Much like human fingerprints, plants and their components each have a unique “phytonutrient fingerprint,” indicating which phytonutrients they contain.
Click on the link below for a great infographic showing how the phytonutrient fingerprints determine which variety of fruits, vegetables or plants we use for our supplements.
If you drive past the Amway World Headquarters today, you will see 57 United States flags lining the front of campus to commemorate Flag Day.
On most other days, the poles display the state of Michigan flag and 56 international flags representing the many countries in which we do business. (We operate in more than 100 countries and territories, but local regulations allow us only 57 flagpoles. So we make sure to rotate them regularly.)
“People driving by Amway find it really special to see the street lined with American flags. They’ll honk their horns to show their patriotism,” said Kammie Van Oosten, team leader of Ada Facilities Buildings and Grounds.
Van Oosten’s team of about 10 employees raise, lower and change flags as needed all while adhering to strict protocol for displaying the American flag through storms and sunshine. In addition to Flag Day, the flags are switched out on Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day or other appropriate occasions.
There is a strict protocol for the American flag, but the facilities team treats every flag with the same respect. “We have important rules we follow at all times,” Van Oosten said. “One is that the flags must never touch the ground. This can be very difficult in bad weather.”
Flag Day is a U.S. holiday, but you don’t have to be in the U.S. to honor your flag. Share a picture of your country’s flag using #AmwayFlagDay on Twitter or Instagram. We look forward to seeing them!
Written by Austin Langlois
In Amway’s home state of Michigan, USA, residents know The People Mover as the railway that runs, elevated, along a 2.9-mile loop in Detroit’s central business district. But at this week’s Direct Selling Association Annual Meeting, completely different breeds of “people movers” took the stage.
First, DSA President Joe Mariano kicked off the Celebrate What’s Right theme with some exciting news:
Wow!
Then, keynote speaker Daniel Pink presented research insights and memorable takeaways from his book “To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.” Pink believes that the best way to move others is to be yourself, a message that hits home in the world of direct selling, where people of every background can – and do – achieve.
The DSA also welcomed new members, other companies that commit to the organization’s ethical business practices such as Sozo and Jillian Chase; celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Direct Selling Education Foundation; presented the 2013 Ethos Awards (Amway won in the Technology Innovation: Mobile Technology category.); and named incoming board members and committee chairpersons.
The meeting’s final keynote speaker was 20-year National Geographic photographer and movie producer DeWitt Jones, who photographed the child above. Jones used his extraordinary photographs to illustrate balance, inspiration and answer-finding. His words and images were incredibly moving – as much so as the DSA parties, presentations and people themselves.
The best and brightest in the direct selling industry will gather from June 9-11 for the Direct Selling Association’s (DSA) 2013 Annual Meeting. Not only is it one of the hottest meetings for direct selling professionals, it is also held in Phoenix, Arizona this year… forecasted to hit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
This four-day annual meeting offers attendees the opportunity to choose from more than 20 workshops and sessions exploring topics from The Affordable Care Act to how to find a new distributor base on college campuses.
Four thought leaders from Amway will be there sharing insights and data to contribute to the global direct selling conversation:
Because everyone isn’t able to fly to Arizona for this great opportunity, don’t forget to follow DSA on twitter. The meeting hashtag is #DSAAnnual. Keep up with the conversation!
Written by Austin Langlois
Last week an article in the New York Times caught our attention. Health seeking readers noticed, too, when the author Jo Robinson declared that we are breeding the nutrition out of our food. She pointed out that supermarket varieties of fruits and vegetables have lost their nutritional strength in a trade-off for palatability and flavor.
In this case she acknowledges that the waning nutritional strength is in the form of phytonutrients, the beneficial nutrients from plants that make up the foundation of our NUTRILITE® food supplements. They’re at much lower levels in the typical produce we consume compared to the variety of wild and bitter tasting species like dandelion leaves and crab apples. Those have markedly higher levels of phytonutrient content.
It makes sense that people might not develop a taste for these bitter, astringent flavors, but they don’t want to sacrifice nutritional content, either. Yet, as food technology and agriculture has developed, the goal has been to make our food taste sweeter and, in the case of corn, starchier. By doing so you lose the color in those foods, and it’s the color that often signals higher levels of phytonutrients and nutritional content. Our foods have become weaklings.
There’s an interesting parallel to how we harvest acerola cherries on our organic farms. We harvest them when they are green and under-ripe, when the flavor is bitter, because we know that’s when the phytonutrient content is highest.
In fact, we’ve done careful research to determine the best harvesting time on all our botanicals to make sure that natural potency is the highest it can be in our supplements. The best of nature and the best of science!
Construction is now going strong at our new Spaulding Avenue manufacturing facility, just down the road from our World Headquarters.
