As many of you now know, yesterday with the internal team and today with the entire external field organization I announced publicly my resignation from Univera as the CEO of International. I’ll be wrapping up my time at Univera through the end of May.

I have nothing but the greatest things to say about my time at Univera. The people involved, and particularly each of the field leaders as well as some key people internally (special thanks to Regan, a great boss and friend, as well as my teammates, too many to mention), have been nothing short of exceptional to me–you’ve been true partners all along the way. I’m also grateful to Bill Lee, who has provided me such an incredible opportunity these past four years.

It’s now been 4.5 years, and after several expanded roles at Univera, I can think of no other job in North America that could have stretched me as much as did these past experiences. From good times to exceptionally tough times, from long-term strategic planning to dealing with urgent “today” issues, from driving to objective decisions based on market data to those decisions related almost wholly to heart, emotion and subjectivity, there is no other job that I can think of which would have been as powerful an accelerator in my personal and professional life as this one. It’s been 15-years worth of experience in a little under five years of time. And while I have learned so much, at the same time, I feel like I’m just getting warmed up.

Which puts me at a place in my professional career where, for a variety of reasons, I have selected to take a different path and move onto the next thing professionally. The dream that has existed at Univera for each of you still remains; for me, however, for now my dream and destiny rests elsewhere (the details of which I’m keeping quiet about for now). While I’m very excited about my future, I’m also bittersweet for the reasons each of you know.

What’s next?

As some of you recall, at Convention two years ago when I spoke about our goals and dreams, I made a firm commitment to achieve four goals in my life and created a plan in order to achieve each one. Two have been accomplished (a certain business goal, and also my trip back to Kolkata, India), yet two still remain to be completed–and I’m stubbornly determined to accomplish them both, in addition to some new ones along the way.

The two goals? One is to complete a book I am supposed to write, and it needs to be done this year. The second is a physical health goal, specifically to get down to 15% bodyfat. So I’m still going to succeed at these, no matter how frustrated or off course I’ve been with them both (and as an aside, neither should you be frustrated by any delays in your goal setting/achievement…you can still accomplish them, stick with it, keep re-loading as needed…don’t quit, don’t quit!), and those are going to be a focus this year in addition to my new professional endeavors.

And, there’s more writing I’ll continue to do. It’s not for lack of content that I haven’t blogged for the past month, for a variety of reasons I just felt better to let it rest. But I’m going to continue blogging.

And my focus will largely continue to be about personal development–to try to write in an authentic way, without idle BS that so often peppers our talk that gets in the way of truth, and to try to continue to share stories of people who have done either the ordinary or extraordinary, or have learned lessons along the way.

Some of them are stories of the deepest magnitude, a hero who touched–and saved–so many lives, like that of Rick Rescorla during 9/11. Others have been fun filled gifts of laughter and play, like the Forever Wedding Dance couple who taught us a simple lesson about celebration and having fun. And then there are stories about the unbridled passion to make a difference in the lives of kids–like Geoffrey Canada with the Harlem Children’s Zone. None  of those are original content, simply the pulling of stories of others with a few pieces of commentary alongside.

And it will continue to be sprinkled with some personal stories and anecdotes–some involving my business endeavors and others around personal experiences. So those things will continue, and I hope you’ll freely participate along the way. You can also follow me on Twitter (@richraz2) or on Facebook (“Rich Razgaitis”).

What I get absolutely fired up about is to see people pursue their passion, whatever and wherever that may be, so that each of us can find their destiny and achieve greatness (which, has nothing to do with title or money). These can mean radically different things for all of us. The key, though, for every one of us, is to find and pursue with unbridled passion those things for which you and I were intended.

That is when the magic happens.

It’s the reason that I love movies like Crazy Heart. Stories of redemption, personal calling, overcoming a struggle to achieve greatness. I read a great quote the other day: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” I love to connect with those who are fighting the hard battle–but also remain determined and destined to achieve greatness. At the same time, I would love to imprint upon others a distaste for apathy in a way that makes them sick. Yes, we should hate apathy (in most all cases) because it’s one of the greatest thieves from you pursuing your purpose. Being apathetic is giving up, it’s not caring. And once we’ve lost the heart and passion to care, well, I don’t know how to reignite that again–let alone help someone win.

