As we near the beginning of a new year, I, for one, believe that the optimism we create is going to become the future we live in. In a world too often dominated by headlines of challenge and disruption, optimism — and a positive mental attitude — has the potential to transform us, and surprisingly enough even help increase our healthspan.
A Foundation of Personal Wellbeing
Have you ever thought about where wellbeing really comes from? Why we might be motivated to stay healthy? We can probably list many reasons. And some of those reasons might really impact us!
But here’s something important I’ve come to understand: Personal wellbeing isn’t just about you (or me). It’s about the people around us, our family, friends and the greater community.
It’s always wonderful to be with family during the holidays.
Once you realize that you can best help others when you are healthy and by being your best self, you see how interconnected we are and how your own health contributes to everyone and everything around you. That is the biggest motivator!
So, think of it this way, before we can nourish others, we must first nourish ourselves. This isn’t selfish—it’s essential.
Our physical well-being forms a foundation from which our mental optimism is built. Not only do our actions increase the quality of our lives and our own healthspans, but they can also contribute to increasing the quality of life for those around us.
Finding Sanctuary in Nature
I often talk about the walks I like to take, and the simple way each step can connect us to our purpose. And there’s also profound wisdom in simply staying connected to the earth – not only with both feet, but also with our intentions. Stepping away from technology and the constant interruptions it creates in our lives has never been as important and beneficial to our wellbeing.
Whether you have a small garden on your balcony or you are just walking through a field, nature offers us a break from the chaos of the modern world. It’s another reason why Amway is so interested in organic and regenerative farming; because in providing the plants used to make botanical ingredients for Nutrilite products, they’re also staying connected to the earth and cultivating it in such a way that the soil remains fertile and ready for future generations to benefit from.
Surveying the vineyards on the family farm in Oregon.
Not to mention that finding sanctuary in nature allows us to reconnect with something much larger than ourselves—the cycle of life, seasonal renewal, and the natural abundance that has sustained us for generations.
The Ripple Effect of Kindness
True optimism manifests in us in how we might respond to our own struggles. In a world where negativity prevails, suffering can lead to bitterness and a mistaken desire for others to share in our pain. Optimism offers a different path. It can transform our challenges into opportunities for positive change.
Look at it this way. When we face difficulties, we can use the wisdom and empathy we gain from the experience to help others navigate similar struggles. This is authentic kindness in action—it’s not superficial. It can lead to a deeper commitment that sees others positively and finds ways to help them avoid the challenges you went through.
The ripple effect it creates leads to stronger social connections that lift everyone and makes the world a better place.
Looking Forward with Optimism
So, as we move into the future, we get to choose how we show up in the lives of other people. By choosing optimism, we end up creating a better world in every moment for the people we interact with.
Taking care of yourself, nurturing your connection with nature, and all the effort you make to transform personal challenges into opportunities to help others, leads to a future where we can happily coexist.
Optimism isn’t just about hoping for a better future—it’s about actively creating it, starting with us and rippling outward to others.
I was interviewed recently in acknowledgement of the Nutrilite™ brand’s 90th anniversary today. It’s a lifelong legacy for me, and I’m excited to share the resulting story with you!
For Dr. Sam Rehnborg, Nutrilite is more than a supplement brand – it’s his lifelong passion. As the son of Nutrilite founder Carl F. Rehnborg, Dr. Sam was quite literally born into the business. From his earliest memories, he was immersed in his father’s work developing nutritional supplements.
To help celebrate the Nutrilite brand’s 90th Anniversary, and to accompany the release of The Nutrilite Story Third Edition, we sat down with him to discuss his legacy and continual growth with Nutrilite and Amway.
Can you tell us about your earliest memories with Nutrilite?
Dr. Sam as a toddler on Balboa Island.
I was in Nutrilite before I was born, really. My earliest memories go back to when it was just my dad, my mom, and me. We lived on Balboa Island in a small one room apartment.
We’d visit my father in his small laboratory down the street where he worked on his products.
He loved to swim, and I’ll always remember how he would swim across the bay with me on his stomach.
I was his first test subject, in a way. It was a wonderful time in our lives.
Can you share more about what your father was doing to launch his business early on?
My parents separated when I was 3 or 4 years old. It was hard on my mom at the time because of how busy my dad was. She took me back east to Connecticut with her and tried to get things going in her life. My dad visited and brought me back to California after a while.
