Antarctica is a remote, mysterious place where teams of explorers and scientists dig in for long periods of research. The Polar Research Institute of China is one such group. They conduct comprehensive polar region studies to help the global community better understand environmental issues.

In 2002, the Institute needed environmentally friendly homecare products for daily use at their Zhongshan and Changchun Antarctic research stations. They asked Amway China to provide them with six different homecare and personal care products – LOC, Dish Drops, Zoom, SA8, Air Freshener and Glister Toothpaste – because our products are biodegradable and phosphate free. And they match all of the requirements of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

In 2008 the Institute established a third Antarctic research station, Kunlun, and expanded their relationship with Amway China. Amway products are being used at the Institute’s three Antarctic research stations, on their Xue Long research ship, and in their Arctic research station at the North Pole.

So you can find LOC at both poles, and many places in between.

Blogging can be a beautiful thing.  Especially if the blog is about beauty. 

The newest addition to our social media collection is Amway Korea’s Artistry blog,  which joins the Amway Story blog Korea launched earlier this year.

Blogging is a key element of Korea’s strategy to create an online conversation with customers and distributors.

And that’s a beautiful thing.

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.

As an intern at any company, an important part of the internship is asking questions and absorbing as much information as possible. One thing I’ve learned at Amway is that people are more than happy to answer your questions and encourage you to ask away.

One goal of my internship is learning how to work with different media outlets. As a recent grad and young public relations professional, it’s necessary for me to increase my understanding on how to interact and make connections with journalists, bloggers and reporters. While I learned from my professors and had a little bit of experience prior, I want to learn the tips, tricks and correct ways of approaching, talking and following up with the media.

On Monday, I got the perfect chance to learn from, ask questions and observe my mentor, Katie, at a recent Amway-sponsored event - United States Golf Association Junior Amateur Championship. Referencing one of Esther’s posts where she wrote about her experience at the event, the golf championship involves 156 young golfers from around the country competing for the winning title.

In the (very, very early) morning Katie and I met with a local sports radio station where she secured two speakers from Amway. In the afternoon, I met a journalist and reporter from local news outlets. The next day, Katie secured an interview about Amway employees volunteering at the event for a local news station story. Very neat, right? I thought so, and wanted to know how it all came together.  I asked Katie questions like, “how did you arranged an interview if you hadn’t planned on it prior to the event?” and “how do you approach a reporter with a story idea and not sound too overbearing?”

The answers in a nutshell: It really depends on the situation. Be friendly, helpful and look for relevant stories reporters would be interested in. It also helps to get your name and face out there.

It was a wonderful learning experience that brought me closer to understanding how to work with the media. And not to mention, I got watch a little golf on the side.

I’m not the “but why” person (although I may have been when I was little), but I definitely believe in the power of asking questions.

The Amway Center in Orlando won’t open until October, but there are clear signs of change.

The first exterior signage proclaiming the new facility as the Amway Center was installed this week. 

In the coming months you’ll see more signs of change as the finishing touches are put on what will be one of the nation’s premier sports and entertainment facilities.

Just as you can find Amway in news coverage that has nothing to do with our company or industry – sometimes Amway pops up in news coverage that has everything to do with our company.

A Washington Post story published yesterday examined the nuances of the cross-strait relationship between China and Taiwan. The article quoted Martin Liou, managing director of Amway Taiwan, and former officer in the Taiwanese army, who tells how he was trained to confront China with a rifle, but ended up using a briefcase instead.

Rivals historically, the two countries are now becoming more closely intertwined. A million Taiwanese live full-time on the Chinese mainland, while Chinese tourists regularly visit Taiwan – 800,000 of them so far this year.

And Martin oversaw last year’s visit of 10,000 Amway China distributors on a week long cruise to the island – the largest group of Chinese tourists ever to visit Taiwan, and a very big step toward improving the cross-strait relationship.

Amway is about improving relationships of all kinds — between business partners, distributors and customers…even between countries. And it’s where you should expect to find us.

When The Amway Insider launched in April, it was the first in what will eventually be a collection of blogs on Amway’s corporate blog platform.

Now we have a little company.

Today Jesse Hertstein’s One by One blog moves from its original spot on the North American portal to join Insider on the global platform.

Jesse’s blog covers Amway’s philanthropic efforts around the world, so it’s fitting that he’s making this move.  Next month you’ll see  Interns Expose Amway  follow suit, and later this year we’ll launch new blogs and links that provide additional glimpses into the world of Amway. 

Today, we have a little company.  Pretty soon we’ll have a crowd.

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.

When we were little, we dreamed about what we would be when we grew up. Most of us are still dreaming up anything from being a rocket scientist to president of the United States, but we interns are facing the reality of having to join the real world in the near future.  I have done a couple of internships before, both of them a bit unusual, but I have dubbed my time at Amway as my first “big girl” job.  I graduate in a year, which means I am at that crucial point in my life where I am reaching a crossroads whose outcome will set the tone for the rest of my life.  I feel like a summer placement at Amway is the perfect opportunity to help me sort myself out.

The College Talent Acquisition Program at Amway provides so many opportunities outside of the internship itself that really give college students a good look into corporate life and the professional world.  From events like the Executive Breakfasts to the informational lectures of the Passport Series, they try to provide us with as many opportunities to learn as possible.  Amway staff are very accessible and will gladly take time out of their busy schedules to discuss career choices, professional development and higher education.  This program is an invaluable chance to really make the most out of an internship opportunity and prepare for our future careers.