So onwards with the stories of perseverance towards purpose.

Erica and the girls are both torn yet excited for our future. They, too, went “all in” with us on this Univera journey. I’m thankful for the sacrifices they’ve made to let me have the time and adventure with each of you. They’re ready for the next move, though, and are resilient and excited despite this being bittersweet.

I will miss each one of you. Tremendously. Together we have gone through it all, especially those of you who have been on this journey with me for years. It is, really, too difficult to put into words without sounding trite or filled with hyperbole. There’s a lot that’s happened. A lot we learned. And even more we gained.

So I’ll leave it at this: together we’ve been through it all, and I love you a lot. No matter what.

Thanks for a great journey.

Your friend,

Raz

Below is a quick snippet from the skin care presentation with Stephen surrounded by some of our beautiful Univera ladies!

So excited to have the ECONET panel speaking to everything this morning!

Here we are, the day before the big event. Lots happened today. All the preparation moments absolutely flew by, it’s like we’re on a locomotive and can’t slow it down. But it’s all good, starting with a fabulous Diamond leadership meeting earlier today, some exceptionally run workshops this afternoon, followed by a lot of fun and celebration this evening–INCLUDING the 70′s disco dance led by the Boogie Machine. What a fun start to this event, looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Today I’m reposting a video from a year ago as we prepare for a really exceptional event in Seattle NEXT WEEK! 

June 26th and 27th (though the 70′s celebration band/bash starts on Thursday night the 25th, as well as some great workshops earlier that afternoon) we’re going to be celebrating Univera’s 10th year anniversary, learning from the best of the best in business building which includes some great keynotes from Paul Zane Pilzer, Neil Offen (Prez of DSA), and Tim Sales. 

There’s personal development with Taylor Hartman and others, a deep reach into our culture where we’ll talk about the great work being done by Serve First and other volunteerism projects, some evening comedic relief with Michael Junior, and a lot of fabulous workshops. 

This entire event is focused on…getting all of us the next level.

Professionally (get to the next rank!), physically (run or walk the 5k, eat healthier!), and culturally (let’s increase contributions to the children needing nourishment, and give more time!). 

So in honor of next weeks event, and all the merits in coming to Seattle, I’m reposting a video that I made last year which is a plug for all the great reasons to come to Convention to experience the amazing city of Seattle. 

Keep in mind SOME of the content is outdated. For example, the dates themselves.

And the theme, though you can still “Dream, Achieve, Live” if you want to. 

But, there are even more benefits to the program we’re putting on this year for you and your business, and all the virtues of coming to Seattle are still alive and well. So, come and enjoy–and I look forward to celebrating with you soon.

This article really humbled me, for a few simple reasons.

I gained a real appreciation for some of the very hard work that people do across the world, in this case in the States, to make a living. At times I think I’ve worked pretty hard in my life. And then I read an article like this, and I think I hardly know the meaning of hard work. 

I was really enamored to read about how someone finds their passion, a calling and love for a certain job, in an industry where you wouldn’t think of it as an industry of passion (the article is about logging, which I am sure for some is a controversial subject–but unless you live in a Yurt or Tent, then the reality is you probably live in a structure that somehow ties back to the logging industry). Sure, there are jobs out there–in any Company and industry–where people are just punching a clock. But, then, there are those certain people who have a passion for what they do (these people are the “magic” in an organization).

And, as it turns out, this includes the logging industry. 

This story also reminded me of a few other things personally.

In the Fall of 2000 I was working as an Exec at a start-up company in Manhattan. It was an incredible job and opportunity, but the hours and intensity were pretty brutal, I can’t quite describe it and unless you’ve been in that environment you can’t understand it. During the week I rarely got home before midnight (maybe one night a week, two if I was lucky) and it was pretty normal to get home in the middle of the night or early morning. Yet, I loved it and it was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. But with every job there’s a bit of “downside” and the time required for this job was one of them. 

