My Million Dollar Day
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Monday, May 31st, 2010 9pm: I arrived at Salt Lake City (SLC) international airport. Darrin Cobler from corporate Usana was waiting for me to introduce himself and let me know he will be personally taking care of me during my Million Dollar experience. He walked me to my chauffeur driven limo and told me that the chauffeur will take me to my hotel. Darrin told me that he will come to the hotel shortly to deliver my Million Dollar Club blazer. I arrived at the "Grand American Hotel" about 30 minutes later. It was the most lavish and gorgeous hotel I have ever been to by a long shot. The entrance was grand and elegant. The staff were so incredibly helpful and polite. I got my key and went up to my room – on the 18th floor! The hotel was 24 stories high! |
I walked into my room at all I can say is amazing! My hotel suit (get this) contained 7 rooms in all. A foyer, walk in wardrobe, a huge lounge room (with desk, large TV, mountain and park views), a large double bedroom with a balcony, a change room with sink and vanity, an elegant bathroom, and a toilet. It was late that night and during the first few minutes I actually felt I was lost in my suit it was so spacious. It was a lovely suit that I could definitely get used to. |
There were fresh flowers cut and personal hand written messages from both Usana corporate and from the Hotel management welcoming me. And there was – to my delight – a large plate with a piano made of dark chocolate (yum!) and the piano was filled with hand made fine chocolate. |
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Tuesday, June 1st This a spare day for me. I wanted to arrive at SLC with a day up my sleeve to explore the city. I woke very early and did some light exercises in my room. I ate the lid of the piano, yum! And then I went to level 3 of the Hotel - which was an entire level dedicated to Day Spa, Gym and Indoor Pool. The pool was about 25 metre long and very elegant. I did 25 slow laps to get some exercise and then I relaxed in the hot bubbly spa for a while.
I then went to the sauna to relaxed some more, it was a great detox. There was beautiful men’s amenities so I freshened up. I then went back to my suit. I noticed their were scales in the bathroom and they spoke to me - “Hello, you are 165 pounds”. I got dressed and went to breakfast. It was a grand several course breakfast and I over did it a bit. Omelet, sausages, bacon, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, coffee, juice. I don’t know where I fit it all, but it certainly kept me going the whole day. I went back to my room (which impressed me every time I walked back in) I freshened up, and then I went to concierge to ask for directions around town. They were very helpful and told me all the sights in SLC and gave me a map too. So I hit the streets. There were free trams tight round the city, but I definitely had a big breakfast to work off, so I walked. SLC is a pretty city. Everything was perfectly organised and very clean. The streets were VERY large and so were the cars. Back in Greece I drive a large diesel 4wd, but in SLC my 4wd would have looked like a compact 4wd. The cars here were so much bigger. |
I spent the rest of the day sightseeing. The below picture is the huge Mormon church. It has no affiliation with Usana (or me) but I appreciated it as it is a it was a pretty beautiful building.
I also did some shopping for friends and family back in Greece. It was a nice relaxing day.
