Every year, DSEF counts on contributions from those in the direct selling community to fund its many programs that benefit consumers and DSA member companies. Those initiatives would not be possible without the leadership and involvement of those who volunteer their time and efforts.

DSEF annually honors those who go above and beyond the call of duty in helping the Foundation continue its mission by awarding the prestigious Circle of Honor Award, one of the highest individual recognitions in the direct selling industry.

The Circle of Honor Award was created in 1988 to recognize those who have made extraordinary contributions to the Foundation through their personal efforts, involvement and commitment to the mission and purpose of DSEF. Past winners include such direct selling giants as Mary Kay Ash, J. Stanley Frederick, Doris Christopher and Neil Offen.

This year, the DSEF Board of Directors’ Executive Committee selected two individuals who have continually made significant contributions to the Foundation: Sarah Baker Andrus and Jim Northrop.

“For over a decade both Sarah and Jim have been tireless volunteers, always among the first to offer their expertise, their experience and their wisdom despite the many demands of their own schedules,” says Charlie Orr, DSEF Executive Director.

Sarah Baker Andrus

Sarah Baker Andrus has assisted DSEF as a volunteer for more than a decade, serving on committees, chairing special projects, leading research efforts and speaking on behalf of the Foundation. She currently serves on the DSEF Board of Directors as Vice Chair, and is leading the effort to create the industry’s landmark Direct Selling Entrepreneur Program for community colleges.

“Sarah always serves with such professionalism, grace, energy and poise,” says Orr. “She is passionate about the industry. She is an advocate for what the direct selling business model can do to change lives, especially the lives of young people—the direct sellers of tomorrow.”

The Circle of Honor Award came as a complete surprise to her. “I was absolutely floored,” she says. “I was stunned and amazed, and so honored that it was presented by my friend John Fleming [Publisher of Direct Selling News]. To be in such great company as direct selling luminaries was really remarkable and just stunning to me.”

Baker Andrus says her association with DSEF has given her the chance to grow professionally and give back to an industry from which she has received so much. “In my work with CUTCO/Vector and DSEF, I have seen how sales experience can be transformative and can lead to both personal and professional growth. So I am really honored to serve DSEF in a way that can bring the direct sales opportunity to people who can benefit from it.”

Baker Andrus currently serves as Director of External Relations and Academic Programs at CUTCO/Vector Marketing, where she directs Vector Marketing’s public relations efforts for the field organization and oversees the company’s philanthropic relationships with academia. She also serves as a corporate spokesperson to the media. Previously she served as Vector’s Director of Campus Relations, where she broadened the company’s ability to strengthen campus connections and enhance its recruitment efforts.

“We are so proud of Sarah,” says Jim Stitt, President and CEO of CUTCO. “She is very committed to our business and she has demonstrated that passion in the work she has done with DSEF. She is very deserving of this most prestigious recognition.”

Jim Northrop

Jim Northrop, President and CEO of Winfield Consulting, also has a long list of DSEF contributions and accomplishments.

Northrop is Past Chair of the DSEF Academic Committee, has presented at DSEF’s Direct Selling Days on Campus and has worked with professors at DSEF seminars. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for both the Direct Selling Association and DSEF. Northrop will also serve on the DSEF Executive Committee for the 2012-2013 term.

“Jim’s active participation as a DSEF Board member, his engaging thought leadership with his colleagues and his personal financial contribution to support the Foundation’s initiatives represent a perfect model for all DSA executives to emulate,” says Tom Kelly, President and CEO of Silpada and outgoing DSEF Chair.

Northrop now leads Winfield Consulting, which provides consulting services to the direct selling industry. He served as President and CEO of Immunotec, Inc. as well as President and CEO of Readers Digest Inc.’s Quality School Plan Division. He was Chairman and CEO of Princess House from 1994 to 2006.

Like Baker Andrus, Northrop was surprised by the Circle of Honor Award. “I was completely taken aback,” says Northrop. “Frankly, I never expected that I would be a Circle of Honor recipient. I have been fortunate to be in the direct selling industry for nearly the last 20 years, and have had the honor and responsibility of leading some very good companies, and it has been a lot of fun as well as very gratifying and rewarding.”

His long-standing association with DSEF has been gratifying as well.

