For several years now, the Acton School of Business, a private school with a one-year MBA program has offered coursework in entrepreneurship. Started in 2002, it ranked #13 just last year on the Princeton Review’s top graduate entrepreneurial program list.
The link with Southwestern Advantage is the class is required to take on a three-day entrepreneurial challenge in which they sell the My Fun With Words book set to families in their homes around Austin.
Jeff Sandefer, Acton’s co-founder and a professor at the school says this is an attempt to teach entrepreneurs something they must know how to do: sell. The three-day Sales challenge is mandatory and the students must be successful. Sandefer maintains the skills needed to sell to a stranger are the same needed to be a successful entrepreneur.
Sales managers with Southwestern Advantage have assisted with training and the monies collected for wholesale and shipping are sent to the company, while the profits made are given to a nonprofit of Acton’s choice.
Southwestern Advantagewas recognized with awards by the Public Relations Society of America – Nashville Chapter at the 26th Annual Parthenon Awards in Nashville in two main areas. The Parthenon Awards recognize Middle Tennessee public relations practitioners and the quality and results of their work throughout the previous year.
The first award was for the ‘Share the Advantage‘ program in the Public Service category. Taking home the top prize was no easy task, as this particular category contains the best of programs and campaigns aimed to address issues related to serving particular social needs in the community.
The second form of recognition was the Hercules Award. Julie Davis, Senior Director Corporate Communications at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, submitted Southwestern Advantage Director of Communications, Trey Campbell, as a nominee for the 2012 Hercules Award. The award honors “a career of accomplishment in the PR field.” It is based on professional work results, demonstrated ethical practices, proven leadership skills, contribution to the PRSA chapter and community involvement. This is the PRSA-Nashville version of a “lifetime achievement” award.
The Share the Advantage program concept was conceived by Henry Bedford after watching the documentary “Waiting for Superman” about the state of the declining education systems in America. Henry was moved to take action to make a difference.
Since our products are educational (a learning system which includes reference books, children’s books, CD-ROMs and a subscription website), he tasked the Southwestern Advantage marketing and communications team with putting together a program to reach the youth who did not have direct access to our learning products. The majority of the children he wanted us to reach either can not afford our products because of their low income level or we do not sell in their neighborhoods for safety reasons. These are the children who need our products the most. Through his vision, what we came up with was a give-away program for the subscription website to organizations who can work with at-risk youth. In other words, for every one purchased, we would donate one.
This program was quickly expanded to include all other service projects so as to include other product donations and volunteer hours, but still focus on youth-centric services. Projects have ranged from an over $1 million donation and appearance on the TODAY Show to nearly 600 college students participating in a massive “Share the Advantage” three day project in some of the poorest neighborhoods in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The awards dinner was held at Marathon Music Works and hosted by Samantha Stephens, Entertainment Reporter and On-Air Personality for the CMT Radio Network. Since 2003, Southwestern Advantage has won 18 awards from PRSA-Nashville for excellence in communications.
Nathan Jones (right) receives a "Big Check" after a summer of running his own business with Southwestern Advantage
Southwestern Advantage Corporate Recruiter Nathan Jones, a graduate of Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska, is off to a great start when it comes to preparing for his future.
Nathan, preparing for his third Southwestern summer, was quoted in a USA Today in an article titled: “Life Stages: First job, first paycheck and first budget,” by Hadley Malcolm. The article is about getting started in life on the right financial foot. This includes saving, investing and finding a mentor who has financial knowledge to help you.
Nathan talks about how Southwestern Advantge taught him how to budget and factor in necessities that are often overlooked by young people just staring out.
Lee McCroskey and Haley Price with Hunters Lane student D'Angelo Sawyer.
The Chamber of Commerce in Nashville has announced the nominees for the 2nd Annual Academies of Nashville Awards. Southwestern Advantage made the cut.
The awards celebrate the success and excellence in Metro Nashville’s school reform efforts for the 12 zoned high schools. Over 240 recommendations from high school faculty were turned in for consideration to a nominating committee composed of leaders from the school district leaders, Chamber of Commerce and PENCIL Foundation.
Each finalist has been asked to provide a 150-word description of their activities and accomplishments in regard to the Academies of Nashville program. The description will be posted and the 600 members of the Academy will vote online from March 12-21. The votes will be secret-ballot style and be administered by Deloitte. The winner will be announced by an invitation-only event on May 14.
Southwestern Advantage is a partner with Hunters Lane High School for their Business and Marketing Academy. The category we are nominated is: Academy Partnership of the Year, Business, Marketing and IT Partnership Council.