Then one day I was feeling a bit fatigued, and was probably even pining a bit to myself about the magnitude of our task, and that same day I stumbled onto a Wall Street Journal article. It told the story about two Chinese citizens living in the rural countryside, and the amount of work they had to do daily just to earn enough to afford a shanty for their family along with simple rice and chicken as food. Above the story there was an oversized picture of these two men working; I remember one guy was 67 years old. He looked 80. And the work in the rice fields appeared backbreaking. And there was no future, for them it just looked so hopeless. Even though it was a sterile B&W photo from 10,000 miles away in an environment I’m unfamiliar with, their exhaustion poured off of the page I was holding in my hands. That day I took that picture and posted it on my wall at work (and have kept it ever since) as a reminder of the privilege I have been given. 

The story below reminds me a bit of that article from nearly a decade ago, and it gave me a new appreciation for the hard work that goes on across the world, and also the passion that people can find within it. 

Click here to read the full story.

Going into the Univera Cruise a few weeks ago I was still working towards my physical goal for the year (and, technically, my target date is still end of June) but I’d moved into the mode of “well, I’ll try my best.” It was accompanied with a bit of a plan, like working out a few days a week and hitting some cardio. And trying to eat better, low glycemic foods. I was actually doing okay. But I wasn’t on track to hit my goal. 

I’m convinced a critical part of all our leadership, in any capacity, is both setting and accomplishing goals.

So midway through the Cruise the subject really unloaded on me as I was talking about setting in place your “next steps” for success on your goals to the rest of the attendees. Which, for me, specifically, had become somewhat lax related to my physical goal. So during the Cruise I became more convicted, and realized I needed to re-establish my plan. It was on the trip that I faced the hard facts–that if I didn’t do something significantly different then I was going to fail in achieving my objective.

My mistake was a simple and common one. I’d relegated a really important personal objective to simply “trying”, without the necessary support plan to ensure I both would and could get it done. 

So I came back and sat down the day after I got home, and I created a very specific plan between early May and June 26th–in fact, I went beyond that date, but I put together what I thought was the most aggressive plan that I could possibly achieve (while maintaining other responsibilities). It was very specific.

From eliminating all caffeine or wine during the week (even Green Tea, which I love but have relegated to the weekends in exchange for Roobios tea which has zero caffeine and is loaded w/ antioxidants) to eating the exact same breakfast daily (Bill Pearl protein/oatmeal combo–easy, filling, and healthy) to a virtual elimination of red meat from my diet (only once/week) among other specific plans. 

I applied the same rigor for my exercise goals, where I committed to a very specific cross-training regimen that includes Spin class on Monday’s, moderate-length runs on Tuesday through Thursday (along with lifting free weights two of these days) a rest day Friday, followed by a long run on Saturday’s and then Bikram yoga on Sunday’s. 

Even my supplementation (particularly Univera products) were isolated with how much in the AM/PM, what dosage, a titration schedule, etc. Incidentally, I’m not suggesting any of this should be your plan. In fact, I’m quite certain it shouldn’t. Instead, adopt or create something specific to you. 

By the time I was done with the plan, I KNEW that if I had a chance of achieving my goal going into Convention this was my best shot. The issue wasn’t whether it was a good plan in order to get me to my goal, as I drafted it up I KNEW it would work (at least eventually by end of summer if not by end of June) for my body type and personality. And that once I accomplished the plan I would then transition to a bit more balance, but still maintain the fundamentals. 

The question, then, became whether I was committed to following and adhering to the plan? 

Would I do what it takes? Did I really want it? And could I transform from “try” to a new mindset which was simply “no excuses, go and do it.”

The day after I wrote up the plan a funny thing happened.

I got quite sick.

It’s the most sick I’ve felt in a few years (for those of you that saw me during this time, I think I actually hid it quite well but I used a fair amount of help from Mr. Nyquil, in addition to Solanyx, Immunoburst, and Super Immune). Normally, I get over a cold or illness relatively quickly. But this was unique. This sickness, I think, was a test. It was a test to help me determine whether I’m really committed to this, and also served as a really important lesson about doing things even when you don’t feel like it. 

It made me ask myself whether I really wanted this goal, and was I willing to sacrifice or fight through feeling lousy to adhere to the plan. When I didn’t FEEL like walking two blocks, was I really willing to do my ten mile run?  

And, I came to the conclusion, that I didn’t want to fail. That’s the bottom line. I could deal with delaying my achievement date for a few weeks or months (though I’m not conceding that just yet either), and I could deal with “doing my absolute BEST” and not achieving the objective. But that I couldn’t get comfortable with a “I’ll try pretty hard” effort. I realized, I really wanted to get this done. It’s not to say that each day wasn’t a pain to get through the workout, but after each one I felt a bit better. Not physically, but emotionally. I’d built up a bank account of performed accountability, even if just to myself and with small things, that built upon each other. 