I went back to my room with an amazing and surreal feeling. It was almost as if I was dreaming. I already was having an amazing time, and the Million Dollar day had not even started yet. I had a dinner in my room, had a nice bath and went to bed with a blissful feeling. |
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Wednesday, June 2nd - The Million Dollar Day I woke up early, around 3am would you believe. Jet lag & excitement would not let me rest much. That’s ok though I wanted to enjoy every minute. I read a US newspaper, watched TV, and when the sun rose did my morning stretches and went to breakfast again. When I came back to freshen up, I jumped on the talking scales in the bathroom and this time they said - “Hello, you are 166 pounds”. I got dressed and went to my buffet breakfast. 8:30am: Usana took professional photographs of us (the new Million Dollar Club Inductees) at the hotel. There was a HUGE limo waiting to take us to Usana headquarters, and 6 policemen - riding Harleys! - to escort us. |
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The limo was amazing inside, it was so spacious and it even had a full bar with crystal-ware inside. And with 6 police escorts with sirens blaring, I felt like royalty. And if all this wasn't’t overwhelming enough, when we arrived at the Usana building we saw OUR FACES on a HUGE banner on the building. |
| Then we got taken to the unveiling of our celebrity style granite plaques. They are now a permanent part of Usana headquarters. |
We entered the building with red carpet rolled out, and ALL the Usana staff were in the foyer with a standing ovation for us to walk in. It was a bit overwhelming but wonderful all the same. When I joined Usana I was a draftsman by day, and a pizza maker by night, and now all this, it truly was a Million Dollar experience. And before I knew what was going on they handed me the mic, and I said a few words of gratitude. I also explained that Christine could not come as one of us had to stay behind to look after the kids. |
9:45 – 10:30am: Home Office Tour. Firstly we were shown the Hall of Fame. |
Then we were escorted through the entire manufacturing facility in detail. We got to witness the nutritionals being made in the state of the art premises. I can tell you that Usana goes to unbelievable length to ensure that they produce the worlds finest nutritional products. Let me give you some examples:
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Then I had 1on1 meetings with four of Usana top executives for a full one hour at a time. I got to pick their brains and ask many questions that raised my level of belief in the company even further - and I though my faith in Usana could not get any stronger, but it did. 10:30 – 11:30am: meet with Executive Director of Research & Development, |
Dr Cuomo was a very down to earth and quite man but highly intelligent and capable. I really took a liking to him as these are character traits that I admire greatly. Dr Cuomo is basically the 2nd head scientist in Usana. We spoke about the history of the products, and the need for supplementation. He pointed out to me where I can access medical literate and scientific studies that show it is beneficial to take supplements. For instance one of the resources he pointed me to was a 52 page white paper that I will be emailing a prospect that I met on the plane on the way in. She was a medical researcher and she thought there is no scientific proof vitamins work. Well, this white paper Dr Cuomo showed me is just what I needed to give her; click here for whitepaper "Health Benefits of Nutritional Supplements" |
11:30 – 12:30pm: meet with President, Fred Cooper Fred is a real character. He is so funny and articulately verbose. He is also an extremely savvy businessman and gifted mathematician. He is the person who decided what the comp plan will look like. |
| I had several important question to ask Fred, particularity around the Platinum Pace Setter program. In a nutshell, the Platinum Pace Setter while overall very successful and more than doubled the ratio of new Associates to turn Platinum Pace Setter. It did have some unforeseen undesirable effects, and Usana will review the Platinum Pace Setter very soon to iron these things out and make the program even better for all associates. I cannot wait for the announcement, it will be great news for us all. |
Also, I wanted to know the official Usana statistics for the last 10 years. I wanted to know, total active Associates, and active Preferred Customers for each year. I wanted to see officially that Usana was still growing. Well below are the official stats, and YES, Growth every year. About 277% increase within 10 years! |
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Year |
Q1 |
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2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Associates |
56,000 |
66,000 |
88,000 |
114,000 |
133,000 |
153,000 |
176,000 |
198,000 |
199,000 |
204,000 |
Preferred Customers |
41,000 |
45,000 |
51,000 |
63,000 |
70,000 |
78,000 |
78,000 |
71,000 |
67,000 |
65,000 |
Total |
97,000 |
111,000 |
139,000 |
177,000 |
203,000 |
231,000 |
254,000 |
269,000 |
266,000 |
269,000 |
12:30 – 3:00pm: Lunch with several Usana executives in a nice outdoor restaurant. I had a good chat with Roy Trett (Chief Information Officer) and I made some suggestions to him. He was a very nice guy who was certainly open to feedback from the field. |
| 3:00 – 4:00pm: meet with Chief Marketing Officer, Kevin Guest |
| Kevin is a savvy marketing guy, so obviously we had a lot to talk about. He told me how he joined Usana years ago. He had a very successful Sound and Vision recording studio and Usana was consistently using him as a contractor. Usana offered him employment several times, and his answer was “The only way I will become a Usana employee is if Usana buys my company”. And they did! And Kevin has been a loyal and valuable company employee for over a decade now. | |
4:00 – 5:00pm: meet with CEO, Dave Wentz
The first thing that impressed me about Dave was his office. It was beautiful and spacious. It has 270 degree views of the mountains, it has a kitchen, bathroom, an a gym! He even had an office within his office for his Personal Assistant. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo to show you, so you'll just have to go yourself one day and see what I am speaking about! Dave and I spoke about his family. He has a young son, with his second baby on the way. Dave is also fairly active and plays a lot of sports, so we had all these things is common: a love for Usana, our families, adventure and sports! And it was obvious that although Usana would like to expand in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, and hopefully Greece), they are 100% focused on getting into China ASAP.
