“We knew we were being sheltered from the crappy side of South African life,” Botsford said.
So later, when a travel agent friend set her up on a photographer’s safari in 2004, she and her husband were eager to experience Africa more as a reality and less as a resort.
Because the heat keeps preserve animals hiding in shade, typical safaris are run with an early morning game drive followed by breakfast, a day of free time, and then an evening game drive followed by dinner.
“During the day we were free for a cultural experience,” Botsford said. “One day we went to Livingstone, which is near Victoria Falls, and visited an orphanage and school.”
There the Botsfords found 40 babies in 20 cribs, and they were put to work cuddling and providing a parental touch to the infants. In the toddler home next door, they got down on the floor and spent the afternoon crawling around with the kids, she said.
“There was the baby home, a toddler home, a boys home and a girls home. The children went to school, and they went to chapel,” she said, drawing a connection between what she witnessed in Livingstone and her own life. “My dad died when I was 11, leaving my mom penniless with six kids. We were destitute. And then I lost my mom, too, because she had to go to work. I think that’s why I’m drawn to these orphans. I’d come home to a home alone.”
And when she heard that $400,000 a year made such a difference for so many, she was all in.
“I was making a lot of money in my business, so it was easy to fund,” she said. “But once I sold the company, I had to figure out something else. I have to have meaning and purpose in my life. So now I help advisors and feed kids.”
A Mindset Of Abundance
The way Botsford helps advisors is through The Elite Advisor Success System, her latest venture in the financial services arena. She charges $5,000 for a six-month virtual program that covers mindset, prospecting and marketing, team member training, recruitment and the “secret sauce” to closing a prospect in the first meeting, among other topics.
And the way she feeds kids is by donating 50% of profits to Ebenezer Foundation and other African orphanages.
“I really wanted to give back to the industry that made me successful,” she said. “My idea was to do it once, sell it a million times and give half the money to Ebenezer.”
To date, more than 850 advisors have joined the course, she said.
“We’re making enough money that we’re able to donate to other African organizations, not just Ebenezer,” she said. “I could have kept my company, but how much is enough? Now, because I can help these kids, it feeds my soul. I’m so committed to this lifestyle I have a $5 million life insurance policy, and my son knows it’s to continue with Ebenezer should something happen to me.”
In an industry when so many people—advisors and clients alike—are always looking for more, Botsford said she believes when an advisor has done well and then wants to do good, the right opportunity will arise.
“I live in a mindset of abundance,” she said. “To me, the more I give away, the more I make. I can’t explain it, there’s no logic to it. I think it’s just a universal principle.”