“I find the Foundation is actually the point of the spear for the direct selling industry in terms of creating a positive sense of direct selling and the value that it adds both economically and socially to the U.S. and nations worldwide,” he says. “The goal of the Foundation in compiling and providing information regarding direct selling and forming alliances with very strong and positive partners has enabled it to be sort of a spokesperson that has been effective in conveying very positive information. Add to that the educational initiatives of the Foundation that have recently focused on developing a curriculum for practitioners of direct selling, which is just beginning to get off the ground but has been positively received. I feel very gratified to have been involved with the Foundation as it has developed its initiatives and its role as a thought leader and spokesperson for all the good that direct selling does.”

“Currently, Jim is leading DSEF’s strategic planning efforts as we approach our 40^th anniversary,” says Orr. “There is no one better equipped to guide this process than Jim Northrop.”

Worthy Honorees

The Circle of Honor Awards were presented to Baker Andrus and Northrop during the DSA Annual Meeting held in Grapevine, Texas, on June 4.

Orr, who has worked with both over the years, could not be happier with the recognition both have received for their contributions to DSEF.

“Sarah and Jim are two very worthy honorees in sustaining DSEF’s efforts to create a market climate of trust for the industry’s ethical entrepreneurship,” says Orr.

Sometimes perseverance alone wins the race. And sometimes it walks hand in hand with a little bit of luck. Steve Baden discovered that at the Entrepreneurs in Action Walkathon held June 3-5 during the DSA Annual Meeting in Grapevine, Texas.

Baden, Vice President of Business Compliance for the Kirby Company, was one of nearly 100 direct selling executives to join the Direct Selling Education Foundation in support of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), which helps at-risk youth find their pathways to a brighter future.

Baden signed up for the event with one goal in mind: to walk as much as possible in order to raise money for NFTE’s initiatives. However, as he was leaving for his trip, he realized prizes were to be awarded in three categories, including Most Miles Walked. Baden was suddenly further incentivized.

“I looked at the Grand Prize and it was two nights in Las Vegas with spa privileges at a luxury hotel. And I thought, ‘Wow!’ My wife [Stephanie] and I are celebrating our 30^th anniversary this year. We were planning to go to Phoenix for a wedding and some business. So we thought we’d make a whole anniversary celebration out of it—go to Sedona and the Grand Canyon and then on to Las Vegas, where she had never been,” he says.

So Baden was determined to win the Grand Prize—a two-night stay at the Aria. At the end of Day 1, he turned his numbers in and found he was well ahead of the other walkers. At the end of Day 2, he was even further ahead.

“I am waking up at five in the morning,” says Baden. “I must have walked the [Gaylord Texan] property at least eight times.”

On the last day Baden turned in his numbers: more than 42,000 steps. “I am well ahead; it’s in the bag,” he says.

But, alas, it was not. Another walker, Elad Daniel, CEO of DSA Supplier Member company WoodenArk, had overtaken him.

“I come back after the deadline and I see Elad on the leader board,” laughs Baden. “He has 19,000 steps on Day 2, and on Day 3 he has 37,000. He blew me away by 15,000 steps!”

Come to find out, Daniel participates in Ironman contests and was in training to run a marathon. He ran half a marathon the day before and close to a full marathon that morning. In total, he logged 57,249 steps during the three-day event.

“My wife was just howling,” says Baden. “I’d run into an Ironman.”

But Baden is one to never say die. He decided to approach Daniel to see if he would be willing to swap his prize for the two-night stay at the Peabody in Orlando that he had won for taking First Place.

“I finally catch him in his room,” Baden says. “I introduce myself and he just starts cracking up. He felt bad that he had beaten me, especially since he was just doing it for fun.”

During their conversation, Baden told DanieI he was taking his wife to Las Vegas to celebrate their anniversary. “Stop! It’s yours,” Daniel told him. “I am Israeli. I live in Tel Aviv and I would never use it.”

“I was just blown away,” Baden says. “He could not have been more gracious. He was such a gentleman. We had a good laugh about the whole thing, and now we are going to see about business prospects. So I made a good friend.”

And a memorable anniversary trip as well.

Baden and Daniel were not the only participants who demonstrated a competitive streak during the Walkathon. Joseph Di Ciacco, Vice President of Carico International, Inc., racked up enough steps to take second place, receiving an all-expenses-paid, one-night stay for two at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, with golf.

Students from the Dallas Chapter of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) embodied the real possibility and spirit of entrepreneurship and opportunity that each and every individual has the right to pursue, according to Connie Tang, President and CEO of Princess House, Inc., one of the nearly 100 direct selling executives who joined DSEF staff and members of NFTE for the Entrepreneurs in Action Walkathon.

