‘RED’ Retreat Brings Leadership Into Focus

Nicki Keohohou, CEO and co-founder of the Direct Selling Woman’s Alliance, shares her knowledge with USANA Associates.

The USANA Associates on the Ruby, Emerald, Diamond (RED) Retreat all have a great deal in common — they’re all business leaders, they all worked hard to get there, and they all loved hanging out at the Fiesta Americana Grand resort in Los Cabos, México.

But they all have different strengths and weaknesses, and they all need different kinds of personal development to reach their next goal. The coaching and training a Ruby Director needs, for instance, is very different from the coaching and training a Star Diamond Director needs.

Stepping Into Your Greatness

That’s where Nicki Keohohou comes in. She’s the CEO and co-founder of the Direct Selling Woman’s Alliance, and she knows a thing or two about training leaders.

Nicki Keohohou, CEO and co-founder of the Direct Selling Woman’s Alliance, shares her knowledge with USANA Associates.

Nicki Keohohou, CEO and co-founder of the Direct Selling Woman’s Alliance, shares her knowledge with USANA Associates.

She was the coaching and training guru of the retreat, and her level of involvement varied based on the level of the Associates she worked with.

The Diamond Directors each received one hour of direct coaching — which Nicki explained was different from training, as it involved asking questions and guiding the USANA business owners to discover the solutions to their personal challenges.

“It allows people to step into their greatness,” she explained.

This process proved invaluable to the Associates.

“One-on-one coaching is so precious,” said Bibiana Pau, 4-Star Diamond Director. “In 40 years I’ve never experienced it. It helps you learn so much about yourself.”

5-Star Diamond Directors Ted Liu and Tina Pang also appreciated Nicki’s personal attention. “She is so pragmatic,” Ted explained.

A Personal Approach to Training

The Emerald Directors on the retreat participated in small group coaching with Nicki. The groups were divided based on their native language, with translators filling in the gaps when needed.

Each Emerald Director had an opportunity to talk about his or her personal concerns as leaders.

“Nicki taught us what the trainer of tomorrow will be like,” explained Emerald Director Brian Bohlke. “For the average person, this kind of personal approach is better. And I genuinely feel that Nicki is wholehearted and cares about the people she’s talking to.”

Retreat-05_10_2013 - 004-LSome Associates, such as Emerald Director Ivy Chan, stayed for all three language sessions, just to soak up as much information as possible. She felt that the more intimate coaching sessions prepared her for the larger group training that was to come.

For all of the Diamond, Emerald, and Ruby Directors, Nicki gave a full-day training on leadership.

“You’re all here because you’re amazing,” Nicki announced. “We don’t just want you to be a leader, but we want you to be a leader of leaders.”

She taught many different skills that would be of use to these growing Associates, such as how to hold more effective meetings, how to keep their teams engaged in the business, and how to increase retention.

Her training method was to keep everyone in the room as involved as possible — every few minutes she had Associates stand up and find partners across the room to practice the skills they had just learned.

“It was great that we had only one speaker for the whole day,” said Emerald Director Andrea Equihua Gasca. “She had enough time to go really in-depth.”

It was an eventful and educational trip — and one that those in attendance will be unlikely to forget any time soon.

Want to See More?

For hundreds of spectacular photos from the retreat, please visit the USANA gallery on Smugmug.

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