Melaleuca Receives “Education for Life” Award from DSA

The National Direct Selling Association (DSA) recently presented Melaleuca and company CEO Frank VanderSloot with its 2005 “Education for Life Award.” This prestigious award honors select companies that have made a substantial commitment to quality education and life-improvement training for their own sales representatives, an investment that serves them well not only today, but tomorrow, too.

The Burden of Debt

Owning your own home is the American dream. But for far too many, being anchored in debt is simply a nightmare. Melaleuca helps solve this dilemma-with sound financial education.

Melaleuca’s Financial Freedom University and Financial Freedom Awards are two programs that educate friends and family on how to get out from under the burden of debt and eventually attain a home of their own.

Frank’s Vision

Financial Skills Education has always been a part of Frank VanderSloot’s vision for Melaleuca. Melaleuca was founded on Frank’s vision of giving people the opportunity to reach their goals. Growing up on a small farm in the mountains of northern Idaho, Frank watched his father work long, grueling hours on the railroad for less than $300 a month. The family raised their own beef, tended a garden, and worked hard to make ends meet.

After promising his father that he would get a college education, Frank worked hard on the farm, on the railroad, in a laundromat, and at several other jobs to pay his way. After college, Frank landed a job at a Fortune 500 company and rose to the position of vice president. Upon founding Melaleuca, he developed the company’s mission statement: “Enhancing the lives of those we touch by helping people reach their goals.”

To Frank, education has always been one of those goals. The company has long been successful at helping people vastly increase their income, but President VanderSloot never felt this was enough. “Increasing income is only half of the equation for financial success,” he explains. “The other half is curtailing one’s expenses, and it is just as important!”

A year and a half ago Frank launched Financial Freedom University. Frank understands how debt cripples far too many families—keeping them from achieving the life they really deserve. He strives to help people understand how debt works and he feels passionately about educating people on how to get out of debt, pay off credit cards, and make the dream of owning a home free and clear a reality.