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We are living during a special moment in time. There are accelerators (COVID-19, the gig economy, a search for principles and values) requiring us to think faster, formulate plans faster, make decisions faster, protect others who are dependent upon us. Therefore, we are required to respond to the needs of the people faster. The future will not replicate the past. Prudent leaders will realize what they do not know, have not studied, and bring teams together who bring forth the best of innovation, vision, ideas, research, facts, and new or old principles and values. Authentic leaders will invent the future…. Authentically.

-— John T. Fleming, Project Lead, Ultimate Gig

By:  John Fleming

Publisher’s Note: I received this letter from John Fleming concerning our channel and the social unrest generated by George Floyd’s killing. I asked him if we could reprint the letter in its entirety so that more people could benefit from his insight and thoughts.

— Teresa Craighead, Publisher

John Fleming, DSA Hall of Fame, DSEF Circle of Honor

Dear Friends,

COVID-19 has changed the game and so will the resurrection of the social justice movement.

The direct selling model has been approaching an inflection point for more than a few years. We have never experienced a threat to the health and welfare of nations as we are experiencing today. Add to that the events of the past few weeks, during which we have seen an unprecedented global outcry for repairing social injustice, and one could easily say that these are indeed the most challenging of times.

By:  Mona Ameli

Mona Ameli, founder of Ameli Global Partnerships

Our industry’s objective is to provide entrepreneurship opportunities to all through a community-based approach that helps everyone to believe, belong, and become part of a company’s mission and growth. We, more than any other industry, need to be part of the solution to acknowledge, understand, commit and build systematic inclusion to truly become an opportunity for all.

The brutal killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans has brought into greater focus the challenges of systematic racism in America, as reflected in the protests all over the country and even globally. There is a critical need to understand how the often uncomfortable and tough conversations of race and inclusive diversity impact both individual direct selling companies and our industry as a whole. We can play an active and positive role in the new breakthroughs that are now possible.

Regulators want to dismantle all multi-level marketing companies

By:  David Bland

The paper indicates that the FTC views all companies with a multi-level compensation plan structure as dangerous to the public, and it recommends removing the levels as the best course of action.

The FTC authors suggest three actions that could prevent the risk of pyramid operations.

First, they state that an obvious option would be to end the recruitment aspect of the business. 

Second, they suggest that changes to recruitment incentives could “reduce an operator’s ability to induce or allow participation in a transfer scheme.”

Third, they argue that if sellers were not required to make purchases in order to qualify for recruitment rewards, the company would no longer be able to convince the seller to accept retail losses in hopes of gaining back profits with future recruitment.

Until recently, any company in the direct selling channel with viable products and consumer demand for those products could consider themselves operating under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) favor. However, the agency appears to be changing its mind about practices it previously accepted, as indicated first by AdvoCare’s surprising abandonment of its multi-level compensation plan a year ago under FTC pressure.

Consider these key elements before international expansion

By: Stephanie Ramirez

Going global isn’t easy. It’s complicated, and it comes with hurdles, especially as businesses are also navigating the normal growing pains of scaling up. Additionally, every country has its own local laws, cultural norms, forms of currency and payment, unique business practices and language differences.

According to the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), the global retail sales from direct selling have increased from about $184 billion to approximately $192 billion in 2018. The results from the global survey for 2019 have not yet been released. Health and wellness products continue to make up the largest product category, coming in at 33 percent of total channel sales.

Canada-based direct selling attorney Robert Kreklewetz, a partner with Miller Kreklewetz LLP, says Canada is often the first point of international expansion for most U.S. businesses. Though not the largest direct selling market by any means, adds Kreklewetz, expanding into Canada offers some advantages.

“In terms of everything you need to know and the trials and tribulations of going international, Canada’s the easiest place to start,” he says. “There are many commonalities between the U.S. and Canada such as the language we speak and how both countries are regulated.”

Kreklewetz explains that Canada has its own version of many U.S. regulatory agencies, from the Food and Drug Administration (Health Canada) and the IRS (Canada Revenue Agency)  to Customs and Border Control (Canada Border Services Agency).

“Canada has a very similar regulatory framework as the U.S. so everything that a U.S. company would expect in terms of legal issues in the U.S.,” says Kreklewetz, “will be the same legal issues in Canada. It’s a very similar governmental authority with a different name.”

