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Southwestern in the Media



Texas Business School Teaching Door-to-door Sales

Inc. Magazine, by Rachel Kaufman; May 1, 2012

Inc. Magazine By Rachel Kaufman May 1, 2012   An article Inc. had Southwestern Advantage ties.  The article titled “Texas Business School Teaching Door-to-Door Sales,” tells the tale of a small Business School in Austin and how they train their MBA students for the real world. ...Read More

How Entrepreneurship Education Could Impact the Direct Sales Channel

DSA InTouch, Vol. 4, issue 15

Dan Moore, President of Southwestern Advantage, was interviewed for the Direct Selling Association's e-Newsletter, DSA InTouch, regarding the potential impact a greater focus on entrepreneurship education on campuses could affect the direct sales channel. In the article, Moore covers why this is not...Read More

USA Today logo

USA Today: "Life Stages: First job, first paycheck and first budget"

by Hadley Malcolm, April 2, 2012

USA Today: "Life Stages: First job, first paycheck and first budget" By Hadley Malcolm, April 2, 2012 Southwestern Advantage Corporate Recruiter Nathan Jones was quoted in an article about the importance of building a sound financial future with your first job.  He said Southwestern t...Read More

Southwestern Advantage featured in 3 Puerto Vallarta papers

Share the Advantage program helps children in Mexico

Southwestern Advantage was able to give back to a community during the company's annual incentive trip for the independent student dealers who participate in the summer sales program.  This year, the trip was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  In the span of three days, over 400 college students...Read More

'Take the Stairs,' change your life, says young Nashville author

By Jessica Bliss, The Tennessean, Feb. 19, 2012

By Jessica Bliss, the Tennessean, February 19, 2012 This feature article chronicles Rory Vaden's quest to be a New york Times Best Selling author and to climb the stairs of the ten tallest buildings in the world.  Using "Take the stairs" as a metaphor for working your way to the top, Rory has a...Read More

Cedar Valley Business

Budding entrepreneurs enjoy green summer

By Jim Offner, Cedar Valley Business, Feb. 19, 2012

By Jim Offner, Cedar Valley Business, Fenruary 19, 2012 This article features students from the University of Northern Iowa who ran their own profitable businesses during the summer of 2011.  In fact, 21 students made a combined gross profit of $343,278, ranking the school #6 out of over 300 co...Read More

Southwestern Advantage on TODAY Show for $1M Donation

TODAY Show - NBC; December 12, 2011

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Southwestern Advantage had the privilege once again this year to take part in the TODAY Show’s annual Holiday Toy Drive. This was Southwestern’s 7th year to participate. Former Southwestern Dealer, and now Sou...Read More

The Spokesman-Review

Students earn money selling educational books

The Spokesman-Review, by Pia Hallenberg; Aug. 4, 2011

By Pia Hallenberg; Aug. 4, 2011   Three college students from Estonia have traded in their school books for the educational products they will be selling in and around Spokane, Washington.  Read about their experience: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/aug/04/students-earn-money-sellin...Read More

The Seattle Times

"Inspiring" amputee runs in 200-mile Blaine-to-Whidbey Island relay

The Seattle Times, July 21, 2011; by Mason Kelley

Southwestern Company District Sales Manager, Ron Alford, and Southwestern alumni Simon Rillera were recently featured in an article in The Seattle Times titled, “Inspiring amputee runs in 200-mile Blaine-to-Whidbey Island relay” by Mason Kelley. This is the inspiring story...Read More

FL intern students in town

Banner-Republican, Morgantown, KY; May 25, 2011; by Josh Givens

Three Florida college students are featured in the Banner-Republican for their adventuours and challenging summer internship. "Since 1868, college students have fanned out across the united states in the name of Southwestern Company, forming their own sales operations.  The internship program h...Read More

Clemson World Magazine

Spring 2011 - Volume 65, Number 2

Southwestern Company Corporate Recruiter, Jill Poston, a 2010 graduate from Clemson University, was featured in the Clemson World Magazine for winning the company's Student Excellence Award.  The award is a "best all-around" and takes into account the student's academic record, extrac...Read More

