Novae leverages its partnerships and financial lawyers to negotiate debt forgiveness for underserved populations. 

Novae’s newest offering Novae Debt Help, a program that helps consumers get out of debt by obtaining partial debt forgiveness and favorable repayment terms, is part of the company’s commitment to use its resources to empower those facing unfair financial circumstances and help people make good financial decisions. Through this service, customers can reduce their unsecured debts by up to half and consolidate it all in one payment. 

“If you have distressed debt and have found yourself and or family in a tough situation financially, Novae’s goal is to help you,” said Reco McCambry, Novae CEO. 

The post Novae Named to Inc. 5000 List  first appeared on Direct Selling News.

Independent sales representatives from DSA member companies Amway, Arbonne International, Isagenix International and Mary Kay, Inc. participated in the event. The roundtable discussion focused on getting women involved in entrepreneurship, and the importance of family, freedom and flexibility to operate independent businesses.

“In 2018, 74.8 percent of direct sellers were women,” said DSA President Joseph N. Mariano. “Strong female leaders are critical to our industry and this entrepreneurship roundtable gives women involved in direct selling the opportunity to share their positive experiences with elected officials and to expand their leadership skills.”

Rep. Lesko said, “As a champion for entrepreneurs in Arizona and in Congress, I am dedicated to supporting women who are excited about building a business on their own terms and schedule. It was my pleasure to partner with the DSA on this roundtable and I applaud the Association for seeking out opportunities for their members to share their concerns and new ideas to help promote women in business.”

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The Reputation Institute, the world’s leading provider of reputation measurement, measured the reputation of more than 140 global CEOs and canvassed more than 230,000 individual ratings among the informed public. The study was conducted in January and February of this year.

“David’s leadership and operational expertise since being named CEO in 2006 has contributed significantly to Mary Kay’s success,” said Richard R. Rogers, son of Mary Kay Ash, co-founder and executive chairman of the Board. “Mary Kay is a brand born of purpose, and David’s steadfast commitment to our founding values has made him a truly extraordinary chief executive officer and people leader.”

According to Kylie Wright-Ford, CEO at Reputation Institute, acting responsibly, behaving ethically and caring about social issues are the most important drivers of CEO reputation. In fact, according to Reputation Institute’s findings, CEOs are more likely to be judged on ethics versus profit margins. In this way, the perception of CEOs and the companies they lead are directly correlated.

The top 10 global CEOs recognized in Reputation Institute’s 2019 CEO RepTrak study (in alphabetical order) are:

• Ben van Beurden, Shell (OTCMKTS: RYDAF)
• Niels B. Christiansen, LEGO Group
• Michael Dell, Dell
• Emmanuel Faber, Danone S.A. (OTCMKTS: DANOY)
• Fabrizio Freda, ​The Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL)
• Shuntaro Furukawa, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS: NTDOY)
• Ralph Hamers, ING Group (NYSE: ING)
• David Holl, Mary Kay, Inc.
• Christopher J. Nassetta, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT)
• Carsten Spohr, Deutsche Lufthansa AG (OTCMARKETS: DLAKF)

Recently, Forbes named Mary Kay to its lists of America’s Best Employers for Diversity and America’s Best Midsize Employers.

The post Mary Kay Inc.’s David Holl Among Top Ten Most Reputable CEOs in World first appeared on Direct Selling News.

“We are pleased to report a strong start to fiscal 2019 with continued net sales growth and significantly improved earnings,” said CEO Terrence Moorehead. “Growth continues to be driven by sustained positive sales trends in NSP China, Synergy Asia Pacific and NSP Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as positive growth in Synergy North America during the first quarter. We are seeing an enhanced profit profile, reflecting the benefits of our cost control initiatives that contributed to a more than an 81 percent increase in adjusted EBITDA during the first quarter.”

Net sales of $91.3 million increased 4.5 percent compared to $87.3 million in the first quarter of 2018. Net sales were also negatively impacted by $2.3 million of unfavorable foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.