The description for Southwestern Advantage is as follows:
The Southwestern partnership with the Academies of Nashville can be summed with one word: engaged. Executives participate in many events including Career Explo, parent nights, and class speaking opportunities for freshmen and seniors covering a spectrum of topics from staying in school to preparing for college. This year we’ve had four executives serve as mentors for six DECA competition teams. We were also delighted to have a dozen students participate in a job shadow day where they met with our marketing team and participated in a product focus group. Through our “Share the Advantage” program, we were able to donate over $10,000 of College Prep Pack CD-ROMs to help students prepare for the ACT and SAT tests. We’ve also donated memberships to our subscription based website for students to get the help they need with school work. It’s been a wonderful relationship on both sides.
Rory Vaden of Southwestern Consulting will be on the national morning TV show “Fox & Friends” this Monday morning at 7:20 AM (EST). As many of you have heard by now, Rory’s new book “Take the Stairs” was #1 on USA Today and Wall Street Journal and has hit the NewYork Times bestseller list again this week! We are very excited to have such a great bookman representing Southwestern Advantage principles on a national stage. So tune in, set your DVR’s and tell your friends!
Fox & Friends
with Southwestern alumnus Rory Vaden
Monday, February 27th 7:20 AM EST
If you haven’t picked up a copy of Take the Stairs you go to http://www.buytakethestairs.com/ get some awesome free bonuses with the book.
Southwestern Consulting’s Rory Vaden’s new book, Take the Stairs, hit the #1 spot worldwide in all categories including the Best Sellers in Books category on Amazon! It was also #1 on the Barnes and Nobles listings in all categories.
In Take the Stairs, Rory focuses on the importance of self-discipline in a world of “short cuts” and “quick fixes.” Rather than taking the escalator, successful people “take the stairs” to where they want to go. The book offers advice and proven principles about how successful people think and work. He also tackles obstacles to success such as procrastination and complacency.
To support the launch of the book, Rory will be taking a bus tour across America in which he will be partnering with local nonprofits and charities focusing on youth education programs. (see the tour stops below). The tour stop will include a “Take the Stairs Live Seminar” and book signings. A suggested $10 donation will be taken at the door.
Rory has dedicated his life to developing strategies that can immediately be applied to obtain desired results. He is a co-founder of Southwestern Consulting, part of the Southwestern Family of Companies. Rory was a student dealer in the Southwestern Advantage program while a student at the University of Denver. He ran his own business selling Southwestern Advantage products for five summers beginning in 2001. Among his many accomplishments at Southwestern, he is a two-time member of the prestigious Wall of Greats for building a team of 20 or more in a particular year and a past Student Excellence award winner.
Rory’s bus tour may be coming to a city near you!
February 7 New York, NY
February 20 Nashville, TN
February 21 Jerseyville, IL
February 22 St. Louis, MO
February 23 Toledo, OH
February 27 Suwanee, GA
February 28 Birmingham, AL
February 29 Austin, TX
March 1 Dallas, TX
March 2 Wichita, KS
March 3 Salina, KS
March 4 Littleton, CO
March 5 Longmont, CO
March 6 Denver, CO
March 9 Ogden, UT
March 12 Phoenix, AZ
March 13 Anaheim, CA
March 14 Vista, CA
March 15 San Diego, CA
For more information about Rory or Take the Stairs, go to www.roryvaden.com.
John Davis, President of Great American Opportunities, Inc., and Henry Bedford, CEO of Southwestern/Great American, Inc. announced the acquisition of QSP, Inc., QSP Canada and eFundraising last week.
The acquisition will provide an even greater opportunity for all of us to help families. This is something that’s always been a mission for the Southwestern Family of Companies. It also will enable Great American to help many more schools with their fundraising efforts.
All QSP assets and business will be part of the deal. The QSP sales force will be combined with the current Great American sales force and they will work to redefine sales territories.
Henry told a reporter for the Nashville Business Journal how the addition of QSP will enhance the opportunity to advance a line of business that helps schools. As well, it will enhance the corporate family overall with the amazing growth potential the combination of these companies represents.
This addition to our corporation just allows that many more children and families to become familiar with the “Southwestern Advantage’ all our companies have when it comes to making a difference.
Southwestern‘s 26th annual Great Recruiters Seminar just came to a close over the weekend at downtown Nashville’s Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center. The three day event featured a long list of speakers teaching parts on business principles, ethics, philanthropy, leadership, and growing personal production.
Thursday evening’s kickoff meeting began with Corporate Recruiters Caleb Rich and Amy Lavallie recognizing individuals who performed well in sales and team building in 2011. Following recognition, dealers participated in a meet and greet session by taking photos with other dealers who they had not yet met. The photos were to include the new Southwestern Advantage sunglasses that all seminar attendants received at registration, followed by a Twitter session where students tweeted their photos and followed each other’s accounts.
The first session of the night was given by Associate Sales Leader Liz Tran and European manager Karel Koiv on the subject of “How To Build Your Business.” The two presented suggestions and ideas to students on what helped them grow their own personal businesses and teams when they were first beginning and how they stayed motivated through their challenges.