Direct Selling News

Student Entrepreneurs

Direct Selling News, May 2011 by Barbara Seale

Southwestern Company was the featured company in the May 2011 issue of Direct Selling News.  The article covers many aspects of the summer sellig program including its "famous" Sales School, new direction of the company , working with Millennials, the new product offereings and all of the ...Read More

SoACE

"Bragging Rights," Employer Spotlight: Southwestern Company

SoACE "Voices" Issue: 32, April 5, 2011

Tammy Mattison of Baker College Online interviewed Dr. Ralph Brigham, Global Campus Relations Director about Southwestern Company and the summer sales program for college students for the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers. Click on this link for full interview: http://archive.const...Read More

Work Life: Southwestern Molds Youth Through Sales

Blog by Shaun Emerson; Feb. 9, 2011

While Shaun Emerson has never participated in Southwestern's summer internship, he has been a customer over the years.  He's a big fan of the products, but an even bigger fan of the students who sell them and the overall sales process.  See what Shaun says about the challenge, developed sk...Read More

Tennessean

Take a bow: Franklin grad shows fighting determination in Hollywood

Tennessean, Jan. 4, 2011; by Bonnie Burch

Former student dealer credits high school wrestling and Southwestern for mentally preparing him for the grueling production schedule on the movie sets. For Hank Bedford, his love of movies has landed him working on movies. As an assistant to David Russell, director of the acclaimed movie, ...Read More

Jamaican students benefit from local donations

wcfcourier.com - Waterloo/Cedar Falls, IA; by Emily Christensen; Dec. 17, 2010

While on the Sizzler trip this past fall, Southwestern Company student managers Zach Riesberg and Stephanie Smith – both seniors at the University of Northern Iowa –  had a solution for an age-old question… what to do with left over t-shirts on campus? Excerpts from wcfcourier...Read More

TODAY Show - NBC

January 14, 2010; Southwestern Company President Dan Moore

Southwestern Company President, Dan Moore, appeared live on NBC’s TODAY Show on December 14 with Ann Curry outside 30 Rock.  The guest invitation was brought about by a large donation of educational products to the TODAY Show’s Holiday and Toy Gift Drive via the Direct Selling Asso...Read More

UNIBusiness

Three companies salute UNI for sales training

UNIBusiness; December 1, 2010

Southwestern Company, Northwestern Mutual Financial and The Hershey Company have recently recognized the College of Business Administration at the Univerity of Northern Iowa for providing a large number of employees who consistently rank high in productivity. Southwestern Company and Northwestern Mu...Read More

Nashville Parent

Youth About Business

Nashville Parent; November 2010, by Cassandra Finch

Sam Kirk's 17 years with Southwestern Company taught him about business and the "real world."  He decided to apply that knowledge by educating teens about entrepreneurialism and helping them have the tools and knowledge it takes to not only run a business, but succeed.   "Real-world e...Read More

How to hire, train and manage Generation Y

teneotalent.com; Oct. 26, 2010; by Eric Chester

Eric Chester, renowned Generational Expert, talks about how to work with Generation Y citing Southwestern Company as a prime example. "This year, the Southwestern Company interviewed more than 30,000 top college students across the country and selected fewer than 3,500 for its legendary summer ...Read More

The Cavalier Daily

Senior reflects on her career

The Cavalier Daily; October 27, 2010; by Allen Kha

University of Virginia senior and two-summer Southwestern Company student dealer, Shelly Edmonds, reflects on her field hockey career and the life skills she developed running her business during her summer breaks.   It's all in the family: Shelly's sister, Tina, from the University of Mar...Read More

Direct Selling News

Results with Social Media? (Cover Story)

Direct Selling News, August 2010; By Barbara Seale

The August 2010 issue of Direct Selling News is all about social media.  The cover story by Barbara Seale takes an in depth look at just how social an industry direct selling really is and how the topic is red hot among industry professionals.   Southwestern Company's Director of...Read More

