Welcome to the official website of Marty Holker.

Meet the Holker Family

The Holker Family was honored to be featured in the Alpine Life Magazine.  Heather was interviewed by the editor Kelley Gregory.  Read on to learn more about the Founders and Co-CEO’s, and their family. 

Tell me about your family?   Marty and I have been married for 14 years and we have 5 amazing children: Mary Elizabeth (12), Scarlett (10), Chase (6), Grace (3), and our little Rock (1).

You guys must be pretty busy!  Yes! That is an understatement. We have a lot going on! We’re very busy. Our hearts and hands are very full.

Do you have any pets?  We do! We have our horses – Echo and Maia, our pup – Lily, and 7 chickens (you’d have to ask the kids what their names are, I’m always forgetting!).

What do you and Marty do?  First and foremost I love being a wife and mother. I feel like everything else in life rolls around our family and busy home. My education and professional background has always been in the health and wellness industry, and Marty’s background is in entrepreneurship and marketing. For years we tried to work within the parameters of other companies, but at the end of the day we just never found anything that really aligned with our values. We have always been so passionate about helping others discover their best health while helping them create strong financial security. There just was nothing out there that really met our qualifications from a product standpoint – that was clean and pure and something that your body really needs – and also from a company standpoint that carried our moral values.

For a long time we have been pulled in different directions, but our children are young, our house is busy, and time is passing quickly. We felt strongly that there were other people out there who were looking for the same thing that we were, and that in order to take full advantage of these years, our time and our talents, and be more “in the moment” that we needed to create something we were really passionate about and could all be involved with as a family. Together we created LIVEDEN, which is a health and nutrition company, with a strong philanthropic base, that educates on how to live a pure, balanced life. This company is the quintessential of our passion, drive, commitment, and purpose.

“If you’re woking on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs

What is the philanthropic side of your company? There are a lot of children in the world who are in need of help. Today 66 million school-aged children attend classes hungry every day. As a mother that statistic is really hard to hear. Many think of this as a third world country issue – but the fact is it’s closer than you think – with 1 in 6 children in the U.S. living with Food Insecurity. We believe there is so much power when we join together in a mission to help others in need – and so we infused our giving with every purchase – providing 10 meals for every PURE SUPERFOOD purchased. In my mind I just imagine what it would be like if every company operated with a mandate to give back. It would change the world overnight! We really wanted to teach our children that by “small and simply things great things are brought to pass”. 10 meals may not seem like a lot – but for those 10 children it means everything. It means hope.

Where do you donate your meals? Right now we donate meals in 19 countries. Our goal is to have a giving outreach in every country. Every child deserves to have enough food to eat regardless of where they live. We believe no child should ever be hungry.

Let’s talk about your family…

What are your activities and hobbies?  We are an active family! We love to be together, and we love to be outdoors! We love hiking and enjoying the beautiful surroundings of Utah. On Sundays we go to church, study together, and then we love to make healthy treats with our kids.

As business owners much of our time is spent with our company, but we try and make it a “family affair” and love that our children feel like they are a part of what we do. We really consider our business to be a mission that we do together as a family.

Do you have a special park or place you like to hang out?  We love all of the beautiful parks and surroundings in Alpine, but our absolute favorite place in the world is our backyard! We already have so many wonderful memories there. We love it and are so grateful for the previous homeowners who took so much care and attention to plant all of the trees so many years ago. It has been such a gift for us. We always comment that we feel like we’re in a park. It’s heaven for us.

Do you have a favorite restaurant?  We frequent Blue Lemon. We love how clean their food is and that it’s so close to home. If we’re going for a “destination dinner” then we love Maxwell’s in Park City.

How about a vacation destination?  We absolutely love Hawaii. For a close vacation destination we love Park City. We lived there a few years ago and it feels like a home away from home for us.

Any favorite sports teams?  Whatever teams and sports our kids are playing on are our favorites.

How about favorite TV shows or movies?  We don’t watch much TV. We enjoy being active and on the GO. If the TV is on it’s usually a Curious George (which is our 3 year old daughter’s favorite – she’s in charge, if you’ve ever had a 3 year old you get this =).

What kind of music do you listen to?  Music played a huge roll in how Marty was raised. His mom is very musical and shared that love with her family. They had their own music group and performed at venues all across the U.S. and in other countries (even with Bob Hope!). Today that love continues with her grandchildren. We have two nieces that have been part of EFY soundtracks so those are our favorites to listen to!