On a local currency basis, net sales increased 7.1 percent compared to 2018. The increase was primarily related to growth in Synergy Asia Pacific, NSP Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and NSP China offset by a $3.2 million decline in net sales in NSP Americas and a $0.9 million decline in Synergy Europe.

To read the full Nature’s Sunshine Q1 2019 report, click here.

The post Nature’s Sunshine Reports 4.5% Q1 Net Sales Growth first appeared on Direct Selling News.

The company also reported active earning OPTAVIA Coaches of 27,200, an increase of 62.9 percent year-over-year.

“Our strong start to the year was fueled by a record number of active earning OPTAVIA Coaches and increased coach productivity,” said Dan Chard, Medifast’s chief executive officer. “These achievements helped generate first quarter revenue and earnings above our expectations and gives us confidence to raise our outlook for the full year 2019.  Going forward, we believe Medifast remains well positioned to deliver long-term sustainable growth and value for our stockholders as well as meaningful improvements to the lives of OPTAVIA clients through our growing community of OPTAVIA Coaches who join us in helping clients achieve optimal health and wellbeing.”

OPTAVIA-branded products represented 73 percent of consumable units sold for the first quarter of 2019 compared to 58 percent for the first quarter of last year. The total number of active earning OPTAVIA Coaches for the first quarter of 2019 increased to 27,200, compared to 16,700 for the first quarter of 2018. The average revenue per active earning OPTAVIA Coach for the first quarter of 2019 increased 10.2 percent to $5,817 compared to $5,278 for the first quarter last year.

To read the full Medifast Q1 2019 report, click here.

The post Medifast Revenue Up 68%, OPTAVIA Coaches Up 63% in Q1 2019 first appeared on Direct Selling News.

Sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa fell 19 percent to $458.7 million and 17 percent to $414.7 million in South Latin America. Sales in Asia Pacific increased 3 percent to $115.3 million.

Active Representatives and Ending Representatives each declined 9 percent, with decreases reported in all segments but largely driven by declines in Brazil and Russia.

“We are pleased with the progress that we have made in the first quarter,” said Jan Zijderveld, Avon CEO. “We delivered constant-dollar revenue improvements in three of our four geographical segments, adjusted operating margin expansion of 50 basis points and free cash flow in line with seasonal trends, as we continue to make progress deploying our Open Up Avon strategies.”

Zijderveld said the company’s focus on revenue growth management, including less discounting and more targeted and effective incentives and promotion management, led to a 6 percent improvement in average orders and drove overall price/mix up 8 percent across the portfolio.

To read the full Avon Q1 2019 report, click here.

The post Avon Q1 2019 Revenue Down 15% first appeared on Direct Selling News.

MJNA, the first publicly traded cannabis company in the U.S., announced the Kannaway results as well as the company financial results for the quarter and year ending Dec. 31, 2018.

The company continued to show strong growth throughout the year, as 2018 net revenues increased to $59.8 million, an increase of more than 125 percent over 2017. Quarterly revenue for Q4 2018 grew to nearly $17.7 million, an increase of more than 87 percent over Q4 2017.

“It’s predicted that the CBD market could be worth $22 billion by 2022,” said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. “We’re excited that, in addition to this great industry progress, we’ve experienced our own tremendous growth in 2018 and the company is positioned well for continued explosive expansion.”

COO Blake Schroeder added, “The company and its subsidiaries have worked very hard to further international access to CBD last year and we’re optimistic that its expansion into Europe and Latin America has positioned the company to accomplish significant revenue milestones in 2019. We hope that this will continue to provide our shareholders with an optimistic forecast for our future success.”

The post Kannaway Revenue Up 200% for 2018 first appeared on Direct Selling News.

The campaign is leading legislative reform to prohibit cosmetics testing on animals in all major global beauty markets by 2023.

