Founders Executive Diamond
SHAMSUL EFFENDY KAMARUDDIN & NORMALIANA SAEDIN
Selangor
I graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia with big ambitions and dreams. I tried my hand at various small businesses as I know that only by having my own business can all my dreams come true. My husband Fendy is an electrical engineer who graduated from a university in London.
In 2006, we became acquainted with Emerald Rosli Mamat & Noraini Ibrahim. I did not sign up then because Fendy did not allow me to do so. However, after getting to know them, I signed up in May the same year without his knowledge.
After being in the business for a year, the highest level I achieved was 3%. I was then invited to a tudung-wearing demonstration at my sponsor’s home. That was when I realised the true potential of the AMWAY Business Opportunity.
After reviewing the Sales & Marketing Plan, it dawned on me that the business can help us achieve all our dreams. Unfortunately, Fendy still forbade me to do it. Nevertheless, I was determined to build the business without his knowledge.
When Fendy was transferred to Kuala Lumpur for work, I had more freedom to do the business. I continued to attend meetings and run the business alone until it reached 15%. Once, he threw the car keys at me in anger because I wanted to attend an AMWAY meeting, yet I stood firm with my decision.
When we moved to Kuala Lumpur in early 2008, I faced challenges as I was far away from my sponsor and had to deal with Fendy’s negative reaction. I managed to convince him to attend the 2008 National Convention and what he experienced there opened his eyes. You see, Fendy loves our children very much and he finally realised that the business is inheritable.
We achieved Silver Producer in February 2009. After that, we took a break. When I completed my confinement in March 2010, we bounced back. Furthermore, Paris, France, was the destination for the next AMWAY Leadership Seminar (ALS) and that got me very excited to build the business again.
We went back to the basics of the business, i.e. selling, sponsoring and servicing, as well as attending meetings. We maintained our focus and listened to our sponsor. In August 2010, we achieved 21%, Platinum in January 2011 and Founders Platinum in August 2011, thereby qualifying for the ALS in Paris and receiving the annual bonus.
Unfortunately, we did not qualify for ALS 2012 in Sydney. From there, we learnt from our mistakes and decided to make up for it the next year by qualifying for a higher pin. We managed to achieve that and was invited to the ALS in Hokkaido as Sapphire, ALS in Auckland as Emerald and ALS in Las Vegas as Diamond. As the saying goes, he who wills the end, wills the means. With AMWAY, almost all our dreams have come true.
Instead of looking for excuses to not try, we looked for a reason to keep trying. I was pregnant with our fourth child while trying to achieve Emerald and, after my confinement, we were trying to achieve Diamond. It doesn’t matter what other people have to say, we will not look back because we believe that if we persevere, God will make our challenges easier to deal with.