We welcomed more than 200 Founders Council members and other attendees to our World Headquarters this week, and we did it in grand style. Check out some of the photos on our Amway Facebook page. And if you missed the live stream of their arrival courtesy of our Amacam, the replay is available here. Watch for more coverage in the weeks to come!

The 2013 Founders Council began today in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Tomorrow we welcome them to our World Headquarters. Here are some fun facts. Did you know…

We are preparing to welcome about 200 members of our 2013 Founders Council to West Michigan next week, and for the first time ever you are invited to watch part of the festivities.

We will present a live broadcast of their arrival at our World Headquarters in Ada, Michigan. The one and a half hour live-stream will air on May 14th at 2:00 p.m. EDT via a special tab on Amway Corporate Facebook page.

Thanks to new technology – our Amacam – we are able to share all the glamour and excitement of the event with Amway distributors, prospects and friends around the globe.

The Amacam consists of three high-definition cameras (two inside and one outside) that will showcase the members as they arrive to walk the yellow carpet and be welcomed by hundreds of Amway employees.

Attendees to this year’s Founders Council group come from 15 different countries and include 11 new Founders Council members!

So, mark your calendar and plan to join us for the celebration. (How many of our top distributors will you be able to identify?)

Post by Gary Wade.

Our recently released Amway 2012 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Report is filled with amazing stories. We wanted to highlight one of them for you.

This video explains what happened in South Africa when we launched the Township Strategy, bringing the Amway Business Opportunity to the rural communities.

Here’s an excerpt from the report:

We used innovative strategies and alternatives to product sizing, pricing and bundling that resonated with individuals in these outlying communities. Physical presence and mobile marketing positioned the Amway Business Opportunity as viable and vital for this more financially challenged population.

In just three years, Amway South Africa has accomplished two significant results: increasing business and helping people to move up the economic ladder. Thanks to the Township Strategy, the Amway business in South Africa leapt by more than 200 percent and showed many low-to-middle class members of society a way out of poverty.

A distributor from Soweto featured in the video describes it like this: “From my personal experience, I can say that Amway is helping us to create real change in our lives, in our families, in our communities and across the world,” she said. “In previous years, Soweto was seen as nothing more than a holding area for cheap labor. … Now, Soweto is changing. And with Amway’s assistance our lives are changing. We are going up in the world.”

Watch the video to see the full story of empowerment.

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Amway’s Gen Y distributor force continues to leave their distinctive mark on countries around the globe, creating a social network that is paying off – literally.

Tamsen Sala, 24, of Queensland, Australia, is a thriving entrepreneur who understands the appeal of the Amway business for her generation. “This is a very flexible business,” Tamsen said. “You can work it full time or alongside whatever else you have going on. That’s very appealing to my generation.”

Tamsen is a second-generation distributor who started her Amway business in 2007 at age 18.  “I wanted the life my parents had and the life they provided me growing up,” she said.

“The business has offered me skill sets such as work ethic, discipline, people skills and goal setting. It also offers an environment of … positivity, which I haven’t seen outside the Amway business.”

The flexible business and her newly acquired skill set also helped her volunteer with a program mentoring teen girls.

“I try to be a positive role model and show them that they can be in control of their success,” she said. 

Tamsen is proof positive that Amway doesn’t depend on age or education, just work ethic and determination.

“The Amway products sell themselves and really appeal to my friends,” said Tamsen. Her personal favorites? The full line of ARTISTRY^TM cosmetics and XS Energy Drinks.

Post by Gary Wade

When Amway and Microsoft recently hosted an event celebrating and promoting women leaders in business, people took notice – including Forbes.com contributor Anne Doyle, who wrote:

“When two global corporations with the economic impact and cultural  influence of Amway and Microsoft – both reach and employ millions of consumers and change agents all over the world —  recognize that the women’s leadership engine is revving up and they’d better get on board, the possibilities for paradigm shifting change are enormous.”

