COMPANY DIRECTOR

When Stefan was a penniless student in England, a friend asked if he would like to see Douglas as he had been seeing him for help with his asthma.

“I had a healing treatment,” Stefan remembers, “and then Douglas kindly gave me a reading as well, in which he said I wouldn’t be in England for long and that I would be returning to Austria in the autumn. He also said I would open my own company and would be successful and earn good money.

Well, I did go back to Austria and in the October of that year I did start my own company – although I had no idea it was actually going to happen. It had been in the January or beginning of February 1999 that I had started working at an electronics warehouse owned by two businessmen in England. I couldn’t speak English very well then, so it was not easy for me.

At that time, electronic products were at a low price in Austria, so the owners of the firm asked me if I could export and sell products from Austria to them. They said they would finance me, as I did not have any money of my own. They gave me the money upfront and that was the opportunity I needed to start my own business. I bought the electronic equipment and sold it to their company. I also became a distributor, not just buying from Austria but also from Europe – and shipping it all to England. It worked well until 2002 when business started to drop off and eventually ended in 2006.

It was then that I began to suffer from severe stress. I experienced very bad headaches; I was without work and I had no money coming in. I really was in a bad way when, by chance and after all those years since we had first met, I found Douglas Ballard’s business card.

I gave him a call at the end of 2006 – I was surprised he still had the same number – and met up with him in March or April of the following year… in Klagenfurt (Austria) Douglas said I didn’t need to see him in London as he was now working in Austria.

I had a treatment from Douglas that day. As I was so stressed without work or income, it was agreed that we would meet up again, Douglas saying he was happy to come to Mayrhofen.

Throughout that period of time I had several treatments from Douglas to help me with my stress and with a very personal situation. I even went over to Portugal where Douglas was working as I needed treatment so badly. That was my lowest point in life… between April and July 2007.

I had to finish with my partner, which was also very difficult for me. So, again the stress levels rose higher and higher. In a sense, the stress was getting better for me in one way but not in another. It seemed that just as I emerged from one stress-related problem, another would come along. Overall, it took me down and down. With my health deteriorating and feeling so very low, I could say I was ‘out of my mind.’

But then I had further readings from Douglas telling me that my life was going to change; that I would start a new business and it would be very successful. I should explain that some 10 years ago I knew a man from Switzerland who was in the electronics business as well. We had met in Italy where he wanted to do some business, so we met again in Milan, but that meeting turned out to be a failure.

In the reading that Douglas had given me, he said there would be one contact that would bring me back into the business again and that I had to phone him. But you know, when you work for seven years, you have a lot of contacts to think about.

Anyway, I eventually spoke to the Swiss guy around that time and he said he would let me know if anything came up.

Three months later he phoned me back, saying he had something which might be of interest to me, involving a well-known company.

I looked into it and thought that I would give the idea a try. I travelled to London where they offered to make me the franchise holder for Austria – this was in mid-2007.

I realised that to be involved with such a prestigious company I would need to be located in Vienna, but that was a five hour drive from Mayrhofen, so I knew I had to start from the beginning and move my life to a new city, office and apartment.

“THE FACT IS THAT EVERYTHING HAS DEVELOPED FROM THAT READING WITH DOUGLAS”

I then met the young lady who worked with Douglas while he was in Austria, arranging all the consultations and live shows that he undertook. I talked to her and she agreed to help me in starting up the new venture as she already had a background in the business world.

So we found the new office space, established the company and then had to set up systems enabling us to communicate around the world.

The fact is that everything has developed from that reading with Douglas. The company is now more than two years old, with three members of staff and taking on more as it continues to grow.

I am very proud to have a company that is known throughout the world, and with such a high profile.

Yes, Douglas, you were correct and put me back on track to a sane life as well as a successful one.”