My side was also heavily musical with instruments (with my Grandmother and Great-Grandfather playing with John Philip Sousa). We try and carry that tradition on with all things orchestra (as Mary and I both play the violin). We really love music and feel like it can be such a powerful way to teach and convey important messages.

Every now and then we go old-school with music Marty and I were raised with for our family “dance parties” (the kids love this). And Chase’s favorite song is “I Can Only Imagine”…so we’ve listened to that a million times. I also believe you can listen to Christmas music any time of the year =).

Does your family have a favorite dinner?  We are pretty simple, healthy eaters. We really just love anything we can eat outside. It’s not about the food for us, it’s just about being together (and anything Marty and I can eat standing up – as we play defense on the littles) is perfect.

Do you have any family traditions?  Marty and I both feel like having family traditions is the “tie that binds”. We want our children to always be close to us so we’ve made our traditions a priority. Each holiday, time of year, and birthdays (even half birthdays) have their own traditions. On one of our family picture walls we have the quote “We were together, I forget the rest”. We hope to fill our children’s childhood with happy memories of us spending special family time together. We really hope that they’ll carry on those traditions with their own families someday (and that they’ll bring their children to spend a lot of time at “Grandma and Grandpa’s house”) – that will be everything.

What college/university did you attend?  Marty went to Rick’s College (when it was “Rick’s” – now BYU Idaho), and I went to ASU.

Where are you originally from?  Marty is originally from Minnesota, and I’m from Arizona. We met while Marty was living in Saint George, UT and I was living in Fountain Hills, AZ. We met on an LDS singles website (yes, it can actually work =). We physically met on a Friday, were engaged that Sunday, and married 34 days later (I know, our parents were horrified as well). That was 14 years ago. I can honestly say that I feel Marty was created just for me. He completes me in every way. We’ve learned that a strong marriage is something we must work on every day. We try to always put each other first and realize that our marriage is the heart of our eternal family – which is everything to both of us.

How long have you lived in this neighborhood?  4 amazing years! We have loved every minute!

What do you like to do to relax?  We really just love to be together. Marty and I love to sit on our back porch and watch the kids play (we consider that our downtime =). We find so much joy in just watching them create and “perform” for us. The hammock is also a favorite quiet space for the family. If we have any extra time we love to run up to Park City or Sundance – they’re our two favorite close destination places (it feels like a “destination” when you have 5 kids in the car =).

How are you involved in the community?  We feel it’s so important to give more than you take, and to “lift where you stand”. We love to support local businesses and always try to keep our family and their activities “close to home”. Literally all of our children’s extracurricular activities are within a 5 minute radius. We love supporting local families and their businesses. Our community is an absolute treasure of amazing individuals that are experts in their fields! They have greatly impacted our family and taught our children so much. We homeschool and really feel like learning is family centered. When our children learn, we learn. It’s been amazing for all of us.

What activities are your children involved with?  Mary and Scarlett both love English riding and doing Hunter competitions with their horses. They also love playing tennis and painting. Mary plays the violin, and Scarlett loves gymnastics. Chase loves baseball and tumbling. And Gracie and Rock just love to cheer their siblings on with whatever they’re doing. I feel like we’re our own cheering section.

What is your favorite part about living in your neighborhood?  We love how close our community is. We literally feel like everyone is family here. We love how everyone watches out for each other and takes care of one another. We have had the opportunity to travel all over the U.S. and live in many different places. When we first came to Alpine we felt like we were home. This area just called to us. We love being so close to the mountains and we love how quiet and quaint it is here. But it’s so much more then the surroundings, the people here make Alpine what it is. For us this is truly a piece of heaven. There is no other place we’d rather raise our precious children in.

Photography by: Candace Ashworth Simpson

I was born and raised in Minnesota, along with my parents and six siblings. With both sets of Grandparents also from Minnesota, my childhood consisted of many family and extended family gatherings and getting together on nearly every Holiday. When my Grandmother Isabel Holker passed away, she had 100 descendants in her posterity! Family first has always been a priority as a Holker! Minnesota has Wonderful people and I was blessed with very good friends throughout my childhood. Several with whom I keep in touch with. With my parents business, we traveled the World together as a family and shared experiences that will last forever! My family were literally my best friends! I will forever be grateful for being raised by two of the very best parents who have ever lived. My childhood was like living a dream!