Nashville Business Journal

Southwestern president: Investing in people pays off

Nashville Business Journal; July 23, 2010; by Brandon Gee

Southwestern Company President, Dan Moore discusses investing heavily in your sales force and employees with Brandon Gee of the Nashville Business Journal. Exerpt from the article: "While Southwestern has since diversified with more than a dozen subsidiaries in industries such as investing and finan...Read More

Forbes.com

U.S. Companies that Hire the Most Interns

Forbes.com; by Seth Cline, July 12, 2010

Once again, Southwestern Company is profiled on Forbes.com regarding the company’s ranking in the annual CollegeGrad.com survey polling employers about the number of interns they plan to recruit.  For 2010, Southwestern Company moved into the #1 position, up from #2 in 2009. Southwes...Read More

KY3 TV Springfield, MO

Door-to-door salesmen defend themselves against false accusations

July 20, 2010; KY3-TV NBC, Springfield, MO; by Cara Restelli

When station KY3 in Springfiled investigated calls about door-to-door sales, Southwestern Company independent student dealer Matt Seitz was on the scene to talk to reporter Cara Restelli about the legitimacy of the company, himself and the other student dealers in the viewing area.    From...Read More

Summer Job Scene Bleak for Adults, Teens Alike

WTVF NewsChannel 5 - Nashville; by Nicole Ferguson

WTVF NewsChannel 5 - Nashville; by Nicole Ferguson June 16, 2010 "The summer job scene is tough these days, with adults and teens competing for the same jobs." "It's the bleak picture that makes corporations like the Nashville-based publishing company, Southwestern, more attractive to college studen...Read More

Success Made Simple, by Eric Wesner

Success Made Simple, by Erik Wesner

Southwestern Company alumnus Erik Wesner, author of "Success Made Simple, An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive."

Southwestern Company alumnus Erik Wesner is now an author. In his book, Success Made Simple, An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive (Josey-Bass, copyright 2010), Erik takes a look at how and why Amish business owners have a 95% success rate. Beginning with his summer internship thro...Read More

Southwestern Company, "Ask Me"

Hooked on Phonics Blog Features Importance of Reading to Children; Southwestern Company "Ask Me" Series

The Hooked on Phonics Blog summarizes a mom's surprise as she read Southwestern Company's "Ask Me" series to her 3-year-old.

On the Hooked on Phonics blog on February 1, 2010, Southwestern Company's “Ask Me” series was featured in a post titled “Sunday’s Story Surprise.”  In summary, it’s about a mom reading to her three-year-old son as he starts to put together words and thei...Read More

Direct Selling News

The 142-Year-Old New Idea

Direct Selling News, By Dan Moore; February 2010

In the Direct Selling News "Top Desk" column, Southwestern Company President, Dan Moore, addresses a new idea with very old roots.  It has to do with the introduction of entrepreneurialism to young people.  According to Mr. Moore, this is something that has been happening at Sout...Read More

The Tennessean

Giving a little goes a long way

The Tennessean, by Lee McCroskey; October 4, 2009

Lee McCroskey, Director of Sales Development and this year's Southwestern/Great American, Inc. Corporate United Way Chair, authored an article about the various urgent needs in the community.  Click here to read his article: "Giving a little goes a long way"   McCroskey focuses o...Read More

Estonian students 'work hard' away from home

Morton Times-News, by Nick Stroman; September 4, 2009

The Morton Times-News chronicles the Central Illinois experience of independent student dealers in Southwestern Company products from Estonia.  Through the positive experiences of Morton-resident and five-year "host dad" Steve Jones, a story unfolds about cultural acceptance, hard work, bu...Read More

Who has a hairy nose?

thepioneerwoman.com, by Heather L. Sanders; July 29, 2009

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2009/07/who-has-a-hairy-nose/ Heather L. Sanders, in her weekly Wednesday post on The Pioneer Woman’s Homeschooling Blog, captures her experience and the new-found love in her home: Southwestern Company’s Ask Me and Explore & Learn book series...Read More