Last week we welcomed about 150 guests to mark the occassion and sign a beam that will be used as part of the project. Why the hoopla? The $81 million investment will add 3 billion tablets and 1.3 billion soft gel capsules to our annual capacity. On average, that’s 136 tablets/soft gels every single second of every day, helping to meet the needs of people around the globe.
It also represents a team effort. With the help of government officials and organizations like the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and The Right Place, we were able to make the project work for everyone.
So, what exactly will be happening at this plant? Take a look at the video below. You can also read more about our global expansion efforts in the Amway Global Newsroom and see photos from the beam signing on our Amway Facebook page.
The fashion community celebrated some of the world’s brightest designers at the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards on Monday evening at the Lincoln Center in New York City — and ARTISTRY was part of the action.
ARTISTRY Global Face, Teresa Palmer, attended the evening’s festivities as the special guest of designer Yigal Azrouël. She wore a custom Yigal Azrouël abstract brushstroke print gown and Resort 2014 collection booties with makeup by ARTISTRY Global Makeup Artist, Rick DiCecca.
The awards were hosted by Andy Cohen. Among the celebrities in attendance were Kerry Washington, Jessica Chastain, Rooney Mara, Adriana Lima, Tobey Maguire and Nicole Richie.
*Photo Source: Wire Image/Kevin Mazur
Beth Douglass Silcox recently wrote a wonderful article titled “The Magic of the First 90 Days.”
In it, she interviews a number of direct selling companies about that brief period between a person’s registration as a new distributor and the moment they experience early success.
She dubbed that exciting, yet difficult time, “The Magic Window.” It’s when new distributors “vacillate between unbridled excitement and all-out fear.” Some of the strategies she recommends for surviving that time include:
Newcomers to the Amway business opportunity experience all of that and more. But at its core, Amway helps people bridge the gap between the life they have and the life they want. That takes more than 90 days, along with a dose of hard work, passion and commitment.
We’ve walked next to millions of people on this journey, and for us, each time is just as enchanting as the last.
When I was younger, I always knew I was different from other children. No, it wasn’t because I was adopted from Korea, nor was it due to my excessive reading. Rather, it was because I was excellent at lying. All my other friends tried to lie and were caught in the process, but not I.
I knew the correct amount of eye contact, the earnest tone of voice and the innocent smile that were all part of the “perfect lie formula.” These lies weren’t your average that-shirt-looks-great-but-actually-doesn’t lie. I told my friends of exotic trips I took to England and Ecuador. I shared stories about how my father was a secret FBI agent and worked undercover. I even told my first grade teacher that I never had a sandwich and convinced her that I truly thought it was a witch made out of sand.
However, I soon realized that nobody likes a liar. It took losing my best friend, frustrating my favorite teacher and annoying my family to their wits’ end to make me change my ways. In fifth grade, I took charge of my life and started telling the truth: an act that has changed my life forever.
Thus, when I arrived to Grand Valley State University in the fall of 2010, I was fascinated to learn there was a career path I could take that you actually get paid for telling the truth: Public Relations.
So here I am three years later, a public relations intern in the Amway Corporate PR department tasked with sharing an intern’s view of Amway. Throughout the summer: I will introduce you to interns from various departments, I’ll bring you to events and activities and together we’ll explore behind the scenes of the largest and most successful direct selling company in the world.
My name is Austin; I am from Grand Haven; I enjoy waterskiing, pie eating and afternoon naps; and I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Written by Austin Langlois
About Austin:
Austin graduates from Grand Valley State University in December with a BA in Advertising/Public Relations and a minor in Spanish. Before coming to Amway, he interned at Hello West Michigan; Experience Grand Rapids; The Chamber of Commerce Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Ferrysburg; Grand Valley State University and assisted on the TEDxGrandRapids communications team. You can find him on Twitter, LinkedIn or at his personal website.
We are happy to welcome several guests to our community Wednesday as we officially mark construction of our $81 million manufacturing and warehouse facility near our World Headquarters, one of seven sites around the world where we are expanding manufacturing.
We first announced this project last year as part of a larger investment in U.S. operations. Work is ongoing in Quincy, Washington, and in Buena Park, California. And our new protein powder plant at our World Headquarters became operational last year.
But tomorrow the spotlight will be on our 317,000-square-foot plant at 5101 Spaulding Ave. SE. just down the road from our main campus. Since we’re renovating an existing building, a ground-breaking ceremony with gold shovels didn’t seem appropriate. So invited guests, including distributors, employees, local business and government officials and the media, will bear witness to a “beam-signing” to officially kick-off the project.
We anticipate the plant will yield 200 jobs over the next three years with construction wrapping up in 2015. Stay tuned!