We moved to Los Angeles and lived in a small apartment where he could continue working on his products. The business started to grow during that period, and he found a 3-acre farm in the San Fernando Valley where he could harvest alfalfa to use in the products.
He would process the alfalfa in a small factory in Los Angeles. He rented another place nearby where he could package the product. This is where distributors would come to pick up their product supply. The business kept growing, so he found a 10-acre farm near Buena Park to continue supplying ingredients for his products.
Who were some of the people helping your father market the product during that time?
Nutrilite founder, Carl Rehnborg.
He found that the best way to sell Nutrilite was through women who were using the product themselves.
It really came down to a woman named Alma Stewart who was one of his first customers. She kept asking to sell the product, but he didn’t think she would be able to sell it. But she was persistent, and after another sales setback he decided to give her a try.
He gave her a 25 percent discount on the product and told her she could mark it up from there. She was immediately successful. And she became one of his first salespeople selling the product because she believed in it and lived it, because it changed her life. People were intrigued with my dad, but they could see themselves in Alma when she was talking about Nutrilite and being a product of the product.
At the same time, he needed to be closer to the farm, so soon after we moved to Buena Park where we lived and worked. That’s where everything really got started. The business took off.
What were some of your first jobs with Nutrilite?
Dr. Sam as a young boy in Southern California.
Early on, I would work in my father’s laboratory sweeping the floor. Also, when I was about five or six, we’d go to the farm in the San Fernando Valley where my father harvested alfalfa.
My job was to pick walnuts and strawberries and sell them to people who came by. It was a great adventure for the family, especially during the war when gasoline was scarce and when we needed the extra money to make ends meet.
As the business started to grow, I would often go with my dad to make presentations about his products to potential customers.
During this time, he became known as the Vita-man and as his test subject, people would ask me questions and I would include in my answers that I ate my Nutrilite.
“Does your son use the products,” they would ask? He would say sure, and he would call me over to interact with me.
That would usually clinch the deal!
What were your early teenage years like?
The business started to grow when I was at that age, and as my father got more successful, and even before my teenage years, he sent me off to a military prep school to get a better education. As I grew up, I went to many different schools into my teenage years.
Going to so many different schools helped me learn how to take care of myself and connect with people. After I finished high school in Newport Beach, I went to Stanford for six years and then five years at UC Berkley for my Ph.D. I was always interested in the sciences. I studied chemistry, biochemistry and physical science, and then biophysics at Berkeley for my Ph.D.
How did your involvement with the company evolve as you got older?
In summers during school, I’d work on the farms or in the laboratories in a variety of different locations doing different jobs.
When I went off to college, I’d come back during holidays and work at the plant for about three months. I’d earn money to take back to school with me.
While I was at school, my dad would call me at least once a week to tell me what he was doing and to find out what I was doing. He was always really interested in my studies, especially when I got to graduate school.
What was it like when you officially joined the company after you received your Ph.D.?
Dr. Sam as a graduate student.
After I graduated, the business was at a crossroads. It was a tough time, and my dad was getting up there in years.
He said, “We need you back here at the company.”
So after a trip around the world visiting 40 different countries, I came back and started as Assistant to the President.
I jumped right into the thick of things and brought a lot of young people into the business to help me with the marketing, guys like Danny Rogers and John Brockman. At that time, Barney Bailey was incredibly helpful also.
What were some of the key challenges you faced early on?
Nutrilite had reached $50 million in sales but eventually dropped to $10 million because of the regulatory scrutiny we faced. The government temporarily shut us down, but we fought it in court and won. Then the government established regulations that ultimately worked in our favor because we finally knew what was permissible.
At the time, Dr. Stephen Tinkoff was running the company, he was a good leader, but his strength was not in sales and marketing. So, my responsibility was to help get us back to basics. We had to figure out how to sell the product effectively. We started by going door-to-door, but quickly realized that wasn’t the best approach.
We started traveling around the country, putting on meetings, and gradually built up our distributor groups. That was really the beginning of our success during that period.
What stands out for you about working with Nutrilite employees?
From the beginning my dad was always telling me that the most important asset you have are the people that are going to help you make and sell these products. He loved talking to employees and helping them understand why he was making these products, and why they ought to use them.
That’s why we always provided supplements for the employees to use, that’s always been part of it. It had to do with how the product was sold, the biggest thing was to have people use the product to be able to sell it – that meant the employees, too.
He also instituted profit sharing, which he believed to be tremendously important. We were one of the first companies to do so. He believed that for a business to be great, people had to be a part of it.