Avon has committed to support #BeCruetlyFree to drive regulatory change in key markets around the world—predominantly in Latin America and Southeast Asia—towards the desired global ban. Avon will also support the recently launched Non-Animal Cosmetic Safety Assessment Collaboration (NACSA). NACSA aims to promote best practice in animal-free safety assessment among companies and government health authorities to promote faster acceptance and use of modern non-animal approaches, particularly in countries such as China, where cosmetic animal testing is still required by law for some products. By throwing its weight behind Humane Society International and joining its ever-growing network of supportive beauty giants, Avon believes an end to the era of cosmetic animal testing will be achieved more swiftly.

Avon was the first major cosmetics company to end animal testing 30 years ago and has decades of experience in developing non-animal approaches to product safety evaluation. It collaborates with partners across the world, including advocacy organizations and NGOs to accelerate the adoption of non-animal-test methods.

“Avon’s been working to end animal testing for 30 years, but as an industry there is still more to do,” said Louise Scott, chief scientific officer at Avon. “I’m proud of our contribution to driving change to date. But we’re even stronger if we work with others. It’s crucial that we open up more partnerships with other change-agents to end the unnecessary and unacceptable practice of animal testing for cosmetics. We’re confident that through collaborations with HSI and other committed partners we will accelerate the transition to alternative approaches to animal testing and result in a worldwide ban in the foreseeable future. It’s a future that we at Avon are committed to and that millions of Avon Representatives and their customers around the world demand.”

The post Avon Joins Humane Society International’s #BeCrueltyFree Campaign first appeared on Direct Selling News.

Revenues for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018 decreased 12.0 percent to $36,114,000 as compared to $41,041,000 for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2017. Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2018 decreased 2.0 percent to $162,445,000 as compared to $165,696,000 for the year ended December 31, 2017.

“We are encouraged by the improvement in our gross margins and the significant turnaround in Adjusted EBITDA over 2017,” said Steve Wallach, chairman and CEO of Youngevity International.  “We are seeing revenue stabilization in the direct selling segment, and we anticipate a return to revenue growth in 2019. This is expected to be primarily driven by our commercial coffee segment and our new commercial hemp reporting segment.”

According to the company, revenues for the fourth quarter were derived approximately 90 percent from direct sales and approximately 10 percent from commercial coffee sales. Direct selling segment revenues decreased 9.2 percent to $32,418,000 in the current quarter as compared to $35,716,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2017. Commercial coffee segment revenues decreased 30.6 percent to $3,696,000 in the current quarter as compared to $5,325,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2017. The decrease was primarily attributed to timing of shipments in green coffee business.

Revenues for the year were derived approximately 85 percent from direct sales and approximately 15 percent from commercial coffee sales. Direct selling revenues decreased by $3,595,000 or 2.5 percent to $138,855,000 as compared to $142,450,000 for the year ended December 31, 2017. Commercial coffee segment revenues increased by $344,000 or 1.5 percent to $23,590,000 as compared to $23,246,000 for the year ended December 31, 2017.

To read the full Youngevity report, click here.

The post Youngevity International Down Slightly in 2018 first appeared on Direct Selling News.

Jakubowski brings over 20 years of experience from global businesses in established and emerging markets across Europe, North America and Africa. She joins Avon from Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits, where she held the role of general manager for Poland and the Baltic states. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board for Bank Millennium SA, Poland and vice president and management board member for the International Advertising Association (IAA) in Poland.

“We are delighted to welcome a leader of Ania’s calibre to the team,” said Angela Cretu, global vice president, Central Europe (CE). “Poland is a key market. Avon is the second beauty brand in terms of awareness and third biggest beauty manufacturer in the country. With Ania’s breadth of experience in general management and commitment to developing and supporting strong teams, we look forward to driving growth across Central Europe.”

Jakubowski will report to Cretu and will join the CE Leadership Team.

The post Ania Jakubowski Named Avon GM of Poland first appeared on Direct Selling News.