Amway/Quixtar is spinning again and I have decided to set the record straight.  In Quixtar’s never ending attack on my character, they have insinuated that I have:

1. Taken funds from the Quixtar Legal Defense Fund.

2. Received profit sharing from Team while the rest of the leaders have suffered.

3. Received profits from the Launching a Leadership Revolution book.

4. Filed the Quixtar lawsuit to smear the good name of Amway/Quixtar.

5. Solicited other IBO’s to leave Quixtar.

6. Stole confidential information from the IBOAI Board.

These and probably other allegations have been posted all over the internet with no concern for the truth, objectivity or facts.  This reminds me of a Ronald Reagan quote where he stated, “The facts are pesky things.”  I am sorry Quixtar, but the facts are too pesky for these baseless allegations and I must refute the many errors.  I will not attack any individual or company, but will not allow lies against me or my friends go unaddressed.  I will address each of them now.

1. I have received no money from the Quixtar Legal Defense Fund and have provided money to various individuals who have been attacked legally by Quixtar before the QLDF was set up.  I did not set up the fund, but have verified the money is being allocated for the defense of former IBO’s who were counter sued by Quixtar.  Numerous IBO’s were seeking TRO’s to stop Quixtar from destroying their organizations by email threats, ultimatums and intimidation.  Quixtar counter sued for damages against nearly every IBO who filed for a TRO.  I feel morally bound to help in anyway I can and asked for my friends to support the Quixtar Legal Defense Fund on their behalf.

2. Profit sharing for the whole Team has been down for obvious reasons over the last seven months.  Between the numerous lawsuits, throwing away Quixtar specific tools, reduced special orders, no opens, etc. - the profit sharing pot has suffered.  Profit sharing is just that – Profit Sharing.  No one gets a special deal and everyone must bring their numbers to the table to be run through the profit sharing formula.  When there is a profit the leaders will share based on the formulas—when there is no profit then we cannot share what is not there.  Every PC member has donated from 33% to over 75% of every profit sharing check to help maintain the bonuses of the smaller profit sharing members.  The round table received their full checks (less than before but 100% of earned profit sharing.)  The smaller profits sharers received 50% or more of the actual total checks thanks to the PC leaders’ donations.  I personally refused any profit sharing on several occasions and donated over $700,000 of my personal funds to ensure others received profit sharing.  My belief is that we profit share when we win and only the top leaders should loss share when we lose.  I refused to ask anybody else on the Team to give money so I funded any exorbitant losses out of my own pocket.  The worst is over and I fully expect the profit sharing to increase as the numbers are exploding currently.  I thank all the PC members for the sacrifices they made for the good of the whole Team.

3. Chris and I have received no royalties from our book and gave 100% of the proceeds to All Grace Outreach which gives to various charities.  This is well known and I am disappointed Quixtar or their cronies would have insinuated anything but the truth here.

4. Our goal on August 9^th was to have an amicable separation.  I refused to go forward into the Amway business against my will regardless of Quixtar’s threats and intimidations.  There were less than 100 people on my personal organization that had ever been in Amway and I felt it was immoral to force people to join a business they had not signed up for.  I asked Amway/Quixtar to give people a choice just like they had when Quixtar was launched.  IBO’s were given a choice to be in Amway or Quixtar originally in 1999.  Since Quixtar had repeatedly threatened their leaders if they attempted to leave—I had our lawyers prepare a lawsuit with a standstill agreement.  The lawsuit and standstill agreements were to ensure Amway/Quixtar negotiated in good faith and would not just terminate us or pursue litigation against us.  Quixtar did not negotiate in good faith and the subsequent damage - I believe - must be laid on the shoulders of Quixtar lawyers.  All of the subsequent lawsuits and controversies on both sides could have been avoided had Quixtar management known anything about statesmanship.  Billy Florence and others called back repeatedly to Quixtar lawyers begging them to come back to the table and avoid the lawsuit.  We had no desire to smear the Amway/Quixtar name.  The company in England (DTI Illegal Pyramid Scheme), India Hyderabad(Illegal Lottery scheme), Pokorny (Pyramid and RICO violations), Nitro (Federal Anti-trust violations) – had ruined their own reputation in my opinion and did not need any further help from us.  In fact, I would argue that Chris and I as best selling authors cannot afford our name to be associated with Amway’s.  I didn’t think it would look good on our resume’ to have ‘promoters of an illegal pyramid scheme’ on it should Amway/Quixtar be shut down by any of the government agencies investigating them.  It has been over 7 and 1/2 months and I find it curious that not one point from the Quixtar Pyramid lawsuit filed in California has been refuted.  I will gladly rescind any statement from the lawsuit that Quixtar can prove with facts to be false.  Maybe the strategy of Quixtar was - if you can't refute the facts from the message - settle for an attack on the character of the messenger.