Then we got chauffeured back to the hotel and had some rest time. 7pm: we got chauffeured to Spencer’s Steakhouse for dinner - by horse and carriage this time! It was lovely. |
| Several of Usana top executive were there including Fred Cooper ad Dave Wentz. Dave sat right next to me and we got to know each together a bit more over dinner. Thursday, June 3rd - iFly I woke again around 3am that morning as jet lag still had a hold of me. I did some exercises in my room, and went to an early breakfast – more food. Even though I am a food lover I could only take so much. After breakfast I jumped on the scales “Hello, you are 169 pounds”. My belly was starting to bulge a bit. 10:30am: Dr. John Cuomo & Darrin Cobler were waiting for my in the lobby for transportation to iFly in Ogden which was about 45 miles North of town. It is the exact same feeling as skydiving and it was one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life. See the below video to see what I mean. |
iFly was amazing, I loved it and I could have done it all day long. It went through till about 1pm, and then guess what, we went to lunch. More food! Dr John took us to a fantastic Thai restaurant, and we just about ordered one of everything so we could taste it all! It was all delicious. And luckily we had a limo to take us to the hotel, because between the jet lag, the adventure, and the oh so much wonderful food, there was no way I could walk home. When we got to the hotel, I thanked Darrin for everything and he left. |
I asked Dr John if he would like to stay for a game of backgammon. He agreed to my delight, and we had a drink and a nice game in the Lobby Lounge. Now regular backgammon is one game, but Greek backgammon is more complex - it is 3 totally different games. The winner is the best of the 3 games. So we played the usual first game as Dr John new it. Then I showed his the 2nd game in the Greek version. I was totally amazed how quickly he picked it up. In all my years of playing (and it’s been over 20 years) no one has ever picked it up so fast. We had a great time, but Dr John had to leave. I hugged him and thanked him and we said we’ll keep in touch. |
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I went up to my room and rested for a while. And then I got THE text message… “I have an hour free now if you can wing it - Tim Sales” I was over the moon. I called Tim and we met shortly after in the restaurant in the hotel. As you know Tim Sales is a legend in our industry. He is the creator of Brilliant Compensation and Pro Inviter. When we met the first thing I did is I accomplished the "GREET"! I asked about his family. Tim told me all about his son, who is now 16 years old and a talented saxophone player. Tim was so proud of his son. He spoke about his wife too, and I must say I accomplished the Greet perfectly because Tim was certainly speaking openly and freely to me. The we spoke about the network marketing industry and where it is headed. And what Tim told me is another Million Dollar Tip…
Thursday, June 3rd - iFly I woke up and stepped on the scales - “Hello, you are 171 pounds”. No grand breakfast for me that day, my belly was getting too big. For breakfast I finished eating the chocolate piano and I had a Rev 3. A chauffeur took me to the airport (I prospected him and got his number) And I had a quite flight home reliving all the wonderful people and events I has just experienced (and prospected the person who sat next to me and got his details too!) Yes, it takes a lot of work and dedication to join the Million Dollar Club in Usana. But do you know what, EVERYTHING is life takes a lot of work and dedication. And you cannot imagine how wonderful the gifts of True Health and True Freedom are, until you have achieved them. I wish very much for you too to experience this wonderful Million Dollar event. Go forth in confidence and pursue YOUR dreams. Usana is the way. Your Partner in Success
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