HOTO BY JOHN M. OISCHER
Dreaming in Red,
White And Blue
Russian Jews are building a financial future in
multi-level marketing.
JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER
A
s far as Greg Grinblat is
concerned, he's within
reach of the American
Dream.
Irina Gold believes she's even
closer.
Both are Russian emigres
from Kiev who have been work-
ing since they landed in the Unit-
ed States — Mr. Grinblat in
1987, Ms. Gold in 1990. They
both became American citizens
in January 1995.
"We have something inside
that grandparents of today's
Americans had," Mr. Grinblat
says, explaining his sense of de-
termination to "make it" in
America.
Ms. Gold, a divorcee, is in a po-
sition where she sets her own
hours and supervises a staff of
28, half of them Russian Jews.
She says the company with
which she and Mr. Grinblat
work, Primerica Financial Ser-
vices, has opened a new door for
them.
"This country is the country of
opportunity," Ms. Gold says.
"That's the reason why immi-
grants are attracted to Primeri-
ca Financial Services. We have
a chance to own our own busi-
ness and be our own boss, and to
be really free," she says.
Ms. Gold, a Southfield resi-
dent who was trained as an Eng-
lish teacher in the former Soviet
Union, is not affiliated with a
synagogue, but she faithfully at-
tends a Torah study group each
Thursday.
"It really complements my
business and I use [Torah] wis-
dom all the time," she says.
Mr. Grinblat, of West Bloom-
field, also is unaffiliated, because,
he says, "I am still in the process
of establishing myself."
Greg Grinblat and Irina
Gold are "making it" in
America.
However, he adds,
laughing, "I'm jealous
of people walking to
shul on Shabbos."
When he arrived in
the United States, he
decided to speak Eng-
lish, even if it was dif-
ficult to understand
him. Mr. Grinblat
started working al-
most immediately to
cover medical expens-
es for his ex-wife, who
suffered a brain tu-
mor he believes was
caused by the explo-
sion at Chernobyl's nuclear pow-
er plant.
`This is the way I learned Eng-
lish, at the U-M Hospital, Sinai,
Everything Must
Go!
Providence. I had to talk to doc-
tors," he says.
Primerica Financial Services,
or PFS, is a multi-level market-
ing company set up much like
Amway, and while Ms. Gold in-
sists no one "sells" products, PFS
reps are licensed to sell life-in-
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