The three-day event, hosted by DSEF, was held this month in Grapevine, Texas, during the DSA Annual Meeting. DSEF chose NFTE to be the recipient of its annual charitable effort for the work it does in helping at-risk students stay in school. NFTE, which was founded in New York in 1987, currently has 11 affiliate offices throughout the United States that provide programs that inspire young people from low-income communities to graduate from high school and to learn the necessary skills for creating their own business plans—in essence, helping to shape them into the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

During the Annual Meeting, DSA members had the opportunity to support NFTE’s goal of helping youth find their pathways to a brighter future through the walkathon, and meet some of the students who participate in the organization’s programs.

“Participating in the DSEF Walkathon was a wonderful experience that provided a firsthand connection to the children who benefit from the NFTE Program,” says Tang. “The program is proof positive that environmental circumstances and situations are not the be all and end all to a child’s future. Access and exposure to mentors, genuine care and quality curriculum in a challenging yet nutritive environment can foster the most amazing innovation in our future leaders. We saw it there in Dallas—from a shoe product, balloon-encased creations and eco-friendly lawn care to Spanish-language development for teachers to support ESL students.”

Karen Ezell, Program Director for NFTE, says the walkathon was a complete success for NFTE and her students. “The kids absolutely loved it,” she says. “They thought it was so inspiring to see so many successful entrepreneurs. They were so motivated by what people can accomplish when they put their minds to it.”

What was particularly inspiring to Ezell was to see the interaction between the NFTE students and DSA members. “It was a great event to teach young people how to talk confidently with an older generation, and to make that connection through business and business ideas. It was nice to see a group of young people confident enough to be able to do that. I think it is a testament to NFTE’s program and its teachers that they have trained young people to feel confident and secure.”

It is also a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of DSA member executives, who Ezell sees as mentors and coaches who can help inspire young people to be successful entrepreneurs. “That is what is so great about the direct selling industry and DSEF—the opportunity to have such a wealth of knowledge at young people’s disposal. These young people we are teaching and training to be entrepreneurs could be the next people running the Mary Kays, the Avons, the Pampered Chefs. I think there is a great synergy between the two.”

DSA members were appreciative of the event as well, particularly for the opportunity to meet the NFTE kids. “It was wonderful to participate in the DSEF Walkathon supporting young entrepreneurs,” says Cari Christopher, President of Signature HomeStyles, one of the sponsors of the event. “Seeing these young students take action and create a business of their own was inspiring!”

NFTE’s Youth Entrepreneur Challenge

NFTE helps students develop the skills necessary to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. As part of its curriculum, NFTE holds the National Youth Entrepreneur Challenge annually in which students are encouraged to develop business plans and create 30-second sales pitches to promote their businesses. Regional winners attend the nationwide business competition held in the fall.

The direct selling industry was well represented at the Dallas Youth Biz-Plan Challenge, held June 1. DSEF Executive Director Charlie Orr served as a judge along with Kate Gardner, Chair of the DSEF Community Partner Program and SUCCESS Foundation Executive Director; Allison Levy, General Counsel for AdvoCare International; and Kerry Tassopoulos, Vice President, Government Relations & Compliance for Mary Kay Inc. The judges had the difficult task of selecting the two regional winners who will go on to compete nationally this fall.

“Judging children on their fledgling entrepreneurial endeavors is a combination of daunting and gratifying,” says Gardner. “These kids were intimidating. They were brimming with confidence, which speaks volumes to the work NFTE has done with them.”

At Sunday’s brunch, 14-year old Guadalupe Gamino, the first place winner in the Dallas round of the Challenge, presented her plan for a business called Tranzparent Heel Holderz, which helps women who struggle with keeping dress shoes on while walking by providing clear bands to keep the heels in place.

Guadalupe will travel to New York City in October with second place winner Oliver Gomez to compete for up to $10,000 in the nationwide competition. Oliver, who is also 14, created a business called Why Can’t We Talk, which is aimed at teaching Spanish to teachers and other community leaders to more effectively communicate with parents.

“So many people came up to me and congratulated me,” says Gomez. “It made me feel good about myself. They asked me questions about my business, and they told me that to be a successful entrepreneur you have to take risks and go for your main goal—not let people bring you down and just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Entrepreneurs in Action Makes Headlines

Coverage of DSEF’s Walkathon appeared in the Dallas Morning News, on NBC’s Dallas affiliate station NBC5 and on Univision.