More than 200 women attended the event, which started with a conversation between Amway managers and their Microsoft account executive about the need to better support women seeking leadership roles.

It resulted in a daylong gathering that included keynote speeches from Amway Chief Marketing Officer Candace Matthews and Microsoft Americas Premier Support Vice President Kelly Rogan, who explained why being a “street fighter” is just as important as being a great collaborator.

We can’t wait to see where this conversation leads.

(Guest post by Nick Wasmiller)

Amway is in the news quite frequently, and why wouldn’t we be? We lead our industry, have inspired millions, and win quality and excellence awards on a regular basis. We’re proud of those accomplishments, to be sure, but we’re also proud of what real distributors – current and former – have shared with us about their experience with Amway.

Are there critics of Amway in the online space? Absolutely – just like any other company. We care deeply about what’s said about us, and work hard to address the complaints we receive. But given that one of our cofounders wrote a book on positivity, it’s no surprise that we like to focus on that.

Below are some things about Amway that have been shared online, from former distributors both anonymous and identified:

• “I experienced a profound mental change. One moment I was an employee, and the next, I was an employee and a business owner. This was a monumental shift . . . you can read all you want about starting a business, but it’s different when you actually have your own business. . . it was something I couldn’t appreciate until I did it.”
• “Amway can help you learn to lead and work with people more effectively. It can also help you overcome fears such as public speaking or even talking to people.”
• “Amway provides a safe place for new business owners to grow and learn.”
• “I joined Amway in 1990 and left in ‘91. I never made money in Amway, but I met some decent people who were all dreamers – it was contagious and I learned how to believe – which is 4/5 of the battle. It was one of the most memorable times in my life . . . “
• “Amway was very beneficial to me and many people in my life. It is an incredible business for self-growth and I highly recommend this business vehicle to anyone who is looking for more in life.”
• “The Amway company is reliable . . . If you produce ‘x’ result, you will get paid ‘x’ compensation. Always! The only variables are a) who will you be learning from; b) how well will you listen to them; and c) how much work are you willing to put in?”
• “Not only do they help everyday average people open their own business, but they also help the world and local community.”
• “I spent 13-15 years in Amway and gained a whole new attitude in life, which is priceless to me. I may not be building Amway now, but from the things I have learned that I have applied to my life today and also to other businesses that we are building, I became the man I am today!”

Those are just a sampling of the ratings and reviews that give all of us something to write home about!

Although infographics weren’t so popular when Amway Co-Founders Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos started their first business in the mid-1940s, we know they would appreciate this one.  They tried their hands at business at least seven times prior to distributing Nutrilite, the precursor to today’s Amway.

Their first venture together was a flight school called Wolverine Air Service. The second was a hamburger joint called Riverside Drive-Inn. They also started businesses renting canoes, chartering fishing trips, importing Haitian home accessories and selling wooden rocking horses and organic baked goods.

We’re glad they kept going. And in their honor, we’re always here for the millions of Amway distributors trying to build their businesses every day, too.  How many times will you try?

Yesterday’s Financial Times featured this article (registration required to view in full) about Cecilia Qing Tang, one distributor who has made her way in a new country by leading and growing her Amway business.

Amway United Kingdom General Manager Andy Smith is also interviewed about the growing trend of migrants exercising their entrepreneurial spirit through direct selling.

In four years, Cecilia has defined her own success. We applaud her, along with the millions of other Amway distributors worldwide who focus their time, talents and energy on their Amway businesses.

When cofounders Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos started Amway in 1959, they did not stop with their initial product offering or American footprint. They kept growing by asking themselves, “What if…?”

That same question is still asked each day by our Business Innovations team. Glenn Armstrong, head of the team, talks about it in this video, the first of several we will be posting.

“If you continue to ask yourself, ‘What if?’ it gets you thinking about the possibilities,” Armstrong said. ”What if we had this many distributors? What if Amway supplied these types of products?

“If you ask yourself, ‘What if?’ you find yourself getting used to being outside your comfort zone.”

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