Preparing for Expansion

Kreklewetz recommends companies consider three major areas when exploring international expansion, particularly in Canada. He advises clients to group their business aspects into categories or “buckets” so as not to be too overwhelmed or lose sight of what’s most important.

Products

What is a company trying to sell? How do we get it into the new country, and what are the logistics of importation? If it’s a consumable, are there things in the product that may or may not be compliant in accordance with a new country’s health and safety guidelines? Is the packaging and labeling compliant?

“All of these things need to be considered before even starting the process,” adds Kreklewetz.  “There’s no point in having the conversation about expansion if they are going to be prohibited from actually selling their products in Canada.”

Structure and Taxation

How are you going to operate, and how will you structure the business? Will you set up an entity in the new country or maintain a U.S. holding company? What will you do to minimize taxes and can you be profitable?

“Direct selling companies, as altruistic as many of them are, are fundamentally interested in earning a profit,” says Kreklewetz. “The last thing they’d want is to enter the Canadian market only to find out that the way they’ve done it has primed them for double taxation in Canada.”

Federal Compliance

The Canadian competition act is similar to the FTC regulatory framework in the United States and, according to Kecklewetz, is very concerned with pyramid selling schemes. Canada has the competition bureau to police pyramid selling, he adds.

“We advise a review of the U.S. compensation plan and 99% of the time, it will require Canadian-izing those documents to make sure that they meet Canadian federal provincial regulatory requirements from the direct selling perspective,” says Keckewetz.

Payments and Commissions

Another area that is often undervalued by company leaders when expanding internationally is payments and commissions, according to attorney-turned-technologist Wendy Yurgo, president and CEO of Metrics Global, a global payment solutions provider.

She says that discussing payment strategies today is no longer a conversation about money but purely a conversion about technology.

“Finance no longer drives payments—IT drives payments,” adds Yurgo. “Finance used to drive payments, and it was all about a better rate, but now when we sit down with a client there are 15 people from IT and one person from finance. It’s no longer about the cost, although that’s a factor; it’s about the technology.”

According to a Forrester Research paper where 398 companies were surveyed, 63 percent of the respondents name payments as a hindrance to expanding into new geographic markets.

Yurgo says larger companies that have already expanded internationally many times are very fragmented and have multiple payment gateways and payment providers (In some cases she has seen as many as 22 gateways). To Yurgo’s point, the Forrester Research paper also showed 82 percent of companies doing business outside the U.S. said they had six or more payment providers.

“The pain points these companies are dealing with are innumerable and expensive,” Yurgo adds. “There is newer technology that allows companies to conduct business in multiple countries through a single payment gateway.”

Take Your Time

Yurgo’s advice to companies looking to expand internationally also is to take baby steps. First,  explore the economic and political environment of a country before considering expanding there. Understand what is driving the expansion—a pragmatic business decision or a passionate distributor. One first step, although not ideal with the locals, may be to sell products in U.S. currency and figure out the logistical kinks, says Yurgo. Even better is to use a U.S.-based multi-currency platform where you sell in local currency and settle back in U.S. dollars, she adds.

Yurgo alludes that there are many countries where fraud is rampant, so working with a company that has expertise in your chosen markets as well as the fraud tools and monitoring systems will help companies transact business safely.

“The payment processing aspect of international expansion needs to be a major factor in consideration of where you’re expanding,” Yurgo adds, emphatically. “Take baby steps moving into an international market. Less investment. Less risk. Test the market first, and then take the bigger step of moving deeper into a market.”

Optimizing Distributor Perception & Customer Service

Jeff Mack, a former international expansion consultant for Asian markets—specifically Japan—now president of Velovita, a new direct selling startup, says where companies tend to make the most mistakes when expanding internationally is in customer service.

“Companies need to provide at least a modicum of customer service as early as makes financial sense,” Mack says. “There at least needs to be a bilingual person on the ground or in their home office call center to handle these issues. They don’t want their leaders doing customer service.”

Another area that companies need to research prior to jumping in is who they will use for commission payments, he says.

“Invariably, U.S. companies, when expanding to international markets, use commission payment solutions that are common to the U.S., but they just don’t work really well abroad,” says Mack. “Distributors are only going to be frustrated for so long, not being able to get their commissions, in a timely manner before they quit.”

Mack concludes that the pandemic may actually prove positive for anyone expanding into Japan right now. That’s because, culturally, the Japanese prefer face-to-face business transactions, and COVID-19 has forced them to do business virtually.

