Reinventing Yourself

The May issue is out, and I’m particularly fond of the cover story, “Reinventing Yourself.” Barbara Seale spoke to four party plan companies that have each measured the changing business landscape and reacted by giving their customers—and their consultants—what they want.

This month’s Young Company Focus: “SwissJust USA: From the Alps to the Americas,” is another story of reinvention, and one that I had the pleasure to tell. I first met SwissJust USA CEO Jacques Mizrahi last December at the DSA's Communications and Marketing seminar in Washington, D.C. Jacques gave a unique and informative presentation, “A Tale in Reverse,” at the Hispanic Market Pre-Seminar. He related how SwissJust, the North, South and Latin American partner of Just, the 75-year-old Swiss-based natural products company, made the transition from doing business exclusively with the U.S. Hispanic population, to re-launching SwissJust USA in July 2006 to reach the English-speaking U.S. market.

Jacques and I had the chance to talk a little further at two other industry events and I knew his was a story I wanted to tell. Still, when you have a forty-five minute conversation with someone and try to distill it into 2000 words, you are always forced to leave something out. One of the things Jacques shared with me in our conversation was that SwissJust North America and Latin America recently spent time fine-tuning the company’s mission, vision and values. I was particularly impressed with this summary of SwissJust’s Principles: Enthusiasm + Vibration + Joy + Recognition + Celebration = Growth

Doesn’t that describe direct selling perfectly?

Jacques, like me, only recently joined the direct selling industry. But from what I observed, he has embraced it. “I’m a newcomer to this industry, and I am amazed by what I see,” Jacques told me. “I discovered direct selling only two to three years ago, and I went to one of our big conferences and I said, ‘Whoa, this is shocking!’ It was very genuine. I spent thirteen years working with Unilever, working in France, working in Brazil and Argentina; traveling the world. I’m the rational business guy. I could go back to the rational part of my job, but I’m sure I would miss developing people in direct selling.”

It looks like Jacques has undergone a little reinvention of his own!