that the summers are about the husbands, (the rest of the year we can be more selfish haha). If an area will make them sell better, then go there. The more willing we are to roll with the punches and smile when it's not something we want to do, the better. I know my husband has told me multiple times how much he appreciates me being so easy going about everything, (in my head I am not so easy going...) but in all reality it's only a few months!! I love traveling around and being a tourist!! Take advantage of not having yard work!  I love being a Vivint wife :) xoxo Megan