5. I have not solicited any Quixtar IBO’s and still believe strongly in the freedom to choose what business you desire to be in.  It is unconscionable in my opinion to hold people against their will in a business they do not wish to be a part of.  Quixtar has had many court dates and has not provided even one example of an IBO I have solicited.  The reason for this is because I have not solicited anyone.

6. I did not steal any information from the IBOAI Board and any information that I used in the California case was known by many non-board members.  The networking industry is a word of mouth business and nothing is ever kept secret.  Numerous board members would text their upline leaders in the middle of board meetings.  The IBOAI Board knows this and I personally believe it is ridiculous that we are being sued by our former colleagues.   We purposely left the IBOAI Board off of any litigation and realized that many Board members were intimidated by the Quixtar threats.  But 40% of the IBOAI Board chose to make a stand!  We could not sit by idly and watch the little IBO whom the board members were sworn to serve and represent be churned through a failing business.  The IBOAI board knew the business was not working – the Board confronted Quixtar – Quixtar not only refused to fix it, but changed the name back to Amway.   I feel it would be patently immoral for the Board to then sit back and do nothing about this!  The actions of Quixtar were WRONG in my opinion and not in the best interest of the field IBO’s.  I believe Confidentiality agreements should never be used to protect immoral business practices to the detriment of the field we are supposed to be representing.  As Board members we had a moral responsibility to confront the company or we were not doing our elected duty and the Board is a toothless sham.

I am sure the character assassinations by the Quixtar Spin machine are not over, but I will continue to serve people and provide the pesky facts when needed.  I love the quote, “Reputation is what other people say about you, but character is what you are.”  Quixtar can attack my reputation, but they cannot touch my character.   I hope this clarifies the facts from the spin in our ongoing issues with Amway/Quixtar.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

The last week was spent in a confidential arbitration proceeding that I am not free to discuss.  I am free to say that the Woodwards and the Brady's received word on Wednesday night that our injunction has been lifted on both the non-compete and the non-disparagement clauses.  WE ARE SO EXCITED!  This is one of the best birthday gifts I have ever received.  We have already announced our intention of joining MonaVie when possible and now it is possible!  I want to thank all of my friends for their incredible encouragement and support through one of the toughest times of my life.  Now that I am free to talk about business and competition, I would like to share a few thoughts for moving forward.

1. Remember when you are joining a new MLM to always act with humility and class towards crossline organizations already in MonaVie.  Our goal should be to edify their leadership and come in as students.  Yes, we are excited about the opportunity, but we will let our actions speak for us not our words.  Humility is much more attractive than arrogance.

2. Remember that we are not at MonaVie meetings to sell training materials to crossline groups.  They have their own training systems and we must respect their training as we would expect them to respect ours.  Character, Class and Competence are the three C's to focus on.  Yesterday, I met with Dallin Larsen and many of the top leaders in MonaVie.  What an impressive group of leaders!  Leadership is about providing value to everyone you come into contact with.  The leaders of MonaVie have provided incredible value to people through a great product and servant based leadership.  Let's lift one another as a rising tide lifts all ships!

3. Remember to review you reasons for starting in your own business.  Nothing happens but first the dream as Carl Sandburg states.  What is your dream and why did you get started in your own business?

4. Let's focus on building communities of people who will move products through their communities and customers.  We have an opportunity to build a million people community and to get paid great money to do so.  The distributors are focused on building the communities and that is what we intend to do!

5. Get with your upline in your new business and develop a gameplan to build your business.  I will be personally running PDCA cycles to develop the best training system possible to support people in building the MonaVie businesses. 

6. I will be updating this Leadership blog two to three times a week.  This site is a Leadership blog and any specific business building techniques or business questions should be addressed to your upline.  I love the comments and discussion and plan on continuing the blog.  I won't be as active because I intend to be more active in building a million people team.  Building communities is the best way to positively change people's lives and through them change our culture! 

I want to thank you again for the incredible encouragement and support during this valley experience.  It is now time to climb the mountain.  We are not Quitters - we are not Campers - we are Climbers!  Are you ready to climb the mountain!!