Some people view this time of choice as a scary period of uncertainty and a time when all fun and childhood curiosity end.  I, however, see it as a time of opportunity and experience, both professional and personal.  The possibilities for the future are endless and Amway does a wonderful job of showing us what we can achieve through the opportunities of the intern program.  This is the time to dream big like we did when we were kids, except now we can make these dreams come true.

Summer breezes do more than just refresh…here at Amway, they’re powering our PCs and lighting our conference rooms.

Thanks to a contract with Wolverine Energy, Amway is using power generated at Michigan’s first wind turbine farm.  The farm will eventually provide 90,000 megawatts of power per year – about 10 percent of the total energy needed at our World Headquarters in Ada, Michigan. 

So when summer breezes blow, we know we’re getting more clean energy to power our West Michigan operations.

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.

Please welcome Jessica and Ashley, two interns in California who have joined our team of Amway intern bloggers. They will be sharing their internship experiences as they happen on the other side of the country. Jessica works in Quality Assurance for Nutrilite in Buena Park, Calif. and Ashley is an intern at a Nutrilite farm in Lakeview, Calif.

Before they start blogging, let’s get to know them a little by reading an introduction written by each of them.

Jessica Bird

Hello fellow Amway Interns! My name is Jessica Bird and I am an intern out in beautiful Buena Park, California.  I am from Indiana, thus coming out to California has been such an exciting experience.  The fact that I have been here for almost 1 month and have yet to see a drop of rain is probably the most confusing/amazing thing I have ever experienced!  It’s my understanding that there has not been much blogging coming from the west coast locations, so I volunteered to share with you my (and other Cali intern’s) experiences at Nutrilite.  I’ll start with telling you a little about myself, and what brought me to California….

I just graduated from Purdue University and double majored in Dietetics and Nutrition/Fitness/Health.  To become a Registered Dietitian, I am required to complete a clinical internship at another university.  This usually lasts about 1 year, depending on the program.  A friend in my major at Purdue, Samantha Izzy, had been an intern at Nutrilite the past two summers.  She convinced me to apply for an internship, and after hearing about the wonderful experience and amazing location that Nutrilite has to offer, I applied with little hesitation.  Upon hearing about my placement into Amway’s Internship program, I was able to move in with Samantha (who has since accepted full-time employment here at BP Nutrilite) in West LA.

Now, starting my fourth week in the Quality Assurance branch of Nutrilite, I can honestly say I am having the time of my life.  Not only are all of my coworkers and fellow interns welcoming and amazing to work with, we also get to do fun activities as interns.  Last week we (each intern and his/her mentor) got to go to the House of Blues in Disneyland for a dinner.  I think it is so great the lengths Amway goes to make their interns feel comfortable.  Earlier in the week, Dr. Sam even had a lunch and learn with us! He talked about his book, his experiences at Nutrilite, and answered questions from the interns.  It was so special to be able to get the experience to meet him.  I (as well as the other California interns) am also looking forward to going to Ada for the Reverse Career Fair in July!

Ashley Wright

Hi everyone!  My name is Ashley Wright, and I am from Sand Lake, Michigan and a recent graduate from Michigan State, with a degree in Food Science.  This summer, I am an intern in Lakeview, CA working with the Powder Drink manufacturing group and am currently in my 5th week.  But this isn’t my first rodeo.  Last summer, I was a Food & Beverage intern at Amway, working with chocolate!  It was a great internship as I learned how to create chocolate-based products that incorporated ingredients similar to those found in vitamins.

This summer, I have a completely different role; I am working on optimizing the Positrim line-looking into ways to make it run better and perform as efficiently as possible.  Additionally, I am creating training manual for the line operators, specifically focusing on pH testing and sensory characteristics so that when they start a new flavor, they don’t have to wait for QC before they can continue running.  Finally, I am shadowing as many people while I am here as possible, so that I can learn how different areas in manufacturing function and interact with each other, because my ultimate goal is to be in management.  So that’s a brief overview about what I am doing, but I really want to focus on the question I am asked all the time:  What is it like in California compared to Michigan?

There are some differences-California has LOTS of traffic, Michigan does not; Michigan has pine trees, California has palm trees; Lakeview is very small, Ada is large (in comparison).  While there are many surface differences, the most important elements are the same-the people.  Everyone is willing to stop what they are doing to help you solve your problem-be it chocolate that tastes funny, or teach you what all the buttons do to run the equipment.  They are warm, friendly people who genuinely care about you and helping you grow in your career choice.  They want you to succeed in what you are setting out to do.  I even found this true of the people in the surrounding cities.  I was new in town, and the person showing me around the gym near my apartment gave me his number (not trying to hit on me!) and told me to call him if I ever needed help or got lost or even just needed to know how to get to the grocery store.  The same is true of the people in Michigan.  So while there are differences between the 2 regions on the surface, the people are the same-always willing to help everyone around them be as successful as possible.

Give credit to Amway distributors in Taiwan for really understanding nutrition. Since 1999 Taipei Medical University has trained over 5,000 of them through a nutrition certification program created in cooperation with Amway Taiwan.

After finishing their classes and passing an examination, they’re rewarded with formal credits approved by the Ministry of Education. The coursework is extensive and distributors become experts in nutrition, making them even more capable as Nutrilite salespeople.

It works for everyone involved. Customers in Taiwan are getting expert nutrition advice from Amway distributors, while certified distributors are seeing a double digit increase in their sales. So more people are getting credit for taking their Nutrilite vitamins and achieving optimal health.