Fredrik Lundqvist, VorwerkVorwerk LLC has appointed Fredrik Lundqvist as CEO. Lundqvist will lead the company’s presence and growth of the Thermomix brand in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, Lundqvist was country manager for Vorwerk International in China. He has nearly 20 years’ experience with Vorwerk, working in Switzerland and Singapore, among others.
Nature’s Sunshine has promoted Vallen Blackburn to vice president and general manager of Latin America. Blackburn joined Nature’s Sunshine in 2016 to help build its business and intelligence strategies, using his prior financial knowledge. He will now leverage that experience in Latin America.
Marc Rey, BeautycounterBeautycounter has appointed Marc Rey as CEO. Beautycounter Founder Gregg Renfrew will transition to executive chair and chief brand officer. Rey is a former Coty and L’Oréal executive who most recently served as CEO and global chief growth officer for Shiseido Americas. He will now guide Beautycounter as it continues its omnichannel strategy.
Corey Lindley, dōTERRA dōTERRA has promoted Corey Lindley to CEO. David Stirling, a founding executive and current CEO, is stepping down to serve The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lindley has spent over 30 years in direct selling, including 17 years at Nu Skin. As CEO, he will lead doTERRA’s operations and implement its vision, mission, and strategic direction.
Maribeth Dodd, It Works!It Works! has promoted Maribeth Dodd to vice president, U.S. sales and field development. Dodd has developed people and sales strategies for the past decade with It Works!. She will now oversee a group of regional sales managers. Dodd is also a freelance speaker and worship leader as well as co-founder of Brave Worship.
Nichole Williamson, It Works! Nichole Williamson has rejoined It Works! in the newly created role of vice president, customer experience. Williamson most recently served as head of audience strategy at Amazon. Before that she was with It Works! for four years culminating with serving as senior director, digital CX, lifecycle and loyalty.
January Headlines
FTC Launches ‘Operation Income Illusion’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with 19 federal, state, and local law enforcement partners announced a nationwide crackdown on consumer scams promising income and financial independence. Although no direct selling companies were targeted by this operation, it marked a beginning to the COVID-19-era scrutiny of work-from-home-scams, pyramid schemes and coaching courses, among other businesses.
DSA Rolls Out New Compliance Certification Program
The Direct Selling Association (DSA) began a comprehensive compliance program to be made available to member and non-member companies. The Direct Selling Compliance Professional Certification Program (DSCP-CP) was created for individuals and does not certify an entire company. The program includes four three-hour online sessions for a total of 12 hours and is designed to be taken over several days. Modules include topics such as “Claims Substantiation and Disclosures”; “Product Claims”; “Monitoring and Removal of Claims from Social Media Platforms”; “The Role of Compliance in Your Organization”; and “Conveying the Right Marketing Message.”
Asha Gupta, AmwayAmway has hired Asha Gupta as its new chief strategy and corporate development officer. Gupta will lead the development of its long-term global business strategy and evaluate opportunities for distributors. She joins Amway after 23 years at Tupperware where she served as executive vice president and chief strategy and marketing officer.
Xia Ding, USANAUSANA Health Sciences Inc. has named Xia Ding to its board of directors. Ding currently serves as vice president of e-commerce Asia Pacific and Latin America for Nike. She has shown leadership in the e-commerce and digital business sector and has served in management roles at a number of global online and omnichannel retailers, including JD.com and Hanesbrands.
By: David Bland
Dallin Larsen, a former Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year and Utah CEO of the Year, founded Vasayo in 2016. Prior to Vasayo, Larsen founded MonaVie in 2005 and grew that company from zero to nearly a billion dollars in annual sales in less than five years. Under Larsen’s direction, Vasayo’s philanthropic partnership with Hearts & Hands for Humanity has generated enough contributions to build more than 130 wells in Tanzania, Africa, delivering clean water to hundreds of thousands of people.
Founded: 2016
Location: Pleasant Grove, Utah
Website: vasayo.com
SSN: Tell us about your history in direct selling.
My first experience with network marketing was with Nu Skin in 1988. I was in my late 20s and living in San Diego, California. I fell in love with the industry and what it could do for me and my family as well as others. About a year later, a gentleman called to tell me about a new company and asked that I meet with the founder. So, I interviewed with Myron Wentz, the founder of USANA. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was heading up sales for that company. We launched USANA in 1991, and I was with them for roughly 10 years. That’s where I cut my teeth and gained a lot of valuable experience.
As the third quarter of 2021 drew to a close, several public direct selling companies made announcements to their shareholders. Both Herbalife and USANA disclosed downward revisions to their 2021 outlooks, while Medifast, Mannatech and Nu Skin announced dividends.
Herbalife Lowers Expectations in Advance of Investor Day
In advance of its 2021 virtual investor day presentation, Herbalife announced on Sept. 13 that it is revising its third-quarter and full-year 2021 projections. The global nutrition company detailed lower than expected sales growth from its distributors despite the number of actively selling independent distributors increasing by 10 percent for the months of July and August compared to 2020.
By: Dave Rauf
Tupperware’s turnaround story continues to evolve.
The maker of food storage containers, kitchen goods and beauty products reported its second consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to recently released earnings.
Fourth-quarter revenue and profit were both up in the three-month reporting period. And company executives say they’re more confident that improving financials are a sign the direct selling giant is on the path to recovery after years of revenue declines and falling stock prices.