As the world becomes more connected, there are more opportunities for companies in any corner of the world to discover new markets where they can expand both their reach and their profit margins. However, it should not be considered an afterthought, according to these experts. 

There are critical elements to be considered before diving in, but it is well worth it.

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Agency maintains its hard-line stance on coronavirus-related claims

By:  David Rauf

“It almost seems like what the FTC is saying is you can’t represent that you have a business opportunity.”

—Michael Collins, President and CEO, M&L Collins Group

“The FTC is going to be very diligent. We’re not going to tolerate these claims.”

—Lois Greisman, Assoc. Director of Marketing Practices, Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued warning letters to six more direct selling companies over alleged misleading product and earnings claims related to the coronavirus. This represents the latest escalation between regulators and the direct selling channel over how to market products and business opportunities during the ongoing pandemic.

A total of 16 direct sellers have now received letters from the FTC demanding they curb distributors making health and income claims that specifically mention COVID-19 or any aspect of the current economic fallout caused by the coronavirus. Direct sellers are not the only ones receiving letters, however. According to the FTC’s website, the agency has sent a total of over 120 letters to companies and individuals warning them against using language “preventing or treating” COVID-19.

In April, the FTC sent letters to 10 direct sellers with a clear message to keep language related to the virus out of sales and recruiting materials. The move served as a shot across the bow for the channel and one that regulators later called the quickest and most effective way to compel companies to address misleading claims during a global public health crisis.

The FTC announced its second wave of warning letters in early June for the following companies: Isagenix International, The Juice Plus+ Company, Melaleuca, Youngevity International, Vivri USA and Plexus Worldwide.

“The letters tell them to immediately stop their distributors from telling people their products can treat or prevent COVID-19, that they’re likely to make significant money if they join the MLM, or both,” Seena Gressin, an attorney in the FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education, wrote in a blog post. “The FTC says these claims violate truth-in-advertising laws.”

For the most part, the direct selling channel has received the FTC’s warning letter approach with open arms. The regulator usually pursues companies through civil investigative demands, or by shutting them down and hauling them to court.

John Sanders, a partner at Winston & Strawn who specializes in direct selling litigation, represents several direct sellers that received FTC letters in April.

He says the dialogue afforded by the process benefits both sides and allows direct sellers the chance to “show how seriously we take the issue.” So far, he says, “the response from some companies has been to terminate the distributors making these claims.”

“I hope the FTC has taken notice that it’s a showing from the industry and the players in the industry that we don’t want these claims out there either,” Sanders says.

He adds: “The bottom line is the FTC wields a great deal of power. What they’re doing must be viewed in terms of what the other possibilities they could be pursuing are. Given all the tools at their disposal power, from a CID all the way through seizure and shutdown and injunctive relief, this is a very even-handed way of handling the situation.”

Now, Sanders says, the direct selling channel is watching to see if the FTC makes the letter approach part of its standard for dealing with direct sellers. “The FTC was able to accomplish something demonstrable and efficient,” he says. “It’s a tool that should be employed in the future.”

The FTC has made clear that it plans to continue monitoring direct selling companies for COVID-19-related claims throughout the course of the pandemic. During a recent webinar hosted by Direct Selling Association President Joe Mariano, Lois Greisman, the associate director of marketing practices and one of the FTC’s top officials overseeing enforcement of the direct selling channel, said monitoring would be in the “short-, medium- and, perhaps, even long-term.”

“The FTC is going to be very diligent,” Greisman said. “We’re not going to tolerate these claims.”

Compliance Departments   Scrambling

The letters and subsequent comments from Greisman’s office have caused a stir in direct selling legal and compliance circles, with many companies rushing to implement best practices and technologies to assist their efforts to root out claims.

Jonathan Gilliam, CEO at compliance technology firm Momentum Factor, says his clients are pushing hard to identify and act quickly on COVID-19-related claims. “Compliance teams and their lawyers are scrambling,” he says. “Naturally everyone in the channel is worried, whether they received a letter or not.”

He adds that while it’s impossible to find everything online that could be risky to a brand, companies “should be doing their darndest to get to 100 percent and demonstrate they are doing everything they can to address any and all claims related to the crisis.”

Future FTC Actions Are              Uncertain

So far, the FTC has not said if it will use warning letters as its go-to approach for addressing claims beyond those related to the coronavirus. During the DSA webinar’s question-and-answer segment, Gresiman was asked if the agency would continue this approach. Her response was non committal: “I don’t know the answer to that,” Greisman said, noting that she’d have to talk with FTC staff to see if “this is the right tool.”

