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.

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.

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)

All types of people participate in Team Nutrilite running events around the globe. And many of our Nutrilite employees make running part of their routine, too, since its an excellent way to work toward optimal health.

As in years past, Nutrilite is paying the entry fee for its employees to run in the upcoming OC Marathon in Newport Beach, California. They’ll be wearing their Nutrilite gear and representing the company.

Participants come from across the departments at our Buena Park and Lakeview locations, and many are stepping up their training for the event. Some will be running the 5k, others the half marathon and we even have a few in the full marathon – all 26.2 miles of it.

To get you into the running spirit — and keep you focused on ways to pursue your own optimal health — we’re featuring three runners from the warehouse in Buena Park that are challenging themselves this year.

• Ole Andrade is running the full marathon – 26.2 miles (42km).
• Steve Huizar is running the half marathon – 13.1 miles (21km).
• And Rosa Martinez is running the 5k race (3.1 miles).

Learn more about them by visiting our Nutrilite Facebook page. And check back after the May 5 event for photos of the race and to see how our runners fared.

If you want to learn how to create a global career, ask someone who has one. That’s what the Harvard Business School Women’s Student Association did when they invited Amway CMO Candace Matthews to be part of its Harvard Dynamic Women in  Leadership Forum February 23.

Candace joined Tata Consulting Services head Farzana Haque in a panel discussion about how they developed and navigate careers that span the globe.

Candace’s lesson for success on a global scale?  “You have to have a yearning for learning,” she told the group. “You must have the desire to learn about other cultures, what motivates them and how they define success.”

For those starting out she advised learning four key words and phrases – hello, goodbye, please and thank you - to show interest and a connection with other cultures.

After spending time with the students, Candace sat down with the Harvard Business Review (HBR) to tape a lesson for the HBR Channel on how to stand up for yourself in business.  It was a lesson she learned long ago and was happy to pass along to the next generation of business leaders.  The video lesson will be online in April.

The distributors who won Amway Europe’s Home Demo Contest this year had an experience they won’t soon forget – including being treated like movie stars while they filmed their winning demonstrations.

But they’re not the only ones: Our research scientists at our World Headquarters won’t forget the Home Demo Contest, either.

“What we saw in the distributor Demo Contest was innovation of applications,” Amway Senior Research Scientist Bob Faber said. “And those innovative applications and innovative uses of product shed new light on what we need to be … in the R&D environment, concentrating on in the future.”

Faber and other researchers praised distributors creativity, imagination and innovation. Watch the video to see the story behind the contest and how much fun – and educational — it was for our researchers.

Congratulations, again, to our winners!

YouTube DirektAmway Home Demo Contest Video

If success is judged by the numbers, the China & Korea Joint International Phytonutrient Symposium held in Bejing last month exceeded expectations.

More than 300 people attended when organizers anticipated 200. Among them was our team from Nutrilite, including Keith Randolph, the Nutrilite Health Institute’s director of research and development, who presented the latest findings on the antioxidant paradigm.

The one-day event was a lively packed house of scholars and professors, all of them focused on nutritional science and phytonutrient research. Plenty of Q&A took place between the audience and speakers after every presentation.

The speakers presented their interpretations of Randolph’s presentation articulated the fact that we are at a turning point in understanding the role antioxidants play in the body, while identifying the importance of phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli: Specific phytos turn on switches in our cells that enable our bodies to fight oxidative stress.

The symposium played an extra key role in China, where the Chinese Nutrition Society is reviewing whether to institute a daily recommended intake, or DRI, for phytonutrients. The conference presentations gave them a better understanding of the role of antioxidants and the emerging phytonutrient science.

The event was hosted by China Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology and sponsored by Amway China Ltd and Amway Korea. Participants are already looking forward to next year’s symposium.

When you think about the Nutrilite story, China is really where it all began.

It was nearly 100 years ago that Carl Rehnborg was living and working in China when the “seed” of an idea came to him: He noticed a difference between the health of people living in towns and those living in the country.