My parents began their marriage in very humble circumstances. My father was attending St. Cloud State University, while my mother worked to support the family earning $1.35 per hour as a car hop at my grandfather’s drive-in. In 1963, my parents were introduced to Shaklee, one of the first network marketing companies. Dr. Shaklee and my parents were a perfect fit! As such, my parents soon became the top producing distributors in all of Shaklee for 21 years, while Shaklee became the top producing network marketing company in the world. This created one of the great industry success stories. Within a few short years, my parent’s Shaklee organization grew from two young kids, to thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of distributors throughout the United States. By the late 1970’s their organization was selling over $300 Million in Shaklee products annually. My parents went from a small mobile home in Monticello, Minnesota in 1963, to a nearly 20,000 square foot french castle on 10 acres in Minnetonka, Minnesota in 1972. Later in 1980, my parents added another 20,000 square feet onto our home, including a full-size collegiate indoor basketball complex.

My mother was raised in a protestant family, where music became an important part of her life. Thus music became a big part of my life. We formed The Holker Family music group and throughout my youth performed at hundreds of Shaklee events and other venues. The memories I cherish most of our family music group, are the many experiences shared with my family while traveling the World! Driving across the country, experiencing new places, hotel swimming pools and the late nights in auditoriums, while waiting for my parents to conclude their meetings.

In the Summer of 1990, after serving a two year church service mission and completing my freshman year of college, I was 21 years of age living at home when my father shared with myself, and my older sisters and brother, a new business he was involved with – a gold mine in Montana. My father was introduced to this Montana gold mine in 1989 by the then ownership group who had owned the mining claims for some 50 years. He was impressed by the many geological reports and industry expert opinions as to the validity of the mine. My father was sold! He personally invested the first couple hundred thousand dollars to get the placer mine operation up and running. When his partners decided to reopen the underground mining operation, it became evident my father would need to raise additional capital to do so. Reopening the underground mine required additional machinery, over 20 full-time miners and 18 months of stock piling the ore to be taken to the mill for production. When my father asked for my help raising money, I was grateful for the opportunity to do so! I was not an owner or employee of the gold mine, as I was actually preparing to attend my sophomore year of college.

When they ran the ore through the mill after 18 months of production, they were unable to recover any gold. This, after dozens of tests by reputable University geologists claiming high levels of gold per ounce. As my father had put everything into the mine, when the mine failed to produce any gold, he was forced into bankruptcy and lost everything. This was a very difficult time to say the least for our entire family! Experiencing my family living in a 40,000 square foot home throughout my youth, to living in the unfinished basement of a close family friend was very humbling. The next several years were extremely difficult. I chose to drop out of school, forgo my athletic career and work full-time to help support the family in any way I could. Just getting out of bed most days seemed a monumental task! Yet, as the days, weeks, months and eventually years went by, things seemed to look a little brighter. Until one day in the Summer of 1996, several years later, when my father received a call that he and I were being arrested for securities fraud. We were absolutely shocked and dismayed. The gold mine, which my father had put everything into (at the advice of the experts), had taken everything – there was no one who had lost more than my parents. But one investor of the gold mine tirelessly complained to the State of Utah for years until they eventually compiled his data and made the arrests. I was not an owner or employee of the gold mine. As a 21 year old college student, I was brought into the case due to my roommate calling this disgruntled investors son, making the initial introduction to the gold mine. Thus, in January of 1998, at the advice of my attorney, I pled guilty to four (4) misdemeanor counts of attempted securities fraud in relation this gold mine. My attorney stated that pleading guilty was in my best interest and that I would not serve jail time. But despite this course from my attorney I served 10 days in jail before being placed on house arrest for a couple months. This case was expunged over 20 years ago (which typically does not have to be disclosed), though I have had to address this time and time again because of a falsified article that appeared on a news site which contained gross amounts of mis-information.

The painful lesson I learned over 30 years ago is that being versed in the complexities and nuances of state and federal securities laws are a must for folks that are engaging in securities. As I’ve thought many times about the tremendous success my father had for over 20 years with Shaklee, compared to that of the failed gold mine, I am reminded of the very wise counsel I received from a dear leader – “It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.” My father is my hero! Not because of his many successes throughout his life, but in how he has chosen to overcome tremendous adversities!

