You’ve met Zac.

Now meet Carlos.

Amway Australia introduced Zac in 2010 as the star of videos designed to help distributors simplify the Amway business for prospects and customers.

Carlos is the Latin American version of Zac, taking center stage in a similar series of videos designed to shed light on our history and our business opportunity.

Carlos, who debuted last year, has been so popular that Amway Latin America is expanding the series by adding videos that communicate incentive programs.

He speaks in Spanish and Portuguese in our Latin markets, which include Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

YouTube Direkt

Amway employees around the world take great pride in the work they do to support our distributors and their businesses.

That sentiment was broadcast loud and clear as Amway manufacturing facilities and workers in Ada, Michigan, were highlighted in the “Made in Michigan” series by local TV station WZZM13.

This program shows how Michigan-based manufacturers like Amway, General Motors and American Seating, make products locally that are sold globally.

Follow this link to the program article and video.

What is your #1 business resource?

For 90 percent of the Amway Europe distributors we surveyed, the company’s online AMAGRAM magazine is that essential, “must have” business tool.

It’s so useful, in fact, that nearly 95 percent of European distributors keep it on file as a handy source of product facts, figures and benefits. AMAGRAM is published in 29 European countries and in 20 languages.

Our European AMAGRAM isn’t just a winner with distributors. It was recently honored with a Silver Award in the prestigious “Best of Corporate Publishing” competition, according to Yvonne Hug, publications chief editor for Amway Europe.

Congratulations to our Amway Europe colleagues who produce AMAGRAM, a winner in any language!

Throughout the world, our employees and distributors help children live, learn, achieve and play.

And sometimes those efforts are grounds for recognition.

This week, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder presented Amway with the Corporate Community Leader Award during the 2012 Governor’s Service Awards ceremony.

Read about it in our One By One Blog or visit our newsroom at globalnews.amway.com.

In just 30 days, more than 1,100 European Amway employees and business owners participated in 11 of the world’s most popular outdoor events and fundraisers with the help of Team Nutrilite Europe.

That’s quite an achievement. And it’s proof that Team Nutrilite athletes recognize the importance of optimal health and being good global citizens.

Team triumphs included:

• The 24-hour Mountain Bike Race: One of 500 teams competing, Team Nutrilite finished 6^th in Munich.
• Kiev International Marathon: ABO (Amway business owner) Ludmila Shelest won 1^st place in the women’s category.
• Naisten Kymppi 10k: Our ABOs dressed up as vegetables, won 1^st prize and donated 16,320 EUR to UNICEF to support girls’ education in Nepal.
• Presse-Meile: Amway Europe sponsored this running event in Geggendorf, Germany, for 3,000 participants.

In just one month Team Nutrilite members achieved personal fitness success, raised money for charities, and took part in food education classes. Imagine what they can accomplish in a year!

Our Vice President and Chief Sales Officer John Parker is the new Direct Selling Education Foundation’s (DSEF) Chairman of the Board.

He will guide the Foundation as it works with strategic partners that execute programs promoting ethical entrepreneurship and championing consumers’ rights. Some of these partners include American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI), National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Consumer Education & Protection Initiative and many more.

DSEF Executive Director Charlie Orr notes that John “knows and respects the distributor mindset as well as anybody in our industry.”

John has been with Amway for nearly 20 years, including stints as chief marketing officer and president of Amway Japan, so we know Orr is right. We also know that the DSEF is in good hands.

The readers voted and ARTISTRY won!

Among a list of some of the world’s best-known beauty brands, ARTISTRY, the prestige beauty brand of Amway, recently took home not just one, but two Her World Beauty Awards in Malaysia.

Both the ARTISTRY Hydrating Foundation and ARTISTRY Intensive Skincare Renewing Peel received the 2012 Readers’ Choice Award in the makeup and skincare categories.

The winners were announced in the July issue of the monthly women’s magazine.

A round of applause to our colleagues in Malaysia!

The Amway Center is a prime destination,  home to the NBA Orlando Magic and host to internationally-acclaimed artists, sporting events and shows. Those who haven’t made it to Orlando may have seen the 2012 NBA All-Star Game or other Amway Center events that have been broadcast all around the world.

This exposure is inspiring to our distributors and has helped millions of  people get to know our brands and products, Amway Chief Marketing Officer Candace Matthews recently told  Direct Selling News.

“You can see the Amway name from the air, on the ground from blocks away, and throughout the complex,” Candace said in the interview with DSN. “Orlando is a global destination and the Amway Center is a major family entertainment venue, just like Disney World and Universal Studios. And when events at the Amway Center are broadcast to a global audience, they bring our name to potential customers and inspire pride in our distributors all over the world.”

To learn more about what’s coming up at this prime destination, visit www.amwaycenter.com.

Photo by Ben Tanner

During last month’s annual meeting of the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF), looking down at attendees’ feet would have been more apropos than at most business conferences. After all, it was the only way to see who was wearing a pedometer and how many miles they’d walked in three days.

All of that walking raised funds for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an organization that helps 400,000 high-risk students worldwide achieve their potential with programs that:

• Ensure school feels relevant to their lives.
• Instill an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Teach and guide real business planning experience.
• Provide teachers with entrepreneurship curriculum in 50 countries.
• Teach creative thinking, market research, sales and marketing, and business and financial fundamentals.

DSEF members also got to meet students who participate in NFTE, like 14-year-olds Guadalupe Gamino and Oliver Gamez. This past year, Gamino invented “Tranzparent Heel Holderz” for women who struggle with walking in dress shoes. Gamez’s business will teach Spanish to teachers so they can communicate with unilingual parents.

Once students join NFTE, they typically have improved reading and math scores and better school attendance. They also become more focused on career planning.

The organization began in Brooklyn, New York, and has quickly spread to include partner programs like the Bright China Foundation, Foróige in Ireland, and others in India, New Zealand, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Colombia and Chile.

Supporting NFTE – a perfect way to walk the walk for an industry dedicated to helping people flourish and grow.

People who own their own businesses spark the world’s economic engine.

Their intense optimism helps them see a brighter future, and keeps them moving forward – even when tough times threaten to hold them back.

In fact, their passion is a personal mindset that’s resilient in any economy. And their relationships with Amway give the company its “single biggest advantage over most retailers,” says Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel.

“There are always people out there who have an interest in entrepreneurship,” Steve told Free Enterprise Magazine. And while innovation and physical presence have been important for the company’s growth, he said that Amway’s success depends squarely on its distributors and their entrepreneurial minds.

Recently named vice chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Steve also spoke about Amway’s growth and innovation, our operations in other markets and regulatory challenges.

Read the interview here.