God Bless, Orrin Woodward

I read a fantastic article by Rick Beneteau on giving and listening.  It reminded me of the role of mentoring in helping someone think properly through their life.  Life can be tough and it certainly isn’t always a bed of roses.  If life is tough for everyone, why do some people seem to ride the waves from peak to peak, but others are buried by the waves?  I believe it is not what happens to you in life, but how you think about what happens to you in life that matters most.  Do you see your current challenges, roadblocks, and setbacks as evidence of no opportunity or do you see the same situations as evidence that God has a BIG plan for you!  Think about it for a minute!  If God is calling you for a big assignment—wouldn’t it make sense that He would place some major challenges in your life to develop character first?  God must develop the person for the assignment given and challenges are a great way to develop the necessary character for advanced assignments.  Instead of fighting our fate, let’s be drawn to our destiny! 

When Laurie and I sit down to mentor couples, we tell them to share with us the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We are not listening so we can have a pity party with the couple.  We listen to celebrate the good, make adjustments for the bad and address the ugly immediately.  Every great leader has had good, bad and ugly things happen to them, but the key is how they are thinking through the situations.  How are you thinking through the good, the bad, and the ugly in your life?  Do you secretly enjoy the bad and the ugly things that are happening?  Many people surprisingly do!  The reason for this secret enjoyment is they feel it justifies their lack of results and causes others to feel sorry for them.  DO NOT EVER PLAY THE ROLE OF VICTIM!  It may feel good to have others feel sorry for you, but it is a drug that creates a harmful life addiction.  YOU are a champion and all champions will have to overcome the bad and the ugly in their life.  We are not training people to be victims, so take the bad things that happen to you as God’s way of developing character.  The greatest gift a mentor can give to you is the absolute belief that you have what it takes inside of you to overcome your present difficulties and win in the game of life.  Laurie and I believe strongly that all of us have what it takes and we have dedicated our life to teach others how to think through their difficulties to be champions in the game of life!  We must give to others, but the best thing to give to others is a champion’s way of thinking through life.  Anything else that we give to them is giving less than our personal best!  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

"Give 'til it hurts." You've probably heard this a thousand times. I know I have. A well-intentioned expression that I always found somewhat strange as "giving" and "hurt" are concepts that seem to be polar opposite.

I want to share with you a personal story where "giving" in fact "hurt" a person I was trying to help. In order to do that, I need to give you a little background about myself. Please indulge me.

For whatever reason the universe has, I have been blessed to have had many people seek my counsel during my fifty years of living. They trusted that I could help them in some way.

I've been told that I am a good listener. Coupled with an inherent desire to help others, even during my high school days, I seemed to become the counselor of choice for many of my peers.

I vividly recall private chats I had with my high school cohorts, normally conducted in my sooped-up '67 ‘Cuda, during lunch, spare periods or skipped-out classes. Problems about girlfriends, boyfriends, teachers and parents were the norm. Usually self- esteem issues were at the core, as is the case with most problems thirty years later.

And later, my twenty-and-thirty-something friends and family members, as well as many of the employees in my drycleaning business, could always count on complete confidence and my objectivity when discussing problems that they had in their personal lives.

As life moved along, I was faced with a myriad of not only challenges to overcome, but tragedies to deal with. The death of two of my siblings, my father and many close family members and friends, business losses, divorce and being the parent of a special needs child were among them. The lessons learned and the strength gained from these life experiences ultimately led to what I have chosen to do with my life today.

But being pretty well-schooled in life does not always mean that one has the right answers though.

He has been in my life a long time. I was mostly always on the listening end. Conversation after conversation he would laundry-list his assorted problems. And, as many "victims of life" have it, they were never in short supply. I would allow him to "share" his stories of suffering, time after time, consuming much of mine. Like the traditional psychologist, I would just listen, as I felt listening was a large part of "my role" in trying to help him.

Thing was, no matter what suggestions I would offer to try to help him, the problems not only remained, but amplified over time. He never acted on my advice and I eventually began to feel rather impotent and confused about how I could make a difference in his life.

Suddenly, in a conversation last year, at a point where I became very irritated at listening to his negativity, it struck me. This person was receiving so much more benefit from knowing I was listening to him spew about his miserable life than he ever would from finding solutions and improving it. It finally dawned on me that he LOVED having problems!

I hadn't helped him. Not one bit. In fact, for years, I was simply feeding this need in him. I was helping him to have a great time at his own pity party. All this time my giving was, in fact, hurting him!