The quote “all good things come to those who wait” certainly applies to my life! As the gold mine and subsequent events set my life back several years, I met the love of my life at age 35. And when you know, you know! I met Heather on a Friday evening. We were engaged that Sunday morning and married 34 days later! Actually, we would have married much sooner, yet we were trying to coordinate the wedding with our two families living in different states. How do I possibly describe my soul mate…two peas, one pod! The first six months of our marriage we were living in Southern Utah. We would hike at Zion National Park 3-4 times a week. During these hikes, we would bring our scriptures, along with a notepad and pen and set our goals. We set very high goals! With Heather by my side, my confidence came back. With Heather by my side, I felt we could be an absolute force for good in this world!

I had experienced much success in Network Marketing prior to marrying Heather. With one company in particular, I was their master distributor, personally wrote their compensation plan, and enrolled over 30,000 people in our first 9 months. This company grew to well over a billion dollars in revenue. Yet, our success working together as a couple in Network Marketing has had a much greater impact! Combining my experience in Network Marketing, with Heather’s experience in health, and education and fitness, has propelled us with a couple of the leading industry giants. In 2006, we quickly rose to a top rank in record time with one of the largest network marketing companies in the World and were featured as their fastest growing distributorship at their national convention. Together, Heather and I bring out the best in each other! Heather’s story is much different than mine. In her youth, she experienced some wonderful times and some not so wonderful. Her parents divorced when she was 14 years old and this was very difficult for her and her sisters. She had to work to support herself at a very young age and graduated from high school early to do so. This set Heather’s life on a path to set and achieve her goals! Heather is the most amazing person I have ever met. She has the personal integrity to do the right thing for the right reason all the time! She graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Exercise Physiology and later received her Masters in Fitness Sciences. She is an award-winning NPC Figure Competitor and had a successful modeling career for some of the top fitness lines, including Nike and Adidas. I can say without hesitation, the greatest day of my life, was the day Heather became my wife! As Adam said of Eve and Mark Twain once said of his Olivia, so it is with me…“Wherever she was, there was Eden.”

Of all the blessings which have come into my life, nothing can compare with having children.Heather and I have been greatly blessed with 4 beautiful daughters and 2 wonderful sons! There are some lines attributed to Victor Hugo which read:

“She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to her children, who ate with eagerness. ‘She hath kept none for herself,’ grumbled the sergeant.

‘’’Because she is not hungry,’ said a soldier.

‘’’No,’ said the sergeant, ‘because she is a mother.’’’

The above lines have impacted my life tremendously, as I know through personal experience as a parent, how true they are! Having raised our children together has created a bond between Heather and myself that I never knew was possible. Children are the greatest gift we can receive and our greatest responsibility! Everything we do, we do with our children in mind! I am reminded of the words of Charles M. Dickenson:

They are idols of hearts and households;
They are angels of God in disguises;
The sunlight still sleeps in their tresses,
His glory still gleams in their eyes,
These truants from home and from Heaven,
They have made me more manly and mild:
And I know now how Jesus could liken
The Kingdom of God to a child.

Heather and I knew we wanted to create something better then what existed in the world today. We knew we wanted to create a company that had strong meaning and purpose. Something that brought light and hope to others. A company that operated with a mandate to give-back – to help others in need, to leave the world a better place then we found it. A company that lifted and elevated all that chose to be a part of it.

LIVEDEN was truly created to be a force for good throughout the World! As the Co-CEO’s & Founders of LIVEDEN, Heather and I have teamed up with some of the leading experts in their respected fields. LIVEDEN is founded on strong principles and a rock solid foundation. LIVEDEN is a company we hoped honest and trustworthy individuals would want to put their heart and souls behind because they believe in the mission as much as we do. LIVEDEN is not about the superficial, it’s about lifting where we stand, helping others become better, and creating light in the world and being a force for good.

We are truly a cumulation of our life’s experiences – the things that have made us who and what we are. LIVEDEN only exists because of the challenges and life experiences my wife and I have both faced. Although we never welcome challenges, they truly help to mold us into who and what we become. I can’t imagine my life any other way, and I’m grateful for the learning experiences I have had that have brought me here and now – to this amazing place.

www.liveden.com