College students use positive 'ritual' for sales job luck

The Northern Virginia Daily, by Elizabeth Wilkerson; July 22, 2009

Daily dances, running a business, life skills, positive attitude, integrity and being teachable are just a few things five college students participating in the Southwestern Company summer sales program discuss with reporter Elizabeth Wilkinson of The Northern Virginia Daily. Captured in photos, the...Read More

Cincinnati Enquirer

Door-to-door Sales Win New Life

Cincinnati Enquirer, by David Holthaus; July 17, 2009

This article highlights what seems to be a "new life" being breathed into door-to-door sales by companies like Time Warner Cable, Proctor & Gamble and contracted companies hired to spread the word about their clients.  This is nothing new to Southwestern Company, as the article st...Read More

These large-scale internship programs can lead to full-time employment, even in a tough economy.

Forbes.com profile by Joyce Lee; July 7, 2009

Southwestern Company is profiled on Forbes.com regarding the #2 ranking in "an extensive survey of businesses that use interns" compiled by CollegeGrad.com.  The list contains 213 companies and is ranked by number of interns.   From Forbes.com: "Despite rampan...Read More

Hickory Daily Record

Door-to-door sales not all a scam

Hickory Daily Record, by Richard Gould; June 14, 2009

The Hickory Daily Record reports on the four young men working their way through school selling educational products to families in the Hickory, NC community for the summer.      Previously, releases from the Better Business Bureau and the Cawtaba County School District war...Read More

Today Show

Southwestern Donation Leads to Product Placement on TODAY Show

Southwestern Company products seen on TODAY Show

When the TODAY Show called on the Direct Selling Association and past donors of the annual TODAY Show Toy Drive to participate in another effort to help military families, Southwestern Company was in a position to assist. A segment on the TODAY Show on NBC called “A Call to...Read More

WSMV - NBC Channel 4

WSMV-NBC Channel 4

Southwestern Company featured on segment of "Better Nashville"

WSMV - NBC Channel 4 - "Better Nashville"   Southwestern Company was a featured segment April 12, 2009 on "Better Nashville."  Included in the segment is Dan Moore, President of Southwestern, and dealers in Southwestern product, Jared Holland and Valerie Wasveiler.  They are...Read More

Direct Selling News

Direct Selling News: Reaching Gen Y, A Dual Perspective

By Dan Moore, Southwestern Company & Sarah Baker Andrus, CUTCO; February 2009, Volume 5, Issue 2

          Perhaps like no other generation before it, Gen Y presents direct sellers with new opportunities - and challenges - in retention, retailing and recruitng.   For two industry leaders, The Southwestern Company and CUTCO, Generation Y makes up the majority of the...Read More

Tennessean

Tennessean: Retrospective - Southwestern Co. and Famous Alumni

Online Slideshow; Feb. 28, 2009

  The Tennessean - Nashville, TN February 28, 2009;   Retrospective Slideshow: Southwestern Co. and Famous Alumni.  This slideshow contains 19 photos from the Tennessean's file including local Southwestern Company alumni: Former Metro Councilman George Armistead III; Tennessee entrepr...Read More

The Tennessean

Tennessean: Southwestern former CEO Dortch Oldham mourned

By Nicole Young; February 28, 2009

      By the early 1960s, Oldham was president and majority owner of the company, which he is credited to growing to more than 5,000 salespeople at its peak.   Among luminary Southwestern alumni are U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood; Nashville businessman and Republican fun...Read More

The City Paper logo

The City Paper & other news outlets: Friends mourn passing of Dortch Oldham

City Paper artcile by E. Thomas Wood; February 27, 2009

          Dortch Oldham, who helped turn Nashville's Southwestern Co. into a sales dynamo that influenced the lives of thousands of young people who worked for it during college, passed away Thursday after a long illness. He was 89.   Born into humble circumstances in t...Read More