He was shocked when I interrupted him mid-sentence and blurted out that I didn't want to listen to any more about his problems. There was an awkward silence but when he finally asked me "why" I quickly reassured him that I was still interested in helping him. But it was not going to be on his terms anymore. The new deal would have to be that from this conversation forward, we would not discuss the past. Only the present and future. We would address current issues by working on solutions. He would need to act on my suggestions. Things such as reading certain books or listening to certain tapes and making small adjustments in his thinking that would produce positive results. Our future conversations would consist only of discussing the changes he would sincerely attempt to make to improve his life. He seemed somewhat stunned, and reluctantly agreed.

Those next few times we talked though he tried very hard to steer the conversation down his familiar road attempting to inform me of the latest, greatest grief in his life. But I didn't allow that, sticking to the agreed-upon plan and changing direction to our new proactive approach.

You know what? It really didn't take too long before the tone of our conversations became more positive in nature and soon he was beginning to "get" some important concepts about how his mind, and the universe, really worked. He started reading and listening to materials I suggested. He was beginning to learn that his current results were the product of his current thinking and that he was never a victim of life – not for one minute! That growth has continued.

Now we have great talks, often upbeat, and any real problem he has is briefly outlined and then discussed in such a way that a solution can be found and acted upon. In fact, I've become comfortable sharing some of my problems with him! More than once he's reminded me to take some of my own medicine!

It's both magical and comforting to me at the same time to know that when the simple truths of how things work in this world are realized, things can really begin to change for the better and in a big way. It's unfortunate that it took so long for me to realize how I could better serve my friend, but then, the universe has it's own timing for things like this.

It is my hope that if you have been trying to help someone like my friend and find yourself doing a lot of "listening", that just maybe, your giving is hurting.

Read an announcement from Dallin Larsen today from a MonaVie website.  I am extremely impressed with the character and class that Dallin displays in all situations.  Winning is important, but John Wooden teaches - winning is not winning if you lose your character and class by resorting to mean spirited tactics.  Dallin Larsen is a leader of character and I am not shocked that his business enterprises have been blessed abundantly.  MonaVie is a fast growing company with a vision of going to 20 billion in their first 20 years.  I believe deeply in the life principle—“you reap what you sow.”  Dallin has reaped many rewards in life by first sowing love, respect and belief into people.  We can all learn from the example of Dallin Larsen on character based leadership.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Dear MonaVie Family,

I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the benefits of MonaVie on a daily basis.

The reason for this communication centers on recent legal filings between MonaVie and Quixtar, a sister company of Amway. I've had a hunch for some time now that with the thousands of distributors joining us on a weekly basis, along with our extraordinary growth over the past few years, that we would, unfortunately, ruffle the feathers of a few of our friends in other direct selling companies. Having previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Direct Selling Association in Washington, D.C., I can assure you that the vast majority of people I have worked with from other companies have been highly professional. I'm optimistic that this recent disagreement between MonaVie and Amway/Quixtar will be resolved amicably.

Many of our distributors have enrolled in MonaVie with no prior connection to any direct selling company, while others have had prior experience. For whatever reason, certainly not because we've targeted Amway/Quixtar, various individuals previously with Amway/Quixtar have chosen to join MonaVie. However, in our constant desire to operate as a responsible member of the direct selling industry, we recently went so far as to change our online enrollment form to specifically mention Amway/Quixtar by name, letting prospective MonaVie distributors know that we would not accept their application if they were still under a "non-compete" clause with Amway, or any other company for that matter.

Graden Jackson, General Counsel for MonaVie, has been in communication with various attorneys engaged at Amway's headquarters over the past several weeks. He informed them that we added specific language to our online form, which prohibits current Amway distributors from joining MonaVie. We did this even though we believe we had no legal obligation to show this level of support. In addition, I personally sent an official communication to every North American distributor in MonaVie stating that we have no desire to cause harm or consternation to Amway or any other direct selling company. I spoke the same words on stage at the recent regional meeting in Anaheim.

MonaVie doesn't need Amway distributors or any other company's distributors to grow a successful business. Furthermore, to my knowledge, we have never attempted to recruit another Amway distributor into MonaVie. Have some of their former distributors joined us? Yes. Have some former MonaVie distributors left MonaVie for other opportunities, perhaps even Amway? I'm sure they have. As I stated in my recent letter, and on stage at the Anaheim Regional Meeting, I refuse to attempt to require any disenchanted MonaVie distributor from staying in MonaVie against their will. If they believe their dreams are better served elsewhere, I would say: God bless you; we'll leave the door open should you ever choose to come back to MonaVie for another season in your life, or for the rest of your life.

