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Angelo and Claudia NardoneLeadership On All Fronts

HERO AWARD WINNER

Leadership

©2017 Alticor Inc. S37292ENA

Hero Angelo and Claudia Nardone

“What have we done to be considered heroes?” asked Angelo Nardone as he thought about why he and his wife, Claudia, received Amway’s 2016 Hero Award for Leadership. “We are just hardworking people who got into this business to grow it, and we’ve never even thought of this kind of recognition. We are overwhelmed, elated, and humbled by it.”

Claudia was honored. “I was shocked because we don’t look at the things that caused us to be nominated as something outstanding, because everybody in our organization contributes,” she said.

LEADERS IN THE MAKING

Angelo was always driven to a career where he helped others. He received a master’s degree in special education, and became a teacher and therapist at a mental health center, working with emotionally disturbed children and adults with Down syndrome.

“I love teaching,” said Angelo. After being introduced to the Amway opportunity he quickly realized it was a natural fit. “I loved the business and now I was helping people reach their goals,” he explained.

Both Claudia and Angelo had traditional full-time jobs when they started to build their Amway™ business part-time in the evenings. Claudia worked at the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C. At first Claudia told Angelo that she would be the behind-the-scenes person in their business, doing paperwork, but that didn’t last long. “It was the people who really won me over,” she said. “It was an evolution even beginning to think that I was a leader. I don’t know if that was ever in my wheelhouse to begin with, and it wasn’t until our business started growing. We did a lot of things well, and some things not so well, but we learned lessons that stay with us today.”

PUTTING THOSE LESSONS TO WORK FOR OTHERS

Others can easily see why the Nardones are outstanding leaders. According to Lisa Madison, CEO/CFO of Britt Worldwide (BWW), an independent training organization, the Nardones lead

by example. “Angelo and Claudia are the doers. When you’re in their presence you can’t help but want to get in there and get things done and get motivated to make changes and always do the right thing, too,” she said.

Almost 40 years later, Angelo and Claudia have continued their Amway™ success as IBOs and assume leadership roles that inspire and guide others. They served on the IBOAI®† Board for 12 years, and Angelo has served on BWW’s Management Operation Committee (MOC), a seven-person task force that develops and oversees the training of all BWW-affiliated IBOs internationally, for 10 years.

Twenty-two years ago, Claudia recognized a need for an organization that championed women IBOs, and founded the national association, Women’s Interactive Network (WIN), with Angelo’s enthusiastic support. “I couldn’t have even dreamed of developing a support system for women if it weren’t for him recognizing that women could do this just as well as men,” said Claudia.

Claudia assumed full responsibility for the endeavor herself, though she wasn’t sure how many women would turn out for the first WIN event. To her surprise and delight, the number in attendance far exceeded her estimate. “I thought, ‘Wow! I never expected that,’ but it showed that there was a need and it has been that way ever since,” she said.

WIN fosters camaraderie, friendship, and real partnerships between women. “Everybody wants to go Diamond,” explained Claudia, “and WIN takes any sense of competition and funnels it into encouraging everybody. We all have special gifts and use those; don’t worry about the gifts that someone else has that you don’t. Just try to be sure that they are on your team.”

Claudia still speaks of WIN with a sense of amazement, pride, and modesty. “Women look forward to it and they get the support they need,” she said, “and it just evolved into something that I had no idea was going to be so big.”

Daughter Natalie Wallace attended a WIN event for the first time last year as an IBO participant. “Only now do I understand the power of the movement my mom started and what she has

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©2017 Alticor Inc. S37292ENA

Hero Angelo and Claudia Nardone

done to help thousands of moms, sisters, aunts, and families realize their potential as successful Amway IBOs,” she said. “Nothing feels better than that, not even money. Nothing feels better than knowing that somebody has your back without expecting something in return.”

LEADERSHIP WITHOUT BORDERS

The Nardones entered into the international markets with open minds and hope. “Don’t invent problems or situations before they happen,” said Angelo. “If you go in with preconceived notions, guess what? You’re always going to be wrong.”

LEADERSHIP IN CHARITY

Angelo and Claudia have actively supported Easterseals™†† for over 30 years, generating millions for the organization in that time. After learning that every $1 spent in early intervention saves $7 in future services, Claudia was inspired to create the Stitch in Time campaign, a fundraiser that benefits intervention services for children from Easterseals™. In 2011, she and Angelo were presented with Easterseals™ New York’s highest honor, the Lilli and Allan Shedlin Award, “for their advocacy, generosity, and unwavering commitment to serving those in need.”

“From the beginning, Angelo and Claudia spoke about giving and our responsibility as leaders to not only be personally active and giving, but about involving their team,” said Aris Pavlides, former Easterseals™ New York Board Chair. “Their passion for the mission and inspiring others has resulted in thousands of lives being impacted.”

“My father always told me that a great leader is a great servant,” said son Nick. “I have seen them demonstrate that throughout my life, giving openly with both their time and their love.”

LESSONS LEARNED

When their other son, Sonny – a training specialist for the government – is asked what effect Angelo and Claudia’s leadership skills had on him he said, “I learned that a good leader leads sacrificially. That a manager just manages people but a leader inspires them.”

Sonny says that his parents “helped me learn that when you understand what drives people they gravitate toward you. When you understand how they work mentally and what motivates them, you can connect them to a job or position they will thrive in or a task they can appreciate from their perspective.”

When asked what makes Angelo and Claudia heroes in her eyes, daughter Natalie responded, “Their selfless generosity. They are willing to drop everything to help somebody do better. They are willing to answer the phone, answer an email, fly across the country, and get into a car and drive somewhere if they know it is going to help someone else. Even when it’s inconvenient for them, they still do it, and they do it with a smile.”

Describing their Amway™ career and the rewards and recognition it has brought them, Angelo said, “You don’t succeed without being goal oriented, but we never set a goal to receive any kind of award like this at all. We never expected it, and never even dreamed about it.”

“Don’t invent problems or situations before they happen. If you go in with preconceived notions, guess what? You’re always going to be wrong.”

– Angelo Nardone

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†IBOAI® is a registered trademark of Independent Business Owners Association International.††Easterseals™ is a trademark of Easterseals, Inc.