According to the FTC, the distributors for the six direct selling firms that received letters in June posted unsupported health and earnings claims on social media sites, with two of the companies posting their ads in Spanish. The FTC says at least one company posted unsupported claims on its own website.

According to the FTC, the distributors for the six MLMs that received letters in June posted unsupported health and earnings claims on social media sites, with two of the companies posting their ads in Spanish. And, the FTC says, at least one company posted unsupported claims on its own website.

Some of the the questionable claims from the direct sellers include:

A Spanish-language social media post promoting Vivri USA that said, “Take care of your health, your body, avoid many diseases many viruses, since this virus and many others are here to stay, coronavirus, influenza, flu, we should nourish our cells, our immune systems, reinforce it with the best nutrition system in the world ”

A social media post that said, “#VIRUS_CORONA Worried? I’ve been boosting my immune system for several years with high-quality Plexus supplements. You can too! #Plexus provides excellent all-natural supplements that truly work. Be sensible –not fearful. Scientifically formulated & doctor-approved! Ask me!”

A video promoting The Juice Plus Company that said, “There are a lot of people out there who have lost income. You may want to build a side income, you know, make $500 a month, $1,000 a month or more. There’s no ceiling on this. It’s whatever you want it to be. What would you like this to do for you? Maybe it could cover one of your bills, like a car payment. Or enjoy more time and financial freedom. I can tell you those are both possible at the same time because I’ve been living that for the past eight years, and it’s wonderful to be able to offer that to other people.”

In response to the second wave of warning letters, the DSA says it has asked direct sellers, including non-association members, to recommit to following the association’s code of ethics and to quickly correct misleading claims. Companies that do not make the commitment “will not be allowed to become members or remain in the Association,” the DSA says in a statement.

“We urge all companies to follow the requirements of the law and go above and beyond those requirements to ensure that customers and prospective salespeople have and share the most accurate information possible. This is more important than ever in the midst of the health and economic challenges we face.”

During her Q&A with the DSA, Greisman also made clear that the FTC expects direct sellers to monitor all communications made by distributors, and  “take action, swift action, before we do.”

“There’s no principle that says you must monitor X number of distributors every day. There’s no guidepost like that,” she told the DSA’s Mariano. “So how much you want to put in it now and how tight you want to make the screws, that’s up to each company. But I would not hesitate to make it a priority today, especially.”

Michael Collins, a  former president of LifeWave Inc. who now consults for direct selling companies, says it’s not realistic to expect a company to be able to police every piece of communication made by a distributor.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect world,” he says, noting that the warning letter approach is highly preferred but even then the FTC can still “overreach.”

Collins, also a former DSA board member, says one example is the FTC restricting distributors from even broadly mentioning anything related to economic hardships brought on by the pandemic when making income claims to recruits.

“I don’t see anything wrong with acknowledging that because of the pandemic we’ve got all these millions of people out of work. It’s a fact. Everybody knows it,” he says. “In this industry, we all have products or services. The other category is the opportunity. It almost seems like what the FTC is saying is you can’t represent that you have a business opportunity.”

He adds: “The FTC is really digging to make those relatively innocuous statements appear to be in violation of the spirit of the FTC’s rules.”

Overall, Collins says, direct sellers are responsible for making sincere efforts to police claims made by their distributors and to act immediately. That even includes firing distributors responsible for bringing in big money.

“You have to make it part of the culture of your company so everybody knows it can happen to them if it can happen to that guy,” he says.

Winston & Strawn’s Sanders says he thinks the issue of whether or not direct sellers are responsible for every claim made by distributors online and elsewhere could be litigated in the future. 

“The companies that I interact with, they want their distributors to do the right thing,” he says. “That’s why they are educating them, that’s why they have policies in place. But despite all that, you can still have someone in the field go rogue and make a claim, and you’re still held accountable for the actions of that lone individual.”

Sanders adds, “It’s not a fair burden.”

Still, Momentum Factor’s Gilliam suggests that, at the moment, fairness isn’t up for debate. “The FTC is clearly taking a zero-tolerance policy on anything related to the virus or the economic crisis. We’re no longer in a ‘normal’ compliance environment, so what companies do now really matters.”

