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.

Plant manager James Bowman leads reporters through the nutrition products plant

Journalists love to go behind the scenes. The “hard hat” tour is always popular because media can share news on what’s happening before buildings are completed, ribbons are cut and products are produced.  

That’s why we opened the doors today to our $24 million Nutrition Product Plant at our mile-long manufacturing complex in Ada, Michigan. Media toured the state-of-the-art production facility, interviewed our operations leaders and sampled the Nutrilite products that will be made there.  

This is the first time Amway has produced Nutrilite products in Michigan.  The plant will produce our best-selling  NUTRILITE protein powder, sold by distributors all over the world. Other products to be made at the facility  include POSITRIM meal replacement powder, ACTIVE 8 powder drink mix and INVISIFIBER fiber packs.  

Another first is an innovative work system designed by and for employees at the new plant, including a new work schedule and long-term career path.  Nutrilite employees in California worked closely with the Michigan team to transfer knowledge and processes.  

For this tour, instead of hard hats, media donned safety goggles, lab coats and hair nets to tour the three-story facility.  

We’re taking our No. 1 brand to even higher heights. Learn more on Mlive Media, WZZM and our global newsroom.

YouTube Direkt

We believe it’s important for people to have a safe, clean place to live.

Since the Amway One by One Campaign for Children partnered with Habitat for Humanity last year, distributors and employees across the Americas have worked hard to make that happen.

Here are three examples where our distributors and employees are building hope for others.

In Guatemala, Amway employees and distributors from the United States, Mexico, Barbados, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Colombia and El Salvador built a dozen homes. They also raised half a million dollars, matching a $250,000 gift of Tim Foley, longtime Amway distributor and Amway Founders Council member. These  funds will finance construction of more than 40 homes throughout Latin America over the next five years.

In São Paulo, Brazil, Amway distributors and employees raised nearly $5,000, and used it to renovate two homes. Their next  project? Already they are evaluating how to apply their time and talents to help people affected by the devastating floods in Rio de Janeiro.

Finally, after raising $16,000,  more than 25 Amway Colombia distributors, employees and their families constructed two homes in only two days.

Visit our Amway One by One blog to learn how we’re making a difference in 2012. Make your own difference, too, at Habitat for Humanity.

Japanese distributors Yoichiro Omura and Kana Yoshida visited Amway World Headquarter this week.

But while this was their first visit to our West Michigan headquarters, they are hardly new to Amway. Both literally grew up in the Amway business, as their parents are and were Amway distributors in Japan.

But that’s where the similarities end.

Yoichiro’s parents have had a great experience in Amway and are still distributors today. Kana’s father and mother tried Amway but found it wasn’t for them.

For Yoichiro, his parents’ experience inspired him to be a distributor. For Kana, becoming a distributor was a way to find out for herself if the business was right for her.

Their time here was spent absorbing Amway’s facilities, manufacturing and history. They took plenty of pictures to share with their parents, fellow distributors and prospects back home.

And add these shots to their “family albums.”

This is a tale of two cities, one near and one far, and of sixty people with a common destination.

Last week we hosted two groups of distributors. Forty distributors from Detroit, Michigan drove to our world headquarters and a group of 20 distributors from Taipei, Republic of Taiwan flew halfway around the world for a visit. Both groups toured our manufacturing  areas and learned more about the history of the company behind their businesses.

Many have been distributors for a long time but some have just began. No matter whether they’re from near or far, they share a goal to build better lives for themselves and for others.

You might say they have a common destination.

About 11,268 miles or 18,148 kilometers separate Taiwan from Amway’s World Headquarters in Ada, Michigan.

But for distributors with global businesses like Andy Chuang and Olivia Wu, executive diamonds from Taiwan, the distance between the two points isn’t measured by miles or kilometers but by relationships.

Wu and Chuang visited Amway today, along with about 200 distributors in their organization. Some had traveled halfway around the world to get here, and others just a few hours from their U.S. or Canadian homes.

Regardless of where they came from,  they’re connected by a business that spans borders, cultures and languages.  And that begins with one person reaching out to another. 

“Amway is not an either-or choice, but a matter of one plus one,”  Chuang and Wu have said.

And for Wu and Chuang and countless others, that adds up to success.

Photo by Sri Soekarmoen McCarthy.

In Amway’s case, our voices carry around the world. It might be our distributors talking about the business; news about us that travels faster than ever before; or our global social media properties where our fans and followers contribute to the conversation.

That’s why we’ve built Amway Voices, a content aggregator that will bring blog posts from our World Headquarters, Australia, Italy, Canada, United States, Korea, Russia, Germany, Taiwan and more into one place. It’s also where you’ll find our global Facebook posts, Twitter updates and the photographs we post to Flickr.

It’s a collection of voices that we simply couldn’t leave sitting on separate shelves.

Harnessing the optimism of new year, Amway Philippines recently kicked-off the “New You Health and Beauty Summit” at Market! Market! in Taguig. The four-city brand exposition tour, designed to educate Amway distributors about our Nutrilite and Artistry brands, shared the latest nutrition, wellness, skincare and makeup trends.  The events are designed to empower our distributors to be ambassadors for our health and beauty brands.

Attendees have their blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI) and cholesterol checked by health practitioners, as well as recieve free nutrition counseling. Four wellness professionals also are on hand to explain how easy it is to incorporate physical activities into  daily routines.

Next, distributors learn how to put their best face foward every day.  Artistry’s Chief Makeup Artist, Victor Ortega, shared some simple tips on how makeup can be used to enhance natural beauty. And professional fashion and image consultant, Olen Lim, discussed how to let one’s inner beauty shine. 

The summit’s tour  will conclude in Davao on February 26.

There’s a lot to celebrate in Australia’s Hunter Valley wine country this month, thanks to a group of 8,000 Chinese Amway distributors.

Amway China’s 2011 Leadership Seminar will become the biggest corporate gathering ever in the Hunter Valley region when the event kicks off January 14. 

Wineries are adding workers and translators to handle the needs of the group, who will sample local foods, hear indigenous music, and stomp the grapes used to make the region’s legendary wines.   One vintner is even creating a commemorative wine in the group’s honor.

So let’s raise a glass to the 8,000 Chinese distributors who earned the trip and to the Hunter Valley wineries, restaurants and other businesses that will open their doors – and more than a few bottles of wine - for our guests.