Up close and personal with Amway chairman Steve Van Andel

The Amway Corp chairman talks passionately about the subject closest to his heart – Amway

Alticor Inc chairman Steve Van Andel cuts a tall, commanding but tired figure walking into the room for this interview.

He just got off a flight from the US after which he was whisked off almost immediately to attend a morning-full of celebrations to commemorate the opening of Amway Malaysia’s new RM100mil headquarters.

Alticor is the parent company of the Amway group of companies.

As children, all we had to do to see the business was to go down to the basements – STEVE VAN ANDEL

“I need a Coke, some sugar to get me going,” he says before settling into this conversation with StarBizWeek last month.

Call him a typical American in this regard but it appears he is soon recovered from his fatigue and starts talking passionately on the subject closest to his heart – Amway, the abbreviation for American Way – the direct selling company his father co-founded more than five decades ago.

The lanky, soft-spoken, 54 year-old Steve is the son of the late Jay Van Andel who passed away in 2004, the man who established Amway together with his childhood friend, Rich DeVos.

Van Andel and DeVos senior started their business venture in 1959, selling vitamins and biodegradable soaps to their community in the small western Michigan town of Ada from their home basements.

“As children, all we had to do to see the business was to go down to the basements,” Steve reveals.

Sales were so good that the pair eventually established plants to manufacture their own products.

Over the decades, both men worked hard to build their business – now still headquartered in Michigan – to become one of the most well-known brands in the US.

It wasn’t always a smooth path. And Steve, who joined Amway right after college knows this better than anyone else.

“We’ve had our difficult times but which business doesn’t?” he says.

Steve took over from Jay in 1995 as head of the group after the latter retired.

He now jointly heads the conglomerate together with Doug DeVos who is president of Alticor.

Since taking charge, the second generation bosses, both of whom are the eldest sons of the founders and extremely close pals just like their fathers, have taken the small town entrepreneurial legacy many steps further – expanding globally at a rapid pace and continuously introducing innovative products of a wide variety to the markets.

In 2008, Alticor’s businesses recorded global sales of US$8.2bil, making it the world’s second largest direct selling company after Avon Products, Inc.
Not surprisingly, China is its biggest market right now, owing to the huge population there, unlike in the earlier days when sales were largely domestic, Steve says.

“We are also seeing great growth in Russia and India, I think the fact that we are now so spread out really helps us sustain sales, even in difficult economic times.

“It’s an adventure every time you venture into a new country,” he says.

Amway makes money from selling its products to the growing number of its distributors globally who in turn sell them to customers.

From simple household and health food products, its product categories have grown to include beauty and wellness and skincare products over the years.

Raised in a strict Christian family, Steve is quite obviously the chip of the old block, where his personal character is concerned.

Dad, Jay who died a billionaire once wrote in his autobiography that “the greatest pleasure comes not from the endless acquisition of material things, but from creating wealth and giving it away; the task of every person on earth is to use everything he’s given to the ultimate glory of God.”

Steve likes to believe that he is very much in tune with his dad’s values.

“The idea of providing our distributors an opportunity to make their own money, build their lives and to achieve personal success is what keeps me motivated every single day,” he says.

Some have even become millionaires and I’d like to think that we had a role to play in that.

“It’s really about giving back,” he says.

“To me, our company has grown by leaps and bounds, and really, the most important thing to us right now is that we do our part in helping people change their lives for the better,“ Steve adds.

Amway now has more than 3 million distributors or sales reps around the world, he says and the business continues to grow as “it is an opportunity for individuals from any walk of life, to build the kind of life that they want and dream of.”

Because after all, my dad and Rich started the company with a very basic notion – that everyone, regardless of their monetary position or educational background – could strike it out on their own and be their own boss,” says Steve.

People in developing nations, such as Vietnam, China and India, have slowly been taking to Amway’s direct-sales concept as a way of earning an income and building their wealth, where in previous times, such a thought had never occurred to them, he adds.

Like his father in more ways than one, Steve is also past chairman of the US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing millions of businesses in the US.

He still sits on the board.

In addition to the chamber board, Steve is also on the board of the Centre for International Private Enterprises, Michigan National Bank Corp, Grand Rapids John Ball Zoo Society and the American Management Association’s Operation Enterprise, amongst others.

Obviously, the business of Amway which is privately held, yes Amway in the US has never gone public – has made Steve a well-off man but not one to forget his roots, he says he continues his father’s community works up till today, dedicating time and effort to the renewal of his hometown, among which the products are the Van Andel Institute, a major health research centre and the Van Andel Museum Centre, both community projects that the people of the town enjoy.

“I’ve travelled the world over,” Steve says at the end of this interview but it is apparent where the heart of this true-boy of West Michigan lies.

“Both our families (Van Andels and DeVos’) are products of Western Michigan and we will never ever forget that,” he says.

Source: By YVONNE TAN
yvonne@thestar.com.my