The session to follow was given by Sales Manager Grant Greder on the topic of “Money Tips: How To Be Rich (Slowly)” where students were shown money management and investment options, budgeting plans, and ways to maintain your finances properly back at campus.
The evening’s third session featured guests speaking about our ‘Share The Advantage’ program. Corporate Recruiter Jaselyn Taubel shared her feelings on the impact that our program makes, along with program participants April Snodgrass and John Key. April is an Academy Coach at Hunters Lane High School in Nashville, and John is the Executive Director of Community Servants, Inc — both recent partners of our donation program. The two gave tremendous parts and helped show our students how the products that they sell during the summer are now being donated to organizations at a 1:1 rate where they are being used to improve and impact the educational opportunities of youth in at-risk areas.
The night concluded with a keynote address from Sam Kirk. Sam was one of the youngest to ever work with Southwestern – starting when he was a junior in high school at age 16. Sam was with Southwestern for 17 years, culminating a stellar career as a Sales Manager between 1986-1992. He is President of Creating an Environment of Success, headquartered here in Nashville. His wife Cynthia is also a Southwestern alumna, and their son Eugene worked with Southwestern for two years. Sam gave a moving part on his current program Youth About Business that teaches middle school and high school students the principles of business success by giving them hands on experience working closely with executives on major projects in preparation for a solid foundation for college and/or entrepreneurship.
Late night sessions on team building and sales were also held in the hotel conference rooms by top sales people and recruiters such as Matt Ross, Katia Sand, Trinity Taylor, Chris Salata, and Christine Martin.
Friday morning began with Southwestern’s Executive Chairman of the Board Spencer Hays sharing his remarks and encouragement to the students.
Following Spencer was a 2012 online product update for dealers given by product managers Ethan Shen, Haley Price, David Kong, and Kate Raidt.
Marketing’s Tabitha Taylor then shared a promotion for the Great Recruiters Getaway Trip which is an incentive for building and managing a top producing team each year. Tabitha shared details about 2011′s trip in December that took winners to Roatan, Honduras.
The mid-day featured three breakout sessions that students could choose from. Lee McCroskey, Head of Sales Development, lead a short course on how to connect with people. Kimberly Ritzer, President of Hot Mama and Southwestern alumna, lead a part on how what students are learning during their time with Southwestern can and should be used to grow their future careers. The third workshop was lead by top salespeople Ranol Kasevali and Charlotte Almeida on how to increase production during the summer months.
The evening sessions featured Communications Director Trey Campbell, Tabitha Taylor, and Ryan Davis giving tips on the importance of being smart and professional with social media.
Sales Manager Lester Crafton spoke afterwards with a moving part on what it means to be a leader who is unconditionally committed to doing what they say they’re going to do and leading by example.
After Lester, student managers Jennifer Perez, Brandon Abernathy, and James Pena each addressed the crowd about how their student manager made an impact on them by consistently believing in and supporting them.
The evening continued with CEO Henry Bedford sharing our company’s new philanthropic directions with dealers, followed by European Sales Manager Chris Adams on how to build a great team and why to “share your advantage with them.”
Friday’s keynote address featured Rory Vaden. Rory is a five summer Southwestern alumnus and current record holder of building the largest team (22) as an in-school dealer. Rory presented a powerful part on self-discipline and gave numerous examples of how successful people form the habits of doing things that unsuccessful people don’t feel like doing, showing that there are no shortcuts to success.
Saturday morning, like Friday, began with another optional spiritual time-out hosted by Nebraska Manager Joel Kosch and Christine Martin. Afterwards, Haley Price, along with special guest Jose Perez (Division Vice-President of Tom James), presented a part to students on the importance of being a young professional in our industry and line of work.
Saturday’s breakout sessions featured Sales Manager John Thomas on how to bounce back from a challenging summer, Sales Manager Nick Henderson on “The Power of Focus: How to Navigate Life & Stay Motivated”, and Sales Manager Virgie Sandford on how to build and keep a great team.
The seminar sessions ended with President Dan Moore giving an emotionally charging part entitled “Life 101″ where he advised students to carefully decide what their individual life philosophies would be and why doing so at a young age is so incredibly important.
The Freddies
The weekend concluded Saturday evening with the 13th Annual J. Fred Landers Awards Banquet at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon. This private, black tie event recognized and awarded the best of the best company-wide in sales and team building from 2011, and gave dealers and managers an opportunity to celebrate another great year of accomplishments including the personal and professional development of the student dealers.
Musical guest Isaac Hayden, featured on NBC’s ‘The Sing Off’, performed live for students to begin the night. Over the course of the two hour show, twelve awards were handed out to our company’s top individuals:
In a meeting with three school officials, Southwestern presented the Share the Advantage program to enrich the study resources for the students at Hunters Lane Comprehensive High School.