The Miami Hurricane

The Miami Hurricane: UM grad receives Student Excellence Award from Southwestern Company

By Justin Antweil; February 4, 2009

When Valerie Wasveiler was growing up, one of her best friends was the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Wasveiler, a 2008 University of Miami graduate, moved to South Florida from Caracas, Venezuela, when she was 10. She did not know one word of English when she arrived. But with hard work, dedication a...Read More

Rusk, TX family hosted by Southwestern

The Cherokeean Herald: Be our guest

Rusk, Texas; January 21, 2009

Tim and Nancy Timmons of Rusk know what its like to be the hospitable host, but roles were reversed when they found themselves being hosted by the Southwestern Company and its Chairman and CEO, Henry Bedford in Nashville, Tenn.   To read more from the Cherokeean Herald about the five-time...Read More

Daily Princetonian

The Daily Princetonian: "Hey Hannah! How was your summer?"

By Hannah Wilson; September 18, 2008

When people ask me how my summer was, the conversation follows a predictable pattern.     "Hey Hannah! How was your summer?"   My response is automatic and completely truthful.      "It was amazing! So awesome."   Which then begs the question:  &nbs...Read More

WBIR NBC Channel 10 Knoxville, TN

June 2008

Scott Steffen, an agricultural engineering major at Texas A&M, is on his fifth summer with Southwestern and is selling in Knoxville, TN this summer. After the local media reported he was misrepresenting himself based on incomplete information, Southwestern and many of Scott's customers called in...Read More

Herald-Citizen: Student sales are legit, says firm

By Mary Jo Denton; June 25, 2008

  PUTNAM COUNTY -- Cautious citizens here have reported a few instances of "suspicious" people going door-to-door selling something in recent weeks. And a Nashville company with college students working in sales here wants to reassure Putnam Countians. "Living with a host family in Cookeville ...Read More

Nugget Newspaper: Estonian college student sells books in Sisters

By Jim Cornelius; June 24, 2008

Fred Murumaa has always been an adventurous sort. So, when a fellow student approached him at the University of Tartu - in the Baltic nation of Estonia - with a proposition to spend a summer working with a company selling sophisticated school workbooks in the United States, he jumped at the chance. ...Read More

USA Today logo

USA Today: College students learn from job of hard knocks

By Kathy Chu; July 20, 2006

      Caitlyn Fogerty, 21, is one of about 3,000 college-age students selling Southwestern books this summer.  It's a position she seems born for.   In the first four weeks of summer, Fogerty, who'll be a senior at Arizona State University in the fall, has earned more than $...Read More

Direct Selling News

Direct Selling News: Building Character for 150 Years

By Barbara Seale; October 2006, Volume 2, Issue 10

    In a point and click world, one compaqny has thrived for more than 150 years by selling not just person-to-person but door-to-door.  The Southwestern Company is unique for many reasons beyond its age.   To read the entire article, click here.

Direct Selling News

Direct Selling News: Top Desk with Henry Bedford

By Barbara Seale; October 2006, Volume 2, Issue 10

          From a direct sales perspective, you might say that I'm about as fortunate as a person can be. But I'm not among the fortunate few. Rather, I am one of the legions of Southwestern Company employees and dealers who have benefited from its 150-year tradition of devel...Read More

USA Today logo

USA Today: Students selling books door-to-door deliver global flavor

By Keith Russell; June 27, 2005

    USA Today: June 27, 2005 The Tennessean: June 26, 2005   NASHVILLE - Each summer, scores of college students descend on Nashville to take part in Southwestern Co.'s legendary sales-training program before fanning out across the country to sell the firm's books and educational mat...Read More

Young Money article, Southwestern Company

Summer Sales Jobs: 'You Get What You Put In It'

www.youngmoney.com, by Lauren B. Johnston; March 4, 2004

"Today, a new breed of college students in sales is blasting the old traveling salesman stereotype away.  The realm of door-to-door retail has now become one of the most lucrative summer employment opportunities around."   Click here for full article: http://www.youngmoney.com/careers/inte...Read More