I believe the reason for our success is because of our exceptional product, our rewarding compensation and incentive package, and the fact that we keep our word. Also, I believe we're successful because of the freedom we offer to our distributors. MonaVie distributors: you are independent distributors in MonaVie, not employees. I would be more than happy if every direct selling company in the world, including Amway, would remove "non-compete" clauses once and for all from their Policies and Procedures. It's my view that these policies are too often unfair to well-intentioned people who simply choose to pursue their dreams with another company, only to be told they are not free to do so, even after dedicating months—or even years—of their lives. At MonaVie, we will continue doing everything in our power to stick up for the rights of distributors.

On Monday, March 17, 2008, out of our commitment to protect the interests of MonaVie—and because we felt we had no other choice—we filed a complaint in the District of Utah, asking for a ruling on Amway's "non-compete" clause and whether or not it is enforceable. The following day, Amway filed a complaint of its own against MonaVie, claiming that we had inappropriately recruited distributors from Amway. We desire to resolve this matter in a professional, timely, and respectful way. To this end, and because I always believe that open communication leads to understanding, I have offered to meet with Amway's President in hopes that we can reach a win-win solution. In the meantime, I would ask that all of your communications continue to be above reproach.

In today's Internet world, I'm sure there will likely be some mean-spirited words spoken about me, our company, my kids, parents, and maybe even the dog I had in high school! Rest assured that I know to whom I turn for strength. I believe in a merciful God who has blessed me in countless ways, one of which is the relationships I have with so many of you. As an Eagle Scout, I try to live by that oath I took 35 years ago. We are doing a good work on so many levels. We're helping the kids in Brazil, and we're helping families around the world through our product and opportunity. I am proud of who we are and our company's culture.

In today's litigious environment, the larger we become, the more we will be challenged. With that in mind, I ask you once again to please represent this product for what it is: a food, not a drug. MonaVie is not intended to treat, cure, or mitigate any disease.

Finally, on a lighter note, we are having another record month at MonaVie! The 20/20 Vision of MonaVie marches onward. May we reach our goals as a company, always operating with integrity and speaking positively of each other and other companies, including Amway.

Warmest regards,

Dallin A. Larsen

Founder and President, MonaVie

Here is a true story of "little David" defeating "Goliath".  I have always pulled for the underdogs vs. the over-confident champs.  America loves a great upset and has provided many examples of them.  One of my all-time favorite sports moments was the "Buster" Douglas vs. Mike Tyson fight.  No one gave Douglas a chance, but he had dedicated this fight to his recently deceased mother.  When a person knows "why" they are doing something: they can endure almost any "how".   I am attaching the first of a series from HBO on the fight.  There are moments in every person's life where they must defeat their Goliaths.  Are you stalking your Goliath?  We need more David's in leadership - they will stand for truth and conviction instead of ease and comfort.  Here are some special lines from the video.

1. Mike Tyson's opponent, as usual, was paid little heed.  - Champions are knocked out when they stop respecting the competitors and develop a deity complex--thinking they are infallible and can do no wrong.

2. Opponents were terrified of Mike Tyson - Opponents should let the champion read the press clippings.  The opponent should be focused on strategy to beat the over-confident champ.

3. Another heavyweight that looked like a "sitting duck".  - It is not important what the crowd says, but what you feel and think inside your own mind that matters most.

4. Douglas was for this one big occasion going to be the fighter of his dreams! - When a person knows why they do what they do and focus on the end goal: great things can happen.

5. Fear was a lot of Tyson's weaponry. - Tyson relied on the fear of his opponent to mentally defeat them.

6. Fighters came in frozen like the prey of a cobra. - "Buster" Douglas did not fear Mike Tyson.

7. "Buster" Douglas's mother had just died and he felt he had nothing to lose by giving his all in memory of her. 

8. Tyson had begun to go on emotional rampages - This occurs with people and companies who develop a deity complex.

9. Tyson refused to run and develop his lung capacity - Champions who fall no longer feel they need to do the disciplined work.

10. Manager told Tyson, "You are not superman and the things you are doing - you are heading for a butt whuppin.

11. Announcers thought "Buster" was going to his doom, but "Buster" knew better!

12. Incredibly, the self proclaimed "Baddest Man on the Planet" was struggling in the ring.