Today was the first day in two weeks that I felt “back to normal.” But that’s not what got my psyched today. What got my psyched today is that I realized I accomplished one battle over the past two weeks, which was the battle of “I feel so badly I can’t motivate to do anything physically”, yet I did it anyways. 

And it was a great reminder about the importance of having a plan and committing to the plan from a very different context than I was used to. 

Because it’s this simple. 

If we all operate under the plan for our most important goals and dreams that “I’m going to give it a try” without a clear and actionable plan then we’re–at best–setting ourselves up to fall into success. And, at worst, we’re setting ourselves up for a frustrating failure. If I’d relegated workouts over the past two weeks to when I felt like it I wouldn’t have exercised once. But, because I set out and committed to the plan, it became an easier (not easy, just easier-ER) decision. It wasn’t about whether I felt like it–it was about whether I was committed and willing to make the decision and do what it took. The plan was laid out, all I had to do was follow it.

Al Keranen and Glenn "Big Daddy" Hubbard

…you missed it and you’re a Univera associates (or interested in making some extra money), here’s a replay. 

Normally, I reserve my blog for topics related to leadership, service, and wellness–mixed in with some personal stories. Yet so much of my life is Univera and the related activities spillover continually–and this is one of those. The following was a really fun announcement (Glen and Teresa were great thanks to you both) to make via a simulcast to well over to 1,000 Univera associates who watched LIVE from all over North America–and on a Friday night to boot. In addition, we had about 150 people attending the Executive Invitational this weekend who were also in the audience.

Watch live video from Univera’s channel on Justin.tv

Starting this weekend I’m going to do a multi-part series of posts over the next week on Servant Leadership, specifically as it relates to some of the lessons I learned from my trips to Kolkata, India. Originally, I was going to start the series today, but today, after our most recent Univera Celebration Cruise I’ve gotta write about ENERGY.

Team California (and special award winners on last night!)

The magic of Xtra is, ultimately, energy. 300 billion cells. Renewal. Alpha-Ketoglutarate. Kreb cycle. All that stuff, it works to give people a breakthrough botanical product–not a juice–that gives people natural and high output energy (among other things). 

Last night, as I was preparing some final remarks for the last night of the Cruise celebratory sendoff, it dawned on me that the magical benefit of Univera products is also the magic of our business and associates: energy. 

Platinum Special Event

We’re just returning from the Univera Cruise where we had all the top performers over the past year, spanning numerous ranks, spend five days and four nights in the Bahamas. I think it was this trip that I really started to understand how much I love the people in this Company. It might be a bit like with kids, where I go through each stage of their life and I say “Now THIS is the best stage, I love them so much and wish they could just stay right here.”

Our Little Boat

Yet, invariably, the next stage gets better. This weeks trip was, in some ways, like that.

Except this included a bunch of new people that I’d never before met. I met individuals and teams from every part of North America who, in their own unique way, make a community what it is. Filled with diversity and uniqueness–people of all colors and ages, with all sorts of different backgrounds and work experiences; some who were familiar with Relationship Marketing prior to Univera, and many many others who at one point in their past said “I would NEVER do Relationship Marketing!”, until they found our products. And the model. And also the people–which are fundamentally what comprise the culture.

Mr. Fun and Personality, CEO Regan Miles (GREAT guy!)

I heard the most magnificent stories this week, and watching the attendees interact and exchange and collaborate and share with fun, laughter, and enjoyment–as well as straight out deep dives into business opportunities and ways to advance to the next level, was simply satisfying. The week was devoid of the things that break down leadership groups like ego, arrogance, and exclusivity. Instead, it was filled with the bounty of leadership behaviors like inclusivity, excitement, coachability, appreciation, and mutual concern, and regard for each other. There are many stories I could share from the event, unfortunately time doesn’t allow and I’ve precious few pictures on my iPhone (though check back in a few days, I’ll upload a few other pics I get from peers or the office). 

