An American dream transforms a flagship product into “whole body wellness” for consumers worldwide.
ACCORDING TO 2018 statistics provided by the Direct Selling Association, wellness remains the largest product/service category with 33.8 percent of industry sales. So, it is no easy feat for a health and wellness company to distinguish itself in the wellness direct sales category—but New U Life has done just that!
Its flagship product, SomaDerm®, sold 2.5 million units in the previous 12 months reported by Vice President of Marketing Jeremy Wardle. The company describes SomaDerm as a “comprehensive solution to endogenously— meaning naturally—increase the body’s mechanisms for increasing growth hormone,” says Kenton Engel, Vice President of Compliance. In more basic terms, the nutraceuticals found in SomaDerm increase the body’s natural growth hormone production response—with one specific herb, Mucuna pruriens, known commonly as the velvet bean, shown in some independent evidence to increase natural production by up to 800 percent. While that may sound outlandish, thousands of New U Life distributors and customers in North America and the Asia Pacific are touting benefits including improved sleep, reduced fat, increased muscle and better joint and bone health.
You may have heard of HGH (Human Growth Hormone, sometimes referred to as GH or Growth Hormone). We reach our peak production of HGH around age 20. Around age 25, our supply begins to take a nosedive, at which point the aging process related to its deficiency begins. Increased fat storage,decreased muscle strength, lower skin elasticity and decreased energy levels are associated with diminishing HGH stores.
Some believe replenishing our HGH supplies can turn back the clock—delivering benefits including those described above. However, HGH traditionally has been available only through a prescribed injection. SomaDerm aims to increase consumers’ access to HGH via a gel that’s safe and painless to apply.
Homeopathy, which when translated from its Greek origins, means “like disease,” is defined as “the practice of medicine that embraces a holistic, natural approach to the treatment of the sick.” Developed in Germany more than 200 years ago, homeopathy is based on two theories: first, that “like cures like,” or the idea that a substance that causes symptoms in a healthy person may be used in diluted form to treat those symptoms and the associated illnesses; and second, the “law of minimum dose,” or the theory that the more diluted the substance, the greater the potency.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
CEO and Founder Alexy Goldstein is “the quintessential definition of the American dream,” Wardle says. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, graduated high school and was preparing for his freshman year at Fresno State University when he earned the keys to the family business: a small shop selling natural foods and nutritional supplements.
Goldstein went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in business, juggling his coursework with his responsibilities as a store owner. Inspired by the spirit of entrepreneurship, he began researching how to develop his own product line and reach more customers and went on to become both a Certified Homeopath and a Certified Herbalist.
Over the years, Goldstein spearheaded the development of multiple products including SomaDerm, which originally was created to assist athletes during recovery. For 16 years, SomaDerm attracted a loyal following of athletes. Still, it wasn’t until Goldstein discovered the direct selling channel in 2017—through a friendship with now-Master Distributor Joe Juliano—that the product gained unstoppable momentum. “It took off like wildfire,” Wardle says, adding that a significant factor behind SomaDerm’s success is the fact that it’s not a “me-too” product. It’s the only transdermal HGH product registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) available without a prescription. Wardle adds that a large number of hormone therapy doctors use the gel in their practices as a homeopathic way to support their patients.
RAPID GROWTH AND EXPANSION
SomaDerm’s growth in popularity has been rapid, but like any other success story, this one involves perseverance and sacrifice. Goldstein chose to fund New U Life by himself without any outside investment. Creating the infrastructure of his direct selling company—from building an independent sales force organically to establishing an electronic payment system—required patience and faith. Once the infrastructure was in place, however, the company’s real growth began. By the end of New U Life’s first year in business in 2018, the company had generated approximately $60 million in sales from SomaDerm alone. Headquartered in Pleasant Hill, California, with its largest office in Lehi, Utah, New U Life serves distributors and their customers throughout the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and serves customers in China.
Goldstein maintains his original Pleasant Hill, California, Natural Life Foods shop along with additional locations throughout the state. Goldstein still works out of his flagship shop every day. He maintains multiple headquarters offices in Lehi, Utah; Pleasant Hill, California; and Taipei, Taiwan.
A PIONEERING MISSION
New U Life’s mission is to “pioneer new products that unify body and mind and connect you to a transformation that enriches life through opportunity,” while its philosophy is “to achieve whole body health through a balance of nature and science in products that inspire, innovate and connect.”