What does the Nutrilite and Amway family mean to you?
I feel like even though we all come from different backgrounds we are all the same in many ways and we all have the same potential. It isn’t about one single individual who has all the answers, everybody’s got to be a part of it. Everyone in this family is in it together. It’s about the camaraderie and respect for each other.
ABOs all over the world should feel the same way.
Can you tell us about the first time you met Jay and Rich?
Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos.
I was at a leadership meeting in Los Angeles with my father and he was most interested in having me meet Jay and Rich. He pointed them out to me and said they were really going to go places. He was excited because he knew they were the future of the business.
They wanted to know everything that I knew about Nutrilite. They both asked a lot of questions. Every time I ran into them after that, they wanted to talk to me to get my perspective on how Nutrilite was doing.
They had started their Ja-Ri business at that point, but they always maintained a line between Nutrilite distributors and Amway distributors before we merged. Joining with Amway was a big step and my trust in Jay and Rich helped make the process possible.
What do you consider to be the most rewarding aspect of your career?
The most rewarding aspect is really helping people understand what they are eating and why our products could be added to their diet to help them have better nutrition and a healthier life.
Can you tell us about the “product of the product” philosophy?
That came from my dad. He always said the best way to sell the product was to use the product.
It was about getting more people to embrace the product as part of their lifestyle, not just making a one-time sale.
Dr. Sam wearing his “I eat Nutrilite” pin.
How has Nutrilite evolved since your father’s time?
The big evolution was certainly expanding internationally. My father always wanted to get back to China and other parts of the world. That’s where I got involved too, figuring out how to start companies overseas. Joining with Amway allowed that global expansion to happen.
How have you achieved work life balance in your career?
I’ve always felt that work, love and play are all part of it. You’ve got to get them all in there, you don’t just focus on one or the other. It’s about finding something that you really love doing and getting after it. You want everybody to have the opportunity to have a full life, whatever role they’re playing. It’s especially true today. We need to keep connected.
Which Nutrilite product are you most proud of and why?
Obviously, it’s the Double X™ supplement. It’s Amway’s number one product and it’s the most complete product with all its components as close to nature as it can be while being effective. And it’s continually being improved. When my father came up with it, he was basically saying to people that embracing his products meant embracing a healthy lifestyle.
Looking to the future, what excites you about Amway and the Nutrilite™ brand’s potential?
I’m excited about what we can do at places like our farms to help people better understand this magnificent planet and the world we live in. How can we make it a better place, and what can we do to help people embrace that and understand it?
Dr. Sam on the Amway campus in 2023.
We can’t just wait for a problem to occur and then try to solve it. We need to plan and prevent problems from occurring in the first place. We’ve got to embrace this approach – our Health and Wellbeing – to protect our futures. We need to take care of everything – the people, the plants, the living creatures, the oceans, the land.
Last month, I was able to experience Amway’s commitment to health and wellbeing firsthand. I spent time in Zurich, Switzerland with Founders Council members, and I also visited Napa Valley in California and spoke to a group of Japanese ABOs about how our future is taking shape.
Amway Founders Council members in Zurich, Switzerland. Can you find Francesca and me? Photo Credit – Dusty Brown, 2024
The event in Zurich reflected the strong partnership between Amway and Founders Council Members who shared examples and best practices of how they are transforming and building their businesses differently with health and wellbeing as the focus.
At the event in Napa, I spoke with Amway Japan ABO leaders who were equally excited about the direction we are headed for future growth as a health and wellbeing company. While this path forward seems like a new approach, this has always been the foundation of what my father believed in many years ago.
Francesca and me relaxing in Napa Valley, California. Photo courtesy of Amway Japan, 2024.
I came away from my travels and interactions struck by the overwhelming acceptance of this path forward for our business. I spoke with many different people who were so impressed because they can easily see a tangible, positive impact from our renewed focus on health and wellbeing. Not only for themselves, but for all the people connected to their communities throughout the world.
It was very validating for me because it recognizes the fundamentals of a wonderful concept that took root so long ago about the best way to live a healthy life.
Seeing it for ourselves
It has been 90 years since Nutrilite was founded, but more than 100 years since my father, Carl Rehnborg, first went to China and observed that plant-based diets and regular physical activity made people healthier. It created a seed of an idea for him that led to the founding of Nutrilite in 1934.
I can see for myself that Amway understands that Nutrilite is so much more than a plant-based supplement brand – it is a way of life that has stood the test of time.
Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel traveled with Nutrilite distributors to Buena Park, California, to see Carl and Edith Rehnborg. Photograph circa 1950s.
Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel saw it for themselves when they worked as Nutrilite distributors in the 1950s before founding Amway. Years ago, distributors would travel with Rich and Jay by bus to California to see Carl Rehnborg and the Nutrilite farms firsthand because they knew that the farms, the soil, and the meticulous devotion to quality was the true foundation of their business, something you will see in this incredible film from 1954 – From the Ground Up.
Building a foundation
Today, those trips to the farm so many years ago – and the belief in a better way – have taken root. As a result, Amway’s foundational products work to help promote healthy nutrition and good daily habits. That’s where it starts.
And we need this more than ever now, because we are still faced with many challenges.
In the United States, where the standard American diet is the norm, people are consuming higher amounts of ultra processed foods and animal products. According to a recent Health Matters presentation from Stanford University, Americans continue to have wide nutritional gaps in their diets.
Considering how fast paced and distracting our lives have become, it’s not surprising these numbers remain so low for many of us.
A way forward
It’s why the work we are doing is so important. We are creating vibrant communities that have the potential to empower millions of people to improve their health span – or the number of years they are healthy, happy, and feeling their best.
Don’t forget that it takes a village to do this – going it alone is not sustainable. We rely on our friends, family and counterparts to keep us motivated on our journeys to optimal health.
Together, we can empower people to live better, healthier lives, helping them achieve their wellbeing goals.
I’m so excited to see what the future will bring!
[1] Lee SH, Moore LV, Park S, Harris DM, Blanck HM. Adults Meeting Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations — United States, 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:1–9. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7101a1.
I am all smiles as I hold this plaque given to me as a gift depicting a motto that is near and dear to my heart: Live, Laugh, Love. Newport Marina, 2015.
Throughout my life, I’ve met many successful people who are fueled by the power of friendship. One quality they share is an ability to take genuine interest in making space for the people they meet. When you interact with them, they make you magically feel like you’re the only person in the world, even if it’s only for a moment.
Friendship is deeply embedded in Amway’s approach to Health and Wellbeing; an approach which also recognizes core Nutrilite values that mean so much to me, like optimal health, community, and care for our planet.
A variety of categories comprise our Health and Wellbeing approach, including “community connection” and “personal growth” – two pillars that truly go together because we can’t go it alone in this world and expect to be successful for the long term.
That’s why I’ve been reflecting lately on how important healthy relationships – and friendship – have become when you are meeting people and making connections.
I’m sure you know people who seem to easily build incredible networks with numerous connections, which makes sense in a world dominated by social networks – and social media influence – where connections are like currency.
The more connections you have the more validated you might feel. But we should also ask ourselves whether these types of “connections” are supporting our individual wellbeing and making us feel happier.
The Fabric of Relationships
There’s nothing wrong with being well connected, but not if you’re unable to go deeper and turn a connection into a healthy relationship. That takes more effort and a willingness to see people more fully.
Think of a connection as a single thread, and a relationship as a woven fabric. A connection is a basic point of contact – you might share a common interest with someone or have a brief interaction. Whereas a relationship has more depth – and breadth – because you are sharing experiences and feelings. In a healthy relationship, there is mutual respect and a willingness to reciprocate because you support each other and better understand each other.
Starting from your Base Camp
Our partners and our families should be like a base camp for healthy relationships. How we connect with our loved ones is a blueprint for how we treat our friends and neighbors, and how we can turn our connections into healthy relationships when appropriate.
I care deeply about my family and circle of friends. They create joy for me and keep me motivated to live a long healthy life so I can get to know my grandchildren, and eventually my great grandchildren!
Getting ready to take a brisk walk with Francesca. Being outdoors surrounded by nature is one of our favorite ways to maintain a positive outlook.
A World of Social Media
Social media is here to stay, and the reality is that for many people in today’s world it has fundamentally altered how we interact with each other. Even though we are hyper-connected, studies have shown that depression and loneliness are on the rise in a world where face-to-face interaction is often interrupted by a smart phone.
In some ways we are multitasking our relationships. We’re often so focused on capturing our experiences that we forget to live in the wonderful moments that make up our lives. I believe it’s those moments that create momentum and make us who we are, which is why we might need to do better at focusing on what’s important to us.
A Final Word on Success
The most successful people are also the people who will turn out to be your best friend. They connect with others on an emotional level, and they easily turn connections into relationships. They’re the people who will make a difference in your life, and the ones you will want to be around no matter whether you are feeling happy or sad.
