Every year, thousands of Amway distributors around the world are rewarded for their efforts with trips that combine exotic locations with learning opportunities and entertainment.

But these trips do so much more. They also benefit local economies and communities.

This week in Fiji, Achiever-level distributors from Amway Australia and New Zealand are repairing desks, painting new chalkboards and otherwise making a disaster-struck school an acceptable place for learning to take place again.

Said one distributor: “By the time we leave today, we’ll be friends with another group of people somewhere else in the world – which is absolutely wonderful.”

And earlier this spring, Amway China brought its top 15,000 distributors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to Laguna Phuket in Thailand. The visit was estimated to help the local economy by bringing an influx of $2.5 billion baht in cash; providing temporary jobs to 300 students; and hiring hundreds of local transport and catering employees.

When our distributors enjoy their well-deserved rewards, they aren’t the only ones positively affected.

Nearly 100 eager interns will be on-site with us for the summer, and started arriving earlier this month.

The interns will work in 16 different internal divisions and 70 departments, in both the Amway World Headquarters and the Nutrilite facility in Buena Park, California. These internal divisions range from supply chain management to marketing to human resources. They come from 33 different colleges and represent 58 majors.

Interns are excited to get started on what Jon Brickner, a recruiter with talent acquisition, refers to as their “12 week interview.”

While we routinely hire interns every summer, our approach was slightly different this time around. Interns were hired based on projected future positions within departments, to help create a pipeline for talent, geared toward converting interns into full-time employees.

I’m one of those interns and will be sharing my experiences – as well as those of other Amway interns – with you here at The Amway Insider.

For centuries, the tea house has been a key element of a Japanese garden.

It’s a tranquil place. Before you enter, you cleanse your face and hands to symbolically check your cares and worries at the door. 

It’s a harmonious place, where you meet with friends, receive special tea and cake, and enjoy your time together. 

It’s also a familiar place for our recent guests at Amway World Headquarters, who participated in the Georgetown University Leadership Program, supported by Amway Japan and The Japan Times.

They were excited to learn that a tea house is planned for the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, as part of The Richard and Helen DeVos Japanese Garden. Construction for the project begins in 2013.

During a preview and personal tour of the future garden site, they shared their stories and suggestions for the first official tea ceremony with David Hooker, president and CEO at Frederik Meijer Gardens.

Already new friendships are starting to blossom.

In 2011, our sales numbers were impressive and we reached several milestones, including our first month with sales over $1 billion.

But years from now, we won’t have those numbers memorized. What we will remember are the people who made our success possible.

That sentiment was recently echoed by Amway President Doug DeVos.

“While it’s a business and we talk about sales numbers and growth, what we’re really excited about is the people in our business … our business owners from around the world who make Amway what it is,” he said during an interview with a dozen journalists from Turkey who visited Amway World Headquarters.

During their stay, the journalists toured our cosmetics plant as well as our research and development facilities. They also visited the Van Andel Institute and Gerald R. Ford Museum in nearby Grand Rapids.

“This is an exciting time to be part of the Amway business,” Doug told the journalists, adding the distributor force behind the company is what it makes it unique. “We’ve had great business performance in the past few years, especially last year, and we’re proud to be part of a vibrant and growing industry.”

Some of the best online videos are designed by people who might not be experts with a camera, but who have unlimited imagination and enthusiasm.

We’ll uncap some of that creative talent in Europe, where we’re celebrating the first anniversary of our Amway Home brand with a call for original video demonstrations.

Video entries are due today for this pilot program. The videos are made by and star our distributors, as well as Amway Home laundry, dish or surface products. To date, more than 160 videos are contenders. [Update: The final number of entries totals more than 220.]

It’s a simple idea, but one that could have far-reaching potential. Our research shows that a home care demonstration increases sales volume, and improves both distributor and customer engagement.

Our Research and Development team will help judge the winning entries, based on novelty, simplicity and relevance.

