The best and brightest in the direct selling industry will gather from June 9-11 for the Direct Selling Association’s (DSA) 2013 Annual Meeting. Not only is it one of the hottest meetings for direct selling professionals, it is also held in Phoenix, Arizona this year… forecasted to hit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

This four-day annual meeting offers attendees the opportunity to choose from more than 20 workshops and sessions exploring topics from The Affordable Care Act to how to find a new distributor base on college campuses.

Four thought leaders from Amway will be there sharing insights and data to contribute to the global direct selling conversation:

• John Parker | Chief Sales Officer, Amway; and Chairman, Direct Selling Education Foundation | “Celebrate Vision”
• Mike Edwards | Director, Global Services | “Bridging the Generation Gap”
• Kim Drabik | Industry & Shareholder Relations Manager |“Direct Selling Goes to College”
• Judy Jones | Consumer & Market Insights – Insights Lead | “The State of Direct Selling in the U.S.

Because everyone isn’t able to fly to Arizona for this great opportunity, don’t forget to follow DSA on twitter. The meeting hashtag is #DSAAnnual. Keep up with the conversation!

Written by Austin Langlois

Beth Douglass Silcox recently wrote a wonderful article titled “The Magic of the First 90 Days.”

In it, she interviews a number of direct selling companies about that brief period between a person’s registration as a new distributor and the moment they experience early success.

She dubbed that exciting, yet difficult time, “The Magic Window.” It’s when new distributors “vacillate between unbridled excitement and all-out fear.” Some of the strategies she recommends for surviving that time include:

• Supporting them with a team of people playing roles as mentors, cheerleaders and teachers.
• Calming their fears, which we’ve blogged about before.
• And keeping it simple, teaching the basics.

Newcomers to the Amway business opportunity experience all of that and more. But at its core, Amway helps people bridge the gap between the life they have and the life they want. That takes more than 90 days, along with a dose of hard work, passion and commitment.

We’ve walked next to millions of people on this journey, and for us, each time is just as enchanting as the last.

Our Business Innovations team has some great stories to tell.

We posted one last month about asking the simple question: What if? Here’s one about a pilot project they supported in Ghana.

It’s a wonderful tale of creating choices, reducing barriers and empowering people as told byAmway Business Innovations Manager Seth Starner.

“When our founders Rich and Jay were thinking about this business – this was a business for everyone,” Starner says. “So how do we truly live up to that dream of creating opportunity for everyone?”

Watch the video to find out.

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It’s no secret that one of the perks of success in Amway is that we send our distributors on business and incentive trips to some of the world’s most beautiful locations. But just as often, we simply bring them home – to our World Headquarters in Ada, Michigan, a community of 10,000 residents that is also home to rivers, working farmlands and a historic town village.

When they visit, they share their stories with employees, who frankly, never tire of hearing about who they are and how they’ve built their Amway business. Employees consider this a privilege, and we hope our Amway Insider readers will, too.

A few days ago, Founders Council member Wonbo Shim told us that when he was a mechanical engineer in California, he was relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with no say in the matter. That’s when he realized, “my life is not mine,” and started his Amway business.

During that same employee meeting, Deidre Sala told us that when she was a young girl, her mother bought fruits, vegetables and Amway products from a small truck that drove through her tiny town on Australia’s Gold Coast. Naturally, her first thought when someone approached her about the Amway business was, “but we don’t own a truck!” She soon learned what it actually takes to be an Amway business owner – no truck necessary!

Igor and Valeria Kharatin, Ukranians, shared, “We both started our careers as teachers, but now, we have our own school.” Igor and Valeria used their profits from Amway to set up a school teaching sportsman-like conduct to young athletes.

And to wrap up that day’s meetings, Foo Howe Kean, an Amway Founders Council member from Malaysia said, “They say opportunity never knocks twice, but for me, it did.”

He was shown the Amway compensation plan once, but was unsure if was for him. That second ”knock” came from the former chairman of the Dental Association of Malaysia, a friend of his at the time. Foo joined Amway 35 years ago. Since then he has also started Amway businesses in China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand.

Perhaps Deidra’s husband Mitch summarized how we all — employees and distributors alike — often feel. He said, ”We all become slightly better people than we were when we joined [Amway].”

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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According to AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an American turns 50 once every seven seconds. Nearly 50 percent of the European Union’s population is 65 and older; and in Thailand, the median age will be 50 by 2050.

As the world’s population ages, so does its number of age 50-plus entrepreneurs. Far from being content - or even financially able – to retire, they reinvent themselves and while doing so, add billions to the global economy.

In fact, nearly one-third of global Amway distributors were born before 1965. That’s no surprise to us, because the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College says that “olderpreneurs” have stronger networks; a higher success rate due to the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired; a strong desire for control and flexibility; and to be part of something greater than themselves.

We’re glad that Amway fits that bill, and we salute not only their success, but also, the support they give to others.