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Main by Instance. Dwelling the American Dream
The DSN Lifetime Achievement Award is just not given out yearly. It’s reserved for the true legends of direct promoting—these time-tested titans which have formed the channel and impressed its management for many years. The third-ever recipient of this prestigious award is Rudy Revak, the craftsman behind a number of extremely profitable firms together with Symmetry and Xyngular.
Rudy Revak’s launch into the direct promoting trade started with a chilly name from a complete stranger.
A German refugee, Revak was raised on a hen farm in New Jersey, the place his mother and father, Hungarian and Romanian refugees themselves, fled after the battle. Revak was attending college on the GI Invoice after getting back from Vietnam and dealing full-time in retail when he obtained a cellphone name inviting him to a enterprise presentation that may in the end change his life.
Revak drove 60 miles to attend that assembly and watched as the person within the entrance of the room wrote “$30,000” on the board. Revak remembers the person went on to attract circles and squares, explaining reductions and the right way to construct a enterprise, nevertheless it was all a blur.
“I didn’t perceive any of it,” Revak shared. “I used to be simply targeted on the $30,000. If they may present me the right way to make that—I used to be in.”
Whereas Revak was determined for alternative, this one got here with a catch—and never a small one: buy-in would value him $3,217. “I used to be 23. I had no cash, and my household had no cash, however I used to be excited.”
Revak’s enthusiasm was catching, and his father noticed the potential. “They’re exhibiting you the right way to work good, not onerous,” Revak remembered his father explaining. However $3,217 was out of the query. Nobody in his household had that sum of money mendacity round.
Just a few days later, Revak’s father handed him a test to cowl the buy-in prices. He had gone to the financial institution with out his son’s information and leveraged his residence and farm to borrow the cash. “When he introduced me that test, he instructed me, ‘I need you to have the possibility that I by no means had.’”
The Braveness to Strive
Revak’s buy-in purchased him a basement filled with cleaning soap, which, he admits, didn’t make for immediate success. However a mix of his German work ethic and mentorship by pure salesmen, like Marty Day, Invoice Bailey and Jim Rohn, gave him the enhance he wanted.
Revak was promoted to space coordinator in Maryland, the place he grew to become one of many high 5 space coordinators within the nation. Enterprise was booming. Earlier than his subsequent promotion, the corporate’s management requested him if he could be keen to go to Germany as an assistant vp—a leap over his scheduled promotion—the place his staff and general revenues grew as nicely.
Revak rapidly grew to become the corporate’s go-to chief. After Germany, he helped develop markets in Sweden, Finland, Italy, Spain and Mexico. Throughout a management stint in Canada, he was launched to what would turn out to be the muse for later ventures: dietary supplementation.
In 1995, Rudy launched his personal firm, Symmetry, a well being and wellness group, then Xyngular in 2009, an organization primarily based on a single-line compensation plan and single product, which he finally merged into one firm. Revak then led the acquisition and rebranding of PUREhaven in 2016.
“I’ve all the time had the braveness to attempt,” he shared. “I needed to study the enterprise; the right way to talk with individuals; and the right way to promote. I needed to overcome the worry of speaking to individuals. Folks becoming a member of at present have the identical fears.”
4 Pillars of Success
As he appears again over his profession, Revak can level to 4 core beliefs and behaviors which have helped propel him to a long time of success.
1 / Laborious Work
Rising up on a hen farm, Revak realized early on that onerous work was important. When the hen feeder broke, he remembers his father telling him to go work out the right way to repair it. Understanding the right way to work onerous—even while you don’t really feel as much as the problem—was his first key to success.
2 / Perception
There are many alternatives for at present’s direct sellers to really feel down about themselves, and Revak has watched because the world has turn out to be accustomed to placing individuals down and telling them what they will’t accomplish.
“Folks have a tough time believing in themselves,” he defined. “They suppose it takes a particular particular person to do unusual issues, nevertheless it doesn’t. It’s simply peculiar individuals who do probably the most unimaginable, distinctive issues on this world.”
3 / Angle
Folks don’t purchase your merchandise; they purchase you. This mantra has been integral for Revak as he has led and constructed groups internationally. When direct sellers are energized by their mission, the individuals they’re speaking to can’t assist however be a part of them. He believes individuals observe emotions over details, so enthusiasm is crucial.
4 / Persistence
That is the place Revak believes the magic is discovered. Over breakfast early in his profession, Revak remembers a mentor asking him why his gross sales have been dismal. After rattling off excuses, his mentor handed him ten paper clips to maintain in his left pocket. Each time he talked to an individual, the mentor instructed him, he may transfer a paperclip to his proper pocket. On the finish of the day, he had higher have moved all ten.
“It obtained me into the exercise of what I wanted to do,” Revak remembered. “Abruptly, I didn’t care about ‘sure’ or ‘no.’ My purpose was to maneuver these paperclips. On this trade, if you will get individuals persistently working their enterprise and sharing the message, eventually they’ll discover others who will be a part of them.”
Dedicated for Life
Revak remains to be extremely engaged within the trade as a mentor and chief. In his spare time, he flies his small airplane, rides bikes and drives race vehicles. To Revak, age isn’t an excellent cause to cease doing what he enjoys.
He lives within the Houston space along with his supportive spouse, Pam. His son, Brandon and spouse Michelle, dwell simply 10 homes away. Revak feels lucky to dwell so near his three grandchildren who’re the lights of his life.
“I’ve cherished this trade for all these years. I’m nonetheless in it as a result of I adore it—not only for what it has achieved for me, however for what it continues to do for therefore many individuals. It gives the chance for individuals to succeed in their goals. Folks will ask me once I’m going to retire, and I say, ‘From what? I really like what I do.’ This trade has modified my complete life. I’d do it yet again, 100 %.”
DSN congratulates Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Rudy Revak. Thanks for over 50 years of excellence, integrity, management and imaginative and prescient.
From the June 2023 challenge of Direct Promoting Information journal.