Within the New U Life corporate organization and out in the field, there’s undeniably a significant focus on SomaDerm. In fact, Alexy calls the gel “liquid gold,” and it’s the only product sold by distributors in its international markets. In the long term, however, the company has its sights set on what it calls “whole body health,” and to that end, it’s working on promoting its other product lines: FortressTM, a daily supplement designed for immunity support; and its Keto Line of products: KetoDay, KetoNight, KG4 and KetoGen4, created to enhance the body’s ability to remain metabolically engaged around the clock and reach peak levels of ketosis. A nootropic product focused on brain health is scheduled to be launched in the fall, most likely at the company’s online convention in late September.All New U Life products are manufactured in the United States, and each has been designed as a category creator.
Ultimately, Wardle says, “we want our other products to be independent and self-sustaining,” much like SomaDerm has. With that objective in mind, the company just wrapped up its New U Life Whole Body Challenge hosted by Certified Nutritionist and Keto expert Thomas Delauer, which awarded over $100,000 in cash prizes to entrants with the most inspirational health transformation stories. “We support our product lines standing on their own through initiatives like these,” Wardle adds.
The company doesn’t share the details of its research and development; “it’s highly proprietary—our trade secrets are ours,” Wardle says. “We’re not seeking patents. We’re 100 percent protecting our IP, and we have specific vendors just for us. It’s very lock and key.” However, what is public is New U Life’s Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of leaders in medicine and academia, who provide insight and direction to the company.
CORPORATE CULTURE AND INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE
New U Life maintains an employee base of around 130 who serve an independent sales force of 395,000. Like any family, this one has weathered growing pains and scaled its sharof hurdles.
“We’re learning every single day, but friction and traction only strengthen our bond. We can have open debates,” Wardle says.
His team is represented exclusively by people who worked previously at long-established companies. Being a part of a new organization and playing a role in product development from start to finish has provided them with an invaluable educational experience.
A FOCUS ON DISTRIBUTORS, DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
New U Life’s current focus is on global retention. A loyalty rewards program for distributors and customers is also under discussion. Additionally, Wardle adds, the company will continue to focus on ensuring that its compensation plan is as attractive as possible for potential distributors; “putting money in the wallets of our distributors as soon as possible is the quickest way to retain them.”
Compliance is another significant focus for New U Life—and it’s a timely one. “We have to be so careful not to make claims about immunity or virus defense. Our Compliance Department is world-class, and we’ve had excellent cooperation from our distributors,” says Vanessa Pierce, Vice President of Legal and New U Life’s General Counsel. The company’s Compliance and Legal teams, she adds, start with the “why.” It’s an educational process that’s collaborative and allows distributors to be independent.
THE PANDEMIC CHALLENGE
Like any other direct selling company, New U Life has had to grapple with the pandemic’s effects on its employees and distributors—namely, the immediate shift to remote work and determining how best to support and motivate both of these groups during an uncertain time. Wardle says the company has seen tremendous growth in its distributor base during the pandemic, which he believes is attributable in part to increased interest in entrepreneurship driven by the simple desire to diversify one’s portfolio and establish additional sources of income to weather times like these. On the corporate side, New U Life has welcomed new hires and onboarded them remotely.
“I’ve been surprised by our growth during this virus,” Wardle says. “To grow an organization this way has been a challenge, but it’s something we’ve learned we can do.” Pandemic or no pandemic, expansion continues for New U Life; additional markets in the Asia-Pacific region—Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia and New Zealand—are scheduled to open in 2020 and 2021.
U FUND PHILANTHROPY
New U Life doesn’t have a 501c3 yet, but the company hasn’t waited to start putting its money behind worthy causes. Each of its 15 executives has been presented with a sum of money to be given to the charity or charities of their choice. The endeavor has been dubbed the “U Fund.” Donations will be announced this month. The opportunity to handpick a worthy recipient is “one of the most fun ‘kid in the candy store’ things I’ve gotten to do in a long time,” Pierce says. “I can’t choose.”
In just three short years, and through sheer determination, Alexy Goldstein has turned a product with a loyal following into a direct selling powerhouse that’s only scratched the surface of its potential for success.
“It’s been an incredible ride. To have come from a single storefront to a whole-health movement of nearly 400,000 distributors and counting, and with expansion in markets throughout the world just three years into our direct selling journey, is nothing short of amazing,” says founder and CEO Alexy Goldstein.
“Our products are a big part of our success, but our leaders are what made it happen—and they’re continuing to make it happen even during this challenging time for so many companies. I have every confidence that our future is looking brighter than ever.”