“The days of waiting for things to get better on their own, or for regulators to move on to other industries, are over,” says Gilliam. “It’s a whole new world.”

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June 22 decision in Liu v. SEC allows agency to seek monetary relief; major setback to limiting FTC’s authority

By:  John Villafranco

John Villafranco, partner with Kelley Drye LLP

The Supreme Court issued an 8-to-1 decision on June 22 in the highly anticipated case of Liu v. SEC. The opinion, authored by Justice Sotomayor (with Justice Thomas dissenting), holds that a “ disgorgement award that does not exceed a wrongdoer’s net profits and is awarded for victims is equitable relief,” and allows the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to seek such relief under the Securities Act. 

Usually quiet on social issues, major companies issue bold statements

By:  David Rauf

“The fact that leadership in companies has taken this stand is a very distinct change in culture.”

—Connie Tang, former CEO, Princess House

“This is a human issue, social issue and a justice issue.”

—Ryan Napierski, President, Nu Skin

Several major direct selling companies are joining a growing chorus of corporations issuing public statements in support of racial equality after protestors poured into the streets across the country following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody on Memorial Day.

Historically reserved when it comes to speaking out publicly on social issues, the statements mark a rare move for direct sellers by wading into the area of advocacy on a high-profile topic laden with political context.

Executives say they have already received pushback and criticism for speaking out—in certain cases for not taking a strong enough position. Meanwhile, some direct sellers are now even pledging to adjust fundamentals of their business—including advertising and marketing, hiring practices, and product lines—to be more racially inclusive as a result of recent events.

Floyd’s May 25 death occurred after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer in Minneapolis, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes as other officers watched and ignored Floyd’s cries of “I can’t breathe.” Chauvin has since been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, while three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. 

The incident has sparked introspection and calls to fight racism by some of the most influential corporate giants in the country. 

Companies Support Racial Justice

Leaders of some of the largest financial institutions—from JPMorgan Chase to Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs—have expressed disgust with the events and called for a renewed fight against racism. Mary T. Barra, CEO of General Motors, says she was “impatient and disgusted.” And the iconic ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s says it’s time to “dismantle white supremacy in all its forms.”

Some of the brand names are no strangers to speaking out against racial inequality. Nike, for example, has been front and center on the issue for years by supporting former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was essentially blacklisted from the league for kneeling during the national anthem at games in protest against police brutality.

But for direct selling companies, just making a statement of any sort is a big leap forward.

Generally averse to controversy, executives at Amway, Nu Skin, Shaklee and USANA have all made public statements since Floyd’s death as protests gave way to riots and weeks of civil unrest. Floyd’s death followed the recent deaths of other black citizens that has sparked outrage, including Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

Arguably, the boldest statement came from Amway CEO Milind Pant, the first non-white chief executive of the largest direct selling brand on the globe. In a letter to Amway employees and distributors, Pant says “we are taking action” by donating to two organizations—the NAACP and the National Urban League—focused on fighting for social equality and “correcting a long history of injustice.”

Pant pledges to listen “intently to our colleagues and business owners who need us to take a stand” because “we are learning what we can do and how to be better.”

“There is great power in all of us working together to end racism. We vow to be part of the solution. We will hold ourselves accountable to these words,” Pant writes before ending the letter with a full embrace for the Black Lives Matter movement: “We are clear on where Amway stands. Black Lives Matter.”

Meanwhile, Shaklee CEO Roger Barnett says it’s not a matter of debate that systemic inequality exists. And that’s the reason why people were protesting in the streets, he says. In the past, the channel has generally decided not to “get engaged in issues of politics, but at the end of the day you have to do what’s right.”

“We have an opportunity in our channel to educate people,” Barnett says, “to have a conversation and to also lead.”

As part of Nu Skin’s response to Floyd’s death, the company and its nonprofit foundation are donating money to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Black Child Development Institute. CEO Ritch Wood says in a statement that he “felt sadness, fear and anger as I watched a video of a dying George Floyd calling out for help.” 

Stand by Your Words

Connie Tang, a Chinese-born direct selling veteran who rose through the ranks of direct selling companies, most recently serving as president and CEO of Princess House, and who has endured racism as a minority in the channel, says the public statements are a good first step. They are better than saying nothing, but she says they can’t be a “one-time message.”

“The conversation from leadership should continue,” says Tang. “It’s patronizing if you make one statement and then we don’t hear from leadership again.”