Hunters Lane is Southwestern Advantage’s partner in the Metro Nashville’s Public School’s propgram called “The Academies of Nashville.” This is a city-wide initiative between business and public high schools. Various career focuses are located at different high schools throughout the city. The combined efforts of the business partners and school make up the “Academies.”
Lee McCroskey, Director of Sales Development, Trey Campbell, Director of Communications and Christine Martin, Southwestern Corporate Recruiter, held a presentation at Hunters Lane for April Snodgrass, Academy Coach, Carlene Ford, College and Career Counselor at Hunters Lane and Melissa Sutherlin, AVID teacher for the high school.
A set of Southwestern’s six-volume Advantage books were donated with 100 of the company’s College Prep Pack CD-ROM bundle. A brainstorming session followed with the different ways to use the donations of Southwestern’s subscription website, www.swadvantage.com. With the staff excited about all of the possibilities, the meeting was concluded.
At Southwestern’s invitation, April Snodgrass will be one of the speakers addressing the student dealers at the 25th Annual Great Recruiters Seminar in Nashville on Thursday, January 12, 2012. She will be discussing the Share the Advantage program from a partnership standpoint and the joint Academy relationship.
Our recent Sizzler sales incentive trip for our Southwestern Advantage dealers to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was a huge success. The trip featured 3 separate days of ‘Share The Advantage‘ service projects that allowed each sales group in the company to take a day to give back to the local community.
Day 1 Summary – RISE Orphanage - The Standard sales group
The first day of Sizzler Projects belonged to The Standard organization. The group began the day at Wal-Mart to participate in a “Battle of the Busses” competition to see who could purchase the most needed items. Dealers ended up purchasing $4,800 worth of supplies and donations, not to mention all of the personal donatable items they brought with them to Mexico. After some fun time with the children, half the student dealers stayed at the orphanage while the other half took the children to the beach to spend time playing with them. The students who stayed behind worked on painting rails, scraping and painting exterior walls, and cleaning out a storage center. The other group of dealers played at the beach in the surf while getting to know the children they met, most of whom had been dropped off and abandoned by parents who were no longer able to provide care for them. The interaction with these children was worth the trip alone!
Day 2 Summary – Casa Mojanaros Orphanage & Centros de Integracion Juvenil A.C. – Eagle/Blitz, JYD, Dynasty sales groups
The second day of Sizzler Projects started with another visit to Wal-Mart where approximately $3,800 was spent by student dealers to help with the orphanage. Henry Bedford, CEO, was on hand to shop with dealers for a second close “Battle of the Busses.” Tabitha Taylor’s bus edged out Trey Campbell’s for the win in their pie-in-the-eye competition. Being a great sport, Tabitha also got a pie to the face at the orphanage. On this day, half the group visited a school where they had a large welcome banner for Southwestern. Upon arrival, the children performed songs and celebrated their local culture with us. It ended in a dance-off and conga line with all the students having fun! They presented a certificate of appreciation to Southwestern. While at the orphanage, the student dealers made lunch and ate with the children, then played games and spent time talking with them. Much of the supplies purchased at Wal-Mart went to help this organization, as it is in the middle of one of the largest child prostitution areas in Mexico.
Henry Bedford also visited several families in the area and has pledged to help them with their housing needs. Southwestern Advantage will even be donating money to help them with their computer needs. More to come on this!
Day 3 Summary – Center for the Deaf & Mute, Jardin de Ninos (kindergarten), Albergue Vida Nueva Orphanage -
Redline, F.O.R.C.E. sales groups
The third and last day of Sizzler Projects consisted of three organizations. The first was a Center for the Deaf and Mute which needed lots of maintenance work. Half a bus load of students were dropped off there while the other half went to a local kindergarten. At the kindergarten, student dealers were treated to a live demonstration of what the children learned while at school. Student dealers were then able to interact with them and take a tour of the small neighborhood school. The school was given a much needed water pump so that it had access to a fresh water source for the children. Upon return to the deaf and mute center, the students joined the ones already there and waterproofed the roof, scraped and painted the ceilings and walls of the modest two room block building, and learned a few ways of communicating with sign language from the children the group served. The deaf and mute center also received water piping that allowed it to have a much improved water supply than the old one that was currently installed. While there, the media showed up for interviews and pictures.
Later in the day, a third group went to a local orphanage where they got to know the children, gave them donated items and painted a beautiful mural.
The smiles on the children’s faces said it all. In total, approximately $9,000 in toys, clothes, and food were given by dealers in attendance, as well as $7,000 in Southwestern Advantage books to be divided among the libraries of each visited center. The service projects were a wonderful time that impacted not only the local community, but the dealers as well. It has become an annual tradition that our company is excited to continue growing!
Rory Vaden of 
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