Some highlights:

The two workshop sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, Stephen was simply exceptional (I realize he is always good, but this was a top 10 moment). And the 90-minutes of field leader led presentations (thanks Diamonds/Blue

Camping out at the workshops

 Diamond) was about the best training session that I’ve seen. It was insightful, authentic, fun, and applicable. I heard so many great comments from those who say through the presentations. Each was good, but the one that stands out was the roundtable discussion between Kenny Rossi and Angelyn Toth. They actually have a nearly identical color code, yet they’re in many ways so different. But that’s part of what makes this group so good, they’re each exceptional individuals who represent some of the top business performance by their teams during the past year. 

Okay, what else?

Mr. Animal and Mr. Rossi, rapping

Karaoke. This was probably the most fun portion of the trip, where we laughed together–including some laughing at me–during my first-ever Karaoke debut, as well as that of Dave Nash. Meredith, I’m quite certain, would win the most talented award for Karaoke. She was almost annoyingly good. If they had kept it open, I could’ve stayed and hung in the Karaoke lounge for many hours more. 

I loved hearing Glenn and Kenny sing/rap a Ricky Martin song. It was truly memorable. And just a little bit bad. Lots of energy, you can’t say they don’t give 100% to everything they do. Even singing. And unfortunately my rendition of Hey Jude wasn’t as good as the original below but I think the energy on stage with all the associates was better. 

At our first stop I was supposed to take the Platinums snorkeling, but weather didn’t allow it. Twenty minutes later Julie Darby helped me come up with an alternative game plan which worked out great, including a picture perfect lunch on the beach overlooking crystal blue seas and conch fritters along with great company–which then was followed by a really cool trip to some local Bahamian gardens (featuring a lot of medicinal plants). It really didn’t matter what we did because just getting to know the people was the enjoyment. The setting just made it better. 

Also this week I received my honorary Canadian citizenship bestowed by a team from up North, and I’ll always remember the first night out on the deck of the ship wee into the night looking at the stars with Richard, Yogita, and a few others from their team, where we talked about everything from business to life to spirituality and religion at a level of openness and authenticity that I’ve not felt in a long time. It was a revealing moment of getting to know people as just that.

Last night closing comments

As I write I feel so blessed and appreciative of all the Univera team who worked so hard to earn this trip, for showing your spirit and enthusiasm and friendship this past week, and also those who invested many hours to prepare and organize the event (thanks Corporate team).

We’ve got the magic.

In the products.

As well in our business.

And it all starts with energy.

The Univera Cruise Winners, such a fantastic group!

I know what you’re thinking…

“Hey, Raz has yet another one of those Susan Boyle/Paul Potts videos for us.”

Well, actually I do but not for today.

Though as I’m on it, there’s another really great video with a super touching story about an American guy who has a special relationship with his mom and just seems like the sweetest man. But that’s for another posting, I can’t do three of those blog entries in a row.

So today? One last look…at the Road Tour. Thanks to everybody that made this such a success.

And a few “behind the scenes” looks at the Road Tour.

So with all the fanfare with Susan Boyle and her amazing performance on “Britain’s Got Talent”, and my many many views of her performance in the last few days (to the point that my wife is teasing me), I’ve become captured with a few other great stories ofnormal people doing exceptional things that have been featured on a few reality shows. I don’t watch much TV, but some of these highlights on YouTube are just too fantastic not to share.

The ones below I saw about a year back, a similar story to Susan’s. I think there’s a reason that we’re all so intrigued by these exceptional shorts–in total these videos have been viewed on YouTube tens of millions of times, there’s a buzz about it.

Why are these so popular?

For me, I’m drawn by seeing someone’s inspiration. Sheer determination. And ultimate. success. Seeing someone’s “Renewal.” It’s the archetypical underdog story of a longshot, someone left behind or forgotten and dismissed or simply underestimated, that has “it” deep within them, sticks with it, and wins big.

I’d love to hear other opinions on what has made these clips of Paul and Susan SUCH a sensation–comment away!

So, here it is…Paul Potts, from over a year ago on Britain’s Got Talent. The first video is his audition. The second video is a deeper look at the Paul Potts story.

And once again, take a look at the crowd–the smirks and laughter–before his performance, and how he absolutely transforms the audience during the event.

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And here’s the other clip that gives a bit more of the story after it unfolded.