In the end, it’s exceedingly rare for anyone to achieve success without the help and support of others.
That’s why being successful and being a product of the product takes a rich community of friendship, laughter, and maybe most of all, healthy relationships that last for the long haul.
Last month I was in Michigan to attend an Amway Scientific Advisory Group meeting. I joined a robust conversation with cross-sections of Amway scientists, brand marketers and, most importantly, distinguished scientists from outside of our company who represent current thought leadership in nutrition research and discovery.
Their ideas and work help guide Amway as we continue transforming into a Health and Wellbeing company. Frankly, it’s rare that you have that much high-level scientific leadership expertise gathered in one space to present their findings.
It was a pleasure to be included.
Meet Scientific Advisory Group Member, Emily Ho, Ph.D.
Emily Ho, Ph.D., Director of the Linus Pauling Institute.
I was personally intrigued by her presentation at the meeting about micronutrients and optimal health, so I reached out to learn more about her research focus and daily work.
She has studied micronutrients in depth, with a deeper focus on zinc and sulforaphane, which is a plant compound found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale and cauliflower. She understands the importance of vitamins and minerals and the role they play helping us take a proactive approach to our health.
Everyone Deserves to be Healthy
I wanted to get Dr. Ho’s perspective on the topic of optimal health, which has long been an area of interest for the Nutrilite brand. I think it’s a misunderstood idea because people are often under the misperception that it’s something the average person struggles to achieve.
“Optimal health is not enhanced health, as we tend to mistakenly believe,” Dr. Ho explains, “It means being the best that you can be, for where you are in life.” It’s striving to live a high quality life both physically and mentally. Yes, you might consider it to be something you achieve, but instead, for her, it’s something you deserve.
That’s an important differentiation, and a new way to think about good health — everyone deserves to be healthy. But I’m certain we all could use a little help along the way.
An assortment of colorful fruits and vegetables formed into the shape of a heart.
As Dr. Ho knows, to get the health we deserve our bodily systems need to be working well, which is why good nutrition is so important. We also need the ability to make the right nutritional choices – which can be a daunting task.
The best way to get the micronutrients we need is from our food, but we need to know what to eat and how much. Because if we’re not eating enough whole foods and fruits and vegetables throughout the day, we’re going to have nutritional gaps in our diets.
And as Dr. Ho pointed out to me – and something we understand at Nutrilite – even the healthiest eaters can have shortfalls in the nutrients they need, even if they think they are eating well.
The Micronutrient Information Center
Ideally, our journey to the optimal health we deserve shouldn’t be complicated. But the reality is different.
It’s one of the key reasons why the Linus Pauling Institute created the Micronutrient Information Center, a website database that provides focused and searchable nutrition advice. It’s one of the most visited sites at Oregon State University with more than 1.5 million users from almost every country on the planet.[i]
The Linus Pauling Institute’s Micronutrient Information Center is a source for scientifically accurate information regarding the roles of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals (plant chemicals that may affect health), and other dietary factors.
As Dr. Ho points out, it’s challenging for the average person to weave through all the noise in nutrition recommendations. There are so many “health” voices competing for our attention that it only adds to the complexity that can come with understanding nutrition.
That said, you can control your nutrition choices, being able to do so makes a difference. The Micronutrient Information Center provides an evidenced based public resource that will help you find the right nutritional information for your needs.
Why is this important? It’s because our bodies are under constant attack. We not only have to deal with stresses from our environment and lifestyle, but also issues that can come from our genetics, our gut microbiome, and our age – just to name a few.
According to Dr. Ho, micronutrients help increase our ability to combat oxidative stress and other metabolic imperfections. Dr. Ho emphasizes, “But, if you are running low in one of these micronutrients, it’s not always obvious. You can run the risk of your bodily systems declining, long before a test can recognize it. This is particularly concerning as we get older because not only does our resilience to stress decrease, but our need for quality micronutrients increases.”
That’s why maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important. For me, exercising, eating well, getting enough rest, and having a community that supports my wellbeing has helped me increase my health span and allowed me to live a vigorous, meaningful life.
It’s a reminder that good health is something everyone deserves!
Cheers!
[i] Neither Amway or this article is endorsed by, directly affiliated with, maintained, authorized, or sponsored by the Linus Pauling Institute or Oregon State University.
Welcome to my blog on healthy living with the Nutrilite™ brand.