We can’t wait to meet the winners later this year. Not only do they each earn a trip for two to Amway World Headquarters, they’ll also perform in their own demos, which will be professionally produced.

Watch the Insider for a future sneak peak!

Jesseca Frost, Amway Public Relations Intern, co-authored this post.

Yesterday, the top leaders in the Amway business departed Portofino, Italy and returned to the 14 countries from which they hail. It is our hope that the following words, which appeared in the customary take-home packet, remain with them and are meaningful to all readers of the Amway Insider:

“Where we go tomorrow, well, that’s really up to all of us, isn’t it? We are all the current caretakers of the Amway business, and we have an awesome responsibility.”

That responsibility – to fellow members of Amway, family members, friends and strangers alike, communities and countries – can be seen, heard and most importantly, felt in the videos created to honor the seven new members of Founders Council in 2012.

In one of the videos, here and embedded below, a former film editor expresses that responsibility in his terms: “We would interview, shoot, and edit programs. When something wasn’t right, we could always rewind. But we can not rewind and restart in life.”

That was his reason for joining Amway – for saying “arrivederci” to editing and hello to a business opportunity with endless potential.

When we say we’re a company built on values, we mean it.

Freedom. Family. Hope. Reward.

Those are our Founders’ Fundamentals that are embedded, literally, in stone in front of our World Headquarters in Ada, Michigan.

These principles, along with our corporate values and mission, provide a solid foundation for all our business operations, from our dealings with distributors to the leadership positions our executives hold within their communities.

To find out how, inspired by our values, we collectively improve the world around us, read our Corporate Citizenship Report.

Or watch this video of Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel and President Doug DeVos discussing what the Founders’ Fundamentals mean to our organization.

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 When Dick DeVos and Doug DeVos are inducted as members of the U.S. Direct Selling Association (DSA) Hall of Fame, they’ll join their father, Amway Co-Founder Rich DeVos, in this exclusive group of direct selling pioneers and leaders.

And Rich will be there to welcome them to the club.

The DSA announced today that Rich will present Doug and Dick as the newest Hall of Fame honorees June 5 during the organization’s annual meeting.

It will be a family affair as Rich welcomes his sons to the association’s honorary group of leaders who have made significant contributions to the industry.   It is the first time since 2009 that DSA will add industry leaders to the Hall of Fame.

Portofino is known as one of the most beautiful ports on the Italian Riviera, a place where artists have long found inspiration and tourists have found rest and relaxation. This week, it is home to our annual Founders Council gathering of top Amway distributors from around the world.

They will certainly experience history with a visit to the 1361-built Cervara Abbey, but they’ll also get a glimpse of the future through the eyes of our executives.

As Doug DeVos shared with them, “For over 50 years, the decisions we’ve made, the relationships we’ve forged, the successes we’ve seen are a result of bringing to life the vision, values and cause of the Amway business. The partnership that began with Rich and Jay so many years ago and the partnership we have with you is what’s made this business what it is today . . . and will make this business strong for generations to come.”

Poet and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said Portofino was the perfect example of the profound connection between the places that have inspired artists and intellectuals and their works. In our case, it’s inspiring more than 90 Amway distributorships and through them, a global family of celebrated accomplishers.

How do we put America’s economy back on track?

By unleashing something we already have in abundance: The entrepreneurial spirit. 

In a U.S. Chamber of Commerce “CEO Leadership Series” appearance today in Washington, D.C., Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel told a beltway audience that an entrepreneurial approach is a part of the solution to our nation’s challenges.

“Entrepreneurs are innovative, have good ideas and are willing to try new things. They work best in an environment with fewer unnecessary and burdensome regulations,” he said. “If we applied these principles to business, we’d see more hiring, more confidence and more optimism than what we have today.”

Harnessing these qualities will “unleash a spirit of entrepreneurship – where hard work is rewarded, innovation and creativity are encouraged, failure is not feared.”

View a webcast of Steve’s appearance here.