Tang also noted how unusual it is for direct selling companies to get involved in a high-profile social issue. “In the past, we tended to be much more conservative. The fact that leadership in companies has taken this stand is a very distinct change in culture,” she says. “It means companies are now willing to take a stand even if it means they might disenfranchise some of their stakeholders.”

Path to Understanding

In some cases, the decisions to issue public statements came with plenty of trepidation. That was highlighted during a recent online event hosted by the Direct Selling Association (DSA) in which several executives talked about their hesitation to speak up on the topic and the criticism that has followed. Some also admitted that as white men who live in a bubble and have never experienced racism, they simply couldn’t relate to the conversation.

Kevin Guest, CEO and chairman of USANA, says in his company’s initial statement that in the “wake of the horrific and senseless killing of George Floyd and the subsequent demonstrations and conversations held across the world,” it is no longer feasible to ignore a “systemic problem in our society, and we all have a responsibility to do our part to end injustice and intolerance.”

Guest then told his fellow executives during the DSA online panel that he was “very reluctant” at first to make a statement because “I don’t have the same experience others may have with racism.” But he says he was pressured by distributors and activist shareholders to “put a stake in the ground.”

“I was receiving messages like ‘being silent, you’re being complicit,’ ” he says. “And that silence is not acceptable in today’s marketplace.”

Ultimately, Guest says the issue has hit close to home. His son is married to a minority partner, and the couple is in the process of adopting a black child. And, Guest says, his children also took part in protests following Floyd’s death. “For me, it’s become a very real thing at a different level,” he says.

Likewise, Nu Skin President Ryan Napierski told the panel during the DSA online event he had similar uncertainty about making a public statement. In an interview with Social Selling News, Napierski says his initial reaction as a “white male of privilege” was to “just stay out of the conversation because we don’t want to get political and we’ve always avoided these issues.”

But before a Nu Skin management team made a final decision, Napierski says he asked a focus group of millennials within the company to weigh in. That group debated the issue for hours and convinced the company’s executives to get involved. 

“Everyone is trying to figure out how to lean into this the right way,” Napierski says in a phone interview. “I really believe at some point we all have to be very sincere in saying what’s right is right.”

Prepare for Scrutiny

So far, Napierski says Nu Skin has had some customers push back against the company’s statements and ask why it’s getting involved in politics. 

But he says that Nu Skin doesn’t view this as a political issue, and he’s had to remind them that the company’s position on racial equality doesn’t translate into support for riots, social unrest and defunding the police. “This is a human issue, social issue and a justice issue,” he says.

At Amway, the only company to mention Black Lives Matter in its public statements, there has also been some criticism leveled its way. But Angel Duff, director and managing counsel—Legal HR & Diversity & Inclusion, says that was expected and hasn’t fazed the company.

It was more important, she says, to make sure employees and distributors know that the company is standing up for them and is dedicated to creating a workplace built on inclusion. “It’s not political,” says Duff, noting the company felt a duty to make its public messaging bold and direct. “It’s an issue of humanity.”

Guest says after making the statement, “sure enough, scrutiny has come our way.” After the company released its statement, it was quickly forced to deal with another issue. “The question became, ‘What are you going to do now?’ When you say something and make a stand, that’s not enough right now,” he says. “Be prepared to take action.”

Next Steps

On that note, Guest says the company chose to “double down” on efforts through its foundation to help feed poor children and has formed an internal task force to keep dialogue on the issue of racial justice going. But USANA is not giving money or support to “outside groups,” even though he says activists have reached out to him.  

Guest adds, “We just couldn’t be quiet. We had to be a voice.But we’ve stayed within the message and within the vision and direction of the company.”

At Amway, leadership is also facilitating internal dialogue to help the healing process through so-called “unity circles,” where anywhere from 30 to 50 employees at a time discuss for hours the personal impact of current events and Floyd’s death. 

The conversations are emotionally charged: “We haven’t had a session where there weren’t tears,” says Duff.

And at Nu Skin, Napierski says the company is now looking at how it markets products to “create an opportunity that is truly appealing for everyone.” 

Also being examined is how the company crafts its job descriptions, along with trying to create new remote-work opportunities to enable recruitment of a more diverse field of candidates, reaching  outside of Utah. 

There could also be some changes to Nu Skin cosmetics products, in particular, to make sure its foundation offerings “translate across different skin tones.”

“We want to be an empowerment company to all ethnicities, races and genders,” Napierski says.

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