He also noticed they had different diets. That’s when he made the connection between health and nutrition.

This week, a team from our Nutrilite Health Institute in Buena Park, California, is headed back to China to discuss the latest research connecting health to nutrition at the China & Korea Joint International Phytonutrient Symposium.

The mantra “more is better” is often applied to supplements, including phytonutrients, those wonderful things in fruits and vegetables that give them their vibrant colors. But NHI Director of Research and Development Keith Randolph, PhD, will present the case for “better is better.”

What does that mean? If you get the right kinds of phytonutrients in the right amounts, it will buoy your body’s own defense mechanisms.

“This research is in its early stages, but we have data that shows cruciferous vegetables as being particularly potent inducers of antioxidant response within the body,” Randolph said. (To save you a trip to Wikipedia, some examples of cruciferous vegetables are broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy and cabbage.)

Randolph will be joined at the symposium by nine leading nutritionists from Canada, Japan, China and Korea. And it will include opening remarks from Colleen Carkeet, PhD, senior group leader in Global Regulatory Affairs at Amway.

The event is hosted by China Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology. Amway China Ltd and Amway Korea are sponsors.

The symposium takes place on Friday. For live updates, follow us on Twitter.

ARTISTRY played a “break out” role at the 17^th Busan International Film Festival as the Diamond Premiere Exclusive Sponsor of the annual competition. The festival ran from Oct. 4-13 and included more than 221,000 guests and 304 films from 75 countries.

The event also featured celebrities, screenwriters, producers, directors and entertainment industry professionals. Among them? Emerging Hollywood actress Teresa Palmer. We know her better as the global face of ARTISTRY.

Palmer’s recent film, “Wish You Were Here,” was filmed in Cambodia and screened at BIFF. She shined in a Naeem Khan tufted taffeta, bejeweled gown. And, thanks to a billboard 74 meters wide and 29 meters tall, she also took center stage during a fireworks display.

“It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life,” Palmer said. “Seeing my face emblazoned on a gigantic billboard is one thing, but sharing the evening with such amazing talent from around the world in support of independent filmmaking – I felt so blessed.”

Amway Chief Marketing Officer Candace Matthews said ARTISTRY’s sponsorship of BIFF shows Amway is staking its claim as one of the top five premium skincare brands around the world.

“Our goal is to help all women take their beauty forward with superior products that perform, and a business opportunity that helps them play the ‘leading ladies’ in their own lives with grace and poise,” Matthews said.

Check out more photos from the amazing 10-day festival at ARTISTRY’s Facebook page.

Milan, Italy is home to some of the world’s most well known entrepreneurs in fashion and food.

And it is there, last week, that Amway Europe Corporate Affairs Vice President Michael Meissner was on stage at the SELDIA (European Direct Selling Association) Annual Roundtable on the Future of Direct Selling.

His topic? The European entrepreneurial culture and outlook, fed by data from the 2011 Amway European Entrepreneurship Report titled “The Next Generation of Entrepreneurs.”

The study, in partnership with GfK Market Research and the LMU Entrepreneurship Center, surveyed nearly 14,000 people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Key findings included:

• Half of 14-29 year olds can see themselves as entrepreneurs in the future.
• Positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship are growing throughout Europe, but most significantly in Great Britian, Austria and Ukraine.
• To encourage entrepreneurship, we must remove the stigma of failure and increase mentoring and education.
• Denmark is the country that sees self employment the most positively.
• Non materialistic reasons, such as work-family balance, are gaining ground as top reasons for becoming an entrepreneur.

Then, Meissner participated in a panel discussion with Italian academicians, consumer advocates and government officials on actions that could be taken across the European Union to foster more entrepreneurship. Participant Maria Ida Germontani, a member of the Italian Senate Finance Committee, said something we really liked: that “vision, farsightedness and determination” would help people translate their talents and creativity into real, viable businesses that would drive the worldwide economy.

As an incubator of the entrepreneurial spirit, Amway – and we’re sure our distributors feel the same- could not agree more.